Rachel Held Evans

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Sunday Superlatives 8/21/11 (New Feature: Women of Valor!)

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Around the Blogosphere…

Funniest Video: 
Jon Stewart with “Ron Paul & The Top Tier

Coolest Photo: 
Sierra Magazine with “Last Words

Strangest Fact:
Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic with “90 Percent of People Don’t Know How to Use CTRL+F
[I love CTRL+F. If you don’t know how to use it, learn today]]

Most Talked-About: 
Warren Buffet at the New York Times with “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich
“Our leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched…”

Most Likely to Take You Back:
Meghan O’Gieblyn with “A Childhood in Christian Pop
“If you’re wondering what teenager in her right mind would listen to a forty-year-old Vegas showman with a Jersey accent rap about Jesus, the answer is: me…"

Most Likely to Make You Think (nominated by Joe Watkins): 
David Nilsen with “On Evolution and Sin
“We can strive for survival of the fittest, or we can seek the survival of the weakest, the least of these. We can obey the flesh, our creaturely instincts to defend and hoard and consume and copulate, or we can obey the Spirit, the image and calling of God, and instead embrace and give and provide and love.”

Most Likely To Make You Scratch Your Head: 
"The Strange Power of the Placebo Effect"

A look at the many strange effects of placebos. Created by: Daniel Keogh - http://www.twitter.com/ProfessorFunk Luke Harris - http://www.lukeharrisgraphics.com Recommended Links: Ben Goldacre's book 'Bad Science' has an excellent chapter on placebos http://www.badscience.net/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Science-Ben-Goldacre/dp/000728487X/?tag=bs0b-21 The Wikipedia page on Placebos is pretty excellent too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo

Best Conversation-Starter: 
Tony Jones with “Progressive Is the Wrong Word” and “Picking a Label to Replace ‘Progressive’

Best Point (nominated by Micah Odor): 
 John Wilson at The Wall Street Journal with “No One Reads the Bible Literally
“What is at stake in these disputes is not a choice between following biblical authority on the one hand or science on the other, as the matter is often misleadingly framed. Rather, we see rival theological commitments, rival understandings of how to read Genesis.”

Best Analysis:
Homebrewed Christianity with “Goosing Emergents Into the Mainline

Kindest (nominated by Preston Yancey): 
Hilary from Capitol Hill with “Dear Reader - You Are Extraordinary

Sweetest (nominated by Chad Jones): 
Jason Boyett with “Why I (Still) Read to My Children

Most Poetic: 
Megan at Sorta Crunchy with “This Is Where… I Live
"Pieces of my heart are scattered across the country, from the shores of Lake Erie to the plazas of Kansas City to the hill country of Texas to the playful coast of California. I don't know that I would choose Oklahoma; it has always chosen me. And so it keeps wooing my resistance, making me giggle with towns named Oolagah and tempting me with Indian tacos and charming me with sunsets that blaze beautiful over steady slopes… This is where I live.” 

Most Insightful: 
Julie Clawson with “Embodied Theology
“When faith is all about a dualistic escapism, it sadly allows no room for mercy. Evangelicals often mock calls to work to save the environment or end extreme poverty because this world is not our home and is all going to burn anyway. Progressive dualists similarly mock calls to work for justice as imposing unnecessary shoulds upon them that get in the way of them being present with their souls. Both forms of denying our embodiment in this world provide convenient excuses for ignoring the needs of others as individuals are allowed to focus solely on their own personal spiritual needs.”

Eshet Chayil! - Women of Valor…

Milka Marwa (nominated by Alise Wright)
Kenyan farmer
Mother of seven
Community leader

Mama Maggie Gobran 
Founder and CEO of Stephens Children Ministry 
Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
Big Hit at last week’s Global Leadership Summit

Joy Bennett
Wife and mom 
Fellow Bolivia Blogger 
This week’s post of valor: “A Fearful Metamorphosis

Robin Held
Best mom in the whole world!
Underwent a successful lumpectomy for breast cancer on Friday
One of the first things she asked after waking up from surgery: “Have y’all had lunch yet?” 
Please keep her in your prayers

On the Blog…

Most Popular Post:
13 Things I Won’t Do This Election Season

Most Popular Comment:
In response to “13 Things…” Julianne wrote, “#14. I will not un-friend my Facebook friends who post politically-charged, mean-spirited status updates but I reserve the right to hide them for the duration of election season.”

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So which of these posts captured your interest? 
What caught your eye online this week? 
Got any women of valor in your life? 

Feel free to use the comment section to ask a question, express an opinion, or link to your own blog today.