Daily Archives: August 28, 2021

University of Hawaii at Mnoa scientists are currently exploring Mars via a car-sized robot known as the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Perseverance is the most sophisticated rover NASA has ever sent to the Red Planet, and the Mars 2020 team are helping acquire samples of rocks from its landing site, the floor of Jezero Crater, for return to Earth by a future mission.

After collecting samples and characterizing the lithology (the types of rocks) of the craters floor, Perseverance will head West to investigate the deposits of an ancient river delta, which formed early in Mars history when the crater contained a lake.

When weve finished in this particular area, were going to head over to the delta front, said Sarah Fagents, a researcher at UH Mnoas Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) and volcanologist with the Mastcam-Z camera team. Those deposits were laid down in a lake environment, and they might be the location of some of the best potential biosignatures, which is the key driver of this mission, to seek out the signs of [ancient] life.

Returning a sample of a lava flow or ash deposit would allow researchers to date the sample and determine an age for those deposits, which in turn allows them to more accurately date other surfaces on Mars, through a technique known as crater chronology.

If we can find a lava flow or an ash deposit in Jezero, we can sample that deposit and bring back a sample to Earth in the future. And in our labs on Earth, we can date radiometrically (test) those samples and get an absolute age constraint on the deposits of Jezero Crater, said Fagents.

The team has been using a newly enhanced auto navigation system, which allows the rover to drive on its own. Auto navigation makes 3D maps of the terrain ahead, identifies hazards and plans a route around any obstacles without additional direction from controllers back on Earth.

Using auto navigation allows the rover to drive longer distances in a day so the team can explore more of the terrain and acquire samples of diverse rock types.

The auto navigation on the rover means that we can drive farther in a single sol, which is a martian day, which is really useful for this mission because were on a tight schedule to explore as much of the crater as we can, said Eleni Ravanis, a HIGP PhD student and also a member of the Mastcam-Z team.

After landing on Mars in February, the first 100 Martian sols were devoted to instrument checkouts, helicopter operations and initial science observations. The rover traveled short distances to test drive and instrument capabilities, drop off shields and covers, and deploy the helicopter for its historic flights. Since then, researchers have been working on their first science campaign devoted to acquiring samples, characterizing rocks and investigating the crater floor deposits.

Its so exciting to be able to see, for the first time, places that weve only seen from orbit before. So these are places that weve never seen close up, no one has seen close up before, said Ravanis. So its always really exciting to get these images back and share it with the team.

This mission is the first stage of an international, multi-agency, decade-plus long program to bring samples from Mars back to Earth. Involvement in missions like Mars 2020 enhances the reputation of UH as an R1 research university, which continues to conduct cutting-edge research at the forefront of space exploration.

Work on the Mars 2020 mission contributes to the broader range of exciting research and educational initiatives in Earth, planetary and space sciences at UH. Research directly benefits the education of undergraduate students, providing programs such as HIGPs Earth and Planetary Exploration Technology undergraduate certificate, and the College of Engineerings aerospace engineering program, which are taught by faculty with experience in instrument design, active missions and analysis of Earth and planetary data sets.

These programs are training the future workforce in Hawaiis growing aerospace industry, and equipping students with the skills needed to address key problems faced by the state and nation.

This work is an example of UH Mnoas goal of Excellence in Research: Advancing the Research and Creative Work Enterprise (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 201525 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Originally posted here:

UH Mars rover team helps acquire samples of Red Planet | University of Hawaii System News - UH System Current News

While a lot of the world still struggles to cope with the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have also been devastated by wildfires, floods and volcanoes, just as the IPCC released its latest reportinto the global impact of climate change.

However, its not all bad news. There is still plenty or innovation going on around the world, with rubbish being used to make public benches, further scientific discoveries on Mars, and many efforts being made to combat climate change.

