...Donald Miller. Again. The harsh editorial of women and sexuality was removed from his blog and replaced with an open conversation piece. Much, much more Don Miller-esque style. *Sigh of relief*
You’ll never see me roll my eyes more than when I’m reading an old-school Christian book. I say “old school” because these books are changing for the better, and by that I mean they are becoming less “biblical” and more “like the Bible” and by this I mean more honest, truthful and written with less pretense or worldly idealism.
He winds it up with:
Even Christ’s biographers depict Him without sparing us His humanity. He gets angry, He gets annoyed, He is hard to understand (and indeed hard to follow) and while He seems to love the world, He’s as alien as E.T., pointing always toward the heavens rambling about going home. It’s brilliant stuff when you stop reading it to figure out if you’re right or wrong about something. It’s life-changing, actually, the way your life gets changed by a friend over time.
Stunning thought...Don't read the Bible just to prove that you are right and others wrong.
...not Donald Miller...for the moment. I am rather (still) steamed at a recent blog that, in my humble opinion, is caricaturing females as morally loose, experiencing "slutty" periods and dependant on men to provide the meaning in her life. Commenter Sydney said it best:
Donald, WHY is a woman made worthy by her sexuality and man by his character and godliness? This is such a tired and harmful characterization that is used repeatedly by male church leaders. How can you say that men get to write women’s stories? Does a woman not have a story until she meets a man to write it for her?
I wish Donald had had the good fortune to read Jane Austen's words in Persuasion before he penned that fateful post:
"...Well, Miss Elliot," (lowering his voice,) "as I was saying we shall never agree, I suppose, upon this point. No man and woman, would, probably. But let me observe that all histories are against you--all stories, prose and verse. If I had such a memory as Benwick, I could bring you fifty quotations in a moment on my side the argument, and I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men..."
If your going to gripe promiscuity, Don, both sexes can be slutty and fickle. Not just the girls.
Onto a more interesting topic, I am reading a gripping blog titled "Broken Daughters"
A quote from the post 1995:
"...A woman greets him and by the voice I can tell it’s a nice old lady from our community. She sees me and say “Oh and Lisa is here too! Hello Lisa!” and she looks at me. I look down but she sees it anyway and says “Oh goodness, what happened to Lisa?”. Daddy smiles and says “She was a disobedient brat at the toy store and this is what she got from it.” He sounds really proud when he says it and he pets my head with his hand. The Lady just frowns at me and says “Well it looks really bad, you might have to see a doctor.” and Daddy says “No, she’ll be fine. If she’s repentant, she’ll heal up just fine without a doctor.” They talk a little bit more but not about me and then the Lady leaves..."
Lewis Wells of Commandments of Men blog fame has this insight on some recent *ahem* Bachmann developments:
...Bachmann was asked about being submissive to her husband during the FoxNews Republican candidate debate on August 11th. She's yet to directly answer that question. Anyone in her campaign with any political savvy knows that if she answers that question honestly and directly, she has NO chance to win the election. Hence, you get half-truths, deflections, and rabbit trails about "respect". The fact of the matter is, few of us feel that someone who can't even lead within her own home is qualified to be the Leader of the Free World. As you can see, the "submission" issue is already grinding the honesty and integrity (assuming some exists) right out of her...
And to lighten the mood a bit...a humorous quote by Demetri Martin:
"Whenever I'm on my computer, I don't type 'lol'. I type 'lqtm' - laugh quietly to myself. It's more honest."
"...My wife recorded herself yelling, “Mom! Mom! Let me out!” in her mother’s cell phone and then set that as her mom’s cell phone ringtone. Awkward in real life. Extra awkward at a funeral..."
And lastly but certainly not leastly...a song by the group The Civil Wars...not reading but listening.Over. And Over. And Again.
