Archive for the ‘Irreverant’ Category
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 by JEL
Christianity has been having a tough time of late. Child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church (deemed “petty gossip” by a Vatican spokesman), Hutaree militias plotting to kill police officers, the list goes on. The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman has devised a decidedly tongue-in-cheek strategy to restore Christianity’s image:
- Ally itself with Apple.
- Check into a sex-addiction clinic.
- Embark on a tour of the national media to tell everyone that Christianity is now going into hiding.
- Hold press conferences at major group events to prove one’s humility, thereby ensuring that all attention is taken away from the other, competing religions.
- Marry Jennifer Aniston or Cheryl Cole.
Please note the “Irreverant” categorization of this post. We all need a little satire once in a while. Read the whole thing here.
Tags: Catholic Church, Christianity, Hadley Freeman, Hutaree
Posted in Irreverant | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 by JEL
I compare this final season of LOST with reading the last Harry Potter novel. After six thick volumes filled with three times as many questions as answers, the last book dished answers out of a firehose. Particularly in the last half of the book when Rowling realized she needed to really stomp on the gas pedal to even keep it under 800 pages.
This last season of LOST has been delicious. Last week’s episode certainly had more than its usual share of religious undertones as more tidbits were revealed about Jacob and The Man in Black. Are they God and the Devil?
This article has some interesting commentary from Chris Seay, author of The Gospel According to Lost. I realize the above image could easily be described as sacrilegious, but isn’t it fascinating to see who is sitting in Jesus’ spot? The Black Smoke Monster, himself (in Locke’s shell). Tonight should be really interesting…
Tags: Harry Potter, Lost, The Last Supper
Posted in Irreverant | No Comments »
Friday, February 19th, 2010 by JEL
The Vatican’s official newspaper, L’ Osservatore Romano, recently published it’s “semiserious guide” to the top 10 rock albums of all time. The Beatles’ “Revolver,” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” are all safe picks. Others are more interesting/curious. Oasis’ “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” made the list, as did one of my all-time faves, Donald Fagen’s fairly obscure “The Nightfly.” The two biggest head-scratchers for me are David Crosby’s “If I Could Only Remember My Name” and Santana’s “Supernatural.”
You’ll notice no Bob Dylan or Rolling Stones among the Vatican’s picks. In the latter’s case, “Sympathy for the Devil” probably did them in.
Tags: rock albums, Vatican
Posted in In The News, Irreverant | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 by JEL
I was perusing some best-seller lists for the past few years and became curious about the top-selling books of all time. Here’s what Wikipedia has for the top 14:
- The Bible
- Quotations from Chairman Mao (Little Red Book)
- The Koran
- Xinhua Dictionary
- Chairman Mao’s Poems
- Selected Articles of Mao Zedong
- A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
- Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship
- The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
- Book of Mormon
- The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life (Jehovah’s Witnesses)
- On the Three Representations
- And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie)
- The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Quite the interesting list. I think Chairman Mao’s three entries greatly benefited from compulsory reading/ownership of over 1 billion people. Five are religious books; six if you throw in the Scouting book and its link to Christianity. And Agatha Christie?
Tags: Agatha Christie, best-sellers, Bible
Posted in Irreverant, The Bible | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 by JEL
Black Sabbath. Iron Maiden. Metallica. Judas Priest. Motorhead. Saxon. Do these names mean anything to you? Could you perhaps find them in your CD collection? Then you finally might have the outlet you’ve been searching for.
The UK, like the US, is currently conducting their nationwide census. Rock magazine Metal Hammer has launched a campaign encouraging devotees of the music genre to enter “heavy metal” as their religion in the census. Their Facebook fan page already has 10,000 followers. Please note the category of this post before registering any alarm.
Tags: census, heavy metal, religion, UK
Posted in Irreverant | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 by JEL
If you were the casting director of a new TV show or movie and needed to find that perfect someone to provide the voice of Jesus, whom would you choose? Remember that Jesus’ age is around 30 in the Four Gospels so your pick can neither be too young nor too old. Perhaps some up-and-coming indie actor with a heathly mix of charisman and gravitas?
Nah. Lil Wayne!
Cable channel Adult Swim is creating a new animated series called “Freakniks” about the “Black Spring Break” in Atlanta in the late 90s. And yes, Lil Wayne has been tapped to voice Jesus. I wonder if any of His lines will match those found in What He Said…
Tags: Adult Swim, Freakniks, Jesus, Lil Wayne
Posted in Four Gospels, In The News, Irreverant | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by JEL
Maybe it’s the spirit of the Christmas season, but people around the globe are seeing the face of Jesus in strange places. A woman in Methuen, MA saw the image of Christ on the bottom of her iron, while Lisa Swinton in Australia discovered His image on a banana peel. They had differing reactions: the iron is being kept in a safe place, but the banana was eaten and the peel thrown away.
Wherever you encounter Jesus, we hope you remember His message of peace and goodwill to all. The world could use a heaping helping of both these days.
Tags: Christmas, face of Jesus, Jesus
Posted in Christmas, In The News, Irreverant | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 by JEL
With holiday shopping in full swing, I’m sure a lot of us have been staring at bumpers lately. Stuck in traffic, looking for a parking space at the mall, the red lights that never seem to go green. I saw some mildly amusing ones over the weekend which got me to thinking about my all-time favorite:
“Jesus Saves, Espo Scores on the Rebound”
Those of you not around or hockey-conscious during the Bruins’ heydays of the early 70s can catch up here.
Tags: Jesus, Phil Esposito
Posted in Irreverant | No Comments »
Friday, November 20th, 2009 by PJM
I had reason recently to search NYTimes.com for the word “gospels.” 5,420 hits were returned. What struck me the most was how many NYT reader comments refer to them. You can try it yourself and see.
Frequently, the story that the readers are commenting on are quite secular in nature. One in particular, caught my attention in the Freakonomics Blog. A tenet of Freakonomics is that human behavior is guided by selfish incentives. A reader asked what Jesus’ incentive was in getting crucified. The blog author, Stephen Dubner, doesn’t answer the question, but we will let you know when he does. In the meantime, maybe we could sell him a book.
Tags: Freakonomics, Jesus, New York Times
Posted in In The News, Irreverant, Words of Christ | No Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009 by JEL
Please note that this post is filed under the “Irreverant” category. Also note that the source of article being discussed is Weekly World News.
Now that that’s out of the way, Dr. Wayne Stanton, “a mathematician and leading expert on the four gospels,” has discovered some new meaning in Jesus’ words. According to the good doctor, Jesus was speaking on two levels. One, about the Kingdom of Heaven and two, about future events.
Taking the twelfth, seventh and third letters in Jesus’ words and then using them to create new words, Jesus was apparently sending us coded messages about some startling prophesies. Read the article to find out about a very exciting year in 2010.
Tags: Bible, Four Gospels, Jesus, prophesies
Posted in Irreverant | No Comments »
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