Christians in the Public Square

Last updated on: November 18, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

Not long ago, in the middle of the political campaign that ended last week, I was asked by an online publication to respond to the following question: At what point does political advocacy on the part of Christians distort or compromise the Christian message? It strikes me, knowing that a large percentage of self-described “Christians” voted for Donald Trump for President last week, that the question of how–or if– to bring one’s faith into the public square is more pressing now than... Read more

The Times They Are A-changin’

Last updated on: November 16, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

I’m going out on a limb here—way out. I like time changes. This year Daylight Savings time began on March 13, shifting the clock to provide an extra hour of light in the evening and ended ten days ago on November 6, with the shift providing an extra hour of light in the morning. I have lived most of my life in the northern latitudes where, once DST ends and we change to standard time, it starts getting dark before... Read more

Is He My President?

Last updated on: November 14, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

Jesus spoke the truth AND confronted those who used their position to justify their lies, self-righteousness, vitriol and hate. As a Christian, I am called to do the same. A Very Wise Person Late in 1992, in the wake of Bill Clinton’s winning the Presidency, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. Jeanne and I were living in Memphis at the time, working at a small Catholic university that was my first teaching position after graduate school. Over the weeks following the election,... Read more

As Good As We Make Them

Last updated on: November 11, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

The gospel reading for last Sunday was the Beatitudes from Matthew’s gospel. It seems appropriate to return there in the aftermath of Tuesday’s election . . . It is a scene so familiar in our imaginations that it has become iconic. In films, on television, the subject of countless artistic renditions, we are transported back two thousand years. It is a beautiful, cloudless day. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have gathered in the countryside from miles around; some have walked... Read more

Life After Tuesday

Last updated on: November 7, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

A Facebook friend, who has helped the traffic on this blog increase exponentially over the past few weeks by sharing my posts on various Facebook pages that she administers, challenged me in a Facebook message the other day: If you don’t already have your topics set for the next week, I’d love to see something that addresses the effect that this election time is having on relationships—family and friends—and, maybe how to move through and past it . . .... Read more

Canine Ethics

Last updated on: November 5, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

Over the years I have developed dozens of strategies for getting students to participate in class discussions; the most reliable technique undoubtedly is to get them talking about their pets. Case in point: A couple of classes ago the article for the day for my ethics classes was by biologist Frans de Waal; his decades of studying chimpanzee behavior have convinced him that we can learn a lot about the foundations of the moral life—a life often considered to be... Read more

The Designer God Project

Last updated on: April 13, 2024 at 3:38 pm By Vance Morgan

Voltaire once said that if God did not exist, we would have to invent him. In truth, we invent God all the time, often with seeming disregard as to whether the God we have invented actually exists or not. Anne Lamott suggests that we can be pretty sure that we have created God in our own image if it turns out that God likes all the people and things that we like and dislikes all the people and things that... Read more

Something Rather Than Nothing

Last updated on: October 21, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

One of the most reliable ways to deaden a lively conversation in class is to ask a “philosophical question.” Nothing is more certain to produce blank stares, then uncomfortable silence, than questions like “Is the world we experience primarily a matter of what we perceive or of what we create from what we perceive?” or “Is the truth something we find or something we invent?” Jeanne read one of these sorts of questions—“Is the self assembled from my memories, and... Read more

Sorry for the Inconvenience

Last updated on: October 19, 2016 at 7:30 am By Vance Morgan

Dear Dr. Morgan: I’m writing to let you know that I won’t be in class today at 11:30. Our lacrosse match on campus that was scheduled for yesterday was rescheduled for today at 3:30. Our pre-game prep starts at 12:00, so I won’t be able to make class. I know that I have already missed a couple of classes this semester [four, as a matter of fact], but I’m hoping this won’t be a big problem. My academic advisor’s email... Read more

Preparing for the Clown Invasion

Last updated on: October 14, 2016 at 6:32 am By Vance Morgan

I suppose that, given that Halloween is only a couple of weeks away, we should not be surprised by reports that more and more clown sightings worldwide have caused people to become nervous. Where are they coming from? What are they up to? Increased clown sightings Concerns about clowns have been part of my life for the past thirty-five years or so, as I reported not long ago . . . Isn’t it rich? Are we a pair? Me here... Read more

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