The Jackdaw Journal
A Publication of M2 Communications

jack-daw [JAK-dah], n. 1. a glossy, black, European bird, corvus monedula, of the crow family, that nests in towers, ruins, etc.; has a proclivity to collect bright objects that attract its attention; can include bits of ice, things round or square, twigs, filaments of light bulbs; specialist on the lookout of what fits the construction of its nest.

jackdaw journal [JAK-dah JERN-al], n. 1. a repository of bright objects — wit, wisdom and whimsey — collected and/or created by Michael McKinney.   2. a web log or blog





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Religion Archives
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On Prayer

June 28, 2023

A small town had historically been dry, but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and held an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly after, lightning struck the bar and burned it to the ground.

The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that the prayers were not responsible for the lightning and the fire. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that “no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear: The tavern owner believes in prayer, and the Christians do not.”

On Prayer

March 10, 2023

A small town had historically been dry, but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and held an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly after, lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that the prayers were not responsible for the lightning and the fire. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that “no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear: The tavern owner believes in prayer, and the Christians do not.”


Spirtualism: An Empty Shell

March 30, 2007

Illinois Senator Barack Obama said, "My mother saw religion as an impediment to boader values...but she was a deeply spiritual person." R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville Kentucky, takes issue with this in the Winter 2006 Wilson Quarterly. Mohler writes: "Where did Obama's mother discover her 'broader values'? What is their specific content? Without reference to some specific truth claim or structured thought, all this is little more than nonsensical wordplay, similar to pragmatist William James' definition of spirituality: 'Susceptibility to ideals, but with a certain freedom to indulge in imagination about them. A certain amount of "otherworldly" fancy.'

"Personally," Mohler says, "I have more respect for a clearheaded secularist than for someone who espouses this kind of mind-numbing relativism. If spirituality simply means a 'susceptibility to ideals,' does it even matter what those ideals are?"

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