Civil Respect for the Unclaimed Dead — Every year since 1896, Los Angeles County has held a somber ceremony for the men, women and children who die there, but whose bodies are never claimed. This 5 min. audio clip is a poignant and sympathetic account of remembering and not forgetting the dignity of human life, […]
Items included for this subject area come from a variety of sources. The perspectives conveyed may or may not express a Lutheran ethos. They can serve our instruction as discussion-starters, examples (positive and negative), and illustrations of intersections between God’s two kingdoms, intersections sometimes characterized by tension, sometimes by congruence. Inclusion does not imply endorsement.
"Open Book" by R. Marxhausen: the Bible, the book open to us all
Haven in England for Christian Converts From Islam
Haven in England for Christian Converts From Islam — Dozens of ex-Muslims living in safe houses, most of them created by the nonprofit Christian Concern, a London-based organization that wants to infuse British society with a biblical worldview. There are over 2.8 million Muslims in England and conversions are few. But Christian Concern hopes British […]
Fields of Blood
Fields of Blood — James Fallows reviews Karen Armstrong’s new book which “demonstrates again and again that the great spasms of cruelty and killing through history have had little or no religious overlay and are typically the result of an ethnic rather than a religious hatred. An overemphasis on religion’s damage can blind people to […]
The Evolution and Christian Faith Survey
The Evolution and Christian Faith Survey — Americans are not as divided over the issue of human origins as some of the frequently cited [Gallup] surveys and polls seem to suggest. When we carefully define the various possible positions, and measure the certainty with which they are held, both anti-evolution creationists and atheistic evolutionists turn […]
50% of Americans Would Separate Church and State Marriage
50% of Americans Would Separate Church and State Marriage — Half of Americans are ready for separation of church and state when it comes to weddings; six in 10 say the government should not define or regulate marriage; more than a third of Americans—and about a quarter of Protestant pastors—say clergy should get out of […]
Transgender Teen Awarded $75,000 in School Restroom Suit
Transgender Teen Awarded $75000 in School Restroom Suit — A court in Maine awarded the family of a transgender teenager $75,000 in a discrimination lawsuit against a school district that forced the student to use a staff restroom rather than a facility reserved for pupils
The Church Worker Housing Allowance
The Church Worker Housing Allowance — Lutheran pastor Dave Albertson revisits perennial questions about this tax benefit in his article, “How Rich Pastors are Getting Richer (While Poor Pastors Stay Poor),” following the recent U.S. Court of Appeals case that upheld this tax provision.
Can Wheaton Require ROTC be Run by Christians?
Can Wheaton Require ROTC be Run By Christians? — The Army is conducting a nationwide review of policies at the 275 colleges that host ROTC programs, including Wheaton College, which came under fire in recent weeks from a military watchdog group that noticed the Army’s listing for a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps position at the […]
School System Drops all Religious References to Days Off
School System Drops all Religious Reference to Days Off — Schools in Montgomery County, Md. will still be getting Christmas, Easter and Jewish holidays off, but officially the ones in December will now be called winter break and time off around Easter will be spring break. Other holidays will just be days off.
DOJ: Atheists as Ministers of the Gospel?
DOJ: Atheists as Ministers of the Gospel? — the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s high-profile 2013 decision that the longstanding clergy housing allowance was unconstitutional; but the Dept. of Justice also offered the argument that for the case to gain standing, atheists could apply for status as “ministers of the gospel […]
