I have been offline for the past week, grading a couple hundred final exams and papers. It’s exhilarating, and there are always a few surprises. For instance, in Systematic Theology 2 I emphasized that nobody believes anymore that humans are composed of three distinct parts, body, soul, and spirit, except perhaps in some poorly rated churches or Bible colleges. So of course, a quarter of my class proclaimed on their exam that they were, in fact, trichotomists. Either they like the danger of holding unpopular and discredited ideas, or they only remembered my enthusiasm about trichotomy and forgot that I was enthusiastically against it.
I sometimes wonder how such wrong ideas maintain a foothold in the church long after theologians have stopped teaching them. Where do pastors learn such bad theology? Now I know. They are learning it from me!
Last night I celebrated turning in my final grades by playing my first church softball game in about 10 years. I figure it’s time to stop talking about redeeming culture and do something about it, and if we can bring sportsmanship and good will to church softball, then there is hope for fixing health care, the economy, and Afghanistan.
On that note, I would like to apologize for talking smack to the team from Berean Baptist. Yelling “Maybe you should spend less time searching the Scriptures and more time on the diamond” was inappropriate (and funny). I now await your apology for your comments about my porous defense.
On the way home from our drubbing by a team that really should spend more time in the Word and less time practicing homeruns, I inadvertently hit the preset button for a Christian radio station and heard the last half of Focus on the Family. Dobson’s guest was Carrie Prejean, the Miss U.S.A. contestant who lost because she said that she opposed gay marriage.
From the moment this story broke, I was uncomfortable with conservatives rallying behind the string bikini of Prejean. How conservative could she really be if she nearly won a beauty pageant put on by Donald Trump? My suspicions were confirmed by recent reports that she posed for several semi-nude photos.
Yet there she was on Focus on the Family, being hailed by Dobson as a hero for standing up for traditional marriage. And just to make sure that we got the point, Dobson ended his interview by claiming that Miss Prejean had taken her stand from her “deep commitment to Jesus Christ.”
What?! Really?! I am too stunned for words, so I’ll await your comments. What is wrong with this picture? (or right, if you’re into Christian porn).
One final note: I heard today that Donald Trump is considering revoking Prejean’s Miss California crown because she has spent so much time crusading for traditional marriage that she has failed to fulfill the responsibilities of her title. What exactly would these be? Scheduling her next Botox appointment, keeping her breasts properly inflated, or bringing world peace? Hey Donald, world peace is just a platform, no one really expects these ladies to do anything about it.
Mike Wittmer 
Leave a Reply