(1) Billy Graham is probably not the author of his own final chapter (Religion Dispatches)
***Keep your eyes on the media’s relationship with Franklin Graham, especially once his father passes away. There is a growing narrative of “good cop/bad cop” that is being written. In such a scenario, Billy gets cast as an ecumenical pluralist, while Franklin is the raging, Fundamentalist that his father avoided becoming.
(2) Feds: Schools Must Grant Mentally Disturbed Boy Unfettered Access to Girls’ Locker Room, by David French (National Review)
“Let me get this straight — if the school district allowed someone to post pictures of a nude man in a classroom, that would be blocked as sexual harassment, but if a nude boy changes next to women in a locker room, that’s equality? Apparently so.”
(3) Gospel for a Middle Class Can those in the middle class hear the good news as clearly as the poor? (American Magazine)
“…for those in poverty the “present is more important. Decisions [are] made for [the] moment [and are] based on feelings or survival.” For the middle class the “future is most important. Decisions [are] made against future ramifications.” And for the wealthy, “traditions and history are most important.” Reading this, the Sermon on the Mount springs to mind: “Do not worry about your life.” Many of the materially poor do not have the luxury of dwelling on the past or planning for the future; their lives are lived in the present.”
(4) US Catholic Church paid $4bn in abuse compensation (The Tablet)
***Wow. $4 billion. That’s a lot of money.
(5) Where Scripture Is the Rule of Law (New York Times)
***NYT article focuses on a growing practice of Christians who engage in contracts with other Christians (or consenting parties): a mutual promise to arbitrate and reconcile differences that may arise, rather than to carry out legal suits against one another. I’ve signed several contracts with such language and found the clause to be a benefit, not a burden.
“By adding a religious component, companies are taking the privatization of justice a step further. Proponents of religious arbitration said the process allowed people of faith to work out problems using shared values, achieving not just a settlement but often reconciliation.”
(bonus) Mormon daughter of ’Peanuts’ creator talks about father’s commitment to family, wholesome entertainment (Deseret News)
***More than a focus on Mormonism of his daughter, this article highlights the family life that Charles Schulz created. I was pricked by the ““I distinctly remember walking into the room, where he would be in the middle of drawing a strip, and he would immediately stop drawing.”
“Johnson, who lives in Alpine, remembers her father as “a normal, nice dad who was a good person” and a man who always had time for his children. Schulz and Joyce Halverson, Amy’s mother and Schulz’s first wife, created an environment that Johnson compares to “living at Disneyland.” She witnessed the impact her father’s character and the childhood he provided had in the lives of others. It was her parents’ influence that prepared Johnson to later join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
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