{"id":679,"date":"2011-07-26T10:53:18","date_gmt":"2011-07-26T14:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/philosophicalfragments\/?p=679"},"modified":"2011-07-26T10:53:18","modified_gmt":"2011-07-26T14:53:18","slug":"morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the News<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0\u201cNew Polls Confirm Obama\u2019s Democratic Base Crumbles<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0Michael Warren comments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Andrew Ferguson<\/a> with a rather devastating portrait of Jon Huntsman.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Why are conservatives such a minority at so many graduate schools?<\/a><\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Rod Dreher<\/a> with an excellent piece on Anders Breivik and his \u201cChristianity,\u201d which makes some similar points to my own article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the Pews<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Scot McKnight on \u201cLabeling the Norwegian Killer<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0I don\u2019t disagree that the insanity of a mass-murderer typically puts him beyond normal categories like \u201cRight\u201d and \u201cLeft,\u201d or \u201cChristian\u201d or etc., but (1) I do think it\u2019s important to make the case that Breivik is not a Christian by any remotely plausible definition of the term, and (2) sometimes it\u2019s legitimate to look into the ideology, religious or otherwise, that motivated and undergirded the act. \u00a0In fact, if you begin by making the case that people such as Breivik are beyond categorization, this will come across as special pleading. \u00a0I think you should first make the case that he is not Christian, and then make the case that the categorizations that apply to sane people do not apply to unhinged, immoral monsters like Breivik. \u00a0In some cases, you will find a legitimate (and yes, I understand that defining that term here would be difficult) ideology underlying a madman\u2019s actions, and that ideology should not be held accountable. \u00a0In other cases, however, there are ideologies and movements that have strong trajectories toward violence, and that needs to be recognized.<\/p>\n

On another note, apparently the maximum sentence Breivik could receive, in the Norwegian justice system, is 21 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Ron Sider writes in Christianity Today on why you should not give to beggars on the street<\/a>. \u00a0I often do give, but Sider, who is about as pro-social-justice as you can get, makes a good case.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0This from New Yorker magazine<\/a> is clearly a skeptical, unsympathetic-outsider take on The King\u2019s College in NYC, but it does raise some troubling questions concerning whether Dinesh D\u2019Souza is proving too divisive for the school and might lead to faculty defections. \u00a0A story-line to watch, perhaps.<\/p>\n

What I find irritating about the story are all the little allusions and insinuations. \u00a0Take the following:<\/p>\n

Smith and Dantzler take me to their dorm on Ludlow Street. Like dorm rooms everywhere, Dantzler\u2019s smells of pizza boxes and unwashed socks. There is no King\u2019s meal plan, Smith explains, so \u201cthe wealthier kids go out a lot, and the rest of us eat ramen and paninis.\u201d (A female \u00adstudent later tells me that some young men at King\u2019s have a different strategy: They gather in the women\u2019s dorm and ask the ladies to cook for them.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You see? \u00a0Class- and gender-based discrimination! \u00a0The writer doesn\u2019t have to make the point explicitly, but of the thousands of details he might have noted, you can be sure he noted these for a reason. \u00a0And we can be pretty sure what the reason is. \u00a0The fact that this sort of thing happens at colleges of all stripes all around the country \u2014 I saw it all the time at Stanford, where I was an undergrad \u2014 is apparently irrelevant.<\/p>\n

