July 2018 Invitation – Just War and Pacifism

Are you a proponent of “Just War” or “Pacifism”? Now is your chance to fight for your position … or not.

“Just War” is the idea that some wars are good and righteous, and must be fought to accomplish peace and bring and end to evil regimes and the terrible treatment of people by some countries and leaders. Think Nazi Germany.

“Pacifism,” however, is the idea that we are not to engage in violence of any kind for any reason, and that there are other ways than war to achieve peace.

What is your position, and why do you hold it? The July 2018 synchroblog is the opportunity to present your view and have it read by others.

Here are some questions to get your creative juices going:

Is it ever right to engage in war? Is violence sometimes allowed in certain situations? If so, what are the conditions?

Does pacifism “work”? If so, you you have a story to share which might show how it worked in a particular situation? How does Pacifism stop evil and violence?

If there is no such thing as a “Just War,” how do you understand the violent texts of Scripture where God is commanding the Israelites to go to war against others?

Please publish your article on July 24 (not before!), and then post your link in the comment section below. The Link List will get published on July 25 so you can copy it to your blog post. 

We look forward to reading your ideas on these topics!

 

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March 2015 Link List

Here is the list of links for those who contributed to the March 2015 Synchroblog: What I Appreciate about [Other Religions].

Please add the link list to the bottom of your post. Thanks!

• Mark Votava – How Christianity Can Learn from Buddhism
• Justine Steckbauer – Christianity and Other Religions: Many roads or exclusive path?
• Glenn Hager – The Thing About Labels
• Clara Ogwuazor-Mbamalu – What I Appreciate about Islam
• Stuart Delony – I Love Atheists
• Bram Bonius – What can Christians learn from neo-pagans and ‘magickal’ traditions?
• Mictori – Buddhism Reshaped my Easter
• Loveday – What I Don’t Appreciate About Your Religion
• Pastor FedEx – 3 Things Christians Learn from Other Religions
• Leah Sophia – Land, Sun, Community, Crops
• Kathy Escobar – Why I Love Interfaith Conversations
• Dr. Samuel Mahaffy – My House Shall be a House of Prayer for All People
• J. D. Myers – What I Appreciate About Pagans

Holiday Break

The synchroblog team has decided to take a break in December this year.

We are grateful for everyone who continues to participate in the synchroblog and are committed to another great year in 2015.

We hope you have a very merry and bright holiday season and that the coming year is filled with many blessings for you and your friends and family!

July Synchroblog – Give Me Liberty

July is here and I always associate that with Independence Day. I suspect that’s not terribly strange. For this month we’re working with one word: Liberty. You can write whatever you want about that word … what feelings does it evoke? How do you define it? Do you think you live it? Or not? Those are just some ways you could look at it. You could write a poem, or a story, or a more traditional blog post. Just use the word, “liberty” as your starting place and see where you go.

Please comment below with your name and blog post link sometime before the end of the day on Tuesday, July 22 and I will post the link list on July 23.

March 2014 Synchroblog: New Life

As we look forward to Spring, this month’s synchroblog theme is “New Life“. There are no prompts or boundaries. Write or create whatever this theme inspires.

As always, please post your link in the comments below.  The deadline for this month’s synchroblog is Tuesday, March 25.  I will post the link list the following day.

April 2013 Synchroblog – What If … ?

What If … ?

When I was young, I loved to play the ‘what if’ game.  It went like this:  I would imagine an unlikely scenario and present it to my mother to find out what she thought.  Since I had an active imagination, I engaged in this til I drove her to distraction and she would declare, “No more ‘what ifs’!!”  Now that I’m older, I’ve discovered there is a whole group of people who play the ‘what if’ game.  They’re called philosophers!

This month we invite you to play the ‘what if’ game with us.  Try to imagine that some or all of the Bible narrative is not necessarily true history, but is myth of one sort or another.  What sort of effect would that knowledge have on your faith?  What effect might it have on the larger church?  How would it change you?  Would it change you and how you view the world?

We recognize that this might make some or all of you uncomfortable and while we recognize the struggle involved with that sort of discomfort, please feel free to blog about that fact as well.  The ‘what if’ game can involve some prickly feelings and we welcome that as well.

Publish your posts by Tuesday April 16th and share your link here, and we’ll post the final link list on Wednesday morning, April 17th, to add to the bottom of your posts.  If you know other bloggers who might also want to participate, feel free to pass this invitation on.