Existential Punk

In Plain English

HT to my great friend, Thomas, who blogs at Heaphonaught's Nanolog, for these 'Plain English' explanations of Twitter and Podcasts:

Irreligiosophy Podcast

The podcast with me and Peter Walker being interviewed by Irreligiosophy creators Leighton Allred and Chuck Morrison. Check it out. Leighton and Chuck are awesome! It is their longest podcast to date!

Various Views On Emerging Church

HT Emergent Village for posting the following videos from the Calvin College Alt Worship Project from various people from the USA and UK. They are really informative! It's nice to FINALLY put voices with faces with people I have know for several years via blogs, email and Twitter but have never met in person. People like Jonny Baker and Jason Clark. They never sound like what i imagine in my wee mind! PART 1:

PART 2

SEX-CRAZED: America's Christian Subculture

i have my first published piece at The Ooze. Check it out and join the conversation! Here's a teaser:

Why does the Evangelical community seem so preoccupied with pointing out what they perceive to be the sins of others?  Why this commitment to the role of morality police, lambasting everyone with their narrow interpretations of Scripture?  It seems their selective view of holiness is far more important than how we actually treat our fellow human beings.  Maybe if we worked harder on our own lives, focused on how we are treating others, a more holistic holiness could finally exude from our lives.

Sadly, this is my thesis: Evangelicals are nothing less than sex-crazed.

READ THE REST HERE!

Pete Rollins Muses on Emergent Churches

Shirley Hoogstra interviews Pete Rollins on an Inner Compass Episode at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Just scroll down to Episode #909 and enjoy the informative conversation. It's about 25 minutes in length.

Publisher's Weekly Review Of Pete Rollins' Upcoming Book

 Pete Rollins' newest book, "The Orthodox Heretic: And Other Impossible Tales", will be released this April by Paraclete Press. Publisher's Weekly recently reviewed "The Orthodox Heretic" in it's Religion section under Nonfiction Reviews.

The Orthodox Heretic: And Other Impossible Tales Peter Rollins. Paraclete, $19.99 (164p) ISBN 978-1-55725-634-8

Don't be fooled by the slender spine of this unusual book. Rollins, the Irish philosopher/po-mo theologian who has previously published How (Not) to Speak of God and The Fidelity of Betrayal, upends some of Christians' most cherished platitudes about God in his newest outing. He cautions readers that the book is not to be read quickly, for acquiring information, but to be savored slowly for possible transformation. Mostly, the book lives up to this billing. Rollins recasts some of the most familiar parables of and stories about Jesus, sometimes subversively—as when he proposes a version of feeding the 5,000 that shows Jesus and his disciples pigging out on meager resources while the multitudes look on, starving. His point? That Christians are the body of Christ, and when we oppress the poor and hoard scarce resources, we are saying that represents the kind of God we serve. Although not all of the parables work equally well—some could use further illumination—Rollins is a tremendously talented writer and thinker whose challenges to Christianity-as-usual should be well-received by the emergent church crowd, if not beyond. (Apr. 1)

Pete Rollins Coming To Richmond Virginia

My good friend, Pete Rollins, is coming to Richmond, Virginia to muse on the topic of Lessons In Evandalism. St. Andrew's Episcopal Church and Reverend Abbott Bailey are co-sponsoring the event with Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond (BTSR). He will be here for a Saturday evening lecture, meet and greet, and book signing on Saturday evening, February 21, 2009 at Baptist Theological Seminary. On Sunday morning, February 22, 2009, he will be at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Oregon Hill. Books will be available to purchase at both locations.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2009, 7.00 P.M. - 10 P.M.
BTSR (BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF RICHMOND)
3400 BROOK ROAD
RICHMOND, VA 23227
    * Book Sales
    * Lecture with Q & A following.
    * Reception (Meet & Greet)
    * Book Signing

SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2009, 10.00 A.M. - 12.45 p.m.
ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, OREGON HILL
236 South Laurel Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(Limited street parking but parking garages are vailable on the nearby campus of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
    * 10.00 A.M. - 10.50 A.M.: Adult Forum
    * 11.00 A.M. - 12.15 P.M.: Service and Pete is 'preaching'.
    * 12.30 P.M. - 12.45 P.M.: Meet & Greet/Book Signing/Say Goodbyes

The Lezzys

"Beginning in 2006 TLL began to award The TLL Lesbian Blog of the Year Award. TLL has been around since 2004 and we pride ourselves on having over 250 registered authors and over 800 posts that contain the stories of our lives. In 2009 TLL will add more categories and a new and improved nomination and voting system. The new TLL Awards will be renamed The Lezzys."