So take a look through the good, the bad, and the ugly in our round-up of science images for August 2021.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, 2 August 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. Boeings Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliners second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program. Photo by NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

This image, taken from aboard the International Space Station on the 2 August 2021, shows the aurora australisas it streams across the Earths atmosphere as the station orbited 271 miles above the southern Indian Ocean in between Asia and Antarctica. Photo by NASA

Rescue personnel evacuate victims from a subway train and tunnel during a homeland defence emergency drill involving a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack in an urban environment. The drill took place at the New York Fire Department Training Academy on Randalls Island in New York City, USA, on 4 August 2021. Photo by Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

This image taken by NASAs Perseverance rover on 6 August 2021, shows the hole drilled in a Martian rock in preparation for the rovers first attempt to collect a sample. It was taken by one of the rovers hazard cameras in what the rovers science team has nicknamed a paver rock in the Crater Floor Fractured Rough area of Jezero Crater. Photo by NASA

An interior view of an automated underground parking lot on 6 August 2021 in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province of China. Photo by Zhai Yujia/China News Service/Getty Images

A man watches as wildfires approach Kochyli beach near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece. A new massive United Nations science report was released on the 9 August 2021, reporting on the impact of global warming due to human activity. Photo by Thodoris Nikolaou/AP/Shutterstock

An underwater photo shows the new microbialites discovered at Lake Van in Adilcevaz district of Turkeys Bitlis province on 8 August 2021. Microbialites look like reefs, but are in fact rock-like structures that are made entirely of millions of microbes. Photo by Ali Ethem Keskin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A tyre and wheel melted from the heat of the Dixie Fire on 8 August 2021 in Greenville, California, USA. The Dixie Fire, which has incinerated more than 463,000 acres, is the second largest recorded wildfire in state history. Photo by Maranie R. Staab/Getty Images

A photo taken on 10 August 2021 shows a photovoltaic power station on a deserted hill near Zhangjiazhuang village, Xinzhuangzi Township, Xiahuayuan District, Zhangjiakou City, North Chinas Hebei Province. Photo credit should read Costfoto/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

The Virgin Orbit Launcher One rocket in its hanger at Newquay Airport on 10 August 2021 in Newquay, United Kingdom. Spaceport Cornwall is aiming to launch its first satellites in spring of 2022. Photo by Hugh R Hastings/Getty Images

A freediver prepares to collect a specimen of a long-spined sea urchin (Diadema setosum), typically native to Indo-Pacific waters and currently invading the eastern Mediteranean sea, some 17 metres underwater off the shore of Lebanons northern coastal city of Qalamun on 11 August 2021. Photo by Ibrahim Chaloub/AFP/Getty Images

Egyptian engineer Hager gives an order to a robot nurse invented by the faculity of computer and information science at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, 11 August 2021. The nurse robot helps in reducing direct contact between the medical staff and patients at time of the coronavirus pandemic in order to reduce the infection risk for the medical staff. It can also conduct video calls between patients and doctors, deliver medications, and sterilise the rooms. Photo by Khaled Elfiqi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

An engineer tests Motorola smartphones in a lab at a Lenovo production base in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province 13 August 2021. Photo by Feature China/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

In this aerial view, meltwater descends in shifting rivulets from Vatnajokull ice cap on 14 August 2021 near Hof, Iceland. The country is undergoing a strong impact from global warming, and since the 1990s, 90 per cent of the countrys glaciers have been retreating. Projections for the future show a continued and strong reduction in size of its three ice caps. Fjallsjokull is one of dozens of glacier tongues that descend from Vatnajokull, Icelands biggest ice cap, along the southeastern coast. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A stuck train after flooding is pictured in Wald im Pinzgau near Salzburg, Austria, on 17 August 2021. Storms had battered large parts of Austria since late August with landslides and flooding hitting especially Austrias western regions of Pinzgau and Pongau in the state of Salzburg, bordering Germany. Some one hundred people stuck in cars as landslides hit roads had to be rescued, while three people were reported injured. Photo by JFK/EXPA/AFP/Getty Images

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A Royal Moroccan Air Force Canadair plane douses a wildfire in the region of Chefchaouen of northern Morocco on 17 August 2021. Firefighters in northern Morocco were battling to put out two forest blazes, as the North African kingdom swelters in a heatwave. Firefighting planes were being used to tackle the conflagrations which had already destroyed some 200 hectares (500 acres) of forest. Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano (left), and the head of the ESA Climate Office Susanne Mecklenburg (right), explore some ice caves at the Gorner Glacier in Switzerland, on 19 August 2021. They are both part of an ESA-led expedition to observe the retreat and status of the glacier, which is the second biggest ice mass in the Alps, and is situated in Switzerland near the Monte Rosa massif close to Zermatt and the Matterhorn. Photo by ESA

