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.
MercatorNet asked the University of Navarre’s Institute for Culture and Society about the best approach to this individual and social problem. Amnesty International and the World Health Organisation promote the full decriminalization of prostitution – a step, they maintain, that will protect sex workers’ human rights and prevent trafficking and the exploitation of minors. Many […]
In new clashes over religion in schools, communities around the nation face backlash for teaching about Islam. Sometimes, a field trip to a mosque caused the stir. In other cases, just seeing the mention of Islam in a child’s homework led to a parental complaint. Parents and policymakers, namely in Texas and Florida, also have […]
Lutheran Sociologist Alvin Schmidt has published a new book on the lively topic of death and burial. “This book documents today’s rising rates of cremation in the West, and notes that these rates now include many deceased Christians, a stark contrast to Christians in the past who had consistently rejected cremation from their earliest years […]
The September 2015 edition of Comment examines how health is not just the province of the hospital, or even the health-care industry. Just as nurses and doctors and patients are dependent on the architect, engineers, and plant managers, so the health-care industry is dependent on homes, families, churches, and schools to cultivate a healthy citizenry […]
The Chinese Christian school movement doesn’t officially exist, and parents make great sacrifices to join it—but it’s growing quickly. Unlike the missionary-started Christian schools in China’s past, this time local Chinese are understanding the need for Christian education and seeking to provide it for the next generation. This on-site article includes an overview of the […]
In this open letter to NY Times columnist David Brooks, widely read author and developmental psychologist Thomas Lickona disagrees with Brooks’ view that Christians should drop the same-sex marriage fight and focus instead on aiding the underprivileged. Lickona points out the the two concerns are linked in several important ways. The article is a good […]
Christianity Today as well as GetReligion have both recently run articles that caution against nuisance and advocacy websites that post or pass along bogus news claims. The concern is that Christians who are to be “wise as serpents, innocent as doves” end up lapsing on both counts. The topic may be useful for courses in […]
Teachers at four Catholic high schools, under pressure from the San Francisco archbishop to adhere to church teaching in their personal lives, narrowly voted to accept a union agreement with the archdiocese for the next three years. While the contract does not describe the teachers as “ministers,” a term that would have allowed the archdiocese to […]
“The Coddling of the American Mind” is an in-depth article on the college excesses of zero tolerance, trigger warnings, microaggressions, and the threat of reprisals from the U.S. Dept. of Education. “In the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like. Here’s why that’s disastrous for […]
“The Perils of Preferred Peers” argues that the real question for the Christian college is, what do you mean by excellence? And that any any survey the higher altitudes of American higher education in the first decades of the twenty-first century–at least as measured by U.S. News and World Report–doesn’t offer much John Henry Newman, author of […]
