Category Archives: Social Responsibility

War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century (Part 3)

War in the Bible

Many thanks (again) to the folks at Eisenbrauns for sending me a review copy of War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century edited by Richard S. Hess and Elmer A. Martens (Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement 2). You can read the first part and second part of my review of this book here and here. In this third (and final) post, the chapters we will look at cover diverse ground. One defends Christian pacifism, another looks at the distinction between Just Wars and Crusades. The three final essays take up the issues as they relate specifically to terrorism.
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War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century (Part 2)

War in the Bible Many thanks (again) to the folks at Eisenbrauns for sending me a review copy of War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century edited by Richard S. Hess and Elmer A. Martens (Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement 2). You can read the first part of my review of this book here. Although I had thought I would prefer to post on each essay/chapter separately, I have decided that some of the chapters are better considered together. I would also like to remind you that this is a collection of essays, not one person’s book. There is not one sole opinion being defended. The unifying thread is the desire to seriously consider how to approach war and terrorism in light of the Bible. The two chapters we will look at in this post deal most directly with violence in the text of scripture.
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Coming to my town

Gotta show the home town pride. Major props for the following two events being hosted in the Triangle.


First up, ScienceOnline2010, January 14-17th, 2010 at Sigma Xi in the Research Triangle Park. This is officially an “unconference.” More about conversation than lecture. Here’s a list of who’s coming. And here’s the program. But don’t worry, even if you can’t attend, you can participate. Follow the Twitter account for the conference (@scio10) or the hashtag #scio10.

From the conference website:

This is a conference to explore new ways in communicating scientific exploration. Our goal is to bring together scientists, physicians, patients, educators, students, publishers, editors, bloggers, journalists, writers, web developers, programmers and others to discuss, demonstrate and debate online strategies and tools for doing science, publishing science, teaching science, and promoting the public understanding of science. Our conference addresses a variety of issues and perspectives on science communication, including science literacy, the popularization of science, science in classrooms and in homes, debunking pseudoscience, using blogs as tools for presenting scientific research, writing about science, and health and medicine. In addition to being an internationally known hub of scientific and biomedical research and education, North Carolina has numerous science blogs written by a wide variety of people – see this listing of Science bloggers located in North Carolina here.

I would love to go, but can’t. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be keeping up with the fun.

So, what could follow such a super science spectacular? Why our very own TEDx event!


Yes, TEDxTriangleNC is coming March 6th! If you are not familiar with TED yet, click on over to their site and be prepared to be invigorated and inspired by the short TED talks (videos) you will find there. Riveting. Then mark your calendar for March 6th and plan to attend (in person or online) for the best ideas coming out of the Triangle.

Info-graphic: Life expectancy, Spending on Healthcare, Universal Insurance Comparison

This image from the National Geographic blog speaks volumes. Whatever your opinion of the politics of the healthcare reform, or whether or not you agree with the data presented here, you cannot deny the power of communication of a well-designed info-graphic.

National Geographic Info-graphic Health Insurance
(click for larger image)

The United States spends more on medical care per person than any country, yet life expectancy is shorter than in most other developed nations and many developing ones. Lack of health insurance is a factor in life span and contributes to an estimated 45,000 deaths a year. Why the high cost? The U.S. has a fee-for-service system—paying medical providers piecemeal for appointments, surgery, and the like. That can lead to unneeded treatment that doesn’t reliably improve a patient’s health. Says Gerard Anderson, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies health insurance worldwide, “More care does not necessarily mean better care.” —Michelle Andrews

HT @BoraZ via Twitter

The High Cost of Terrific Sales

A little while ago I received an e-newsletter from the wonderful store where I bought my Heron bicycle. Jill DeMauro runs Proteus BIcycles in College Park, MD, and it is the most unique bike shop around (their website banner reflects the philosophy they live out: It’s not just about bikes). It’s really more like a little community (dinner nights, etc.) Anyway, I was doing some last bits of Christmas shopping today and noticed some prices that were just unbelievable. Lucky me! And then I remembered the message in Jill’s email. I’m just going to paste the whole thing in here because I think she says what I’m thinking about quite well.
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