Minnesota has long had one of the most fertile, bumptious, interesting, active blog scenes in the world.  Most of it is centered on the center-right blog scene; blogging is a medium that favors the underdogs.  

The Northern Alliance Radio Network founded the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers nearly six years ago, as a way of turning that new, fertile, enthusiastic bunch of writers into a social scene.  The MOB, as we called it from day one, has always been rigorously non-partisan; we have strenuously welcomed bloggers of all political stripes, and even bloggers who could care less about politics.  And we always will.  The MOB (Karl Bremer’s delusions aside) has no editorial input into any MOB blogs; our only agenda is to publicize MOB blogs, blogging in Minnesota and, twice a year or so, get together for a party.

That’s it.

It’s something I used to do pretty much yearly – but I’ve fallen gravely short in my duties as one of the MOB’s Capo Di Tutti Bloggi, and so it’s been nearly five years since I last took a trip Around The MOB to introduce you to the 100-odd blogs on the MOBRoll. 

So let’s fix that.  Over the next few weeks, I’m going to take a quick visit (not super long) with every currently-active blog on the MOB Blogroll. 

———-

Which brings us to the top of the order, and the MOBRoll, and the only one so far to depart the Latin alphabet: έχω ζωη (“Echo Zoë”). 

Where most MOB blogs focus on politics, έχω ζωη has always been about faith.  Christianity, as it happens.  The blog has largely converted into a vehicle for a monthly podcast – which are, by the way, well worth listening to (as with this piece, on the nature of persecution).

But the writing is also wonderful – philosophical, tackling the nature of God and eternity with the aplomb many of us reserve for fisking Nick Coleman.  I loved this piece – on the “hateful” label so promiscuously appled to Christians – from last October:

I recently posted a Youtube video by comedian/magician Penn Jillette. Despite being an avowed atheist, and thoroughly rejecting the claims of Christianity, including what I’ve laid out here, he had the intellectual honesty to admit that it would be downright hateful of a Christian to believe what I’ve stated above, and do nothing to share it with others. I was a bit surprised by his understanding of the Good-will of the Christian he encountered.

On the other hand, Jillette is in a small, and shrinking, minority among the vocal unbelieving world. The more common response is much more antagonistic, if not violent. That of homosexuals is perhaps easiest to point to as exemplary. As a Christian, I don’t see homosexuality as any lesser or greater a sin than those which I am guilty of myself. However, it’s quite visible. I know of no other sin that has parades, festivals, or benefits to highlight it. In addition, opposition to it is painted as hatred. But is it really? If I firmly believe a sin (or in this case a lifestyle of sin) to be destructive, not only within this life, but in the next as well, is it really hatred to speak up about it?

It’s hard to believe that έχω ζωη has been cranking out uniformly excellent material, at least every time I’ve checked it, for over six years now.

Stop by, say Hi, give a read and a listen, and support your local MOB blog.

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Blogs, Faiths And Their Followers, M.O.B.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.