Dr. Platypus

Michael Westmoreland-White thinks I’m a Thinking Blogger. Where in blazes did he get that idea?! But seriously, I’m honored to receive the award. The nature of this blog is intentionally eclectic and not everything rises to the level of anything approaching deep thought. I do hope, however, that when I offer a more thoughtful piece, it makes people think.

With the nomination comes the responsibility of naming five blogs that make me think. Of the many I could name, here are the ones that stood out to me on a cursory scan of the blogs in my feed reader:

1. Better Bibles Blog. This group blog tackles Bible translation with careful attention both to the original languages and how best to convey the Bible’s meaning in the everyday language of English-speakers.

2. Biblicalia. What can I say? Kevin Edgcomb has one of the best biblioblogs out there. He’s willing to tackle such sacred cows as source criticism (at least as its practitioners sometimes parody themselves), but remains firmly grounded in the best of biblical scholarship.

3. GetReligion. This is another group blog, focusing on how religion is reported in the mainstream media. They let us know when someone drops the ball in religion coverage but are equally quick to praise those Godbeat reporters whose work is worth emulating. This is not so much a “religion” blog as a “journalism” blog that explores the religious “ghosts” that often go un- (or under-) reported in much mainstream news coverage.

4. Science and Spirituality Blog. Peter Bryant doesn’t post terribly often (I take it he may actually have a life!), but when he does, it is well worth the read. As you might imagine, the focus of his blog is the intersection of modern science and ancient spirituality, and he writes like someone who knows a fair bit about both spheres. He also has the good sense to be a member of the same church I am.

5. Vindicated. Kyle Potter is Postmodern Anglo-Catholic Anarchist, meaning he is almost as mixed up theologically as I am. I love his quirky outlook on all things theological, especially his zeal for the early church, its liturgy and spirituality, and his desire to wed the best of the Great Tradition with the best of Postmodern thought.

There are many other blogs I could mention. Pretty much everything in my blogroll would qualify. In fact, let me take this opportunity to thank all of those bloggers for expanding my horizons.

Finally, here are the rules that go with the award:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to five blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the “Thinking Blogger Award” with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).