Sunspots 711

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and Sports) Relevant on whether God cares about who wins a football game.

He Lives assesses Christian's reactions to the Command to "remember the Sabbath."

Education: NPR reports that school bullying has increased in areas in Virginia that voted for President Trump.

Politics: Yes, it's early, but that didn't stop FiveThirtyEight from analyzing the chances of the top ten or so potential Democratic candidates for President, to actually be the Democratic nominee.

From The Daily Beast: Shepard Smith, of Fox News fact-checked President Trump's speech from the Oval Office. There were "facts" that weren't facts.

Michael Gerson on a crisis that isn't really one, about a wall that really isn't a wall, paid for by Mexican pesos that are really US tax dollars, and he goes on.

Catherine Rampell on trading with China -- we need to be careful!

Earther reports that President Trump is still blaming the wrong people and practices for the increase in forest fires in California and elsewhere.

The Interior Department isn't picking up trash, but it is holding meetings for the purpose of granting oil leases in Alaska.

Trudy Rubin argues that border security is not one of our main security problems. President Trump's inflated opinion of himself is.

Science: NPR reports that religious fundamentalism has led to some really strange claims, at the annual Indian Science Congress.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 635

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Listverse tells us about the original Star Trek characters, 10 of them.

Christianity: Perry Noble, fired from the pastorate of what is probably the largest church in South Carolina, because of his alcohol use, almost committed suicide.

Christianity Today on why racially uniform congregations are unfortunate, and why we integrated worship is a good thing.

(Sort of) Relevant reports that a human chain rescued some people from drowning, caused by a riptide, on a beach in Florida.


Education: Scientific American reports that college students would do better if they didn't bring laptop computers to class.

Food: (and religion) Relevant reports that the Catholic church refuses to use gluten-free wafers as part of communion.

Health: (sort of) Listverse tells 10 true horror stories of medical malpractice.

Scientific American reports that most people have at least one episode of mental illness some time in their life, and most of us recover from such episodes.

Listverse discusses some interesting facts about breast implants.

Politics: (or something) The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is composed of 90 large cities, from around the globe, who are attempting to mitigate climate change. It was interesting to discover, in the list of members, huge cities that I had not heard of.

Christianity Today reports that there will be a lot less Christians immigrating to the US in 2017 than did in 2016, because of the Trump administration's policies on admission.

National Public Radio reports that six Afghan girls, formerly refused visas by the US State Department, have been allowed to participate in a robotics competition in the US. President Trump evidently intervened on their behalf.

I didn't choose the title of this post, in the Village Voice, but it's a sane and sobering corrective to the political strife that most of us engage in.

Michael Gerson, Washington Post: "A faith that makes losing a sin will make cheating a sacrament."


Science: Scientific American on how babies perceive and distinguish colors.

Nature reports that scientists have figured out how to store a brief, low-resolution movie in bacterial DNA.




Image source (public domain)

It's all about winning

Clemson University, which is the big-time sports school closest to where I live, fired its head football coach, Tommy Bowden, today. (Or, possibly, he resigned.)

Why do most major colleges have a football program? There are several possible benefits. A football program can attract students, including non-athletes. A football program can provide a way to experience higher education for students who might not have such a privilege otherwise. It provides visibility with the public. It enhances alumni and community interest and loyalty. It generates revenue.

All of these, however, are usually subservient to winning. Clemson was ranked in the top ten in the country before the season started. Whatever that means! One thing it means is that there are high expectations. The expectations were not meant. If you, by chance, are a Clemson football fan, you know all about the current record. If you aren't, you probably don't care about this topic at all, or at least you don't care about the details. Suffice it to say that Clemson is 3-3 on the season, with two of those victories against much weaker opponents. That wasn't enough winning. Bowden announced, a couple of days ago, that his starting quarterback would not start the next game. That wasn't enough change, apparently.

Tommy Bowden is said to be a Christian, and there is good evidence that he is, even though he made at least one decision that Christians might question. (See under Sports, in this previous post.) Can a Christian participate, as a player, trainer, cheerleader, coach, or official, in big-time sports? Of course. But, as in all endeavors, even church, we must be careful to put the first things first. Winning isn't everything. Following Christ is. Sometimes that means games won, sometimes not. Sometimes it means more people in church, bigger buildings, fancier worship programs, sometimes not.

Tommy Bowden couldn't go out there and block for his team. He couldn't catch some of the balls that were dropped. He has now been dropped himself. God's best, whatever it is, to him and his team. I have never attended a game he coached, but have watched several of them. (Having at least $4,000,000 in severance pay will help to cushion the blow, I'm sure.)

Thanks for reading.