Category Archives: Current events

My People Are under Attack!

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

I think Christians, regardless of race or ethnicity, ought to think of themselves as co-belligerents (without bellicosity!) for the Kingdom of God. For that reason, when I hear of stories like this (church burnings in multiple states) or the murderous … Continue reading →

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The “We Need More Guns” Solution

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

The standard response of one side to horrendous shootings is, “We need gun control!” I’m not going to address that now. The standard response from the other side is, “We need more guns. If we had more guns, particularly more … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Jesus, Stanley Hauerwas, Violence, War | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Kahneman’s WYSIATI and the American Church

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

I’ve known WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) for many years. Recently I read Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow and learned a related idea – WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is). Kahneman is NOT arguing that … Continue reading →

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Reading For the Sake of the Bride

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Richard Heyduck

Here in the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, we’ve been encouraged to read Steve Harper’s recent book, For the Sake of the Bride. Bishop Huie is preparing us to have discussions in the various districts. I’ve just finished the … Continue reading →

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Against Separation, Part 2

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Richard Heyduck

The United Methodist Church is a large, bureaucratic institution. “Connectionalism,” is one of our highest values, “congregationalism” one of the vices we most loudly decry. These aspects of our polity mean that what happens at the top really matters. When … Continue reading →

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Against Separation, Part 1

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Richard Heyduck

When I was ordained, Bishop Oliphint asked me and the other candidates a series of questions inherited from John Wesley. Methodists of various sorts have been asking and answering these questions for a couple centuries now. There’s nothing new here. … Continue reading →

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A Suspicion about Bubbles & Inequality

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Richard Heyduck

When I’ve read about retirement planning I’ve often seen references to savings earning a return averaging 8% a year (just recently I’ve seen the 6% figure used). That’s been tougher to find lately, as “safe” investments (federally insured accounts) are … Continue reading →

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In or Out?

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Living organisms and organizations have boundaries. There is always some sort of line demarcating X from not-X. Some of these markers are positive, some negative. This is an unpopular reality for some. We shout “No boundaries!” as if everything flowed … Continue reading →

Posted in Church & State, Clash of Civilizations, Culture, Current events, Politics, United Methodism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Devaluation

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Reading this post from Tyler Cowen reminds me of one of my perceptions of our current economic crisis: Whether deflation is happening in the US or not, we are facing an major societal pressure toward devaluing. 1. We see increased … Continue reading →

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Praying for Egypt

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Is your heart broken for Egypt yet? After a generation of authoritarian misrule the Arab Spring gave so many hope for a better future. Not able to agree on what that “better future” looked like – a return to the … Continue reading →

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