Court Clarifies and Refuses To Narrow Injunction Against Federal Transgender Guidelines: A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction applicable nationwide barring the federal government from enforcing Guidelines issued earlier this year interpreting Title IX as barring discrimination by schools on the basis of gender identity.
Accidental Tools: A Difference In Our Ancestors And Monkeys — A set of brief essays that can provoke students with the “and then God said” discussion: Capuchin monkeys are tool users par excellence. They use tools to dig, to open fruit, and to smash rocks together. Whatever we say about this, it is striking that the […]
God and the genome: A geneticist seeks allies among the faithful: Is the human genome sacred? Does editing it violate the idea that we’re made in God’s image or, perhaps worse, allow us to “play God”? Harvard Geneticist Ting Wu’s Wu is making the case that one of the most visceral scientific debates of our time need not be […]
Harry Potter, Holy Writ: This article discusses an experiment with treating popular books as sacred texts in order to explore how authoritative writings are interpreted and regarded. Could suggest a writing or reading project for classes in literature, anthropology, exegetics, or sociology.
More Americans Say Personal Immorality Not Disqualifying for Elected Officials: (scroll down) Americans today are less likely to believe personal transgressions prevent public officials from performing their duties well. Compared to 2011, Americans today are more likely to say elected officials can still perform their public duties in an ethical manner even if they have committed immoral […]
The Supreme Court and Religious Liberty: This readable article provides helpful background, analysis, and distinctions about religious liberty. The reader (student or instructor) will find a useful history and some thoughtful conclusions with reference to key cases and legal concepts. The reading can serve as a stand-alone piece or as an introduction to recent books […]
What endures in Wittenberg: Despite its nearness to arms-producing factories, Wittenberg was largely spared the bombing that destroyed so many other German cities during World War II. Ordinary American Lutheran soldiers, it turns out, pleaded with their generals to go easy on the geographical source of their religion. Even for Protestants, supposedly free of saints and […]
The Sentimentality Trap: The writer, especially the Christian, is today as obligated to avoid the sentimental anti-sentimentality of the edgy as he is to avoid puppies and Pollyanna. Sentimentality offers us the dubious chance to feel while bypassing the messiness of any real human engagement: not too much feeling but too thin an experience. Sentimentality is emotional […]
“Freedom” vs. “Liberty”: Why Religious Conservatives Have Begun to Favor One Over the Other: Etymology is not usage, and language is fluid. This article can help students consider definitions and applications of the concepts of two important words in the public square. And consider the claim of the last quotation.
Desanctification of Law and the Problem of Absolutes: (Note: one free download allowed) Legal Scholar Jeremey Waldron reflects on the current breach between the application and practice of positive law and any of its sources in moral absolutes and in the sacred. “I am talking about modes of critical moralizing that seem natural, appropriate, and […]
