Adrian Warnock does not often openly criticisize Catholicism, a fact that demonstrates his desire to emphasize unity in the body of Christ over differences in ecclesiology. So, when he does criticize the Catholic Church, it really catches my attention.
"When church music directors lead the congregation in singing some praise music, I often listen stoically with teeth clenched. But one Sunday morning, I cracked. We had been led through endless repetitions of a meaningless ditty called, ‘Draw Me Close to You.’ The song has zero theological content and could be sung in a nightclub, for that matter. When I thought it was finally and mercifully over, the music leader beamed at us and said in a cheerful voice, ‘Let’s sing that again, shall we?’ ‘No!’ I shouted loudly. Heads all around me spun while my wife cringed."
"I admit I prefer more traditional hymns. But even given that, I am convinced that much of the music being written for the Church today reflects an unfortunate trend—slipping across the line from worship to entertainment. [We] are in danger of amusing ourselves to death, to borrow the title of the classic Neil Postman book
."
That quote might have been written by any number of disgruntled (neo-, ultra-, or otherwise) traditionalist Catholics I know, but it wasn’t. Chuck Colson, a prominent Evangelical wrote it. Read the rest and leave a comment here so we can discuss this problem Evangelicals and Catholics must face together.
On a side note, Amused to Death is also the title of a very good Roger Waters solo album
What can be said that hasn’t already been said about the surprisingly widespread practice among churches of a certain size and disposition of cancelling Sunday services this year because they happen to conflict with the Feast of Our Lords’ Nativity, a.k.a., Christmas? Amy Welborn tackles it here. Terry Mattingly at GetReligion shakes his head here. (Ack! Even while I was typing this I see that Jim Kushiner of Touchstone’s Mere Comments reports on the story by way of the Middle West’s “Paper of Record”.) Get the seminal, lowly, and unassuming Louisville Courier-Journal article here, from which I quote:
Southland Christian Church near Lexington is joining several evangelical megachurches across the country in canceling services for the holiday, which this year falls on a Sunday.
Officials at the church, where about 7,000 people worship each week, said the move is designed to allow staff members and volunteers to spend the holiday with their families.
The Detroit Free Press, in expanded coverage, adds this bit to the story:
“It’s more than being family friendly. It’s being lifestyle-friendly for people who are just very, very busy,” said Willow Creek spokeswoman Cally Parkinson.
What can be said that hasn’t been said, indeed? Leave it to me to try…
I can hear the fundies shrieking and hissing about this already…
"Whoever seeks peace and the good of the community with a pure conscience, and keeps alive the desire for the transcendent, will be saved even if he lacks biblical faith, says Benedict XVI."
On a side note, can anyone verify that my title is correct Latin? Instead of "Extra ecclesiam nulla salus [est]", i.e., "Outside the Church there is no salvation", I wanted "Might there be salvation outside the Church?".
Last month, various Christian groups, mostly Evangelical, got their burlap undies in a twist over a Budweiser advertising campaign.
"The Anheuser-Busch Company says it is pulling the plug on its promotion of a drinking game called ‘Bud Pong.’ However, a Harvard researcher is predicting the game will continue to wield damaging influence among college students."
"Bud Pong, a game distributed by beer wholesalers to bars in 18 U.S. states, is played by bouncing ping pong balls into cups, with players taking a drink if they lose a point. Anheuser-Busch claims the game is supposed to be played with water — not beer. And now, since the New York Times has reported that many players are filling the cups with beer instead of water, the company has announced that it is ending the promotion."
Both are full of crap. "Bud Pong" is really beer pong and it’s probably been around as long as beer and ping pong have. Budweiser didn’t invent it and isn’t some new social evil that’ll ruin college students for life. Bud knew damn well that folks would put something stronger than water in the cups, and Evangelicals should have visited Google before announcing the Next Big Disaster in Liberal Education™. Oh, and a big "Duh!" goes to the Harvard researcher for predicting that a game that’s been played for several generations will continue to be popular. What a bunch of ass hats.