• February 5
Rev. Annie Holmes: “Sincerity”
What is the difference between being sincere and simply saying what has to be said to get what we want from people? Oh, maybe the difference between honesty and manipulation
• February 12
Rev. Annie Holmes: “Thriftiness”
I find leftovers of anything not very satisfactory, but so necessary. How does one use the things, people and gifts we have been given in most appropriate way? Hummmmmm, I wonder.
• February 19
Rev. Annie Holmes: “Honesty”
One of my favorite movies is Liar, Liar with Jim Carey. One of the lines from the movie is “no one can be honest all the time,” but what if we were honest all the time? How would our lives change? How would the lives of those around us change? Would it even be a good way to live?
• February 26
Emory Smith: “Christianity and the Klan: Using Religion to Justify Racial Violence”
Through an idiosyncratic reading of the Bible, Klansmen and Nazis claim it is the responsibility of every Christian to eliminate Jews and people of color from the face of the earth, for Christ will not return until the earth is cleared of Satan’s agents. Over 50 churches and bookstores in Oregon support this notion, called Identity Christianity.
Emory Smith, holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Oregon. His dissertation research entailed spending five years in the field observing and interviewing Klansmen, Nazis, and skinheads in the Northwest. He discovered that one of the main driving forces of the “movement” is Identity Christianity.