My new World War II course — belatedly kicking off this afternoon — fulfills a general education category at Bethel that focuses on the development of Western life and thought in the “modern” era. So as I set up the course today, one theme I need to introduce is the war as a crucible of … More Are Human Rights in Decline?
Sixty-five years ago yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly gathered in Paris’ Palais de Chaillot to approve the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Australia’s Herbert Evatt, presiding over the General Assembly, called the moment “an epoch-making event in the development of international law” and enthused that the UN was … More This Day in History: The Birth of Human Rights Law
As you’ve likely heard by now, the South African statesman Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela died earlier today at the age of 95. The reaction has been overwhelming; I’ll just sample a few responses. “Our nation has lost its greatest son,” lamented South African president Jacob Zuma. F.W. de Klerk paid tribute to the man whom was … More RIP Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
This All Saints’ Sunday Christians around the world are being urged to pause and pray for their sisters and brothers in Christ who face persecution. Let me encourage my readers to join in, but to pray still more widely for all those who suffer persecution because of religious faith — and for those who persecute … More Persecution and Prayer
When I teach my Human Rights in International History course next spring, we’ll quickly come to the distinction between the “first generation” of political, legal, and civil rights and the “second generation” of social and economic rights. While the United States was an early adopter of the first, this country has had a more complicated … More A Constitutional Right to Education?
When I teach my class on Human Rights and International History (as I will again next spring), few issues are as vexing as that of female circumcision, a practice that has affected something like 130 million women around the world — including 2-3 million girls each year in Africa alone. If you’re unfamiliar with it, … More Rights-Talk as Conversation, not Condemnation
After taking a day off from social media yesterday as part of the END IT movement’s attempt to draw some attention to the continued enslavement of at least 27 million people around the world, it seems right to return to blogging/Facebooking/Tweeting with something on slavery. But while I think yesterday’s “disappearance” was a well-intended, perhaps … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Abolition as Grace
Here… • I don’t know if Frederick Buechner actually runs his own Twitter account or not, but regardless, it was an honor to have him (or “him”) retweet my post on balancing multiple callings, the first in a series on “The Vocation of a Christian Historian.” (From an essay I wrote over Christmas that drew … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • Announcing a couple of events coming up at Bethel University: a faculty workshop on Pietism and Christian colleges that I’ll be directing, and a much larger initiative led by my seminary colleague Chris Armstrong, on “work with purpose.” • And another announcement: of a class on the history of the Evangelical Covenant Church … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 