Rodney Hall

“We have backed away from any vision of common ground; we have, instead, divided American life into a set of experiences—Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish; male and female, heterosexual and homosexual; Indian, Anglo American, African American, Mexican American, Asian American. For what were very good reasons, did we over-accent cultural differences?[214”
― Leonard Sweet, Rings of Fire: Walking in Faith through a Volcanic Future

“Reasoning is a lost skill of the children of the TV generation, with their famously short attention span. Writing can help them get it back.”
― William Zinsser, Writing to Learn: How to Write--And Think--Clearly about Any Subject at All

“The hunger and hunt for identity is a driving force of the modern world. But the nature of the self in an age of simulacra, pseudonyms, avatars, gender/racial fluidity, “the wisdom of crowds,” and online friends makes having an identity a massive maze of conquest and confusion. Western Christianity is in permanent identity crisis. For the first time in a millennium of history for much of the West (and soon in the US), Christianity is no longer the default identity for the majority of its population. The percentage of US citizens who claim to be Christian is plummeting (from 85 percent to 75 percent in the last twenty-five years). For the first time in a thousand years, Christianity is now in the minority in England and Wales. What is more significant, Christianity is not the default identity even for many who poll as “Christian.” Their go-to identity is found in other arenas, like class, gender, race, sexuality, politics, and ideology, with ethnicity and sexuality now eclipsing class and religion in forming identity movements, and social divisions (“Eurasianism,” “white power,” etc.) all responding to their sense of impending threat. No wonder the church no longer knows what it means to “pastor” anymore, and pastors themselves are in a state of professional disquiet.”
― Leonard Sweet, Rings of Fire: Walking in Faith through a Volcanic Future

“Wallace shared with the graduates, “In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.”
― Leonard Sweet, Rings of Fire: Walking in Faith through a Volcanic Future