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.
The Professor Wore a Hijab in Solidarity–Then Lost Her Job: This article is an in-depth profile of the Wheaton prof who put on a hijab and prompted an extended dispute at her campus and across the country on Christian-Muslim relations and theology. “When Larycia Hawkins, the first black woman to receive tenure at Wheaton College, […]
Two years later, few Hobby Lobby copycats emerge: Obamacare supporters warned that if the Supreme Court allowed Hobby Lobby to eliminate birth control coverage because of their religious beliefs, others would rush to follow — and not just to eliminate contraceptives, but also, potentially, treatments like blood transfusions and vaccines. Those fears haven’t been borne out. This […]
Death Rights: This carefully written article assesses the difference between Canada’s judicially determined right to assisted suicide with Germany’s legislative allowance for narrow instances of assisted suicide without prosecution for family members: “Laws forbidding suicide assistance are based on the moral conviction that all killing of innocent life is wrong. If liberal democracies today can no […]
Constitutional Exceptionalism: (Note: one free download) This article argues that the legal doctrine of religious exceptionalism carries dangers of excess and potentially does harm. Students can study it as a position for limiting the scope of legal exceptions and for its interpretation of harm and who defines harm.
Top Evangelical College Group to Dismiss Employees Who Support Gay Marriage: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA says it will start a process for “involuntary terminations” for any staffer who comes forward to disagree with its positions on human sexuality, which hold that any sexual activity outside of a husband and wife is immoral. This Time article can […]
Can we be religious without God? Alain de Botton on “atheism 2.0.”: Atheism comes in different types. Alain de Botton (Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believers Guide to the Uses of Religion) opened the storefront congregation for atheiests called “School of Life” in 2008, offering an atheism more in the tone of Bergson than Dawkins and […]
Why the Whole Church Needs Psalm 137, Violent Imagery and All — A review of Song of Exile: The Enduring Mystery of Psalm 137 by David W. Stowe (Oxford University Press, 2016). Part exegetical commentary, part cultural history, part personal rumination, Stowe’s book maps the experience of the psalm to the experience of Israel and, in turn, […]
The Court after Scalia: Neither left nor right – The enduring principle of Free Exercise: Several judicial rulings demonstrate broad and continuing commitment to religious liberty. Despite politically contentious developments, a major purpose of both the Bill of Rights and an independent judiciary is protect certain inalienable rights against the potential excesses of democracy. Because all […]
To Be Christian, Intellectual, and Black: Religion Dispatches has been hosting a conversation prompted by an Alan Jacobs article in Harpers about the current state of Christian intellectuals in America. This part of the discussion links to earlier entries. Those considering cultural proficiency views on Christian campuses may be interested.
Shaun Casey on Religion and Diplomacy: Critics have long charged that the US government has not done a good job in acknowledging the role of religion in foreign policy. PBS talks with US Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs Shaun Casey about this new office in the State Department.
