Progressive Faith Con Blog

This week’s Progressive Faith Blog Carnival is being hosted at Metacentricities. We have a new Carnival Page up, so please have a look. Also, if you would like to host a carnival (we need hosts!!!) please drop an email to carnival@progressivefaithblogcon.com.

There are some other changes afoot, like a webring, and blogroll. We’ll keep you posted! 

Um, I’m gonna say this one was called due to excessive heat and pretend like it isn’t every bit as hot today as it was yesterday when I forgot to post this.

Anyway, here we go:

Take a highbrow look at how spirituality is necessary for humanity. Then ponder the meaning of a witch. Pause and dispell a nasty rumor or two, while you’re at it.

Wayfarer has news from New Jersey. Peter gets a meal and an update on Lebanon. Over at CAP, Mainstream Baptist looks at defective conscience. Then we find some Q & A concerning the war on terrorism.

See the rest at Xpatriated Texan

Time is growing short - only one week until the first Progressive Faith Blog Con is (gulp) history. Then we will begin planning for the next one. Will we, as our very own Velveteen Rabbi quipped, meet "Next year, in Texas!"? I dunno - but we want your input. If you can make it, we want to see your face - register now.

On to the Carnival:

First, we have to decide if tax evasion is ethical. Next, we find an opportunity to blog the Bible. Then we look in at a Bible story about (possibly) the workplace and the impossible.

Beyond the impossible, there is the temple of our skin. But our ideas of worship carry us far away from the holy. But can our conceptions of the holy help us face the future of the present?

You still have time to hear our Velveteen Rabbi on State of Belief. Never one to rest on her laurels, she also takes on sadness. Not to be outdone, you can find Baraka writing for UPI (though I’m a bit tardy in noting it).

Meet Max the Sax. But don’t Cross the Kos. Always remember remembrance.

The NY State Supreme Court upheld "tradition" over law. But Barak Obama calls for a more open and faithful dialogue. Then was ponder the immigration debate.

Left Behind, the video game, is built on violence and prayer. Then, we find a response to left-wing anti-religion sentiment. Social Justice Coalition sends us off to make peace.

There’s also a problem (I think several posts could fit into this) of pre-existing political positions. If we say that enough, it’s likely to be accepted as true. I’m reminded that old issues used to be like that.

Loneliness is part of the human condition. So is pride. Human needs as well.

Muslim women have their own Banana Republic, but not everyone thinks it’s a good thing. The orthodoxy of Islam is based on equality.

Seventh Day environmentalists speak up. Barak Obama pops his head in again, and stirs up some comments. There’s good reason to be on guard.

Mainstream Baptist finds an odd comment from an old warrior. Perhaps the General has been watching children. Sometimes, conflict is useless.

Is nothing sacred? Perhaps not, when Gene Simmons becomes the voice of conscience. Ah, a terrible beast is afoot. What better time to discuss the undiscussable.

Howie finds creation in rubbles of destruction. Lorianne finds creation in reflection. Nature reverses itself, creatively.

From the mouths of babes to the writings of bishops, we again find Barak Obama - funny how he keeps finding his way in here. Such things happen when you issue a call to lead.

Is America hooked on phonics? Do we understand our own words? We don’t even know who leads us - or to where they attempt to lead.

Next week, there will be plenty on which to speak. On to the BlogCon.

I spent most of yesterday driving down from upstate New York, so I forgot to post the Carnival. Better late than never, so here we go:

We start out looking at the nature of reality. Then we taste a bit of Georgia reality. We wonder what will happen when reality becomes unreal.

Next door, we peek in to see the rhetoric of war, and some rhetoric on faith and reason. It is easy to find the rhetoric of division, much harder to remain open to reconciliation. This is especially true when challenging power structures filled with injustice.

The Feminarian sends us ahead with a look at a heretical statement - at least for some. But we are reminded that it is our actions towards our enemies that screams of injustice. We are reminded that it is through the eyes of others that we often see ourselves most clearly.

On down the road, we are asked for an accounting of our desires for life. Bill O’Reilly is asked for some self-examination - no word from Mr. O’Reilly yet. But we do hear from Ben Stein - and he isn’t happy. American generals cut-and-run. Running towards peace, however, is nothing in which to find shame.

