Earlier this week during a routine arrest Minneapolis police officers knelt on George Floyd’s neck for several minutes, finally killing him. This act fits a long and too-frequent pattern of incidents where police use substantial and often lethal force for … Continue reading
Faith & Society
Ravi Zacharias: A Tribute
The apostle Peter instructs Christians: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). Beginning with the disciples and the apostle Paul, countless Christians … Continue reading
Burying Memorial Day 2020
The streets were empty. No one marching. The bands weren’t playing. No music, no 21-gun salutes. Where were the old-timers hobbling along in their military uniforms? The flags flew at the courthouse and lined the streets, but the sidewalks weren’t … Continue reading
Heroines of Moral Courage: The Little Sisters of the Poor Against Pennsylvania
This is the third time that the Institute for Faith and Freedom has carried an opinion piece on the Little Sisters of the Poor (LSP) and their Supreme Court fight. This 181-year-old religious order is renowned for its generosity and … Continue reading
The Life-Changing Love of a Mother
If you would have known me growing up, your money would not have been on me to amount to much of anything. I was a self-conscious kid who was constantly teased for my small stature and my academic failings. I … Continue reading
Stories of Faith & Freedom – Podcast
Welcome to our “Stories of Faith & Freedom” Podcast on SoundCloud! We invite you to listen to the episodes below: Episode One: Faith and Freedom · Stories of Faith & Freedom – Episode 1 Episode Two: Today’s episode looks at … Continue reading
Why Not Thank God? Andrew Cuomo and COVID-19
I recently published a piece on Andrew Cuomo and other pro-choice Democrat governors who fight for life in their states against COVID-19. This also includes Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf, New Jersey’s Phil Murphy, Connecticut’s Ned Lamont, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, and Virginia’s … Continue reading
Warm Hearted Thinking
I do not hate my mom. Many in the media and some friends on social media seem to believe I do hate my mom, as well as other older people with compromised immune systems. For more than a decade my … Continue reading
Unprecedented Times—But Two Things Never Change
Leading a college Career Services Office department for nearly 25 years, you can imagine that I have seen some significant market fluctuations. During those periods, strategic alterations to our action plans were made based on established historical indicators. Well, today, any semblance … Continue reading
Carrying the Cross of COVID-19 this Good Friday
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator. One of my favorite annual rituals for Holy Week is the Via Crucis—the Way of the Cross. Held at the Roman Colosseum, where early Christians were fed … Continue reading
1918: When Another Pandemic Struck Close to Home
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In 1998, the eightieth anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic, I was fortunate to hear two survivors relate their indelible experiences. Marian McConkey and Lois Monahan were schoolgirls then, old … Continue reading
Thinking the Unthinkable—and Responding Wisely
In 1994, I was in my first year as director of research for the U.S. Army’s Strategic Studies Institute. Part of our mission was to consider how the Army might respond to various strategic threats. Fifteen very bright people, to … Continue reading
Eerie Echoes of Influenza Epidemic
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Exhibit 1: Elizabeth Sovel Flinn. Born in 1891, she died about this time 100 years ago, age 29, a victim of the catastrophic influenza epidemic of 1919-20, also known as … 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
The Faith of Troy Polamalu
Troy Polamalu, who played safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2003 to 2014, has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He will enter the hall with Bill Cowher, who coached the … 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
Remembering Jack Kerouac: Novelist, Beat, Conservative, Catholic
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. The year 2019 brought some notable golden anniversaries from a wild year: 1969. Some were glorious, such as the Moon Landing; others were scurrilous, scandalous, such as the Manson … Continue reading
The Methodist Church is Coming Apart
The initial reports read to me a bit like the losers won, but the church of my upbringing is on the verge of coming apart after decades of internal turmoil. The details of the deal will be important, but leaders … Continue reading
Can the Self-Destructing Antonio Brown Be Saved?
When you think life revolves around you then destruction is waiting at your doorstep. In a recent YouTube video, NFL star Antonio Brown, known as “AB,” passionately reached out to share his self-absorbed life. The video captured how he views himself. … Continue reading
The Real Christmas
Amidst this season of gift-giving and merry-making, let’s ponder three remarkable aspects of the nativity of the baby Jesus two millennia ago. #1. Birth to a virgin. To atheistic materialism, this seems like a fairy tale. Spiritually, though, what could … Continue reading
