Always Hope

Apparently US Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann is a card-carrying "submissive wife", an irony which is examined in this thought-provoking report , well worth a quick read for the issues it raises. The backlash against feminism is one of the defining features of contemporary evangelical Christianity. For those on the conservative end, it has become almost a point of honour to say that you are not a feminist.  Some readers may be tempted to see this as a purely American phenomenon, but it remains a hot potato for the church in this country too. Even the Church of England is affected, as conservative evangelicals join the resistance to women bishops.  The difference between here and the States is that the public clout of US evangelicals brings the debate into the main political arena. The resistance has been organised around the label of  "Complementarianism", a new label which describes a old belief. Complementarians, led by Wayne Grudem and the redoubtabl...

Thanks to the incredibly well-informed eChurch Christian Blog for putting the spotlight on the Qur'an-burning church in Florida. Today's post on that blog highlights the way in which their actions are endangering the lives of Christians in Islamic parts of the world. As another example of when biblical Christianity goes bad (see my previous post of that title), I invite you to explore the website of the book-burning church, the inappropriately named Dove World Outreach Centre. While there might be some comic elements about it (Q: "why would we put up a sign like this?" A: is it because you don't own a ruler or have any grasp of the proper use of capital letters?) this is actually in a different league to the curious madness of the Latter Rain Ministries. Dove is nasty. Quite apart from frothing at the mouth at their own local authorities for refusing them a "burn permit" (what?), this church seems to be intent on defining itself by what it opposes, ra...