Eating Squirrels and the Macho Jesus

Two articles from the NYT caught my eye. The first is on the trend being seen in Great Britain that has folks eating squirrel meat. I find it fascinating because the article seems to suggest that there is some form of exoticism in doing so. Considering I have squirrel meat in the freezer (yes, from ones that I shot), I don’t find it so odd. Hat tip to Homegrown Evolution for pointing this one out.

So while I was on the website of the liberal elite, I found an interesting article about Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. As a mission developer, I find the notion that his church started a little over a decade ago in his living room pretty cool, especially considering there are now like 7,000 in attendance. I also like the fact that tattooed freaks like me aren’t banned. Like Mark, I do object in some ways to Jesus being treated like a proto-hippy.

At the same time, I can’t get with him on some of his other stances. Calvinism sucks (sorry Presby-Reformed readers), and I am not so sure that being faithful means taking a giant dump on women or dehumanizing gay people.  Isn’t this the same dude that blamed Ted Haggard’s homosexual affair and meth use on Ted’s wife? Classy.

Want a beer swilling, foul mouthed pastor with a real punk rock attitude? Try this one.

Israel and Palestine: Let Us Choose Words Wisely

I have been really struck by some of the rhetoric I have read surrounding the Israeli air strikes of Gaza. The words have been harsh, careless, and cold. Lee thoughtfully comments on this conflict, and on the editorializing that occurs every time the tensions flare up. He also invokes the idea of Just War Theory and its insistence on a notion of proportionality of action. While I think proportionality is of utmost importance in discussing this – and all – military actions. I clearly do not think this is a proportional  response. However, I would like to mention one thing Lee did not in his post, which is the issue of non-combatants.  For Christian Just War Theory, especially as proposed by St. Thomas Aquinas, a major issue to be dealt with was casualties of non-combatants.
Thomas went to great lengths to defend the lives of those who were not directly involved in military conflict. Thomas was clear that even accidental deaths were completely unacceptable, as noncombatants do not share in the culpability of aggressors, even if aggressors are the leaders of the noncombatants.

So I wonder what St. Thomas would say about these images:

The little boy above is about the same size as my youngest son. What must it be like as a parent to hold your child in the midst of the mortar attack? What must it be like to be unable to protect them?

It amazes me that we want to talk politics while mothers are having to bury their toddlers.

So please, if you must comment, don’t say anything that you wouldn’t say in front of the parents of a wounded or dead child from this conflict.

Merton on Freedom

Religious belief, on the deepest level, is inevitably also a principle of freedom. To defend one’s faith is to defend one’s own freedom, and at least implicitly the freedom of everyone else. – Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander