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

April 15, 2005

Would you like a tax with those fries?

On this date in 1955, Ray Kroc starts the McDonald’s chain of fast food restaurants in Illinois. On a related note, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is the latest political figure to float the idea of a “fast food tax,” the newest incarnation of the “sin” tax. Continue Reading...
April 15, 2005

Corruption roundup

1) According to the BBC, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “The bulk of the money that Saddam [Hussein] made came out of smuggling outside the oil-for-food programme, and it was on the American and British watch”. Continue Reading...
April 14, 2005

Study of clerical careers

Courtesy of Pulpit & Pew comes Factors Shaping Clergy Careers: A Wakeup Call for Protestant Denominations and Pastors (PDF), by Patricia M. Y. Chang (HT: Mere Comments). This study is based on surveys conducted primarily with mainline Protestant denominations. Continue Reading...
April 14, 2005

What do you call this?

  From Live Science, there are plans to create a pseudo-woolly mammoth from frozen DNA. The trick is to take the male sperm DNA from a woolly mammoth sample and the egg from its closest living relative, the elephant. Continue Reading...
April 14, 2005

A costly good

In the words of the Cornwall Declaration, “A clean environment is a costly good.” A round-up of recent stories attests to the truth of this statement. Wal-Mart pledged on Tuesday to provide $35 million for use to protect wildlife habitat. Continue Reading...
April 13, 2005

‘The least natural of loves’

C.S. Lewis calls “Friendship” the “least natural of loves; the least instinctive, organic, biological, gregarious and necessary.” Head on over to Mere Comments to see my response to “Walking With Friendships.” Continue Reading...
April 12, 2005

Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King

Saul Bellow died last week at the age of 89. He wrote the novel that was most influential and deeply important in my life, Henderson the Rain King. In this book, Bellow engages the hollow atheism at the heart of the modern secular world. Continue Reading...