When Responding to Critics Becomes Destructive
With a million different ideas about what is true and what it means to live well, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. Rather than devoting all of our time and energy to things we don’t agree with, though, we should ask ourselves some important questions. Does this issue really matter in the grand scheme of things? Is it truly imperative for me to have the last word on this topic? If everyone believed exactly as I did on this issue, would it actually make the world a better place?
Yes, we could make our worship more about Him and less about us. Yes, we could make our identity and goals more about service and less about ritual and our own comfort. Sure, we could work harder on that “love one another” thing and stop shooting each other over every single difference in opinion. And it would be nice if we let this or that church make their own decisions without loading cannons and firing off Open Letters…
But where would I go? I can make a living doing a variety of other things – I’m qualified to go make a lot more money working in science and medicine – but that’s not the point. Whether or not I work as a minister or a scientist I cannot leave the church.
Because that is where the community of faith gathers. That is where the Table is spread to celebrate our Lord. That is where we rejoice at baptisms. That is where we bear one another’s burdens. That is where we share our stories. That is where we share our goods and our lives. That is where Jesus and the departed saints gather (as in Hebrews 12) for they come to us when we gather in community.
I am a Marriage and Family Therapist and a Licensed Professional Counselor who sees many clients who have been involved in an affair. Many of these clients are Christians who never intended to get into this situation. In fact, they are shocked themselves that this could happen. So, what does happen? All situations are not the same, of course, but there are some patterns that I think we should be aware of.
Social media and death announcements
Yet, social media presents a formidable obstacle in handling this properly. Families must develop a policy concerning deaths among their relatives. Absolutely no one announces the death on social media until all the relatives and close friends are properly notified and permission is granted.
With almost one billion accounts on Facebook, we must all be aware of these things. No one should find out about the death of a loved one through social media. The wounds of grief are too deep to make it worse by callousness.
Argentina’s Long Struggle for Justice in Jewish Center Bombing
The case of a 1994 terrorist attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires remains unresolved, with a series of investigations having fallen apart. In the latest twist, special prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead a day before he was scheduled to testify in congress. See key dates in the case.
Privacy is dead, Harvard professors tell Davos forum
Political scientist Joseph Nye tackled the controversial subject of encrypted communications and the idea of regulating to ensure governments can always see even encrypted messages in the interests of national security.
“Governments are talking about putting in back doors for communication so that terrorists can’t communicate without being spied on. The problem is that if governments can do that, so can the bad guys,” Nye told the forum.
Drunken spy satellite agency employee crashed drone on White House lawn
The yet-unnamed employee reported the incident to his superiors at NGA. He claimed to have been drinking at an apartment near the White House when he decided early Monday morning to fly a friend’s new DJI Phantom drone. He claimed that he then lost control of the drone. Soon after the drone slipped unnoticed over the White House fence, it was spotted flying low over the grounds before it crashed into a tree.