You’ve heard the old saying from Proverbs “iron sharpens iron.” We feel good about friends transforming one another by principled conversations. Mutual iron sharpening is good stuff. But what about the sparks? Iron sharpening produces heat. We love the old … Continue reading
Education & Schools
Do I teach at a Woke School?
“Do I teach at a woke school?” was not a question I seriously considered until one evening last week when I received an email from a friend assuring me of his prayers for me in my workplace. The reason was an article he … Continue reading
Critical Race Theory: Myths, Marxism, and More
Few modern topics have become as divisive as critical race theory, which is no surprise, given that CRT divides. It divides people into groups pitted against one another, into categories of oppressed vs. oppressor. What’s worse, your group defines you. … Continue reading
Parental educational rights and religious liberty: the Yoder case revisited
Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), … Continue reading
Doomed to Marry Beneath Them? Marriage and the Gender Gap in College Education
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Crisis Magazine. The Wall Street Journal recently published a powerful article on the large and growing gap between the numbers of men and women enrolled in American colleges and universities. Enrollments have declined steeply in recent years, … Continue reading
Remembering Dr. John C. Polkinghorne
I was saddened to hear of the death, at age 90, of Rev. Dr. John C. Polkinghorne. An incredibly distinguished scholar, he held so many titles that it was impossible for this American to keep up with them, or to … Continue reading
A Victory for Campus Religious Liberty: The Case of Chike Uzuegbunam
Chike Uzuegbunam was a student at Georgia Gwinnett College, a public institution in Lawrenceville, Georgia, when he decided to witness about his Christian faith to fellow students on campus. He could not have anticipated that expressing his religious beliefs to … Continue reading
The Moral Dimensions of the Student Loan Crisis
The average price of a college education is $140,000. Very few people have the resources to cover that cost, so they must turn to student loans to make attending college possible. Often with caution thrown to the wind, 70% of … Continue reading
Colleges Deceive Students Financially
John and his parents head to their first college admissions visit. After the tour and interview, they hear the admissions counselor say, “John, we are so impressed with you both academically (John has a low B average) and personally that … Continue reading
Judge Amy Coney Barrett and the Purdue Sexual Assault Case
Will some senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee vilify Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee? Attacks on her religion, her large family, or claims that she will block the advance of women may make good fodder for … Continue reading
Remembering and Teaching 9/11
Editor’s note: This first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review in 2018. This year’s remembrances of September 11, 2001 were odd for me. Consider: Did you ever think you’d live to see a time when the new generation doesn’t remember … Continue reading
Confessions of a Draft Dodger
“And we know that to them who love God all things work together for good to them that are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 Next month I turn 75. The ubiquitous “they” tell me I’m on a COVID-19 … Continue reading
Tear all the statues down?
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Last weekend I overheard two recent grads (both musicians) discussing America’s greatest composers. The usual names were raised: Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, Sousa … Foster. “Who?” said one. “Stephen Foster,” replied … Continue reading
J. K. Rowling, Latest Casualty in the War of Transgender Ideology
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at thegospelcoalition.org. The storm surrounding J. K. Rowling’s tweets on women and menstruation is as predictable as it is depressing. That her gracious response has, if anything, exacerbated the fury simply underlines the way civil debate is now … Continue reading
Conservatives: Go To College
Conservatives, don’t give up on higher education. That’s essentially the opposite of what conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, leader of the conservative youth organization, Turning Point USA, told a crowd of young people at CPAC, the annual Conservative Political Action … Continue reading
Higher Education in an Increasingly Diverse Culture
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life” Plato Howard Mumford Jones, an English professor at the University of Michigan and later at Harvard, long ago commented that American colleges and … Continue reading
How Martin Luther King, Jr. Changed Hearts
My father was a Presbyterian minister in rural northwest Alabama from 1961 to 1965. I came of age there, then left the University of Alabama with an M.A. in history in 1969. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Governor George … Continue reading
Division One Athletics: It’s About the Money
During an episode of Lebron James’ online show “The Shop,” California Governor Gavin Newsome signed into law a bill allowing California student athletes to sign endorsements while in college. The NCAA Board of Governors, having studied this issue for years, responded … Continue reading
One Nation Under God?
“I had no idea how critical religion is to the functioning of democracy.” So said a Marxist economist from China conversing with Harvard Professor, Clayton Christensen. This Chinese Communist supposed that American democracy has worked because “most Americans, most of … Continue reading
Thanking God at Thanksgiving: 100 Years Ago and Today
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at National Catholic Register. A shorter version appeared at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Not every Thanksgiving in America had the feeling of gratitude like Thanksgiving Day a hundred years ago. That Thanksgiving 1919 was truly … Continue reading