CPR Report 9.2.09

A daily roundup of intriguing items on culture, politics, and religion.

Culture

» Sign of the Times: In honor of same-sex marriage becoming legal in Vermont, Ben & Jerry’s has renamed its Chubby Hubby ice cream flavor “Hubby Hubby” for the month .

» When technology reveals too much about us :

One of the best things about Firefox 3 was the arrival of the ‘awesome bar’, an enhanced toolbar that predicted where you wanted to go online based on your browsing history and bookmarks.

However, when Firefox asked users why they weren’t upgrading from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3 they found that the ‘awesome bar’ was a significant reason. Why on earth would something so useful put so many people off? The answer, you’ll be shocked to learn, is probably porn.

‘A lot of people contacted us to say that they had certain bookmarks they didn’t really want to have displayed,’ Alex Faalborg writes on Mozilla’s Blog of Metrics. ‘In some cases users had intentionally hidden these bookmarks in deep hierarchies of folders, somewhat similar to how one might hide a physical object.’

» Propoganda posters from WWII

» David Goldman asks (and answers) the question, “ Why Should America Support Israel? ”

» The story behind the Barack Obama-David Brooks bromance.

» Dan Gilgoff at Newsweeks says “ Obama Has Dramatically Changed Role of Faith-Based Office ”

Reinforcing its new policy role, Obama has brought his office under the purview of his Domestic Policy Council, delighting many faith leaders, particularly on the left. “The Bush office was totally disconnected from policy,” says Wallis.

Such access has upset some on the left, who say religious leaders shouldn’t be shaping government policy, and some on the right, who say the work amounts to politically inspired religious outreach. “We would have gotten killed for doing that,” says Jim Towey, who directed Bush’s faith-based office and notes that religious outreach in the previous administration was handled by the White House Office of Public Liaison, which reported to Karl Rove. “It looks like a political office now.”

» Thomas Peters posts what he calls “ The most awesome Ordination video you’ll ever see ”.

» Timothy George answers the question, “How can Baptists respond to Catholic and Orthodox Christians who challenge our view of the Lord’s Supper as having no deeper historical/Biblical roots than Zwingli?” (Via: Between Two Worlds )

» Roger Overton on the The Virtue of Pride :

As a younger Christian I was always bothered by what I thought was sinful pride or arrogance in Paul’s writings. He repeatedly tells people to imitate him. He powerfully asserts his authority over others. He speaks down to others who are less mature in their faith. What I failed to see is that his pride was appropriate and virtuous, and in itself something we ought to imitate. We ought to be so successful in following Christ that it is good for others to imitate us. We ought to respect spiritual authority and affirm and use it as necessary. We ought to challenge those with less spiritual maturity, which sometimes means using harsh or difficult words.