Further still, we find a restless faith. New Baptist leaders wrestle with this idea. Such changes take time to be felt. Isolation only makes efforts more necessary.

Our next stop speaks of forgotten summer reading and a reminder of the gift of self. Also, that sometimes what we want is not what we want. The order of things is hard to change - even when it cries out for change.

We move along to find a dead-end created by our hard-heartedness. Yet the good news remains that if the problem is our heart, then our heart is also the answer. Such is our ability to reach each other - even when we come from different backgrounds.

Then we are moving back out the gates, wondering where we will find ourselves the next time we gather.

We’ve had a bit of growing pains here lately. Updating the blog meant that we lost the archives for the old carnivals, but I think that they have probably served their place and we’re moving full speed ahead.

I start off by looking at a tale of racial bias. Woodmoor Village looks at another kind of bias. Fortunately, Velveteen Rabbi finds no room for bear bias - as long as they stay outside.

Pearlbear fights bias by looking for similarities. Elsewhere, the lack of diversity cripples progress.

Baraka speaks about finding new leaders. Our next stop finds us meditating on meditation. Then we move on to pondering the effects of discontent. Maybe we’ll consider if "relativism" is relative.

It’s a paradox that freedom must be codified. Such struggles are not new to our generation, though. As surely as night follows day, battles we thought we’d won are re-opened. An ongoing battle for any organization is communication.

It’s enough to cause tears, especially when progress is stymied and obfuscated. But faith refuses to give up.

Changes are afoot among Southern Baptists. Apparently, the WH press corps is changing, too - but not necessarily for the better. But when a follower of Christ can’t be a Christian, what do you expect?

Of course, we also have to remember today is Father’s Day. Happy wishes for all the blogging dads and, of course, those who don’t.

A new carnival is up at Lo-Fi Tribe. Next week we move to Jesus Was a Liberal. Thanks.

The new Carnival is up at Raising Kaine. Many thanks for Lowell for organizing this week. Next week, the Lo Fi Tribe will take over the Carni.

This week’s edition of the Progressive Faith Blog Carnival is up, hosted by Tiel of Knocking from Inside. It’s fantastic — a ton of terrific links. Poetry, prayer, thoughts on work and institutional dynamics and gender, musings on religious labels, religion and politics and everything in between… good stuff.

 Check it out here. Thanks, Tiel!

Next week the Carnival will be hosted by Raising Kaine. If you have posts to suggest, submit them by email to ProgFaithCarnival @ yahoo.com with "Carnival link" in the title.

Technorati tags: religion, politics, progfaithblogcon.

After a cyber "rain out" the Carnival has set up shop here. Next week, it will be at A Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens. Don’t forget to barrage us with submissions at ProgFaithCarnival-at-yahoo-dot-com. Be sure to put "Submission" in the title line. If you’d like to host, put "HOST" in the title line. We will love you forever for doing that. On to the midway: Mata joins us for the first time and a rant and flowers and wonders about the presence of God. Raising Kaine, another newcomer, publicizes a rally to Save Darfur. Yet another newcomer, Happening Here, offers a look at pending legislation. Elsewhere, we find some Guerrilla Marketing for churches. Next door we find blooks from bloggers. We discover as well that there will be no Hogwarts in Georgia. Also, we cast a light on the invisible government. Pause and consider the nature of purity and impurity. It can make you question the way things are. Perhaps you can have a walking meditation. Where does faith leave strangers in a strange land? Perhaps Jung could help interpret. Soft wood and terrorism - guess which one is a more realistic sticking point for US-Canada relations. Maybe we should share a story and know each other better. Is it too loud? Should we turn up the volume? Even with the volume low, there are some truths that cannot be denied. Sometimes they need to be revived with new language. But you cannot shut out people from remembering the holy or discovering the holy. Church and state mix to the peril of both. Yet some must be reminded of this reality. Two masters cannot be served - the power of money will always come through. So will spirituality. This, too, is our heritage of wisdom. And, lest we forget, miracles occur everyday. Help us determine the schedule for the upcoming Blog Con.