Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Public Policy

August 31, 2007

Global Warming Consensus Alert: Silver Lining Edition

It turns out that the Chinese were really thinking ahead back in 1979 when they implemented their one child policy. After all, imagine what their carbon emissions would be today if they hadn’t: The number of births avoided equals the entire population of the United States. Continue Reading...
August 30, 2007

Global Warming Consensus Alert – There is Broad, Strong Agreement Based on Solid, Incontrovertible Science

Here’s your broad, strong agreement among scientists: In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change. Examining peer-reviewed papers published on the ISI Web of Science database from 1993 to 2003, she found a majority supported the “consensus view,” defined as humans were having at least some effect on global climate change. Continue Reading...
August 30, 2007

Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis

Readings in Social Ethics: Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis.References below are to page numbers. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first publication of Christianity and the Social Crisis, and a new centenary edition has been released this month by HarperSanFrancisco and includes responses to each chapter from figures such as Jim Wallis, Tony Camplo, Cornel West, Richard Rorty, Stanley Hauerwas, and others. Continue Reading...
August 29, 2007

Socialism is the American Way in Krugman’s America

There are a number of problems with Paul Krugman’s NYT piece earlier this week, “A Socialist Plot.” Krugman compares the American educational system to its healthcare system, arguing that because Americans aren’t inclined to disparage the former as a socialist threat, we likewise shouldn’t consider universal healthcare as a “socialist plot.” Continue Reading...
August 29, 2007

Food, Animals, and the Flood

The relation of the creation account and the narrative of the flood in Genesis is a complex one. One of these linkages comes in the similarities of the mandates set forth by God in both accounts. Continue Reading...
August 28, 2007

Poverty Rate Drops First Time Since 2000

Fox News reports: The nation’s poverty rate dropped last year, the first significant decline since President Bush took office. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that 36.5 million Americans, or 12.3 percent — were living in poverty last year. Continue Reading...
August 28, 2007

Usury and Market Failure

When the sign for one of those payday lending stores went up on the corner a block away from my house, I have to say I was less than enthusiastic. The standard response in a market economy to “market failure” is for a nonprofit to fill the gap in services or meet the need. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2007

And I Still Haven’t Seen Dime One From Exxon…

It’s been at least a few months since I admitted abandoning all of my principles and ethics in favor of rolling around in great piles of filthy Exxon lucre, and I’ll be honest with you here – I haven’t even gotten so much as a thank you note from Rex Tillerson. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2007

Readings on Church and Poverty

This summer I’m working on developing the syllabus for a class that I’ll be helping to lead in the Fall. The course will focus on readings in social ethics, with a general theme on church and culture, and a particular theme on church and poverty. Continue Reading...