The way this story from the Los Angeles Times opens, it gives the impression that the Shiva Sisters are like the Jewish mourning version of Batman & Robin.
Rob Bell latest: devil's in the details
I’ve been fascinated by the Rob Bell no-one-goes-to-hell controversy, and I was particularly captured by this lede from the Associated Press:
What hath the LAT wrought
We mentioned last week that people were trying to make sense of the tragedy in Japan. I noted that a few celebrities did a very bad job blaming the Japanese for angering God; the specific ESPN story I discussed broached but did not address the theodicy question.
A Sabbath for techies
Before Thursday night, my computer had not been shut down for over two weeks. I think it appreciated the last 70-or-so hours in hibernation. I know I appreciated being disconnected from it, though I did spoil anything resembling a technology fast by pulling my iPhone out of my pocket every five minutes.
Cappie's vengeful God
Speaking of religion and tragedy in Japan, a lot of celebrities should have spoken a little less. In case you missed it, some people have said some stupid things about the tsunami. And some have dragged God into it.
Altar boy patrolling the paint
Last week, the Oklahoma City Thunder got exactly what they needed to make a serious run at an NBA title: Kendrick Perkins, a defensive enforcer who was a critical piece of the Celtics’ 2008 championship team and is one of the scariest dudes in professional sports.
Northwestern prof: Sorry you're stupid
Mollie mentioned last week the human sexuality class at Northwestern University that watched a live sex act after class, and at the sanctioning of their professor. Now we get a report of that professor “apologizing” — for doing, as he sees it, absolutely nothing wrong at all.
Breaking Catholic-Jewish news from the '60s
An odd headline came to my inbox yesterday: “Pope exonerates Jews for Jesus’ death.” It was from the Associated Press, and I found it odd not that the pope had made clear that Jews did not have Jesus’ blood on their hands. It was odd that this was being reported as news now.
AP muffs Britain's foster-care ban
In other Associated Press news, The Washington Post Website published a short AP story out of England yesterday that raised more questions than it answered. The article was only five paragraphs, so I can’t adequately discuss it without posting it in its entirety. Here’s what washingtonpost.com ran under the headline “Couple lose foster care right over anti-gay stance“: