Vox populi | founders (pc version)

P

olitical correctness, as it is, even finds its way into Salvation Army history.  I’ll offer my take on this with the non-pc translation in (brackets).  My life-partner (formerly: my wife) would find this most egregious (trans: kick me in the rear…hahahah…not really, she wouldn’t pay it any attention (trans: give a rip), but it gives me a funny line).

However, here’s where I’m going on this… In our desire to apply political correctness to every aspect of our life there has risen a debate, and I do mean “risen” because it requires invoking the spirit of the co-founder (formerly founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth). There seems to be concern in calling William Booth the “Founder” of TSA because it ignores the role Catherine Booth (formerly: Mrs. Booth, or in the dark ages, ‘his wife’) as a cofounder of TSA. At CFOT [ed: College for Officer Training, Canada & Bermuda Territory] we have stained glass panels in our foyer, which say WB “Founder” and CB “The Army Mother”. So far they have not entered into the PC debate (trans: whining).

› Continue reading

Islam and Christianity

by Adrian Gosling

M

y class of 11- and 12-year-olds were set an interesting question during their recent summer term Religious Studies examination: “What can we learn from the way that Muslims practice their faith?”  Their answers were fascinating and informative.  Some pupils suggested how non-Muslims could gain an understanding of what devotion and commitment mean.  Some said Muslims could show us the importance of prayer in daily life.  Others wrote that Muslims help us see how we can make people feel part of a community.

As Christians, we can learn much from many other faiths.  But with certain faiths, the link goes even deeper.  With fellow Christians, Jews and Muslims, we share the inheritance of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition.  Belief in one God aligns us together in certain key respects, giving us a different interpretation of the meaning of deity to those who follow Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist philosophies and practices.

› Continue reading

Shade of grey | Golden Compass

I

went with a couple of good friends to see the infamous Golden Compass; my in-box still full of warnings from well-intentioned people suggesting that it would be a route to atheism. The problem of course being that these people - no doubt never having been to see the film or read the books - fit the bill of church that quite obviously so appalled Pullman when he wrote his clever allegory. A church that dictates faith constructs through fear and entrenchment.

› Continue reading

Impact of inequality

by Richard Wilkinson

A

lthough many people believe inequality is socially divisive and adds to the problems associated with relative deprivation, what inequality does or does not do to us has remained largely a matter of personal opinion.  But now that we have comparable measures of the scale of income inequality in different societies we can actually see what effect it has.  The new evidence shows that inequality is much the most important explanation of why, despite their extraordinary material success, some of the most affluent societies seem to be social failures.

What greater equality brings
In societies where income differences between rich and poor are smaller, the statistics show that community life is stronger and more people feel they can trust others.  There is also less violence – including lower homicide rates; health tends to be better and life expectancy is higher.  In fact most of the problems related to relative deprivation are reduced: prison populations are smaller, teenage birth rates are lower, maths and literacy scores tend to be higher, and there is less obesity.

› Continue reading

Ragamuffin: US election

All eyes are watching this race

M

aybe you have heard the definition of “Politics”? Derived from two words: “poly” meaning “many” and “ticks” meaning “blood sucking creatures”!

We are in the midst of the presidential showdown for the top job here in the United States.  The Democrats and the Republicans are the main two camps. There are other sects but they are less prominent. So every four years we go to the commercials, the debates, the attack ads and smear campaigns so we can figure out who are going to be the nominees.

Right now we basically have Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democrats. Which is ground breaking since it is a choice between a woman and a minority. The race is about more than just that of course. The Democrats are usually considered “liberal” and spenders. The Republicans have a guy, John McCain, with a conservative Christian still in the race but mathematically not able to win the nomination.

› Continue reading

Thinkaloud | community standards

Who creates them?

A

mong the latest “buzz words” used by those who seem bent on influencing our society is the phrase “community standards.” But how are these community standards determined? Does a town or city or village, or, for that matter, any community of people, just evolve a set of standards? Do the rules of behaviour just happen? Is there an instant consensus? Of course not.

Community standards in Canada have been set by God-fearing people who knew the difference between right and wrong, who knew the tragic results of moral pollution, and who realized, as had civilizations before them, that biblical standards of conduct were the foundation for any community standards. The laws of this land are based on biblical precepts, and the ordering of life in any community flows from such laws.

› Continue reading

Double~take | Quid est veritas?

What is truth?

J

esus didn’t answer this question. Whether Pilate cut him off, or he just didn’t answer - it’s the one that you really wish he had answered. Like when you’re in a room full of people talking, and all of a sudden someone says something that causes complete silence – everyone wants to hear the response…

WHAT IS TRUTH?

It’s not just physical. The best artist in the world could draw exactly what he sees. Like Michelangelo maybe. And you would catch your breath at their skill, and look at the beauty of their work in amazed appreciation. But it wouldn’t be all of what was really there – only ever what they could see from their perspective, and only ever what could be seen with their eyes.

› Continue reading

Digital hiccups

theRubicon has been off-line for the past 18 hours or so
due to a database and coding error.
We’re back online now.
Thanks for your patience.

theRubicon team

Vox populi | emergent nerves

… turn it over to the young

I

’m seeing a wave of dialogue with young people in the Canada and Bermuda Territory in relation to future leadership, training in discipleship, and what is needed to move forward. There are focus groups, conferences, and questionnaires asking for the input of young adults.

Here’s the rub… I don’t get to speak into this because I’m 43. I am officially old, but isn’t it possible I have something to say about this stuff? I know about emergent village, and PoMo (hahaha, that probably just showed my age), but seriously, what wisdom, knowledge or experience do the 20-somethings have in relation to direction for future leadership development? From my perspective I find that most are willing to complain and criticize, but not willing to engage in the process of change. Sounding old again, huh? So, I’m faced with my own questions linked to the motivation behind these movements. Or perhaps I ask these questions from the perspective of being part of a system.

› Continue reading

Birthday time again

T

oday, theRubicon is marking a birthday. It’s been a year since we re-launched with a new design. And next month, we will be marking the second anniversary of the initial launch of theRubicon in March 2006.

Since our redesign and re-launch last year, we have received over 100,000 hits from 12,500 individuals (unique IPs); 1,600 websites and blogs have linked themselves to theRubicon. We have also received interactive participation in the form of comments from all over the western world and even Russia, Pakistan, Asia and Africa.

› Continue reading