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.
From the Economist: “Whether dealing with terrorism, extremism, racism or privacy concerns, the European default solution seems to involve chipping away at freedom of expression,” argues Jacob Mchangama. Moreover there has been a clear movement in the wrong direction of suppressing religious freedom. In a short essay published this week, he cites an impressively, almost improbably […]
On natural settings and religion: a Baylor University study, published in the journal Sociology of Religion, found that U.S. counties with nicer weather and prettier natural surroundings see lower rates of religious affiliation. The study authors suggest that, yes, people tend to use nature as a spiritual resource, making it a competitor with organized religious institutions.
An exchange students can learn from is going on between sociologist Robert Wuthnow and the Pew Research Center. Wuthnow raises several concerns about the accuracy and conclusions of polling and surveys, particularly about culture shifts in religion. The Pew Research Center responds. Check the highlighted links here for content useful in sociology, statistics, journalism, psychology, […]
The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge (Jer. 31:29). This interview with Rachel Yehuda, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, is an informative update on research in epigenetics. Yehuda discusses the current science, its application to the Holocaust and 9/11, and its implications for the intersection of the spiritual […]
This NPR 13.7 article on a cognitive science conference at UT Austin offers 15 videos on religion and cognition. The clips are 2 to 5 minutes long and address such questions as: How is the process of acquiring religious and scientific explanations similar? Why should scientists care about religion? How can evolutionary perspectives on […]
Alan Jacobs reviews The Age of the Crisis of Man: Thought and Fiction in America, 1933-1973 by Mark Greif (Princeton University Press, 2015). “For a long period in the mid-twentieth century, fundamental anthropology—the problematic nature of ‘man’—became a main rhetorical and contemplative current in the streams of thought and writing that shape a public philosophy.”
These two articles on sex identity and gender identity are written by Christopher O. Tollefsen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina and a senior fellow of the Witherspoon Institute. They may be useful for helping students identify the forms of the Aristotelian/Thomist arguments (Luther or Bonhoeffer take a different approach) that favor […]
This review of the Planned Parenthood incident and their use of abortion organs and tissue can help students consider several elements of the controversy and particularly why the issues continue to be intractable. The discussion could be used with courses in research, journalism, ethics, psychology, pre-law, and other social sciences.
According to a recent Pew Research Center report, an estimated 77 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where religious freedom is “highly” or “very highly” restricted. Speaking at the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Katrina Lantos Swett, head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, “would make […]
Longtime Supreme Court reporter and analyst Lyle Dennison explains how the ACA health mandates will continue to churn back through the Federal District and Appeals Courts for a long time to come. Here is useful article for understanding the legal/theological controversy.
