Black, White and Gray
Daniel Darling has a blog worth reading on Patheos, and he’s interviewed many thoughtful, interesting people. He’s also interviewed me… and you can read it here. Thank you, Daniel! Read more
Daniel Darling has a blog worth reading on Patheos, and he’s interviewed many thoughtful, interesting people. He’s also interviewed me… and you can read it here. Thank you, Daniel! Read more
With presidential elections coming up, we’ll hear a lot more about every aspect of politics, including its link to religion—especially Christianity. I would like to step back and ask a very simple question: Is it possible to derive a distinct political position or affiliation from the tenets of the Bible? My answer is “probably not.” Trying to fit Christian beliefs into a specific political stance seems to be putting a square peg into a round hole—it just doesn’t fit. There... Read more
Well, it looks like there is a ranking for everything. A USA today report recently ranked colleges for how well they use social media. The report is informative, yet focused mostly on social media as outreach, rather than social media as a research tool. In the several years I have taught undergraduate sociology of religion, I have realized that students get most of their information–including information about religion–from the internet. Although it is my job as a scholar to lead... Read more
Ineffable Creator, You who are the true source of life and wisdom and the Principle on which everything depends, be so kind as to infuse in my obscure intelligence a ray of your splendor that may take away the darkness of sin and ignorance. Grant me keenness of understanding, ability to remember, measure and easiness of learning, discernment of what I read, rich grace with words. Grant me strength to begin well my studies; guide me along the path of... Read more
Now that I have your attention (or not), this subject has been on my mind of late. If divorce is going to happen—and I’m not crazy about the passive tone but they do happen out there—just how “good” should a divorce be? Is amicable an aim? I have a friend—and no, that’s not code for me—who appears to be facing one soon, against his will and despite his willingness to work at his marriage. My late UT colleague Norval Glenn... Read more
The Occupy Wall Street protest has dominated the news over the past month, and it’s raising plenty of issues about financial governance, inequality, and fairness. It is spreading beyond NYC to other cities and college campuses. (There’s even an Occupy UConn). Bruce Wydick is an economist at the University of San Francisco, and he is a friend of mine from college. He has written a very thoughtful piece about the Occupy Movement for Christianity Today, and in it he diagnoses what... Read more
In recent months significant attention was paid to the execution of Troy Davis – attention due in large part to the unclear nature of the evidence for his crime. There were a number of reasons why this case piqued my interest, and one of them was that numerous appeals were made on behalf of Mr. Davis from leading national Christian figures such as former president Jimmy Carter, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Sister Helen Prejean. In addition Pope Benedict XVI, and... Read more
With Mitt Romney making a run for a presidency, people are thinking about his religious faith, Mormonism, and one of the questions that comes up is whether or not it’s a cult. Various answers have been given, including yes , no, and no. I would suggest that the correct answer to this question is: “no, Mormonism is not a cult, but it used to be.” Let’s start off by thinking a little bit about Mormonism. Every couple of years or so,... Read more
Recently I was talking with a colleague about how to interpret a survey item on a major sociology study which asks respondents “How often do you pray?” He said that, as a person who doesn’t hold supernatural beliefs, he sometimes finds it hard to deal with life’s difficulties. However, since has nonetheless made it through many challenges without becoming a religious person, people who pray a lot must be people who are biologically more prone to anxiety and hence need... Read more
As a follow-up to my post last week on Christian love and deservingness, here’s a video in which Steven Colbert takes aim at how these themes are used in politics. Political differences revolve around who is deserving of aid (and how that aid should be given), and in this clip it’s explicitly linked to Christian values. A great quote from Colbert: “Jesus was always flapping his gums about the poor, but not once did he call for tax cuts for... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In