Use this page to scroll back through over 800 previous entries across several topics and disciplines. See the various subject matter pages for content selected for specific disciplines.
Seventh-day Adventist College Fracas: Every week, yet another Christian college is in an uproar over clashes between doctrine and 21st century culture. It’s easy to tell a story along the lines of the familiar narrative of conservative-Christian-college-is-trampling-down-academic-freedom. But the reality is a bit messier. We need more details than the Chronicle of Higher Education delivered.
Microfinance is big business in Colombia: In developing countries like Colombia, microloans — loans of $25 to $1,500 or more — are big business. The idea is to give loans to people who can’t get credit and who can’t get access to traditional financial services offered by banks. Elizabet Abella received her microloan from Opportunity International, a Christian […]
Advance In Human Embryo Research Rekindles Ethical Debate: Researchers have now extended the time they can keep a human embryo alive in the lab from nine days to 13 days. Many are asking, “Why not go beyond the 14-day-post-fertilization limit that has governed this research to date?” This 4 min. audio clip and this essay […]
5 Surprising Spiritual Benefits of Owning Less Stuff: Minimalism was meant to help our finances. Here’s how it helped our faith. Jesus’ teaching on money and possessions tell us that owning less actually results in more freedom and joy and peace. Students are presented with five ways to reconsider their material existence without going gnostic.
The New Scientism: Still Fighting the Phantom War — This review of Excellent Beauty: The Naturalness of Religion and the Unnaturalness of the World by Eric Dietrich (Columbia University Press, 2015) can help students consider the claims about science explaining religion and whether awe, wonder, and beauty are adequate replacements for a coherent faith tradition.
Religious College Title IX Exemption List Now Online: After being petitioned by the Human Rights Campaign for LGBT rights, the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office has published online their list of colleges and universities that have requested or requested and received exemptions from compliance to LGBT policy and practice requirements. World Magazine characterizes […]
Gordon College professor sues: Gordon College philosophy professor Lauren Barthold is suing her employer for allegedly breaching her free speech rights and retaliating after she publicly criticized the Christian school for its policy of not hiring sexually active gays and lesbians. A Gordon College statement on the suit says other Gordon employees have critiqued the school’s policy on sexuality […]
Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life: How would finding extraterrestrial intelligence affect religious beliefs? What might it tell us about ourselves? What would the theological implications be? This 7 min. video interviews astrobiology experts and theologians about what it means to be human, what it means to be intelligent, what it means to be civilized–and whether radio signals from another world […]
Bill would force faith-based colleges to reveal LGBT exemptions: Massachusetts Congresswoman Katherine Clark’s bill would require the U.S. Department of Education to insist that colleges and universities that apply for or receive exemptions from federal civil rights protections for students on the grounds of religious freedom make those waivers public. See also GetReligion article and HuffPost article.
A university moved to fire a professor after he defended a student’s right to debate gay marriage. Now he’s suing: A tenured professor and a legal institute are suing Marquette University, claiming a breach of contract for the suspension imposed after he publicly criticized an instructor for stifling debate in class.