Please NOMINATE Existential Punk for the Lezzy Awards in the following categories:
1. Culture/Entertainment
2.Feminism/Political
3. Personal
4. Blog of the Year

YOU CAN NOMINATE AND VOTE ONCE PER DAY EVERYDAY UNTIL NOMINATING AND VOTING CLOSES! SO NOMINATE AND VOTE FOR EXISTENTIAL PUNK!

THANK YOU!

2009 Lezzys Time Line

Nominations: Monday February 2nd from 9:00 am EDT through 11:00 pm EDT on the 9th
Voting: Wednesday February 11th 9:00 am EDT through 11:00 pm EDT through the 18th
Winners Announced: Monday February the 23rd at 9:00 am

The Lezzy Rules

• The nominated blogs must be written by a lesbian or contributed to by a lesbian.
• The nominated blogs must be current and new content must be continually published.
• A blog may be nominated, and may win in more than one of the 9 categories.
• Blogs that have won in previous years may win again.
• Vote totals are subject to periodic correction for identified cheating.
• In the event of identified cheating, the decisions of  TLL’s Managing Editor as to the manner of correction is final.
• Everyone will be allowed to make 1 nomination in each of the 9 categories within a revolving 24 hour period. Everyone will be allowed 1 vote per category within a revolving 24 hour period. We will be tracking the nominations and votes via email addresses.
• Using throw-away email services is prohibited. The nominations and voting submissions will be reviewed for these sort of emails.
• TLL’s Managing Editor has the right to disqualify a blog from any category if said blog blatantly does not fit into said category.

How the nominations work: The nomination system will allow you to nominate 1 blog per category. You will be able to nominate your favorite blogs once every 24 hours. You will nominate the blogs of your choice by adding the URL of the blog to the nomination field. Nominations will last from February 2-9 and will be tallied on February 10th. The top 3 nominated blogs will then go on to the final voting round.

How voting works: As with nominations you will be allowed 1 vote per category within a 24 hour period. This is being tracked by email accounts so that more than one person can vote from the same computer/IP address. Voting will go from February 11-18. Votes will be tallied and the winners of all 9 categories will be announced on Monday February 23rd.

(I Can’t stress the following enough. Many nominations are currently not being counted due to lack of email confirmation) IMPORTANT: A confirmation email will be sent to the email address you provided for the nominations and voting form. Please make sure to click the link in the confirmation email to make sure your submissions count. If you do not receive a confirmation email please check your email filters and spam folder. The email will be sent from awards @ thelesbianlifestyle.com

If you have any questions or have any concerns with the nomination or voting system please contact TLL’s Managing Editor

New IDSA Guidelines Panel, Unbalanced & Biased: Congressman and Patient Groups Voice Concerns

California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA) reports this extremely frustrating and disappointing news on the fight for fair and balanced guidelines for treating Chronic Lyme Disease and other tick -borne diseases. i really hope President Obama will do something about the unfairness of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). i hate that these people are in bed with drug companies and insurance companies where it is ALL about money and their own interests rather that the health and well-being of those who are chronically ill, like moi!

Greenwich, CT, January 28, 2009-Patient groups voiced concern and disappointment about the new Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Lyme disease guidelines’ panel, which excludes physicians who treat patients with chronic Lyme disease. Last May, the Connecticut Attorney General found the IDSA Lyme disease treatment guidelines’ panel had conflicts of interest, engaged in exclusionary conduct, and suppressed scientific evidence. The investigation resulted in a settlement forcing the IDSA to reconstitute a balanced panel free of conflicts of interest under the oversight of an ombudsman to monitor conflicts of interest. No input from patients or treating physicians was permitted in selection.

