Popular and controversial progressive Christian blogger Rachel Held Evans died on Saturday. In mid-April, Evans had a severe reaction to antibiotics while battling the flu. Originally, she took a lighthearted response to the situation, joking on Twitter that she was going to fall behind on Game of Thrones. But a few days later, Evans began experiencing seizures and was put into a medically induced coma. As Evans was in the process of being brought out of the coma, her health took a turn for the worse on Thursday and she died Saturday morning. (more…)
In February, the United Methodist Church (UMC) voted to keep its traditional marriage stance. Last week, the UMC judicial council affirmed several of the measures which had been approved. The judicial council is the high court of the UMC. From their website, it says that they determine “the constitutionality of acts or proposed acts of the General, Jurisdictional, Central, and Annual Conferences.”
The result of the February vote was that the UMC would not ordain openly LGBT clergy, nor would they perform same-sex wedding ceremonies. This is something which some regions within the UMC were allowing as the American Methodist churches became more progressive. (more…)
A synagogue just outside of San Diego was attacked yesterday. Lori Gilbert-Kaye, aged 60, died in the attack. Three others were wounded including rabbi Yisroel Goldstein.
A 19 year old has been arrested for the shooting. He’s also being investigated for possibly setting a mosque on fire in the neighboring community. The suspect did not have a criminal record or any known ties to white supremacist groups. During the shooting, an off-duty border patrol agent returned fire. The suspect fled and was eventually pulled over and arrested without incident.
Another tragedy and senseless act of hatred and violence. (more…)
Another story regarding an airport Chick-fil-a. There had already been recent stories of politicians trying to block or hinder Chick-fil-a locations at the San Antonio and Buffalo airpots.
Now it’s San Jose who has set its sites on the popular chicken restaurant. Next month, a new Chick-fil-a is set to open at the San Jose airport. Ir’s an agreement which was made last year.
As is often discussed, Chick-fil-a was founded with Christian values, is closed on Sundays, and donates money to Christian organizations who adhere to Christian values (among those values, traditional marriage).
The San Jose city council (who approved Chick-fil-a opening the location) unanimously voted to fly rainbow flags near the new Chick-fil-a.
What planet are we living on?
How childish can you be?
Santa Clara county supervisor Kevin Yeager said, ““to counter the bigotry of Chick-fil-A and to let people know that even though there’s that restaurant there, the city is showing its support for the LGBTQ community.”
Many in our society hate the values and teachings of Christianity.
These attempts to troll Chick-fil-a are a display of that hatred.
Do elected officials have nothing better to do than to troll and antagonize a successful restaurant that provides jobs? We live in a free country. If people don’t like what Chick-fil-a believes in, they don’t have to go there. Some airports have tried to shut down and interfere with Chick-fil-a.
Matt Walsh, writing for the DailyWire put it well:
This is not normal or healthy behavior. An adult should be able to cope with the fact that not every other adult in the world necessarily agrees with everything they do and think. There are many companies run by people who hold views I find abhorrent. I either choose to patronize those establishments or not, but I am not going to spend years of my life trying to penalize them for the crime of failing to abide by my every ideological whim.
Despite all of the vitriol and opposition, Chick-fil-a continues to dominate as one of the most profitable and beloved fast food restaurants in America. Meanwhile those who oppose the restaurant are doing a great job helping them get lots of free publicity from media outlets.
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Josh Benner has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.
Sri Lankan citizens in the aftermath of Easter terrorist attack: Twitter
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
-John 15:18
A series of coordinated terrorist attacks rocked Sri Lanka on Easter morning. More than 290 people lost their lives in the attacks, with hundreds more wounded. The attacks were carried out against churches during Easter services while other bombings targeted hotels.
Many of the details are still being sorted out. According to the BBC, at least 24 arrests have been made but the Sri Lankan government has not yet identified suspects or a group that they are representing. Extreme measures such as a governmental shutdown of social media sites and an imposed curfew were enforced in an attempt to regain control of the situation.
Sri Lanka is an island nation located to the south east of India. It’s a country with a population of 21 million. Christians make up about 7% of the population.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe!
Josh Benner has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.
