'Tis the Season of Belief and Unbelief

The 23rd Skeptics Circle is up at Circadiana. Incidentally, the Carnival of Bad History is in search of its next host. If you're interested, write to badhistory*at*aol*dot*com.

Tim Burke,"Unbelief and Imagination," Easily Distracted, 8 December, on Narnia as a Christian narrative or a religio/mythical potpourris.

Jamie Wilson,"Nigerian Church Puts Texans' Love for their Neighbors to the Test," The Guardian, 5 December, asks whether Klan Kountry kan accept modernity. Wilson may be asking the wrong question. Can the Nigerians convert Texas to Christianity? That's a much bigger challenge, I think. Thanks to Ben Brumfield at Horizon for the tip.

Laurie Goldstein,"When Christmas Falls on Sunday, Megachurches Take the Day Off," New York Times, 9 December, puts the lie to the whole"Merry Christmas"/"Happy Holidays" fru-fru. The mega-churches have traded Christmas in for a Holiday. Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois will send home a DVD with a"heartwarming contemporary Christmas tale" for its congregants to play on Christmas morning. Why not routinize the whole thing? You could send out bottled water, fruit juice, and airline snack kits as do-it-yourself sacraments.