Pronouns...HUH!

Recently I came across this fascinating article outlining a new proposal in the search for a gender-neutral pronoun. Ever since people decided it wasn't kosher to use "he" to mean "he or she," the problem has been a thorn in the foot of grammarians. The most common solution has been to use "they," as in, "Why would somebody steal my cab?" "Well, maybe they were late." But that just sounds like nails on a chalkboard to those of use who secretly love books like Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.

So what's an anal English speaker to do? A professor of English at Johns Hopkins has suggested replacing he, she, him, her, his, and hers with "hu." Apparently this is pronounced "huh." As in, "War...HUH! What is it good for?" I can see the grammatical need, but I don't know if "hu" would ever catch on. In fact, I'm giggling just thinking about using it seriously in a sentence. Who knows, maybe I'll have to eat my words in 50 years like Old English speakers had to, after yeers of speling lyke thys (or something like that). Well then, out with the old, in with the "hu!"

Grownup?

Tonight I hung out with my good friend Laura, and we decided to grab some dinner at Applebee's and then go to the 8:30 showing of "Knocked Up." (Sorry if those quotes are out of place, Bethany.) We had some time between dinner and the movie so we wandered around Meijer's and played with the appliances.

I dawned on me recently that in approximately a year I'm actually going to be a real, live on-my-own grownup, and that I might actually need things like non-stick skillets and those mini grill sandwich cooker things. And I thought to myself, "Geez, how do people get all this stuff?" And then it occurred to me that they get married and register for everything at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Man, how unfair is it that people who are getting married get all this free stuff and I'm getting unceremoniously shooed out of the nest with a hand-me-down toaster oven from my grandma?

Of course it's not just about toaster ovens. It's about not experiencing the unspoken initiation into adulthood. It seems as if only after I get married will my parents say, "Ok, now we won't look at you sideways when you pour yourself a glass of wine, and there is no way you're sitting at the kid's table at Christmas."

I'm fine with being single, and frankly kind of excited to be able to do whatever I want to after graduation. But life just feels goofy and undefined right now, and I'm wondering whether I'm destined to walk the blurry line between youth and adulthood until I tie the knot...or turn 40.

I've been tagged!

Meg tagged me in one of these chain-blogger things that is giving me flashbacks to all those forwards that circulated around my 8th-grade class. There's a reason these things don't die...they're fun! Here goes:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I got a birthmark lasered off my face in 1st grade and it got me in the newspaper because it was some sort of new technology back in the early '90's. :)

2. One time I got in such a bad biking accident that I knocked my braces right off my teeth.

3. My parents live next door to an Olympic hockey player, Mike Knuble. However, I've seen him more on TV than in person.

4. In high school I was so obsessed with ER that I could rattle off the titles of 8 seasons worth of episodes and give a brief synopsis of quite a few of them.

5. One time a friend and I decided that it would be fun to climb the roof of Commons. We made it, and then had to duck when we saw a Campus Safety car in the FAC parking lot.

6. I went to Belize this past January and learned how to dance the Punta. But only after a couple panty rippers, the national drink of Belize.

7. I was on the golf team in high school. That was a near-disaster, but at least I can hit my seven-iron fairly consistently.

8. I can't stand it when people say "good" instead of "well," but sometimes I slip and do it anyway.

Ok! I tag Al, Andrea, Bethany, Deborah, Evangelicals Anonymous, Joyce, Megan, and Melanie.

Synod Part 2

I watched the discussion of Third Wave Pentecostalism, and I have to say that I was really disappointed. Some advisory committee decided that they were going to adopt the majority report and the minority report was pretty much tossed out without giving the delegates a chance to vote on which one to adopt. Despite all the formalities, it was pretty obvious that they were all a little ticked off, raising several objections to the tune of, "Hey! What about the minority report?" But Synod insisted that they were only going to talk about the majority report. Never mind that the minority report was more clearly reasoned and grounded in scripture and reformed theology (at least in my opinion). They pretty much said that they were going to adopt the majority report, but that they wanted it revised for Synod 2009 because it lacked thorough explanations and scriptural support. I guess it just goes to show that when The Powers That Be can't make up their minds, you have to look at the material yourself and make up your own.