“This situation is déja vu all over again,” said national Lyme Disease Association president Pat Smith about the newly created guidelines’ panel. “All Lyme disease treating physicians who applied for a seat were denied, based on having a “conflict” if they made over $10,000 treating Lyme disease. They have confused helping patients get better with ‘real’ competing conflicts such as interests in testing and vaccines, and relationships with insurers−a profile found in the original panel.  Physicians who treat understand what makes patients well.”

Attorney Lorraine Johnson of the California Lyme Disease Association points out “The problem is that guidelines conclusions generally reflect panel composition.  That is why it is critical that a panel be balanced and include different points of view.  Excluding the point of view of physicians who treat chronic Lyme disease makes no sense and biases this panel.”

READ the rest here.

Irreligiosophy

My good friend, Peter Walker, and i have been invited by Leighton Allred, via Becky Garrison connecting us, to be a part of a Religious Discussion at Irreligosophy in a couple of weeks.

Once again the time has come to proudly announce our next guests. We are proud to welcome our next guests to the discussion table and look forward to these new perspectives. Our discussion with them is slated for Friday February 20, 2009. We will be discussing the topics brought forward in the next few weeks: Atheist News Roundup(Posted January 30, 2009), Creationism/Intelligent Design/Evolution Part 1 (Posted February 6, 2009), and Creationism/Intelligent Design/Evolution Part 2 (Posted February 13, 2009).

READ MORE HERE.

Here is the ethos of the site:

Irreligiosophy means “the wisdom of irreligion” — it is about questioning dogmas handed down uncritically to us and researching into the history, practice, and theology of various religions. Religious claims are scrutinized with a skeptical eye and placed in historical perspective, with an emphasis on pagan precursors (especially Egyptian and Greek) to current beliefs and practices. We focus on Christianity because that is the religion that we are most familiar with and confronted by in our daily lives.

Here is an introduction to my good friend, Peter Walker:

Peter Walker is an M.Div student at George Fox Seminary & a freelance writer (his day job is finance). Peter is a Charter Contributor at www.Wikiletics.com with Leonard Sweet, has partnered with Off The Map (www.OffTheMap.com) in Doable Evangelism efforts, & is a contributing writer in several books: Out of the OOZE through NavPress, & Church of the Perfect Storm through Abingdon Press.  He lives in the Portland area with his wife Jen, a theological studies student at GFS.

 The creators of Irreligiosophy describe themselves this way:

Leighton Allred grew up in the small, very rural area known as Rose Canyon, Utah. He was raised Mormon although there were doubts in his views of religion since his early days, and technically he is still considered LDS with the church merely considering him inactive. Upon selling his childhood home he began to travel the world, doing so for ten years, and in those travels he was introduced to a myriad of religious and philosophical views. These cast further doubts on religion, but it wasn’t until his love for history collided with religion that his doubts shifted into complete disbelief. 

Reasons for creating Irreligiosophy: Through historical studies he discovered there were things his childhood church, and other churches abroad, hide from their faithful. He wishes to bring to light these facts and allow others, faithful and unfaithful, to decide for themselves the importance of these facts.

Chuck Morrison grew up in Park City, Utah and was raised Mormon. An undergraduate degree in Philosophy and the constant calls for evidence during medical school in Utah and residency in Arizona gradually shook him from his beliefs. He is now a Family Physician in Utah. Strangely, he is more interested in religion as an atheist than he ever was as a believer.

Reasons for creating Irreligiosophy: To provide a wider audience for textual criticism of the Bible and the scholarly research that has been going on for the last three hundred years.

i will post when our interview is up, but please come and give a listen when it is available. Leighton has been an incredibly nice person and Peter and i are both really looking forward to this time of enriched conversations where we learn from one another. THANK YOU, Leighton, Becky, and Peter!