List: 10 Commandments for Bloggers

It was only a matter of time....

1. You shall not put your blog before your integrity
2. You shall not make an idol of your blog
3. You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin
4. Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog
5. Honour your fellow-bloggers above yourselves and do not give undue significance to their mistakes
6. You shall not murder someone else's honour, reputation or feelings
7. You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind
8. You shall not steal another person's content
9. You shall not give false testimony against your fellow-blogger
10. You shall not covet your neighbour's blog ranking. Be content with your own content

Christianity Today blog gets snippy with the bishops while missing the point

Mark Silk over at Christianity Today's "election 2008" blog decides to play referee:

The Catholic Bishops are cheesed with Joe Biden for, as they see it, claiming that abortion is just a "personal and private issue."

... "cheesed"? What is it with Christian authors writing so flippantly about the topic of abortion? Even if you disagree with them, since when is it proper to ridicule bishops who think they are defending the innocent?

Silk, for his part, thinks he understands the dispute, but he doesn't:

According to the bishops, "the Senator’s claim that the beginning of human life is a 'personal and private' matter of religious faith, one which cannot be 'imposed' on others, does not reflect Catholic teaching."

Of course, Biden did not say that the Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a private matter. His position is that it is a confessional matter. The bishops can assert until they are blue in the face that what they profess is universally applicable because it's built into the nature of things; but at the end of the day they remain religious leaders asserting the doctrine of their church. And most American Catholics, like Biden, understand them as such.

I'm not sure how the bishops could have been more clear taht they are not "asserting [a] doctrine of the Church" when they claim that human life begins at conception (a claim, moreover, that Biden accepts). In matter of fact, the exact phrasing they chose was: "The Catholic Church does not teach this as a matter of faith; it acknowledges it as a matter of objective fact."

I don't know about you, but I think that is very clear language. Considering that Silk linked to this bishops' statement, I don't think there is much excuse for his missing this line, and thereby missing a central point.

In following the story of Biden and the Catholic bishops around the internet and blogosphere, I've found several examples of 3rd-parties getting the story wrong, but I normally don't choose to talk about them. Silk, however, crossed over the line of decency with his presumptuous language, so he earns a mention.

Survey: "Only 3 in 5 Christian Radio Listeners Tune In for Music"

Well duh, most Christian Radio music isn't that good.

:-P

Report: "Church Cancels Semiautomatic Assault Rifle Giveaway"

From the Christian blogosphere:

Sorry kids, the Windsor Hill Baptist church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA (where else?) won’t be giving away the AR-15 assault rifle it bought for that purpose.
You’ll have to wait till next year:

Church Cancels Semiautomatic Assault Rifle Giveaway

An Oklahoma City church called off plans to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle at a weekend gathering of teenagers, the church’s pastor said.

Plans called for Windsor Hills Baptist to give away the weapon as a way of encouraging attendance at the gathering but plans changed when one the event’s organizers was unable to attend, KOCO 5, Oklahoma City, reported Sunday.

... The gun giveaway has been taken down from the Web site, but Ross said the church will give the gun away next year.

I dislike all "let's trick the kids into coming to Mass/services" ploys like this one. I don't think, however, the concept is quite as innately offensive as the picture which the blog chose to accompany the story.

"There must be something they’re not telling us."

The Religion News Blog, in its round-up today placed this story in the category of "Headlines that have us worried":

"Catholic Church looking for actor to play Jesus"

Along with the comment "There must be something they’re not telling us."

Actually, I think they are telling you everything. The question is, did you bother to read it?