BONUS: You might enjoy this video<\/a> responding to the claim that the Jesus of the gospels is a \u201cRecycled Redeemer,\u201d a composite of other, mythical stories. \u00a0(HT Francis Beckwith<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the News 1. \u00a0\u201cNew Polls Confirm Obama\u2019s Democratic Base Crumbles.\u201d \u00a0Michael Warren comments. 2. Andrew Ferguson with a rather devastating portrait of Jon Huntsman. 3. \u00a0Why are conservatives such a minority at so many graduate schools? 4. \u00a0Rod Dreher with an excellent piece on Anders Breivik and his \u201cChristianity,\u201d which makes some similar points […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[84,86,1351,123,125,135,176,1353,206,1359,242,264,352,355,361,1363,390],"class_list":["post-679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anders-breivik","tag-andrew-ferguson","tag-barack-obama","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-conservative-politics","tag-evangelical","tag-evangelicalism","tag-fundamentalism","tag-jesus","tag-jesus-myth","tag-liberal-politics","tag-rod-dreher","tag-ron-sider","tag-scot-mcknight","tag-social-justice","tag-the-kings-college"],"yoast_head":"\nMorning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education - Philosophical Fragments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the News 1. \u00a0"New Polls Confirm Obama's Democratic Base Crumbles." \u00a0Michael Warren comments. 2. Andrew Ferguson with a rather devastating portrait of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education - Philosophical Fragments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the News 1. \u00a0"New Polls Confirm Obama's Democratic Base Crumbles." \u00a0Michael Warren comments. 2. Andrew Ferguson with a rather devastating portrait of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Philosophical Fragments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-26T14:53:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Timothy Dalrymple\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Timothy Dalrymple\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/\",\"name\":\"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education - Philosophical Fragments\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-26T14:53:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-26T14:53:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/de8c9a4caf0177191808914f83826310\"},\"description\":\"In the News 1. \u00a0\\\"New Polls Confirm Obama's Democratic Base Crumbles.\\\" \u00a0Michael Warren comments. 2. Andrew Ferguson with a rather devastating portrait of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/\",\"name\":\"Philosophical Fragments\",\"description\":\"Daily Thoughts on Faith, Culture and Politics from Timothy Dalrymple\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/de8c9a4caf0177191808914f83826310\",\"name\":\"Timothy Dalrymple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a368bbc8d116657d6af168549f2add?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a368bbc8d116657d6af168549f2add?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Timothy Dalrymple\"},\"description\":\"Timothy Dalrymple was raised in non-denominational evangelical congregations in California. The son and grandson of ministers, as a young boy he spent far too many hours each night staring at the ceiling and pondering the afterlife. \u00a0 In all his work he seeks a better understanding of why people do, and do not, come to faith, and researches and teaches in religion and science, faith and reason, theology and philosophy, the origins of atheism, Christology, and the religious transformations of suffering\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/author\/tdalrymple\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education - Philosophical Fragments","description":"In the News 1. \u00a0\"New Polls Confirm Obama's Democratic Base Crumbles.\" \u00a0Michael Warren comments. 2. Andrew Ferguson with a rather devastating portrait of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education - Philosophical Fragments","og_description":"In the News 1. \u00a0\"New Polls Confirm Obama's Democratic Base Crumbles.\" \u00a0Michael Warren comments. 2. Andrew Ferguson with a rather devastating portrait of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/","og_site_name":"Philosophical Fragments","article_published_time":"2011-07-26T14:53:18+00:00","author":"Timothy Dalrymple","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Timothy Dalrymple","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/","name":"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education - Philosophical Fragments","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-07-26T14:53:18+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-26T14:53:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/de8c9a4caf0177191808914f83826310"},"description":"In the News 1. \u00a0\"New Polls Confirm Obama's Democratic Base Crumbles.\" \u00a0Michael Warren comments. 2. Andrew Ferguson with a rather devastating portrait of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2011\/07\/26\/morning-links-obamas-crumbling-base-rod-dreher-andrew-ferguson-scot-mcknight-and-higher-education\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Morning Links: Obama's Crumbling Base, Rod Dreher, Andrew Ferguson, Scot McKnight, and Higher Education"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/","name":"Philosophical Fragments","description":"Daily Thoughts on Faith, Culture and Politics from Timothy Dalrymple","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/de8c9a4caf0177191808914f83826310","name":"Timothy Dalrymple","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a368bbc8d116657d6af168549f2add?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a368bbc8d116657d6af168549f2add?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Timothy Dalrymple"},"description":"Timothy Dalrymple was raised in non-denominational evangelical congregations in California. The son and grandson of ministers, as a young boy he spent far too many hours each night staring at the ceiling and pondering the afterlife. \u00a0 In all his work he seeks a better understanding of why people do, and do not, come to faith, and researches and teaches in religion and science, faith and reason, theology and philosophy, the origins of atheism, Christology, and the religious transformations of suffering","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/author\/tdalrymple\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}