GroshLink

The extremists talk about religion - and spew messages of hate. Religious moderates must denounce this bigotry and reclaim Scripture as the shared document of all. When flamethrowers hold up Scripture and say, "It says this," moderates must hold up the same text say, "Yes, but it also says this." The Bible is simply too important to the history of Western civilization - and to vital to its future - to be ceded to one side in the debate over values.

Teach, Don't Preach, the Bible picks up from where the author perceives Yesterday's ruling by a federal judge that intelligent design cannot be taught in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district leaves off. The author advocates placing the teaching of the Bible back where it belongs in our schools: not in the science laboratory, but in its proper historical and literary context.

I agree. And I would go further by stating that we should also become familiar with the religious works and understandings which inform other cultures in our world. Why? Because, despite the teachings of our largely agnostic/atheistic educational subculture, the supernatural and the religious matter as the Other in various forms speak through circumstances, family, friendships and shape the frameworks of understanding which guide individuals, subcultures, nations.

When specifically teaching the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita, etc, it is important that people knowledgeable in these areas share with students. Maybe, I have become too post-modern, but science speaks with credibility (and can be applied with reliable outcomes) when taught by those with scientific understanding and training. Likewise for history, computer programming, business, music, etc. For more conversation and understanding to emerge in our society and beyond, we need to start taking the work of the supernatural and the frameworks provided by life perspectives more seriously, maybe this should start with an educational system's self-critique of practical atheism/agnositicism.

When I consider campus ministry, a given person's trust or lack of trust in the holy One of Israel that came in the form of His Son that we might have life, life abundant has significant impact on how we read the the Word of God. Yes, the Word can speak for itself by the Power of the Spirit, but in what direction is our structure/teaching pointing those involved?

May our daily labors provide a culture of applied/living belief and not practical/living disbelief. As we handle the Word, may we (with our students) enter into the Scriptures and relationship with God and give a glimpse to the really real which although viewed by some as odd, irrelevant, or stupid is actually that which truly is (i.e., what we we bump against and find ourselves a part of everyday life). May we be hospitable in such a way that our neighbors, society, and world might come to the table and feed upon the Bread of Life. Let us take up neither the tools of hate nor the abstractions of a vague spirituality, instead may we endeavor to do whatever it takes to extend with grace the Light of Christ in a dark place . . . . this is the mission of Christmas, may we embrace with our whole person.