Lent 5 - Saturday - The Weekly Round-Up

This has been a bountiful week of interesting posts, editorials, and reflections gathered from around the globe. As you prepare for the Christian observance of Holy Week and Easter, I hope that these gleanings will assist you along the journey.

Best Editorial of the Week

Thomas Friedman, The New York Times

What the Middle East needs most from America today are modern schools and hard truths, and we haven’t found a way to offer either. Because Hanson is right: What ails the Middle East today truly is a toxic mix of tribalism, Shiite-Sunni sectarianism, fundamentalism and oil — oil that constantly tempts us to intervene or to prop up dictators.

For more, click here: A Festival of Lies

Best Religion Editorial

Frank Bruni, The Sunday New York Times

He hasn’t belonged to a church since college. “Religion too often demands belief in physical absurdities and anachronistic traditions despite all scientific evidence and moral progress,” he said. And in too many religious people he sees inconsistencies. They speak of life’s preciousness when railing against abortion but fail to acknowledge how they let other values override that concern when they support war, the death penalty or governments that do nothing for people in perilous need.

Click here for more: Rethinking His Religion

This One Will Make You Think

Jamelle Bouie, The Nation

…the shooting death of Trayvon Martin…did not so much raise questions as it confirmed suspicions: that we remain stratified or at best striated by race, that “innocent” is a relative term, that black male lives can end under capricious circumstances, and that justice is in the eye of the beholder—ideas that are as cynical as they are applicable. At this juncture, events in Sanford, Florida, suggest the benefit of the doubt in the shooting of a black teen-ager extends even to unauthorized, untrained, weapon-toting private citizens who pursue unarmed pedestrians.

Post Racial Delusion

The Jolly Old Church of England

Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Guardian

The Anglican Church can start afresh. The recent vote against the Anglican Covenant is hugely significant. But are the bishops ready to listen?

A Fresh Start?

Most Inspirational!

Colleen Walsh, The Harvard Gazette

In tune, without limits. Despite lacking a hand, violinist makes beautiful music ... and more

Musical Inspiration

Best Insight for the Future Church

Philip Clayton, Los Angeles Times

Not surprisingly, the increase in the unaffiliated comes at the expense of America's mainstream religions, which means that Christianity is taking the biggest hit. Mainstream Protestant churches have lost more than a third of their members since 1960. Evangelical churches are also feeling the pinch; Southern Baptists are hurting. Various surveys illuminate this trend: About 75% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 now consider themselves "spiritual but not religious."

The Rise of "The Nones."

Most Read Post at John 13:34 Blog This Week

Overcoming Fear

Always End with Children, Animals or People Having Fun

Dancing With the Stars (ABC via Youtube)

Sherri Shepherd Lights Up The Dance Floor


Love One Another - Brian