Saint Martin's Cloak

Recently, the blog of United Methodist bishop Will Willimon published an essay on the non-violent resurrected Jesus (reprinted from The Best of Will Willimon) : This consistent, right to-the-end, to-the-point of-death nonviolence of Jesus has been that which Jesus’ followers have most attempted to modify. When it comes to violence in service of a good cause, we deeply wish Jesus had said otherwise. There are many rationales for the “just war,” or for self-defense, capital punishment, abortion, national security, or military strength. None of them, you will note, is able to make reference to Jesus or to the words or deeds of any of his first followers. You can argue that violence is sometimes effective, or justified by the circumstances, or a possible means to some better end, or practiced by every nation on the face of the earth—but you can’t drag Jesus into the argument with you. This has always been a source of annoyance and has provoked some fancy intellectual footwork on the ...

The president of the United States proclaimed today as the National Day of Prayer. I don't need the president to call me to pray; Christ's bidding is all I need. Prayer most properly belongs under the direction of the church, not the government. Moreover, each faith group has its own understanding of the nature and purpose of prayer. However, I appreciate many of the thoughts in the president's proclamation. The text of the National Day of Prayer proclamation follows. * * * Prayer has always been a part of the American story, and today countless Americans rely on prayer for comfort, direction, and strength, praying not only for themselves, but for their communities, their country, and the world. On this National Day of Prayer, we give thanks for our democracy that respects the beliefs and protects the religious freedom of all people to pray, worship, or abstain according to the dictates of their conscience. Let us pray for all the citizens of our great Nation, par...