As I read today about Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Lebanon in which, not surprisingly, he called for peace, I reflected on how his words point out a common theme in Christian thought which draws on Aristotle’s concept of the virtues. Human goods are not only interior dispositions, nor are they only exterior actions. Human goods must be the alignment of interior dispositions and exterior actions. Is peace a state of mind or the heart? Or is peace a state... Read more
Two weeks ago I started this series based on my latest book entitled What Motivates Cultural Progressives. The research is based on open-ended questions from an online survey to members of organizations that have as part of their purpose opposition to the Christian or religious right. My basic argument is that cultural progressive activists have shaped a movement that meets the needs of the people who inhabit the movement, who tend to be white, male, wealthy and highly educated. Thus... Read more
As a Christian trained in sociology it’s sometimes difficult to “leave the statistics alone” when it appears in popular publications or sermons or adult Sunday school. Recently, several Christian news outlets noted a new survey finding, with bold titles like: “80% of Churchgoers Don’t Read Bible Daily.” Such a phrase is meant to provoke reading but the provocation is the interesting part. This claim assumes that Bible reading and churchgoing ought to go hand in hand, whereas survey findings suggest... Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot about social similarity lately, and maybe you have too (uh, yes, that was a joke). In many ways, social life is structured by similar people finding and interacting with each other. Sociologists call this homophily. This tendency of birds of a feather flocking together has been observed with many socially-relevant characteristics, including gender, social class, age, race, occupation and, of course, religion. As a result of it, we tend to spend more time with people who... Read more
Does part of self-actualization or self-knowledge have to do with pondering, at least every once in a while, whether men and women are really different? My parents bent over backwards to give me all the same opportunities as my three older brothers. I can’t count how many times my dad told me, “You can do anything the boys can do.” I believed him then, and other than realizing the hard way (i.e., many childhood injuries from playing with boys) that... Read more
In between teaching and professional conferences, I have recently embarked on a few trips to interview African American Christians in a large city for an ongoing study of how religion matters (or doesn’t) for everyday workers and entrepreneurs. In the process of meeting a wide array of churchgoers, I listened at length to the personal histories that informed their views on work and faith. What struck me in some cases was the agrarian memories that quite a few folks recalled.... Read more
This post is part of a series on personhood. When I first found out that Americans celebrated Labor in September while most of the rest of the world celebrated International Workers’ Day on May 1, I wondered: this just another case of the U.S. try to be different, even exceptional? The simple answer is that the U.S. chooses not to celebrate Labor Day on May 1 because that is considered a socialist holiday, associated with strikes, rebellion, and in some... Read more
In cities across America, people marched in parades to celebrate Labor Day yesterday. At the first Labor Day in 1882 (occurring a few years before Labor Day became an official holiday in 1894), a number of people marched through the streets of New York City. The march 130 years ago would not have been confused with the marches yesterday, either in purpose or passion. Walking through various neighborhoods yesterday, I saw flags hanging in front of people’s houses. I smelled... Read more
It is election time again. Once every four years we go through our ritual of deciding who is going to be the “leader of the free world” for the next four years. Of course there are a variety of special interest groups doing their best to help determine who that is going to be. One of the groups a lot of scholars and social commentators generally pay attention to is the Christian right. Indeed, this group has had its share... Read more
Here’s an update on the brouhaha over Mark Regnerus’ study. As it should have, the complaint against Regnerus to the University of Texas was ruled to be without merit. Here’s the opening paragraphs of the article: “No formal investigation is warranted regarding allegations of scientific misconduct against a faculty member’s study that raised doubts about gay parenting, the University of Texas announced today. The university conducted an inquiry to determine whether the accusations against associate professor Mark Regnerus concerning an article of... Read more
Black, White and Gray
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