Big Sole Blog (BSB)

With all this talk of the Vatican's papal conclave choosing another Pope in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's departure, along with the rumors of why he retired, the song "Pope" (1993) by Prince (His Royal Purpleness), keeps running through my head. The song is included on his album, "The Hits/the B Sides," a compilation of his early hits. In particular, I recall the song's chorus, which follows

When I heard about the horrific shooting at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc., yesterday, I immediately assumed it was a hate crime, but I hoped it was a domestic violence incident such as the one in Lakeland, Fla., last year in which a man burst through the doors of a Christian church and shot two people. Earlier he had shot his own wife to death in their home. I had hoped the shooting at

Are there any men out there who will boycott Chik-fil-A because Dan Cathy also downed men who divorce and remarry? He said, ". . . and we are all married to our first wives." (I guess he voted for Obama in 2008, not McCain.) More than likely he disapproves old-school Mormonism, drinking and smoking, and probably scientists who believe in evolution, too. Seriously, it is not news that Cathy is

President Barack Obama more than likely ticked off people on both the right and the left with his recent argument that raising taxes on the rich lines up with Jesus' teaching that "to whom much is given much shall be required." On the right there will be those angry because they believe (and are wrong) that Obama is not a Christian and so he has no right to quote Jesus Christ. On the left there

I remember hearing the news in November 2008 that someone had burned down Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Massachusetts in backlash for President Barack Obama's historic win, and I thought then, "And so it begins." With Obama's election it seemed there would be a rise in white supremacist violence, and there was for a while. That's the bad news.The good news is that the church has been

I just read a provocative article by John Blake at CNN.com, "Actually, that's not in the Bible," and I left a comment, but with 6,200 comments and rising, I doubt he or anyone else will read my thoughts there. (The article's been shared on Facebook nearly 46,000 times already) So, here is what I said:I agree with this article, but have two considerations. I think the saying "This too shall pass"

Nietzsche v. Jesus Christ from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo.The video above features Dallas Willard lecturing at Stanford University in 2002 on objective versus subjective constructs. He is comparing and contrasting the teachings of Jesus Christ to those of Nietzsche. From a description from the video's sponsor, the Veritas Forum:"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," Jesus said. "God is dead,"

Just when I thought some Tea Party leaders could sink no lower, I learn that one of its most prominent leaders, according to the Huffington Post, is calling for the United Methodist Church to be disbanded. I take this personally since I grew up in the UMC.My grandfather and great-grandfather were UMC ministers and many of my family members are still on its rolls. In fact, I've been thinking about

Is this controversy with boycott the same as objections to The Last Airbender casting? As Rosanna Rosanna Danna would say, "It's always something!"I just read at The Root and the U.K. Guardian that a white supremacist group in the U.S.A. is boycotting the superhero movie Thor because British black actor Idris Elba has been cast as the Norse god Heimdall. Wikipedia says Heimdall is called "the

O.K., while it's inaccurate to say the American government infected black men and women with syphilis at Tuskegee (failure to treat is horrific enough), it is clearly accurate to say the U.S. "purposely infected" people in Guatemala with STDs in the 1940s. Shameful! And some of us are shocked to discover that some people of color don't trust the USA.The U.S.A. has apologized to the people of

Astronomers, have discovered an Earth-like planet, according to Yahoo! News via the AP. It's called a "Goldilocks" as an allusion to "The Three Bear" story when Goldilocks talks about porridge being not too cold, not to hot but "just right."My blogging buddy, Deborah White of From My Brown Eyed View, commented on Facebook:I hope that human kind leaves this planet alone. This one is already

"Why Can't I Own a Canadian?" and are conservative Christians leading people to Jesus or away from him? The first question is the title of a letter penned sometime before 2002 in response to Dr Laura Schlesinger's comments about homosexuality in the Old Testament. She is a conservative who once said she was an Orthodox Jew but supposedly distanced herself from orthodoxy later.My friend Regis

As posted in 2002 at Humanists of Utah.Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which

I just published a post at Examiner.com about the latest Anne Rice flap regarding her Facebook post saying she "quit Christianity." A more careful reading of her remarks reveals that while the novelist is disillusioned with organized Christianity, in particular the Roman Catholic Church, she's still a believer. Rice will still quote the Bible and share her faith in Christ Jesus, but she's fed up

This post has been cross-published at at BlogHer.comIllustration: Bryan Christie designCalculating the rise and fall of science fiction books, television shows, and movies, I've determined the obvious. Science fiction is no longer dismissed easily as distractions for geeky misfits or as fanciful tales for children, and that may be because the world's observed science fiction over the years

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cStephen Protherowww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorFox NewsI love Stephen Colbert's interviews with authors. How he purposely misunderstands makes me laugh; however, his show is a spoof of Fox's O'Reilly factor, and I think Bill O'Reilly does not misunderstand on purpose. He actually does not understand. Colbert