The Refugees Among Us: Our theology of vocation (callings) calls upon us to pay special attention to our location. That is to say, it focuses on how God has placed us in particular places at particular times. The needs of our neighbor in these locations and at these times function as God’s call for us to […]
Bible Lessons at the Lunch Bell: Released Time programs began in 1914 and allows public school students to attend privately sponsored religious classes during school time. Though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled public schools cannot endorse any religion or try to convert students during class, it upheld the constitutionality of released time in 1952 with certain limits: Released […]
Homeless Find Rest in Faith-based Shelters More Than Others: Religious organizations provide more than half of the emergency shelter beds for homeless people in major cities across the country, a new Baylor University study shows. In a study of 11 U.S. cities, 58 percent of emergency beds for the homeless were at faith-based organizations. The […]
The Deafening Silence of “Religious Freedom” Defenders on Trump’s Muslim Ban: This clamorous essay, while overwrought, can raise for students some issues that the church needs to weigh, especially in terms of the two kingdoms, Jn. 3:16, Mt. 25: 31ff, and Col. 4:5-6. Students can also consider how the writer’s case might be made more dispassionately […]
In Defense of Churches: Can the IRS Limit Tax Abuse by “Church” Impostors? A large gap in our Tax Code allows certain religious organizations to amass extraordinary riches while preying on the faithful. Their conduct is causing damage to the church as an institution and is inconsistent with the purpose of tax exemptions—to provide a public […]
Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age by Nelson Tebbe (Harvard University Press, 2017): “In Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age, I argue that these disputes, which are admittedly complex, nevertheless can be resolved without irrationality or arbitrariness. I describe a method called social coherence, which provides a way to reach justified conclusions, even in situations […]
Beyond Dissent and Compliance: (Note: one free download) Throughout history and across many societies, people have been facing conflicts between faith and the law. This paper exposes and defines central dynamics of these conflicts by empirically investigating how educational leaders in religious communities tackle, reduce, and resolve conflicts with the law. Three main dynamics emerge.
British Court Denies Transgender Parent Contact With Children Because of Religious Community’s Reaction: The court’s reasoning is interesting — a British Family Court in J v. B and the Children, (EWFC, Jan. 30, 2017), has rejected the petition of an Orthodox Jewish father, a member of the Manchester Charedi community who left home to live as a […]
One-Quarter Say God will Determine the Super Bowl’s Winner—but Nearly Half Say God Rewards Devout Athletes: 25% of Americans believe God plays a role in determining the outcome of sporting events. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the public disagree. There are significant disagreements among Americans about the role that God plays in sports by religious background. White […]
Self-organization of the human embryo in the absence of maternal tissues: Remodelling of the human embryo at implantation is indispensable for successful pregnancy. Yet it has remained mysterious because of the experimental hurdles that beset the study of this developmental phase. Here, we establish an in vitro system to culture human embryos through implantation stages in the […]