This photo taken and released on 20 August 2021 by China Manned Space Engineering Office via CNS shows Chinese astronaut Tang Hongbo coordinating inside the Tianhe core module on the Tiangong space station as his colleague Nie Haisheng conducts a spacewalk. Photo by China Manned Space Engineering/AFP/Getty Images

Workers examine the 25 metre (82 foot) high smog tower, built to purify the air during pollution season, in New Delhi, India, on 23 August 2021. Photo by Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

Staff members spray disinfectant at a school ahead of the new semester in Bozhou in Chinas eastern Anhui province on 23 August 2021. Photo by STR/AFP/Getty Images

The interior of Lichfield Cathedral is bathed in colourful patterns of light during The Great Exhibition: Science light and sound projection show in Lichfield, United Kingdom, on 24 August 2021. The exhibition sees the inside of the 900-year-old Cathedral bathed in moving light and sound projections that explore the world of science, and the ways in which it has shaped our past as well as considering how it will influence our future. Photo by Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

A drone pilot ties up a bag of food to a drone at Cala Tadira near Sant Josep de Sa Talaia in Ibiza Island on 24 August 2021. Drone to Yacht is an exclusive delivery service for yachts launched in Ibiza by the restaurant Can Yucas and the Galician company Aerocamaras to deliver food and drinks to yachts. Photo by Jaime Reina/ AFP/Getty Images

Visitors watch a 3D Micro LED screen displaying an astronaut figure during the Smart China Expo 2021 at Chongqing International Expo Center on 25 August 2021 in Chongqing, China. Photo by Chen Chao/China News Service/Getty Images

An eco-friendly bench made from 160,000 recycled milk cartons is seen in Shanghai, China, on 25 August 2021. It is reported that the environmental protection seat through special process and trial and error, has a high strength, as well as the resistance to bad weather and other factors. Photo by Wang Gang/Costfoto/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

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DIY on Mars and amazing ice caves: 24 fantastic Images of the Month August 2021 - BBC Science Focus Magazine

The ESCAPADE Mars mission will consist of two identical satellites named "Blue" and "Gold" after UC Berkeley's school colors that will study how the planet's ionosphere and magnetic field interact. Image courtesy of Rocket Lab.BERKELEY An interplanetary mission led by the University of California, Berkeley, to put two satellites dubbed "Blue" and "Gold" into orbit around Mars has been officially authorized to prepare for launch in October 2024.

The announcement last week by NASA means that by 2026 the spacecraft will likely be exploring the red planet's atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind.

Called the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE, mission, it is the culmination of two years of intense work by scientists at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, or SSL, to show that relatively inexpensive spacecraft the design, build, test, integration and launch will cost less than $80 million can be assembled in a short period of time to explore other planets.

Typical NASA planetary missions often require more than a decade of preparation and can exceed $1 billion in costs.

"ESCAPADE and two other NASA missions recently approved are experiments to see whether advances in the space industry over the last five to 10 years can translate to a much better bang for the buck in terms of science per dollar," said mission leader Robert Lillis, SSL's associate director for planetary science and astrobiology. "Sending two spacecraft to Mars for the total cost of under $80 million is just unheard of, but current NASA leadership is taking the risk."

The UC Berkeley team will work with Rocket Lab, a space contractor based in Long Beach, California, which will supply two Photon spacecraft to house and support the instruments.

The academic/industry collaboration is an example of what NASA hopes to encourage with its Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration, or SIMPLEx, program, designed to fund compelling planetary space science with small satellites and provide more opportunities for flight experience to the science community.

These missions represent "a new commercial, higher risk, high reward way of doing things," Lillis said. Instead of spending $800 million for a 95% chance of success, can we spend $80 million for an 80% chance? This is what NASA is trying to find out with these missions, and we are lucky to be one of the guinea pigs.

The mission's goal is to collect data that could help reconstruct the climate history of Mars and determine how and when it lost its atmosphere, which was once dense enough to allow for running water, including rivers, lakes and possibly oceans.

ESCAPADE also will study the ionosphere of Mars, which can interfere with radio communications on the surface and between Earth and Mars colonists.

"With simultaneous two-point observations of the solar wind and Mars ionosphere and magnetosphere, ESCAPADE will bring us the first 'stereo' picture of this highly dynamic plasma environment," Lillis said.

This constellation of two satellites at Mars will answer big questions about the atmosphere and the solar wind in real time, said Shannon Curry, project scientist for the mission at UC Berkeley.

