Repaso: Evangelical gloom/optimism, joyful environmentalists, Derek Webb’s evolution, and more

Should evangelicals be gloomy or optimistic about the future?
When it comes to our future, a new Pew survey finds that the world’s evangelical leaders are split between hope and despair. The findings are noteworthy:

It's evangelicals in the comparatively poor south who see a bright future ahead - Africans, Latin Americans and Middle Easterners. Those from the developed world, where evangelical Christianity was born, are the pessimists. And Americans are among the most glum of all, with more than eight out of 10 evangelical Christian leaders there saying that the movement is losing influence in the United States today.

The joyful environmentalists: Eugene Peterson and Peter Harris
Christianity Today has a refreshing interview by Andy Crouch with retired pastor Eugene Peterson and Peter Harris, the co-founder of Christian conservation organization A Rocha, discussing creation care not as a desperate attempt to “save the planet” but as a way to honor God and bring him pleasure. I love this quote from Harris on the question of biblical support for environmental stewardship:

Our job in reading Scripture is not primarily to find proof texts about creatures with wings or legs. Our job is to discover: Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? What do they care about? And how does the Spirit enable us to live that life?

Let's disagree, but not hate
Capital Commentary, from the Center for Public Justice, has a reflection from former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson on the disappointment by many that the release of Sarah Palin’s emails didn’t produce any real scandals, and how this is a symptom of a broader problem:

This hunt for incriminating material tells us a lot about the press—concerned more about scandal, as usual, than news.  But the absence of scandal teaches another lesson.  We are often too quick to turn disagreement into disdain... There is a tendency in American politics to assume that political opponents are also bad and cynical people.  That they are not just wrong, but evil—and evil because they are wrong.  This is the most basic explanation for political polarization in America—the tendency to deny the humanity of people we disagree with.  This is not only dangerous to democracy, it is often badly mistaken.

The evolution of Derek Webb
An interview at Beliefnet with one of my favorite artists. He discusses how he’s evolved, how not everyone likes it, and how he approached the creative process with his last record, Feedback, an instrumental take on the Lord’s Prayer:

I thought, I don’t know anything about instrumental music; that will be a real challenge and that sounds fun. I don’t know a lot about the Lord’s Prayer, so I’d love to dive into that. By the time it was done, the decisions were made that led to the album. So, ‘What is the product going to look like?’ Well, who cares? Who knows? ‘Do you think anyone’s going to buy it or want to listen to it?’ I don’t know. I don’t want to spend my life thinking about things like that. I want to spend my life really loving and enjoying the process.

Who, what and where is Bon Iver?
I stumbled upon this on Paul Burkhart’s blog, a New York Times Magazine profile of the dude behind dreamy-indie-folk band Bon Iver, whose much-anticipated new album came out this week and closes with an oddly mesmerizing 80s-esque anthem.

Video: Shopping with $1 in Guatemala
Finally, a video from the World Food Program, with a vivid demonstration in a public market of how tough it is to shop for food if you're a poor person in a place like Guatemala.

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