All posts tagged crushin on smart guys
I'm not always wearing my full habit...
The Damage of Apartheid on Desmond Tutu’s Psyche
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
During our interview a few months before he retired in 2010, the Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu shared this heart-wrenching story of flying on a plane out of Lagos, Nigeria. As he boarded the plane, he was beaming with pride, he says, when he saw two black pilots shepherding the plane. While in the air, the plane experienced some bitter turbulence, and at that moment he admits:
“The first thought that came to my mind was ‘Hey, there’s no white men in that cockpit. Are those blacks going to be able to make it?’
Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu is a pivotal figure in helping galvanize South Africa’s improbable and peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy in the 1990s. And he’s been an active participant ever since in the country’s developing story ever since. Despite all the discussions and Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, he helps us realize that the amount of damage done to black South Africans’ psyches is deep-seated. A sober reminder that history is present in incalculable ways.
Jesus weeps. Undercover Nun weeps with him.
To ask middle-class Americans to see American culture as Jesus would see it is to ask them to vote against their own privileged position in society…
(via azspot)
For evolution, the report points out that eight anti-evolution bills were introduced in six state legislatures last year. This year, two similar bills were pre-filed in New Hampshire and one in Indiana. ”And these tactics are far more subtle than they once were,” write the authors. “Missouri, for example, has asterisked all ‘controversial’ evolution content in the standards and relegated it to a voluntary curriculum that will not be assessed … Tennessee includes evolution only in an elective high school course (not the basic high school biology course).” Maryland, according to the report, includes evolution content but “explicitly excludes” crucial points about evolution from its state-wide tests.
U.S. State Science Standards Are ‘Mediocre to Awful’ | Budding Scientist, Scientific American Blog Network (via brooklynmutt)
I have a full-on nerd crush on Dr. Richard Feynman. Of the things he’s written, some of my favorites are his reviews of science textbooks for the state of California.
Science is about discovery, risk-taking, creativity, imagination — all things that come naturally to children! But American schools don’t teach science. Instead, we crush these important traits by teaching our children and youth to memorize facts. Imagine what our next generation could do if we empowered them with their own native imagination, creativity, and intuition!
(via hairtrending)
Luke 11:27-28 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Clearly, Undercover Nun is an Anglican, because I saw this and my first thought was:
Does it really have to be rather? Why can’t it be both?
It’s pretty clear that Mary has had some blessings in her life, though she’s had some really tough challenges, too. Now I want to see a word-by-word translation and look this up in my commentary.
(Source: bluemtnmarc, via radioteopoli)
The Most Badass Excerpt From Barney Frank's Interview With The NY Times
The deepest truth of our human nature is not that we are greedy and selfish but that we hunger and thirst for God, and in God we will find each other.
I get the impression of a culture in which we loose off words at each other with little thought as to their consequences, like children who play at cowboys and Indians without realizing that the guns they use are real. It is as if we have forgotten that speaking is a moral act, demanding the deepest responsibility.
Timothy Radcliffe, OP, in the speech Jurassic Park and the Last Supper, delivered in June 1994 and published in the book Sing a New Song: The Christian Vocation
(emphasis mine)
But the real question is, if millions and millions of people who have never heard of Jesus are going to be tormented forever by God because they didn’t believe in the Jesus they’d never heard of, then at that point we will have far larger problems than a book by a pastor from Grand Rapids.
Rob Bell on his book “Love Wins” (via anarchyofthemind)
Amen! If this really is true, then the gospel is far from Good News, but is in fact just about the worst news possible.
(Source: absurdreasoning, via sapphireblues)
nprfreshair:from xkcd: Wait Wait
This is WONDERFUL! And as always, the alt-text is best of all.
What Perry gets wrong about religion in America
Undercover Nun knows you’ve seen and heard a lot of commentary on Rick Perry’s latest ad. You know, the one with gay commie Aaron Copland music and the Brokeback Mountain outfit and the really, really, truly terrible content. So I beg your indulgence as I point out yet one more piece, written by a bishop of The Episcopal Church for whom I have great admiration and respect.
Rick Perry would be pathetic, if he weren’t so infuriating. In an effort to revive a sinking political campaign, Gov. Perry has reached a new low in promoting himself in a recent commercial.
The governor begins this 30 second spot with “I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian.” He goes on to say things that Christians should be ashamed of him for.
“You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
…
Christians everywhere should be alarmed that a candidate for our nation’s highest office would play fast and loose with both the Constitution and our men and women in uniform. It would be simply pathetic that Gov. Perry would do so in an effort to entice conservative voters, if it weren’t such an abuse of religion and a violation of the Constitution.
Gov. Perry is right about one thing. There is something wrong in America. But surely it begins with disloyalty to our brave troops in the field and violation of the hard-won separation between church and state which protects all Americans.
Go read the whole piece. It’s short and should only take you a few minutes, and it’s worth your time.