Rocket Lab, which teamed with UC Berkeley in June, has been building rockets and spacecraft platforms since 2006 for civil, defense and commercial customers.

NASA evaluated the missions preliminary design and project plan and determined last week that both UC Berkeley and Rocket Lab had met all milestones called key decision points necessary to prepare for launch.

The next steps include the final design of the mission and building of the instruments.

ESCAPADE is an innovative mission that demonstrates that advanced interplanetary science is now within reach for a fraction of traditional costs, and were proud to make it possible with Photon, said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck in a statement. Passing the key decision point is a critical milestone in ESCAPADEs development and is testament to the world-class science and engineering work of the UC Berkeley and Rocket Lab teams. We are delighted to receive the green light from NASA to proceed to flight.

The mission builds on decades of experience at SSL in building satellite instruments and fleets of spacecraft to explore regions around Earth, the moon and Mars, specializing in magnetic field interactions with the wind of particles from the sun.

Each of the two satellites, named after UC Berkeley's school colors, will carry instruments built at SSL to measure the flow of high energy electrons and ionized oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules escaping from Mars, magnetic field detectors built at UCLA and a probe to measure slower or thermal ions built at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

With twin satellites, it is possible to measure conditions simultaneously at two places around the planet, Lillis said, allowing scientists to connect plasma conditions at one site to the escaping ion flux at another. Over the course of the mission, the two satellites will change positions to map the upper atmosphere and magnetosphere of nearly the entire planet from an altitude of between 150 and 10,000 kilometers.

When selected by NASA in 2019 to receive $8.3 million for a conceptual design, ESCAPADE was scheduled to piggyback aboard a rocket that was launching another mission, called Psyche, in August 2022.

But that opportunity evaporated when the launch vehicle was changed, and NASA looked for another option. The agency eventually deciding to launch ESCAPADE as a secondary payload aboard a different, as-yet-unselected commercial rocket

For ESCAPADE, were evaluating a number of rideshare options to enable this critically important science while also lowering costs, said Alan Zide, program executive for the mission at NASA headquarters, in a blog post on NASA's website.

As a result, while the instruments remain unchanged, they have to be reconfigured to fit the Photon platform.

"The instruments haven't changed, the science objectives haven't changed, but everything from the launch pad to the orbit in space is completely different," Lillis said. "We are going with a brand new contractor, a different propulsion system and a very much shorter mission plan in getting to Mars."

The trip to Mars will take about 11 months, after which Blue and Gold will separate and start their mission.

Lillis said that his reaction to NASA's decision was "just unbridled joy and happiness," but admitted that he won't rest easy until early in 2026, "when we get our first data from orbit around Mars."

Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

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Space News: 'Blue' and 'Gold' satellites headed to Mars in 2024 - Lake County News

NASA's Curiosity rover is still sending breathtaking images back to Earth nine years after it landed on Mars. On the red planet, 18,000-foot mountains and rocky, four-story-tall hills compete for attention with rippled fields of black sand and a horizon view that stretches 20 miles on a clear day.

Curiosity sent its latest pictures from 1,500 feet above the Martian plain, on its way up the side of Mt. Sharp. The peak's 18,000-foot height would make it America's second-tallest mountain, eclipsed only by Alaska's Denali formerly Mt. McKinley.

Mt. Sharp sits within Gale Crater, a 96-mile-wide basin. Scientists hope they can determine what happened to the liquid that geological features suggest was once everywhere on the red planet.

"The rocks here will begin to tell us how this once-wet planet changed into the dry Mars of today, and how long habitable environments persisted even after that happened," said Abigail Fraeman, Curiosity's deputy project scientist, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

NASA digitally stitched together 129 of the rover's snapshots from a single day July 3 into a single panoramic picture. The 360-degree look at the Martian surface, NASA says, is particularly sharp because it's wintertime, meaning there's not much dust in the air.

Curiosity also drilled the latest in series of 32 core samples into the Martian surface, part of an effort to understand what kind of material is on the planet's outer crust. NASA said readings from its network of spacecraft orbiting Mars show Curiosity is roving somewhere between a region enriched with clay minerals and one dominated by salty minerals called sulfates.

Analyzing what Curiosity pulls out of the holes it drills does not involve sending them back to a laboratory on Earth: It has its own on-board equipment. The mobile lab uses a drill to break samples down into a powder, and then moves them to Curiosity's chassis where instruments determine which chemicals and minerals are present.

