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Sound Bites and Slogans: “Religion is dangerous because it leads to so much violence and conflict”

When it comes to questions of religion and morality, our culture operates at the level of sound bites and slogans. And we need to be prepared to engage at this level. Now, I’m not suggesting we keep the conversation at the level of sound bites and slogans forever, because after all, these are the biggest questions in life and they deserve-even demand-thoughtful answers.

But we’ve all been in situations where it would have been great to have something helpful to say regarding our Christian convictions when we are put on the spot. Again, I am the guy who loves reading books just for the footnotes. These answers are not everything that could be said or even should be said. But they are a good and reasonable starting place when you don’t have much time.
I hope you find this series helpful to give you confidence that there are good answers to people’s questions available and to help you keep important conversations going with friends, family, and co-workers. For as Paul reminds us, we are to be “wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col. 4:5-6 cf. 1 Pet. 3:15).
“Religion is dangerous because it leads to so much violence and conflict”

I appreciate your concern, but I think the first thing we need to do is clarify which religion you have in mind because they all teach very different things. But beyond that, it doesn’t appear to me that religion is the root problem; people are. I think the lesson of history is that almost anything (e.g., politics, science, economics, or religion) can be abused or misused simply because people are involved, and people tend to manipulate, control, or exploit to get what they want. People are the common denominator. This strongly suggests that there’s something broken in the human heart. So for Christians at least, we’ll want to come back to the example, vision, and teachings of Jesus and ask if we are living consistently with that (e.g., loving our neighbors as ourselves). The teachings of the Bible, properly understood, are our standard. Anywhere Christians are out of line with that, then they are deviating from biblical Christianity. But that’s not a religion problem, that’s a heart problem. Thankfully, Jesus offers the solution for that.

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My Recent Interview on God and Culture with Paul Edwards

So how should Christians engage culture? What’s the difference between Jesusanity and Christianity? Here is a short 17 minute interview I did this past week on these and other questions.

See the whole post at God and Culture and listen here.
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Pro-Life Youth Are Turning the Tide for Universal Human Rights

According to Fred Barnes’ article:

“Three pro-life trends have spiked in 2011. The first is the rise in opposition to abortion among young people. The under-30 cohort was the most pro-choice in the 1970s, second most in the 1980s and 1990s. Now they’re “markedly less pro-choice” than any other age group, scholars Clyde Wilcox and Patrick Carr have written. “Clearly, something is distinctive about the abortion attitudes of the Millennial Generation of Americans. Indeed there is. Millennials haven’t grown more religious, politically conservative, or queasy about gay rights. Nor do they go out of their way to vote for pro-life candidates. But they tend to see abortion as a human rights violation. Thus their resistance to abortion is gradually increasing…”

This is an important and hopeful trend. See more helpful analysis at the STR blog, here.

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So….should you let your kids watch Glee?

We’ve already talked abou Yoga this week…so why not add Glee to the mix just to keep things interesting (and a little controversial).

Regarding TV shows in general, Jonathan McKee has written a very helpful article on the three buttons every parent needs to use (required reading here). Personally I think that TiVo / DVR are a great ally to parents today.
But considering that Glee ‘went all the way’ this week featuring two of the show’s teenage couples each losing their virginity, a homosexual couple (Kurt and Blaine), and a heterosexual couple (Finn and Rachel), how should a parent help their kids navigate a really popular show like this?
Time Magazine weighs in with their article, What Teen Sex on “Glee” Really Teaches Kids.

Jonathan McKee has written another helpful article about discernment and the choice he ultimately made for his family with teenagers regarding Glee. (read here)
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 (NLT)
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Is Yoga Demonic?

Now that I have your attention, Should Christians practice yoga? Is there such a thing as ‘Christian yoga’? Are Christians overreacting? Seattle Pastor Mark Driscoll has researched and written a provocative article on this very topic–and wherever you land on this issue–it’s worth a read. Christians should not just mindlessly accept what everyone else has baptized as normal. We need to exercise theologically informed discernment and wisdom. Here are a few excerpts:

“There is nothing wrong with stretching, exercising, or regulating one’s stress through breathing. But when the tenets of yoga are included, it’s by definition a worship act to spirit beings other than the God of the Bible. By way of analogy, there is nothing inherently wrong with intimacy, sex, and pleasure. But when the tenets of adultery are included, it’s a sinfully idolatrous worship act. A faithful Christian can no more say they are practicing yoga for Jesus than they can say they are committing adultery for Jesus.

A little over a year ago, I said yoga was demonic. My stance hasn’t changed since then, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to provide a much fuller and comprehensive teaching on what yoga is and why it is in fact demonic. By demonic I mean it’s a spiritual act to a being other than the God of the Bible. And, for those unfamiliar with me, I’m no raging Christian fundamentalist. My most vocal critics tend to be from the fundamentalist tribe as I do drink alcohol, have been known to use strong language, and talk very frankly about the joys of married s*x. I’m no prude, but I am a pastor.

Giving sound teaching on yoga is important because there is increasing adoption of yoga by our culture, with over 15.8 million people practicing yoga and nearly every store you go into selling all kinds of yoga products. It’s gone mainstream. As such, Christians are also adopting it as a healthy aspect of exercise and lifestyle—complete with things like “Holy Yoga,” which is an oxymoron. Saying yoga can be Christian because you do it for Jesus is a bit like going into a mosque, going through the worship practices, and then saying you’re not a Muslim because you’re doing it for Jesus. They don’t mix.

When looking at the acceptance of yoga in the Christian church, I find that there are two issues at hand: (1) People simply don’t understand what yoga is, its roots, and its tenants; or (2) People think that they can engage in yoga because it’s just stretching, while ignoring the religious aspects of the practice of yoga.

As one woman who identified herself as a mainline Protestant said in an article about my comments a year ago, “Here we go again with fear-based, black-and-white thinking. . . . It’s not fair to say yoga is demonic. In fact, I find it insulting. There are many ways to grow spiritually.” To this I would reply, “No. There are not many ways to grow spiritually. There is one way, which is through the power of the Holy Spirit provided through Jesus’ death and resurrection on the cross, as part of God the Father’s plan for salvation.” Comments like this woman’s are the exact reason why it’s important to explore what yoga really is and what it teaches, and to understand that the spiritual elements of yoga make their way into our life and culture in ways we don’t necessarily see overtly.

In this lengthy post, I’ll define what yoga is, give a history of yoga, talk about the various forms of yoga, and take a look at yoga through the “receive, reject, or redeem” matrix that I commonly use.

What Is Yoga? There are many different types of yoga….” (read the rest here)