I saw in the obituaries (yes, I always read them) that one of my residents at Holland Home died on Tuesday. It was really weird to read that, because I remember giving him a shower just last week. And then I thought to myself, "Man, that was probably the last shower he ever had. I hope I did a good job." He joked with me a little and made me guess how old he was. It turns out that he was 100. And he was very proud that he had been a member at Eastern Ave. CRC every one of those 100 years. I hope that our generation can carry on the work of the denomination that he loved so much.

Synod '07

So I'm sitting here watching the webcast of the Synod discussing the role of women in church office. Within 30 seconds of beginning to watch it, my stomach twisted and I thought to myself, "So this is what the gay folks must feel like." To watch a bunch of middle-aged white men determine your place in the church family is just...well...ugh.

Comparing the Reformed faith with Fundamentalism

I found this on Exiled Preacher's blog and thought it was helpful in articulating why, exactly, I'm not a fundamentalist.

1. Fundamentalism began as a reaction against theological Liberalism. The Reformed faith started as an attempt to bring the Catholic Church back to the doctrine and practice of Scripture.

2. Fundamentalists tend not to respect tradition. The Reformed hold to the supreme authority of Scripture, but value what the church has taught about God's truth in the past.

3. Fundamentalism has a minimalist approach to creeds and confessions of faith. The movement can be suspicious of theological scholarship. The Reformed faith is expressed in elaborate, all-embracing documents such as The Westminster Confession, The Savoy Declaration and The 1689 Baptist Confession. Typically, Calvinists have a high regard for theological study.

4. Fundamentalism makes little distinction between secondary issues and foundational gospel truth. This can make the movement unnecessarily divisive and sectarian. The Reformed insist on the essential gospel truth of God's saving grace in Christ. But they allow for liberty of conscience on adiaphora (things indifferent).

5. Fundamentalism is often stridently dispensationalist and premillenialist in its eschatology. The Reformed faith teaches covenant theology and is usually amillenialist. But some prominent Reformed theologians are postmillenialists and even premillenialists. It should be noted that Calvin said of Chilialism (premillenialism) "This fiction is too puerile to need or deserve refutation." Institutes III:XXV:5. (Sorry, John "All self-respecting Calvinists are premill" MacAthur and followers, but there it is).

6. Fundamentalsim reads the Bible in a literalistic way. Reformed expositors hold that Scripture should be interpreted in the light of the analogy of faith, taking into account grammatical, literary and contextual concerns.

7. Fundamentalism tends to be legalistic, teaching that the Christian life is largely about keeping the rules. Reformed theology has sought to develop a Biblical doctrine of sanctification that is rooted in the believer's union with Christ and the work of the Spirit. The law is a guide to right conduct, but the dynamic of the Christian life is the Spirit of Christ in the life of the believer.

8. Fundamentalism often has a very negative view of culture and the arts. Reformed teaching recognises that all human life is affected by sin, but God, in his "common grace", blesses society with many good things. These good aspects of culture and the arts are to be valued and enjoyed to the glory of God.

9. Fundamentalism is usually allied to right-wing politics. Reformed believers may be found supporting many different political parties. Reformed Christians have campaigned against slavery and racial intolerance. They have worked for a better society, including improved conditions for workers and free education and healthcare for all. The Reformed theologian, Francis Schaeffer was an early advocate of ecological concerns.

10. Fundamentalists share many important truths in common with Reformed believers such as a commitment to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture and salvation through Christ alone. Theological liberalism is a much greater danger to the church than fundamentalism. We may disagree with Fundamentalists, but we should respect and love them as fellow-Christians.