Read, Rise, Soar: The April 29, 2017, edition of World Magazine includes a spread on child lit and children’s books. See the five articles, Life beyond looks, Ends of the beginnings, A hero’s humility, and Bad words.
Items included on this page 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.
On the Popular Press and School Vouchers
Breaking news from Indy Star: Christian schools tout, um, Christian beliefs and behavior — Students can use this review piece to consider how the popular press reports on matters about which the reporters and editors do not themselves understand, getting some elements right and other elements less than accurate, even while generally providing fair and […]
ESPN Copy Guidelines on Sports and Religion
New ESPN guidelines recognize connection between sports, politics: An ESPN editor comments on new policy from ESPN on reporting and politics and social issues. Students will be challenged by unpacking the concerns, issues, and ensuing practices as well as by where religion fits into the guidelines.
Monty Williams: Death, Tragedy, Faith and Forgiveness
‘You Can’t Give In’: Monty Williams On Life After Tragedy — This depth story discusses in detail the circumstances of the NBA coach and his struggle through the death of his wife from a criminally horrific auto collision to arriving at that peace that passes all understanding. Students in various courses may find this article […]
Leviticus as a Lens on the Human Condition
In Judaism, Holiness Is as Holiness Does: The fire at the core of Leviticus — Students may find interesting Rabbi David Wolpe’s observations about Leviticus and Lutheran theologian Rudolph Otto on the numinous and the human condition. Leviticus would seem to lend itself to Otto’s approach. Not a rational or utilitarian pursuit, sacrifice required acknowledgment of […]
Dostoyevsky on Freedom, Beauty, and the Christ
The Monologue Beynd the Dialogue: Why are Dostoevsky’s characters are so real? Dostoevsky’s polyphonic world is full of free subjects, not objects. We don’t know what they might say or do next, and we suspect that the author doesn’t know either. They speak in their own voices, and Dostoevsky doesn’t drown them out. Yet Dostoevsky’s complex […]
Social Media and Adol Perfectionism
The Happiness Effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost by Donna Freitas (Oxford University Press, 2017) — Apart from the usual clickbait stories of cyber bullying and sexting, Freitas finds that college students have an overwhelming urge to present themselves on social media as successful and happy. Many reported […]
A Christian Cop on the Beat
A Police Officer’s View from Street Level: An informative and insightful interview with Sergeant Adam Plantinga of the San Francisco Police Dept. and author of 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman (Quill Driver, 2014). “Being a cop hammers the compassion out of you. There’s a 90-10 rule in law enforcement: 90 […]
Six Notable Women of the Medieval Church
Christian Women Writers of the Medieval World: Meet the first known dramatist of Christianity, the most famous female exegete of the nature of the Trinity, the author of the earliest known autobiography in English, and three more fascinating contributors to the life and mind of the medieval church. And Joan of Arc is not even mentioned! […]
Is Science Open? Closed? or just Method?
A Film Editor In The Land Of Astrophysicists: Continental drift, worlds in collision, and microbes too small to see–all ideas rejected by science in earlier times. But this case study offers students some discussion on why and how science engages with some hypotheses and not others, and why this is both not-so-good and good.
