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August 16, 2007

Bridging Wesley’s Ditch

Stanley Cohen, the Martin White Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, is quoted as saying that “good intentions become bad practices.” In his critique of rather lame attempts to realize justice in the world (related to faulty definitions of justice), Herman Bianchi writes, “Even more dubious is another frame in which the formula is often couched: ‘Justice is the constant intention to give everyone his due.’ Continue Reading...
August 15, 2007

Asylum vs. Assistance

In connection to Acton’s recent coverage of the New Sanctuary Movement, which shelters illegal immigrants in churches to protect them from deportation, see this fascinating Christianity Today piece that explains the history of the church sanctuary concept. Continue Reading...
August 15, 2007

Environmental Stewardship News Round-Up (cont.)

The following items are the continuation of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation Newsletter, August 15, 2007: Those first five major developments are themselves worthy of an entire issue of this newsletter, and the last two are significant as well. Continue Reading...
August 15, 2007

The Greatest Lawsuit Ever

For your reading pleasure, I present you with a partial list of defendants from the case of Riches v. Bush et al: George W. Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton, James Hoffa, www.google.com, Continue Reading...
August 15, 2007

Youth and the Relevance of the Gospel

There’s been a spate of stories lately in various media about the difficulty that evangelical denominations are having keeping young adults interested in the life of the institutional church. Here’s one from USA Today, “Young adults aren’t sticking with church” (HT: Kruse Kronicle; Out of Ur). Continue Reading...
August 14, 2007

The Global Warming Debate: Yada, Yada, Yada

I am not a prophet, not even a futurist. I do study trends, now and then, and I try to pay careful attention to popular culture. One thing I am quite sure about: global warming will be a central issue in public debates and political campaigns for some time to come. Continue Reading...
August 14, 2007

The Fate of the Family Farm

To hear the NYT tell it (and Sojourners, for that matter), the family farm is facing severe threats. With no small degree of dramatic flourish, the NYT editorial linked above concludes: For the past 75 years, America’s system of farm subsidies has unfortunately driven farming toward such concentration, and there’s no sign that the next farm bill will change that. Continue Reading...
August 13, 2007

College Professors Biased Against Christians?

Many students who identify as Evangelical Christians and attend a state or public university are reporting severe bias against their beliefs in the classroom. “Tenured Bigots,” is the title of Mark Bergin’s article in World Magazine which highlights statistical proof of enormous prejudice by faculty members against evangelicals. Continue Reading...
August 13, 2007

Evangelizing the Powers

As one might infer from Lord Acton’s maxim, the question has been raised: Did proximity to political power corrupt Billy Graham’s chaplaincy to the presidency? GetReligion’s Douglas LeBlanc surveys the recent attention paid by the mainstream media to this part of Graham’s pastoral mission, and concludes in concord with Randall Balmer, “The gospel is better served when religious leaders keep a healthy distance from political power. Continue Reading...