Of late there's been a bit of a disturbance on the mommy side of the generally Christian blogosphere.

The key individuals are Kathryn Young, the Daring Young Mom, and Marla Swoffer of Just Marla. In a nutshell Kathryn was nominated for and won "best humor" in the "Blogs of Beauty" contest. Marla protested that Kathryn was not a "Christian" by the rules, as she was a member of LDS or the Mormon church. There was much flu/flu about this, and DYM decided to give back the award to end the controversy.

It might have ended there, but a friend of Kathryns then set up a new, but very similar contest, "Share the Love," but one explicitly open to all young mommys. This time there would be no problem with Kathryn winning something for being funny, something even Marla freely admits (that Kathryn is funny, even without a degree. Does George Burns have a degree ? Robin Williams ? Chris Rock ????? Comedy is an art and an attitude towards life.)

Marla was not happy to let this go forward, under a generalized stay at home mom (SAHM) Christian catagory. She apparently feared for the souls of the Christians with whom she identified, should they happen to unknowingly vote for an ersatz Christian, even though the contest was explicitly non-sectarian. As a public service Marla offered to compile lists of "real Christians" vs. non-so-real Christians, nominees, and that's when the sparks really flew.

It should be noted from the outpouring of support for DYM, and some for Marla too, that this was really a hot button.

So what does it all mean ?

Bean-counter, poker/bridge, consumer reports, vs. "I know what I like," approaches to Christianity are certainly a worthy topic for discussion, and one I will continue on with next time, same place, same station. Is it possible to put one's understanding of God into a spreadsheet ? How does your church reCalc Jesus ? OR: "God said it, I believe it, and that does it!"