When Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. exhorted the audience at the school’s convocation to (legally) carry concealed weapons, it was his careless allusion to the religion of the shooters at San Bernardino that seemed to generate the most controversy: “I’ve always thought that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those … More John Piper’s Argument Against Concealed Weapons
Calling out Christian college presidents isn’t really how I wanted to spend Advent, but then I didn’t expect one such leader to devote part of a chapel talk to encouraging his students to carry concealed weapons. But that’s just what Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. did on Friday, two days after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. In a … More The Shadow of Death: A Response to Jerry Falwell, Jr.
My thoughts and prayers are with the shooting victims and their families in San Bernardino. — Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) December 2, 2015 In the wake of the mass shootings on Wednesday, social media was predictably filled with politicians and others saying that their “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims’ families. But that prompted a fierce … More “Thoughts and Prayers”
As the debate over refugees, terrorism, and Islam continued to swirl yesterday, some of you probably saw this story pop up on social media: Christian groups break with GOP over Syrian refugees https://t.co/irrUcDTv5v | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/cc2ZkYxRgw — POLITICO (@politico) November 18, 2015 “Christian groups break with GOP over Syrian refugees,” claimed the headline of … More What Do Evangelicals Actually Think about Refugees?
I’m not an evangelical who retreats from the label “evangelical.” But the results of a survey released today by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) have me feeling embarrassed and angry about my branch of the Christian family. In the 2015 edition of its annual American Values Survey, PRRI asked about a number of topics, but coming a day … More Evangelical Islamophobia
London has become my favorite city in the world, but Paris was the first outside of my native land where I spent any significant amount of time, and it retains a special hold on my imagination. The last time I was there was January — just a week after the Charlie Hebdo attacks… And now a day … More Paris
Cross-posted from AC 2nd At last night’s GOP presidential debate several candidates used our friends in the discipline of philosophy as a punch line. Most memorably, Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) claimed that “Welders make more than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers.” Or as he put it today at an event in Iowa: “You deserve … More How about Historians and Welders?
I don’t think I have any wisdom to offer on the controversy brewing at Yale University, where some students are outraged at what they perceive to be the lack of institutional response to racism on campus. But I think it raises some important questions about the nature of college education, particularly at schools that advertise themselves … More Is College a “Home”?
In recent decades, public consciousness of the Holocaust has increased exponentially. One unfortunate by-product of this otherwise salutary development has been the increased temptation for politicians to exploit references to Hitler, Nazism, and the Holocaust to stigmatize their opponents. So writes historian Christopher Browning, in an essay for Foreign Policy that argues that the “Political exploitation of the … More The Political Misuses of Holocaust History
If you’re looking for a Christian historian-blogger to cover Pope Francis’ visit to the United States, John Fea is probably your go-to source. But let me share a brief post on an easy-to-overlook dimension of the event: what Francis means for Catholic colleges and universities. While Francis’ first public mass in the U.S. will be held today … More Pope Francis and the Idea of a Catholic University
The Pietist Schoolman 