Category: Religion
the insanity of autonomy
Kate Shellnutt asked wrote a piece in Christianity Today discussing a new Gallup poll suggesting that Americans are getting more liberal in their social views: The church today finds itself in a precarious position, as an ethical shift pushes public...
You CAN force your morality on others! That’s what government is for.
One does not have to travel far on the information superhighway (or the meatspace) to encounter this sentiment in relation to Christians in politics: “Well, we can’t just force our morality on others.” Yes, you can. Actually, that’s what the...
New Gods and Old Demons
I am incredibly excited that Alan Jacobs is now taking on the project of marrying Walter Wink’s examination of “The Powers” with Neil Gaiman’s American Gods: Wink demonstrates, compellingly I think, that the Powers were made by God and granted stewardly...
5 ways to actually reform American healthcare
Obamacare is the law of the land. For better or worse, we’re stuck with it for now. It still has problems — millions of people are still uninsured and its cost-containment measures, while often useful, are probably not enough to...
Andy Crouch on race, power, and culture making
Just wanted to quickly highlight some recent podcasts featuring Andy Crouch. I have long enjoyed Andy’s writing and his work with Christianity Today (here’s my review of his most recent book, Strong and Weak), but I found these podcasts full of...
addiction: the devil you can measure and the devil you can’t
Christopher Caldwell has an arresting essay in this month’s First Things: If you take too much heroin, your breathing slows until you die. Unfortunately, the drug sets an addictive trap that is sinister and subtle. It provides a euphoria—a feeling...
This is war! Now put down your sword and pick up your ear trumpet.
I very much appreciate what Alan Jacobs and Rod Dreher have said in response to last week’s post, which draws out an issue that I didn’t really address head-on. Alan puts it this way, in the context of disagreement between orthodox...
Is the Benedict Option a “Safe Space”?
With the release of Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option book, both the main question (“how do Christians cultivate local institutions to pass on our faith?”) and various sub-questions–such as how to deal with the unique threat that the Sexual Revolution poses...
Sympathy for the Trump Voter
Should we sympathize with Trump voters? I found this essay from Rick Perlstein pretty enlightening, even if I disagree with a lot of what he had to say. In short, Perlstein writes about the captivating experience of dealing with a very intelligent Trump...
Paul’s Letter to American Christians, The Alternate Ending
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s sermon “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” is a tremendous and powerful work, well worth reading in its entirety today. (You can read a PDF of an early version here or pick up a copy of Strength...