This Week’s Links - Armenia, Vonnegut, Guns, etc. . .

Never Again, Again  (from Even the Devils Believe)

Today [April 24th] the beginning of the Mec Ejer’n, the Armenian Holocaust, is commemorated. A number of people around the blogosphere have posted about it, including Serge (John) and Kyle.

Armenia is very close to my heart. My host family in Russia is Armenian, long-time residents of the RSFSR/Russian Federation, but loyal to Hayastan nonetheless. The memory of the genocide looms large in the Armenian consciousness, in large part because it has gone unacknowledged by many in the world (including the United States, with the Republican Party and many others opposing official recognition of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands Armenians by Turks). Turkey continues to deny the genocide and routinely jails writers and other dissidents for agitating for recognition.

Please keep the people of Armenia, the oldest Christian nation on the planet, in your prayers today. Try to learn a little about the genocide, and if you feel so moved, write your representatives to ask that they further the cause of recognition. We say “never again” often, but too frequently we ignore the truth about these tragic events of the 20th century.

Vonnegut and the Century (from Theolog)

In this week’s Newsweek, David Gates honors Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical fiction and his “appropriate” response to an era that included WW II, the Dresden firebombing, and other 20th-century horrors. Gates mentions a Century interview from 1976: the complete interview is posted here.

God Doesn’t Forgive (from Threads from Henry’s Web)

OK, this is shocking.

Peter Kirk reports that:

I interrupt my normal programme to bring you this shocking quote. Yes, the news is going round that Richard Cunningham, director of UCCF, said

God never forgives - he punishes.

Apparently he said this during a talk at the recent Word Alive conference, the same one which is separating from Spring Harvest.

Go to Peter’s blog and read his discussion on this.

Two Theologians and a Gun (from Waving or Drowning)

In the aftermath of Virginia Tech it’s natural that the gun control conversation should come to the fore once again. Tonight two of my regular theological reads are addressing the subject, albeit from two different perspectives.

First, there’s John Stackhouse, in response to the question, “How could this happen?”

So here’s one simple answer: guns.
No, I’m not about to sound off about gun control. And no, I’m not saying that the individual wasn’t to blame, or that his parents aren’t to blame, or that society isn’t to blame, or that God isn’t to blame. All of those are valid sites for analysis and reflection.

Here I want to say something a little different, at least for a theologian, and I need to say so in two parts.

You can read on here.

Then Ben Witherington makes another keen observation:

It is interesting to me that even most American Christians, when they discuss these things, discuss them in terms of their Constitutional rights to bear firearms. They don’t ask whether the New Testament might have anything to say about Christian conduct in this regard.

Read Ben’s essay here. Food for thought.