NASA says the mountain's layers could reveal how, and how long ago, the ancient environment within Gale Crater dried up. Similar changes are seen across the planet.

Curiosity landed in the crater on Aug. 5, 2012, on a mission to study whether different Martian environments could have supported microbial life in the planet's ancient past when it was home to lakes and groundwater. The rover has moved 16 miles within the crater since it arrived.

Next up for Curiosity is a trip along a winding trail between Rafael Navarro Mountain and one of those four-story hills. Then it will return to the Greenheugh Pediment, a slope with a sandstone cap that it briefly visited in 2020.

NASA has sent five rovers to Mars since the 1970s. Three are no longer operational. Curiosity was joined on the planet's surface earlier this year by the Perseverance, whose first attempt to collect samples of Martian dirt was unsuccessful, according to NASA.

This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.

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NASA Rover Captures Stunning Images of Mars' Giant Mountains, Black Sand and 20-Mile Horizon - Newsweek

In a Reggae music confederacy, bass player and producer Taddy P strummed up the acoustics for singer sensation Maxi Priest, and well-known Soca artist Teddyson John to re-style the previously released Leave The Door Open by Bruno Mars, Anderson Paak, and Silk Sonic and it may just be as good as the original.

Its no easy feat executing a cover of this years No. 1 love song, however, Maxi Priest, Teddyson John, and Taddy P added their own interpretation, yet allowing the quintessence of melodies to remain, which is nothing short of mesmerizing.

Maxi Priests signature vocals are among the most distinct in Reggae music and his work has been memorialized through his many musical contributions over the decades. He was the perfect addition to this trio in creating a Caribbean version of the cover for Leave The Door Open. The remake is reminiscent of the Caribbean with Reggae rhythm-infused undertones, thus producing a classic Lovers Rock ballad to get you moving.

St. Lucian born, Teddyson John was overwhelmed to be selected for this project as it was his first Reggae cover, and what better way to debut his first collaboration in the genre than with a great stalwart like Maxi Priest. The Soca star expressed how extremely honored he was.

I thought the Reggae version was a great idea because this track is the biggest love song in the world right now, No. 1 on Billboard, and its good to share our Caribbean version of that expression, Teddyson explained. Although he is mostly known for his contributions to Soca, his interest in music is vast and doesnt limit himself to any one genre but rather focuses on creating great music.

Produced by talented bass musicians Taddy P and Dwight DollaCham Yearwood, the Leave The Door Open collaboration was surprising as many would not expect a Soca artist on a Reggae track. The producers, however, believed the sound of the artists would definitely compliment the track excellently and were more interested in creating a great cover than playing it safe.

Its definitely a Caribbean fusion with these artists and the team. We wanted to ensure that the Reggae cover did justice to the original track and with Teddyson and Maxi Priests vocals its a slam-dunk and we are very proud of the finished product, Taddy P. said.

Press play on the Reggae cover for Leave The Door Open with Maxi Priest, Teddyson John, and Taddy P. above.

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Maxi Priest, Teddyson John Deliver Reggae Cover Of Bruno Mars Leave The Door Open - DancehallMag

The more people talked about Christianity Todays new podcast,The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, the more I knew I eventually would need to listen to it. In 2004, my wife and I left our families and friends behind to move across the country and help start a church in Denver, and the Mars Hill saga rang all too familiar to us.

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hilltells the story of how pastor Mark Driscoll planted and grew Mars Hill Church in Seattle to more than 15,000 members by weaving together Reformed theology, toxic masculinity, celebrity culture and power until it collapsed virtually overnight after Driscoll resigned amidst allegations of abuse.

But Driscolls story went far beyond simply his own local church. He also helped found theActs 29 church planting network, which was heavily involved with planting more than 500 Reformed, complementarian churches and shaping an entire generation of new conservative evangelical churches before Driscoll wasremoved in 2014.

Like the story of Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill, our story in Denver ended with scandal and abuse by a pastor obsessed with hierarchy and power. And like many whose stories have been told in this podcast, we felt we had to bear our wounds in silence for years.

Because our story involved leaders who were shaped by the Acts 29 and Mars Hill philosophies, I knew that listening toThe Rise and Fall of Mars Hillwould be triggering. And sure enough, despite some theological differences I have with certain moments of the podcast, I found myself seeing our story in every episode. For the first seven episodes, I felt seen, and I experienced some deepening levels of awareness and healing.

