Blogs I Liked In March

I went BLOG-READIN' CRAZY in March. Or at least people wrote a lot of good stuff. So here are a few of the ones I read and particularly enjoyed.

More Silly

I Want To Have a Beer With This Guy at Failbook. This guy writes the most interesting Facebook statuses ever.

Then I Went To Hell by John Shore over at JohnShore.com. Despite how the title sounds, this is a silly post making fun of a silly church sign. I love his long list of possible future signs.

Till Undeath Do Us Part, Part 5 from Not Always Romantic. This absolutely sounds like something I would accidentally say.

Ring By Spring or Your Money Back at Stuff Christians Like. As someone who was single at a Christian college for 2 years and is now in a relationship at a Christian college... this is all completely accurate. And occasionally infuriating. :-)

We Don't Need Another HTML Hero by You Suck At Craigslist. I know I instantly want to hire this guy to make me a web site.

More Serious (complete with quotes from my favorite part of the blog)

Santorum Exposes the Real Republican Party by Andrew Sullivan at The Dish. My favorite part is this section of comments down toward the end:

. . . beneath Christianism is a deep fear of the human mind - as if they actually believe that reason is stronger than religion and therefore must be restrained. As if the human mind can will God out of existence. . . . . There is a reason [Santorum] doesn't want many kids to go to college.

How Establishment Corrupts Religion: A Case Study by Fred Clark at Slacktivist

A prayer that included an appeal for divine help “to be kind” ceased to have anything to do with either kindness or prayer once it became an established, state-sanctioned symbol of privilege for a particular sect.

You're Not Alone, You're Lonely by Sarah Kidd at Introverted Church

I discovered that in my new language, Hindi, there is no distinction between the words “alone” and “lonely”. I felt like crying.

No Solitude, No Revelation by Susan Cain at The Power of Introverts

(Quoting Rabbi David Wolpe) Those of us who stand on the side at the party, or prefer not to go, do not devalue others. We just find that we can be truest to them when we have stored up quiet moments in the private reservoir that nourishes our souls.

Lord of the Introverts by Adam S. McHugh at Introverted Church

I realized that the two central characters of Tolkien's hobbit tales - Bilbo and Frodo - show some of the most introverted tendencies in the books, which is what makes their stories so compelling. They did not choose their adventures or their missions, they were chosen for them. They were small, short, unlikely, uninteresting creatures who tilled gardens and smoked pipes, but they became central figures in the plot to save the world from evil.

Twilight: Lying Liars Who Lie by Ana Mardoll at Ana Mardoll's Ramblings

[Bella is] cynical and quietly manipulative, and while I was able to give that behavior a pass when it seemed like a survival strategy, it's another thing entirely when she's pumping a young boy for information about an older boy that she intends to chase after just as soon as she gets what she needs from the younger one.

. . . Bella Swan is far, far more guilty of betrayal than anything Edmund Pevensie ever did.

What Is This I Don't Even Know at Forever In Hell

This is a very common meme in the world of male-female relationship advice . . . Women want to be loved, men want to be respected, because to men, love is respect is love. . . .

Okay, I have readers with ladyparts: Are any of you capable of feeling loved while simultaneously feeling disrespected by the same person? How would that even work?

15 Reasons I Left Church by Rachel Held Evans

2. I left the church because when we talked about sin, we mostly talked about sex.

6. I left the church because sometimes I doubt, and church can be the worst place to doubt.

10. I left the church because of my own selfishness and pride.

Fox News Ruins a Life, Right Up to the End by Fred Clark at Slacktivist

I wouldn’t say Fox News is directly responsible for this woman’s death, although her allegiance to their fear-mongering and lies certainly contributed to her not getting the medical attention she needed.

But set aside the role Fox News played in her death and consider the role it played in her life. Watching Fox News made this poor woman miserable. She lived in needless terror, troubled by a constant anxiety that was manufactured and fabricated by political operatives posing as journalists.

Will You Always Believe In Jesus, Mama? by an anonymous guest blogger at Rachel Held Evans' site

My six year old had just confirmed this very sentiment. In the end, he wasn’t opposed to believing in Jesus, he was just sorely disappointed that no one seemed to show up when he really needed it. So he thought that perhaps something else would work better and started looking. I pray that as he searches, that he will find answers that speak to his heart, engage his mind, and soothe his soul. I pray that he will understand that following Jesus doesn’t always feel like we’re glowing, just growing.