Sunday, March 2, 2014

Recommended Reading 3-2-14 Edition

Each week I send out a weekly e-mail of my thoughts to folks in my church.  I include in it what I found worth reading in the past week.  Here's this week's recommended reading:
  • There was a lot out there this week about the terrible bills introduced in various states to legalize discrimination against LGBT people--I recommend you read the thoughts about the Arizona bill by UCC feminist theologian Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite.    
  • In a similar vein, there is the lawsuit involving the crafts store chain Hobby Lobby which doesn't want to provide health insurance to its thousands of employees, because such insurance might pay for contraception.  Here is a thoughtful piece about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act--a law cited by Hobby Lobby--cited incorrectly that is.
  • You've probably read about the growing numbers of Millennials (born from the early 80's-00's) who identify "none" as their religious affiliation.  Some people might be alarmed that younger people don't believe the right theology, but interfaith leader Eboo Patel asks what I consider to be a more important question--what will the impact be of fewer people being involved in religious communities?  Who will do the works of charity and justice that these groups carry out when no one belongs to them anymore?  
  • I must confess that I like the TV show Hannibal, even though I can't really recommend it to anyone, because of its graphic violence.  Hannibal is based on the characters created by the novelist Thomas Harris (you know: The Silence of the Lambs).  I can't exactly say it is fun to watch it, but it is a powerful story.  This piece on the depiction of evil in the show perhaps helps explain what I appreciate about it.  Again, I can't recommend the show to you, but. . .  
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