Blood

This is a crucifix. It is arresting in its depth and features, and truth be told, it makes me uncomfortable. It's sort of like the real world.

Some are bothered by the notion that Christ's blood was shed for the sins of the world, regarding such theology as primitive and violent. But consider the extraordinary - the idea that the Creator of all that is and was...even has blood. That the omnipotent Divinity has plasma and cardiovascular chambers and a nervous system. What an incredible thought.

"No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshiped; no other man has been so devoutly loved." -John Knox

Americans - and presumably other countries - are locked in a debate about what is/is not torture (if you have to ask...) and whether or not it "works" (who cares if it "works!") and Religion Dispatches has a thought-provoking piece about the intersection of military abuse and Evangelical atonement theology. Here is an excerpt:

"Even one of the soldiers engaged in the abuse thought the detainees looked like Jesus. In a letter written home while she was stationed at Abu Ghraib, Private Sabrina Harman wrote, 'I cant [sic] get it out of my head. I walk down the stairs after blowing the whistle and beating on the cells with a [baton] to find ‘The taxicab driver’ handcuffed backwards to his window naked with his underwear over his head and face. He looked like Jesus Christ.'"

Read it here.