Jordan J. Ballor

Jordan J. Ballor (Dr. theol., University of Zurich; PhD, Calvin Theological Seminary) is director of research at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy at First Liberty Institute.

Posts by Jordan J. Ballor

July 07, 2005

Book review: The Thinking Toolbox

The Thinking Toolbox: Thirty-Five Lessons That Will Build Your Reasoning Skills, by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn, illustrated by Richard LaPierre, ISBN 0974531510, 234 pp. Christian Logic, 2005. Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn are brothers who live in Indiana (more about them at www.christianlogic.com) Continue Reading...
July 07, 2005

EU rejects patent law

I’m not sure whether this reflects the fractiousness of the European “Union,” or European unity in opposition to protection for intellectual property (or both), but yesterday the European Parliament “overwhelmingly rejected a proposed law Wednesday to create a single way of patenting software across the European Union.” Continue Reading...
July 07, 2005

Cash che

ARMAVIRUMQUE passes along an excerpt from an article posted yesterday by The New Republic, “The Killing Machine,” by Alvaro Vargas Llosa. The article is about Che Guevara, and the famous photograph that “thirty-eight years after his death, is still the logo of revolutionary (or is it capitalist?) Continue Reading...
July 07, 2005

The importance of the Pastoral ministry

In the words of puritan Samuel Hieron, in the care of a bad Miller we loose but our meale, of the Farrier but our horse, of the Taylour but our garment, of the Lawyer but our money, of the Physitian but our bodyes: but in the hands of an vnfaithfull minister a man looseth his soule and his everlasting portion in heaven. Continue Reading...
July 06, 2005

Get behind me Satan

One of the free downloads offered today in the iTunes music store is an interview with Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes. They were guests of Terry Gross on Fresh Air on June 9, 2005 and spoke about their new album, Get Behind Me Satan. Continue Reading...
July 06, 2005

Summer Olympics in London, 2012

London has been awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics, beating out Paris, New York, Madrid, and Moscow. According to a report, “The victory means that London will play host to the world’s premier sporting event in seven years’ time with a specially-built stadium and village rising from what is now an urban wasteland in the east of the city.” Continue Reading...
July 06, 2005

Africa needs more than foreign aid

So says Dr. George Ayittey, a professor of economics at American University and founder of the Free Africa Foundation, in an interview on today’s Morning Edition from NPR. Ayittey argues in part that after the African nations gained independence, they rejected the market system out of hand as a Western innovation, to the detriment of their societies. Continue Reading...
July 06, 2005

Why not give yourself?

A question over at the ONE Campaign blog: Why don’t these celebrities cough up their own money and stop asking for mine? Answer: First off, they are. Most of the celebs involved in the campaign give hundreds of thousands, if not millions to charity. Continue Reading...
July 05, 2005

Private aid and investment abroad

A study released late last month by the Hudson Institute found “$62.1 billion in U.S. private donations to developing countries in 2003, the last year numbers are available.” The report, cited in an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, goes on to argue that the formula used by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) to judge the generosity of various countries “fails to take into account the primary way in which Americans help others abroad: through the private sector.” Continue Reading...