Three features, three editorials, book reviews, and an inventory: In this edition, we look outside Lutheran teaching and consider the issues of the Christian’s involvement in public schools as a student, parent, teacher, or administrator. With our parochial history in mind, a reader might well ask, “So why is such a publication as this spending effort on public […]
I and Thou and Ze? — “What are your preferred pronouns?” My students say such things out of sensitivity to others. In the instances I’ve observed, it’s not a case of narcissistic identity politics gone mad, as some media pundits would have it. But the “identify as” wording does reflect a pervasive unease. We’ve lost our bearings […]
The Murder Ballad of Abraham and Isaac: For another angle on the Gen. 22 account, Rabbi Daniel Landes says this about the sacrifice of Isaac: “If you want an image for it, it’s very simple. You drive your child to the Jerusalem bus station, you put him on the bus to the army base and you […]
Willa Cather’s Answer to Exile: Students might start their reading of Cather with this essay. For Cather, human life is an experience of exile and homesickness. We are all separated from our true homeland—from that place where we are entirely in our element. We live outside the gates of Paradise, at odds with God, our […]
No Protestants on the Court: This essay considers whether and how the religious orientation of the Supreme Court justices may or may not influence the court’s use of the “compelling interest” test when adjudicating cases that involve religious liberty. Use of this and the other usual tests of “substantial burden” and “least restrictive” depend on […]
Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth by Matthew Levering (Baker, 2016) — Levering covers twenty-one theologians and philosophers from the early church to the modern period, examining how they answered the critics of their day. He also shows the relevance of the classical arguments to contemporary debates and challenges to Christianity.
Remarks on “The Future of Religious Liberty” at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention: Richard Garnett, law professor at the University of Notre Dame, provides this brief assessment on the post-election shifting ground of religious liberty. He offers “one big-picture idea, two reasons for cautious optimism, and three causes for concern” that can help profs, students, […]
UW–Eau Claire to religious students: ‘Your service doesn’t count’ — ADF filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of two students at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire who are being denied credit for mandatory community service because their activities involved religion. See also the UWEC Daily Cardinal story.
