CHICAGO, IL (July 31, 2015) — Many Covenanters routinely share links to social media articles and videos with one another that Covenant News Service believes may be of interest to others. Each Friday we post five of them. Following is a sample of those submissions—their inclusion does not represent an endorsement by the Covenant of any views expressed

You May Know Me from Such Roles as Terrorist #4
Muslim actors who want to make a living in Hollywood wrestle with their options: either play roles as terrorists, or find other work. From the story: “I die in Iron Man,” says Sayed Badreya, an Egyptian man with a salt-and-pepper beard. “I die in Executive Decision. I get shot at by—what’s his name?—Kurt Russell. I get shot by everyone. George Clooney kills me in Three Kings. Arnold blows me up in True Lies…” Playing such roles also can exact a heavy toll on their personal lives when friends and family accuse them of perpetuating stereotypes. But then again, the only ones outraged about the lack of options for Muslim actors are the actors themselves, the author says. Certainly not Hollywood, who ironically keeps preaching tolerance and acceptance.

Research: Romantic Kissing Is Not a Shared Practice across Cultures
So when the six-year-old declares, “Ooh, gross!” at the sight of a couple kissing, it turns out that entire other cultures would agree with her. Sure, we know that what’s normative in our culture isn’t necessarily universal, but there are some things we just figure flow from basic biological, dare I say evolutionary, behavior. But we would be wrong. From the article: “The researchers studied 168 cultures over the past year and found evidence of romantic kissing in 77 societies, or 46 percent, but none in 91 others.”

Fishy Religion-Spoof: Do You ‘Sea’ Fun or Blasphemy?
Are these commercials blasphemous, disrespectful, or just plain funny? The commercials encourage viewers to “convert” to being Pescatarians—people who eat fish and seafood but not meat and poultry. Other lines from the ads: “Moses split the Red Sea. We split lobster tails and drizzle melted butter on them.” And, “In our book, gluttony isn’t a sin, it’s a commandment.” One person responded on Facebook saying, “The question I’d have for them: Do they have baskets full of leftovers for everyone to take home, too?” Touché.

6 Things I Wish I Had Never Told My Children
We hand down a lot of wisdom to our kids, but sometimes it’s not so wise—even when it sounds good and society agrees with us. For example, do you really need to pursue your dream job to be happy, and is your child really all that special? Or perhaps it’s a matter of how you say it. What things do we in the church wish we had never told our children—or our congregations?

Sarcasm Is Good for Creativity
I suggested to my boss that we should have a session on “Improving Your Sarcasm” at our next staff development day. But the department skill level already is pretty high in this area, so I doubt it will happen.