But then they released an interview titledI Kissed Christianity Goodbyewith Joshua Harris, the author who helped shape the 1990s purity culture under the direction ofCJ Mahaneyand eventually became a megachurch pastor before deconstructinghis views of datingand eventuallyleaving Christianity.

I have a unique glimpse into whats really going on in all three of these worlds. And I am deeply concerned about what I heard in this episode.

As somebody who spent more than a decade either in or around Driscolls Acts 29 churches and as a member of one of Josh Harris Sovereign Grace churches, and as someone who now identifies as an ex-evangelical, I have a unique glimpse into whats really going on in all three of these worlds. And I am deeply concerned about what I heard in this episode.

My concern about this episode is not about defending Harris. Harris is not a spokesperson for progressive Christianity, deconstructing Christians, ex-evangelicals or marginalized communities. In fact, many progressives have voiced their concerns overcontinued patriarchyin Harris public engagement, including over a controversy this past week in which Harris released a $275 course on deconstructing, then offered it for free, and thenpulledthe entire course after hearing feedback from ex-evangelicals.

Mike Cosper, who is the podcasts producer, begins early in the episode by setting Driscoll and Harris side by side, saying: The personalities of Josh Harris and Mark Driscoll couldnt be more different. If Driscolls Christianity was defined by masculinity, Harriss was defined by a vision of holiness. And if you wanted to think in terms of branding, Mars Hills was bold and aggressive, and Sovereign Grace Ministries, the network where Harris served, branded itself as friendly and humble. And still, theres a lot of common ground. Both men were talented, charismatic leaders who achieved a significant level of national attention before they turned 30. Their communities had a strong vision of pastoral authority, as well as a central emphasis on Reformed doctrine. Harris and Driscoll both served as council members for The Gospel Coalition, spoke at many of the same conferences, including Harris speaking at Mars Hill. They were both young, ambitious leaders in the same movement with many of the same influences around them who tried to help guide them on their way.

In other words, Cosper is painting a picture of these two seemingly different men being virtually the same at some deeper levels that are explored throughout the podcast.

At this point, Cosper details Harris deconstruction journey that included leaving the pastorate, apologizing for the impact of his book, announcing that he and his wife were getting divorced, and then sharing that he no longer identified as a Christian.

Then Cosper immediately pairs deconstructing Christians with Josh Harris, saying: That story has countless parallels in the lives of other Christians who experience ruptures in their churches, abusive leadership cultures, and other spiritual disasters that led them away from the church.

For Christianity Today to pair the people Harris teaching has wounded with Harris himself is completely inappropriate and abusive. Many of us have been listening toThe Rise and Fall of Mars Hillwith skepticism and a vulnerability to hear, process and grieve over the men who abused us. To draw us in with that story and then pair us together with our abusers that conservative evangelicalism platformed as celebrities is simply appalling.

We were hurt by these men. They are not our celebrities. They are yours.

The episode hints at where its going in the introduction when Colin Hansen, who wroteYoung, Restless, Reformed: A Journalists Journey with the New Calvinists, calls Harris one of the most spectacular boy wonders of evangelical history, a title that is given to Harris multiple times in the podcast.

Later in the episode, Cosper takes the opportunity to use the theme of celebrity to pair Harris and ex-evangelicals together again, saying: As Ive thought about Joshs story, there are two things that come to mind for me. The first is the degree to which its shaped by his status as a celebrity, or in more modern terms, an influencer . To what degree are Instagram posts from influencers a window into the divine for a secular age, ways of worshiping a little pantheon of gods that represent sex or money or beauty or power or spiritual enlightenment, including the enlightenment of having deconstructed?

By focusing on Harris social media skills and pairing ex-evangelicals together with Harris, Cosper categorizes those who have deconstructed their faith as worshiping the gods of sex, money, beauty, power or enlightenment. He also implies that those of us who deconstruct are being duped by Instagram posts. This is the same demonstration of ignorance about deconstruction thatThe Gospel Coalitionhas been putting out.

Cosper continues: The other thing that comes to mind for me is how the exvangelical phenomenon is itself an expression of evangelical culture. It has its own gathering of celebrities, its own code of ethics, its own sense of whos in and whos out, and its own gatekeepers.

