I have a service-oriented job. I exist to help you, to make your life easier, and to make sure you’re happy. I’ve come to learn that it’s easy for some people to look down on “the help”. After all, if you’re a fairly successful individual, you will probably find yourself “higher up” on the hierarchy […]
Category: Authority
The Sponsors
The cardinal… is a thief. l delivered two portraits of his mindless nephew more than three months ago to be depicted in the heroic mode of an Hercules or an Achilles– so specified our contract. l complied… making that young fool of a nephew look far more heroic than nature ever intended– an act on […]
A Sort of Love I Don’t Understand
Christianity taught me a lot of things; but I’m not certain how to love was one of them. As I was growing up when True Love Waits and I Kissed Dating Goodbye were all the rage, a great many sermons outlined what my Biblically-informed family-oriented life ought to look like so that when it was […]
Vulnerable
I’ve had to learn to never really speak my mind in Christianity. I’m not supposed to have an opinion or thought of my own that differs from my superiors or their preferred and accepted interpretation, it seems. So I tend to speak my mind a little too much online. I don’t like it when it […]
Chains and Slavery
In an article on “Marital Authority” in Le Correspondant, Mme. COLETTE YVER tells us that — Feminine obedience and masculine authority, belonging to the very nature of men and women, imposed themselves, despite of everything, on the human pair. Civilization and politeness have weakened them in practice, without altering their mutual reactions. In vain will […]
That Poor Dog
There’s nothing like a heartfelt, charming sermon illustration to drive home a Christian point. Jesus knew this when he spoke in parables, talking about farming to farmers and fishing to fishermen; so many pastors have followed his example by talking about things we can all relate to: A pastor once told his congregation, “I learned […]
Dropping Everything
“Reading while supposed to be doing dishes. Got to stop b/c the book [apparently on Male Headship and Female Submission via Christian Head-coverings from 1 Corinthians 11] reminded me to honor my husband, and doing my work is part of that.” The caption read below a picture of a closed book inside of a dish […]
Ruling Structure
The Greek word hierarchia, “rule of a high priest” from hierarkhes, “leader of sacred rites”, has evolved into the concept we now know as a hierarchy – an arrangement of pretty much anything in which the items are represented as being “above”, “below”, or “at the same level” as another item. Long before the word […]
The 800 lb Gorilla in the Room Must Be Invisible
The Conservative Resurgence/Takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention churches was primarily achieved through establishing one particular valid interpretation of Scripture backed up by the authority of the inerrant, infallible Scriptures. It became a test to divide the orthodox from the heretical school of thoughts, ultimately causing some to leave the denomination altogether. The United Methodist […]
Interpreting Rhetoric on Silence
There’s a scene in Forrest Gump where an older woman asks Tom Hank’s character this question: “Are you crazy? Or just plain stupid?” – it’s an interesting sort of question to ask. In general – we expect questions that begin with words like who, what, why, when, where, how, and are … but “or” isn’t […]
Be Persuaded 