The new holiday of June 19, though its celebration has spread nationally, has a particular application to Texas. But there is another date that would be more suitable as a national holiday of emancipation: December 18. June 19, known as […]
Book Notice: David Brooks, The Road to Character
David Brooks, in his recent book, The Road to Character, makes a distinction between two kinds of virtues and tells us we need to be more concerned about ‘legacy virtues’ and not just the ‘résumé virtues’ that give us success in […]
Pornographic Ideas?
Precis: In every society, even those that profess freedom of speech, there are ideas and images that are perceived as too corrupting to be expressed or uttered. We used to think this way about pornography. Now we think this about […]
The New Southern Democrats
Large parts of the African American and Latino elements within the Democratic Party are the most moderate elements within the party, playing the same role as the mostly white Religious Right played within the Republicans. A surprising new force has […]
The Most ‘Politically Correct’ University in America
Some of the rules adopted in the last few years by secular universities, and even high schools, bear a suspicious resemblance to measures adopted more than 100 years ago by Christian colleges. All they need now is a ‘doctrinal statement’ […]
Individual Responsibility in Ezekiel
The heresy of ‘critical theory’ has revived ideas of guilt inherited by, or inherent in, groups, such as genders, races, or economic classes. The Prophet Ezekiel has some choice things to say about all this. In our time there is […]
Renting as Borrowing
Increasingly, the renting of an apartment has become treated more and more like taking out a loan, as if to buy a house or something else. The same demands of ‘established credit’ are now made. And I have seen no […]
Guest Post: “An Expanded Vision of ‘Western Heritage’: Why It Matters for Education”
The solution to the narrow focus of classical liberal arts education is to preserve their time-tested methods, but broaden their subject matter in both geography and time beyond ‘the Western Tradition’ as conventionally understood. In this piece, I summarize thousands […]
More on Christian Faith and Land Use: The Issue of Profiling
The big moral issue behind intentional racism, classism, and the like is the issue of ‘profiling’. Should we assume that, because of people’s appearance, color, or income, they would be more or less likely to do certain things? Or be […]
Vigen Guroian on Politics vs. Witness
Orthodox theologian Vigen Guroian tells us that orthodoxy of community is a better witness than politics. I agree. But the Religious Right was originally triggered into politics partly by a fear that they would lose their freedom to function in […]