In other words, Cosper seems to think those who have left evangelicalism after being deeply wounded by evangelicalism are virtually no different than the stories they left behind.

One of the common tactics conservative evangelicals use to delegitimize outsiders is to contrast between subjective experience and objective truth.

Today, youll often hear the word exvangelical in these conversations. That represents a pretty wide spectrum of people who no longer want to identify with evangelicalism, explains Cosper. Some simply want to reject the term. Others have rejected the faith altogether. And some of them going so far as to gather online around hashtags like #EmptyThePews, arguing that the church itself is a destructive force in the culture. What seems consistent, though, is the degree to which peoples stories and experiences have driven their process.

Cosper once again says: What I think is visible in the phenomenon is the centrality of peoples stories and experiences as the core impetus for the movement I hope that conservative evangelicals can listen to those stories before they go about defending their doctrine.

What Cosper and conservative evangelicals seem totally unaware of is how stories and experiences were the core impetus for the development of the doctrines they espouse. Sure, theyre willing to put defending their doctrine on hold long enough to listen to some tough stories. But eventually, they will get around to defending their doctrine without realizing how culturally situated the development of their doctrine was.

In one of the more confrontational moments of the interview, Cosper tries to paint Harris and deconstructing Christians as evangelists of a different kind of certainty: So you feel the confidence then that, as someone who was an evangelist before and now in a sense like youre still evangelizing, but youre evangelizing in another direction. You feel confidence, the convictions now are the right convictions.

Of course, while conservative evangelicals desire certainty, doubts will arise. Cospers desire is that when we face a crisis of belief, to see it as a challenge to not only address our pain, as essential as that is, but to address the doubts themselves by seeking truth. This isnt to say that we master our fears and our doubts, particularly on the other side of deep woundedness. But it does mean that theres a kind of faith filled willingness to look to God, to the Scriptures, to the church, and to seek the truth where it may be found.

By placing our doubts within the context of deep woundedness, Cosper delegitimizes doubt and labels ex-evangelicals as not able to see clearly because of their pain. It never seems to dawn on him that perhaps its our pain that has allowed us finally to see the reality of the theology conservative evangelicals have been abusing us with. By calling us to look to the Scriptures and the church, he tells us to submit to the tools and people that abused us. It never dawns on him that perhaps weve seen the hierarchical thread of power that runs through their culturally situated interpretation of God, the Scriptures and the church.

The episode then tells the story of Christian in Pilgrims Progress being tempted by Atheist who simply wants to entertain (himself) with the stuff (he) threw away when (he) thought there was a city, and then Christian ends up in Doubting Castle through Despair.

It does not occur to them that perhaps there are disconnections between the conservative evangelical theological narrative and the reality of the universe. And they certainly do not see any connection between their theology and their ethics.

The conversation the episode should have been about but ultimately missed was the gospel.

Cosper reflected on Harris days as a pastor: For as many times a week as you probably used the word gospel, there was a whole lot of law in the culture you were teaching and a very sort of moralistic set of expectations. The solution to your awakening could have been, Oh, I need the gospel, instead of the floor coming out.

The conversation the episode should have been about but ultimately missed was about the gospel.

After I left the independent fundamentalist Baptist world of my youth, I spent 17 years in conservative evangelical churches. We were consistently taught that eternal conscious torment was what we all deserved but that penal substitutionary atonement satisfied Gods wrath against us for being born in Adam and breaking the law. Our ethics were framed not as obeying the law to earn favor with God, but as living out the gospel.

In other words, conservative evangelicalism discipled us to believe that theology forms ethics. Their retributive, penal substitutionary theology was the gospel, and their ethics were living out the gospel. Now that so many of their leaders are being exposed for abusive ethics, they want us to pretend that abusive ethics are not a sign of abusive theology.

They say they want to grieve the pain and repent of the ways weve contributed to it. But then they are unwilling to examine the theology their leaders said fueled the ethics.

Isnt it worth asking how the cultures of Anselm and Calvin affected their interpretation of the gospel?

Isnt it worth wondering about the connection between hierarchical theology and hierarchical ethics?

Harris tried to point this out, saying, Its still good news that, if you dont receive, you go to hell forever. If that is at the very core of the message, does that justify the kind of manipulative, controlling, abusive behavior?

