American Civil Religion — Book review by James Childs on an e-book from Gary Laderman. This 93 page book “is in some respects a narrative of matters familiar and yet it is done insightfully. He opens up possibilities for thinking about our civil religion that may not otherwise occur to us…. Since this is an […]
Not Just For Profit
Not Just for Profit: An Expanded View on the Personhood of Corporations — The Supreme Court’s questioning of the government’s lawyer suggested that its attempt to distinguish between for-profit and other corporate forms did not make sense. American businesses have always been free to accomplish a variety of purposes—purposes, like Hobby Lobby’s high starting wage—that […]
Pedagogy for a Politicized Church
Pedagogy for a Politicized Church — Concordia Seminary President Dale Meyer offers an extensive discussion on the Lutheran temperament, the church’s encounter with the larger cultural context, and sustaining a the church’s instruction both as fidelity to our biblical and confessional beliefs and as a faith that is active in love.
Do We Know What Life Is?
Do We Know What Life Is? — Philosopher Alva Noe critiques the renewed PBS series, “Cosmos,” by noticing what the program’s host, cosmologist Neil deGrass Tyson, did not include about evolution: “Here’s what he didn’t say: Darwin’s theory of evolution doesn’t speak to the question of how life got started…. the question of life’s origins […]
Twilight for America’s Elite Intellectual Consensus
Twilight for America’s Elite Intellectual Consensus — George Marsden’s book, The Twilight of the American Enlightenment (Basic Books, 2014) sketches the emerging intellectual establishment following World War II and looks at common assumptions held by those leading cultural analysts writing for middlebrow Americans–assumptions that no longer prevail.
A New Series of Children’s Story Books on Evolution
A New Series of Children’s Story Books on Evolution — In delaying evolution instruction, we may miss an opportunity to leverage children’s natural curiosity about the biological world, and to establish the foundations for a more accurate scientific understanding before misconceptions become deeply entrenched. So here’s the challenge for educators (and parents): figuring out how […]
When Science Comes to Church
When Science Comes to Church — We don’t have to have all the answers to our kids’ (or our own) questions about the complex intersection of science and faith. We just have to be in the game. If we’re willing to address the topic, people will listen eagerly and engage with us. If we’re not […]
Nones a Mix of Theists and Non-theists
Nones a Mix of Theists and Non-Theists — Today, “nones” include many more unbranded believers than atheists, and an increasingly diverse racial and ethnic mix. And, researchers say, this is already making nones’ attitudes and opinions less predictably liberal on social issues.
Child Services, Baptists, and Gay Hiring
Child Services, Baptists, and Gay Hiring — Uncertainty over a short-lived proposal to open employment to gays at Kentucky’s largest private child care agency prompted many of its supportive churches to withhold giving last year, causing a multi-million dollar shortfall.
Vivaldi’s Business Plan
Vivaldi’s Business Plan — In the U.S. everyone thinks St. Martin-in-the-Fields is an orchestra. In the U.K. everyone thinks it’s a homeless shelter. The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is over 50 years old and St. Martin’s today, with 350 concerts a year, offers the fullest concert program in the U.K. Meanwhile the Connection at St. Martin-in-the-Fields […]
