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.
Polygamy after Windsor: What’s Religion Got to Do with It? Although First Amendment jurisprudence would subject polygamy bans to a higher level of scrutiny, this heightened protection comes at a cost. The landmark same-sex marriage case, United States v. Windsor, and the opinion’s protected liberty interest of “equal dignity” provide polygamy advocates with substantive grounds to protect their […]
Can Monasteries Be a Model for Reclaiming Tech Culture for Good? Monasteries ushered civilization through the Dark Ages; perhaps unMonasteries, sparing the dogma and self-flagellation, can keep alive the promise of a liberating Internet as companies like Google and Facebook tighten their grip. Hackers are transforming an ancient city into a prototype for the future. As […]
Here’s Every Biblical Reference in ‘Hamilton’: The libretto is highly literate, loaded with references to the Founding documents, the age of Enlightenment, Shakespeare, contemporary rap—and of course, the Bible. From King George to Aaron Burr, the hit musical’s biblical literacy makes its story and characters even richer. Students can contrast this work with the more typical pop […]
The Death of Moral Relativism: The shift in cultural artifacts from the late 20th century to now illuminates America’s changing moral framework. Law, virtue, and a shame culture have risen to prominence in recent years, signaling that moral relativism may be going the way of the buggy whip. The writer explores whether music, entertainment, and politics are […]
How Hieronymus Bosch Defied the Ideals of an Age: Bosch (c.1450-1516) did not celebrate human folly. He painted it as an affront, innate perhaps, to God’s order. Mankind, for him, found it so much easier to disobey God’s strictures than to obey them, and humanity was one long parade. The people in his pictures – the misers, […]
The Religious-Question Doctrine: This essay argues that the source of judicial inconsistency in applying the U.S. religious-question doctrine is confusion about whether the doctrine protects a free-exercise right held by religious individuals and groups against government interference, or is instead an anti-establishment immunity stemming from a structural disability on government (and especially judicial) action with respect […]
Headed toward Christ: This essay, quite readable for students, addresses narrative views about progress, randomness, history, and nature. It also serves as an example of drawing together convergent themes to examine a complementary approach to science and religion with Christ as the end or telos of nature and history. Much to agree and disagree with along […]
‘The Good Death,’ hard to find, and religion’s role may be to blame: So writes Ann Neumann in The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America (Beacon Press, 2016). “The Good Death” is a call for people to examine their own wishes around end-of-life issues and decide what role religion — either theirs or that of […]
What’s the Value of Utility? A brief essay that can help students quickly reconsider assumptions about value, what is important, why, how we assess value, versions of moral calculus, different ethical theories, and personal and public policy. The greatest happiness for the greatest number may sound like a noble idea, but exactly how are we supposed to […]
Why We Really Put Our Kids in Sports: This first person essay by a sports parent reviews the book Overplayed: A Parent’s Guide to Sanity in the World of Youth Sports by King and Starbuck (Herald Press, 2016): “It’s not too late to redeem youth sports culture, though, and while difficult, parents can begin to make different […]