Cosper responds with: Part of the reason were in this project is to try to sort of as strongly as we can say that it absolutely doesnt. Notice how uneasy those words are. Hes not denying that theology. Hes simply disconnecting the ethics from that theology, as if a justice of violence and power is merely coincidental to a people formed to celebrate and embrace violence and power. Harris should have recognized how uncomfortable Cosper was and focused in on this point.

But Cosper then immediately pivots back to reflecting on celebrity culture, claiming that its about a syncretism around cultural power and influence the phenomenon of celebrity. And rather than putting Cosper on the defensive about conservative evangelical theology, Harris falls for the rabbit trail, and they end up comparing Jesus to Kim Kardashian.

What if the abusive ethics these men lived out actually were born from the abusive theology they claimed they were living out?

But what if the abusive ethics these men lived out actually were born from the abusive theology they claimed they were living out? And what if those of us who are deconstructed have, through the abuse we suffered at their hands, recognized this power dynamic? If our wounds have allowed us to recognize this hierarchical power game, then what else can we do other than leave it behind and open up to something better?

In a totally unexpected twist of irony, Cosper concludes: Christians have been wrestling with deconstruction and doubt from the very beginning. Maybe the most famous example of how to reckon with it comes in the Catholic mystical tradition.

If you have read many of my articles, you may have noticed that I often quote the likes of Ilia Delio, Richard Rohr, Meister Eckhart, St. Francis of Assisi and others. These are all leaders within the Catholic mystical tradition.

I believe the path forward for Christianity is to marry the Catholic mystical tradition with liberation theologies. But Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition cannot marry the Catholic mystical tradition of the relationality and belonging of all things with their Reformed tradition of the hierarchy and power dynamics of all things. You cant simply quote a mystic for a podcast and feel better about your hierarchy.

The episode ends with a song about wounded people who are lost. But were not lost. Were here. We finally see the hierarchy of your power games. And were done with it. Weve kissed it goodbye.

Well never unfeel what weve felt. Well never unsee what weve seen. And because of that, were free to open up to ourselves, our neighbors and God with a complexity, depth and union that we never had in your hierarchy.

Rick Pidcockrecently served as a Clemons Fellow with BNG. He is afreelance writerbased inSouth Carolina and recently completed a master of arts degree in worship from Northern Seminary. He is a stay-at-home father of five kids, produces music under the artist name Provoke Wonder and may be found at his website.

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I lived in the culture of 'The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,' and there's one part of the story that's wrong - Baptist News Global

File Photo: On January 15, 2021, in Dover, England, a truck will drive towards the entrance to Dover Harbor after the Brexit transition period.Reuters / John Sibley // File Photo

August 27, 2021

(Reuters) -British ministers are considering relaxing post-Brexit immigration rules to help end the shortage of truck drivers under increasing pressure from the supermarket chain, the Times reported.

The newspaper said it could address the estimated 100,000 driver shortage by reviewing the shortage list to give employers more flexibility in hiring new hires abroad, without mentioning government sources. Stated.

The review was scheduled for next year, but the report added that it could be tracked quickly to add a heavy-duty vehicle (HGV) driver to the list.

The Financial Times reported on Friday that the minister had instructed companies to hire UK-based workers to address the chronic shortage of truck drivers in the country.

UK retailers, cafes and restaurants are struggling to deal with shortages https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-could-face-food-shortages-due-lorry-driver-crisis -2021-06-25 Percentage of drivers and food processing staff after COVID-19.

The problem isnt unique to the UK, but there is a shortage of truck drivers in the United States and other European countries, but Brexit makes things worse, industry groups say https://www.reuters. It says com / world / uk / fast-food-chain. -nandos-temporarily-shuts-over-40-uk-outlets-2021-08-17.

McDonalds, KFC, bakery chain Greggs, and chicken restaurant chain Nandos have all recently faced supply turmoil.

An unprecedented shortage of both staff and materials has hindered the post-blocking economic recovery in Britain, a carefully watched economic survey said Monday.

(Report by Kanishka Singh in Bangalore, edited by Michael Perry)

Britains Mars-Times relaxes Brexit immigration rules to end the shortage of truck drivers

Source link Britains Mars-Times relaxes Brexit immigration rules to end the shortage of truck drivers

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Britain's Mars-Times relaxes Brexit immigration rules to end the shortage of truck drivers - Texasnewstoday.com