Trends in the Prevalence of Sexual Behaviors: The CDC 2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey reports that 60% of high school students in America report never having had sexual intercourse. This marks a 5.6% increase in abstinence from its 2013 survey and a increase of 28% in the past two decades.
Orthodox Church Lays Groundwork For Legal Enforcement of Ban on Church Use For Same-Sex Marriages: The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America has adopted a statement (full text) titled Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs Regarding Marriage, apparently designed to allow parishes and monasteries to legally enforce restrictions on use of their facilities for same-sex or […]
Blind faith in DNA: “We should be wary of accepting bold claims by researchers until they have been thoroughly tested,” says this position piece on science in the news. Have we really found the essence of life, as Nobel laureate James Watson puts it, by studying its parts? The genetics narrative may not be as air-tight […]
The Atlantic dissects Jesus’ ‘wife’ story: The institutions in God’s left-hand kingdom are, as always, a blessing and curse. The emerging account of a 2012 news event about an ancient manuscript alluding to Jesus’ wife can help students think critically about news stories, scholarly claims, and asking the right (and sometimes obvious) questions.
To Serve God and Mammon: Hucksterism in the church dates back at least to Phineas and Hophni (1 Sam. 2). This review of The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream,by Chris Lehmann (Melville House, 2016) can serve as an intro to the sub-culture of American prosperity religion. Students can assess the […]
Is There No Moral Law, or Is There No Law Without Morality? Canada’s parliament has passed the assisted-dying bill into law. This position piece challenges the autonomy argument of such a law and examines the ethical claims at work in that argument. Students can consider the various positions and the social and theological implications of the […]
‘I was in prison and you came to me’: Lutherans well-suited for ministry to incarcerated: This ministry of mercy and healing is one about which many in Synod are under-informed. “Behind the barbed wire and watch towers languishes someone’s son or daughter, father or mother, brother or sister who desperately long to hear that Jesus loves them […]
Protecting Religious Liberty: This June 14, 2016, conference of presentations and panel discussions held at the Cato Institute includes views from several frequent participants in the religious liberty issues such as Douglas Laycock, Charles Haynes, and Mark Rienzi.
Alfonse Borysewicz’s lonely struggle gives Catholic art a modern face: Students can use this review of a current artist to consider the relationships among art, faith traditions, and current styles of expression. “No other Western religion has produced such a rich legacy of artistic inspiration and ideas; but none exerts the same kind of anxiety of […]
9th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments In Pregnancy Center Disclosure Law Challenge: A federal district court refused to enjoin California’s Reproductive FACT Act which requires reproductive health clinics to disseminate a notice for abortion services. See also the Nat’l Right to Life News.
