“There is a religious war going on in this country,” former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan told the 1992 Republican convention in a primetime address. Mitt Romney has declared that President Obama is waging a war on religion. Whether one actually…
Can corporations walk the aisle?
As the race for the White House heats up with Paul Ryan’s Republican VP nod, questions concerning corporate political involvement remain. Crucial to the debate around corporate political funding are two words: Citizens United. They refer to the landmark, 2010…
What beer can teach the church
The local church isn’t the only institution faced with making difficult decisions in the turbulent, 21st century. Beer companies are facing a changing landscape as well. Except it appears that out of the changing market, the beer industry has found…
Do we really care about senior adults?
First, a disclaimer: I’ve never experienced life as an “old” person. Like many of my fellow young Americans, I do not ponder what life will be like at 80. Though firsthand experience of old age escapes me, startling statistics around…
Our rhetorical Civil War
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.” —Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, 1861 So it was then, March, 4, 1861, that Lincoln uttered these words to a struggling, soon-to-be-divided United States. We hear these words 151…
Loch Ness Found in Classrooms
Seeing isn’t believing; believing is seeing—at least when it comes to the Loch Ness Monster. As it turns out, students in private Christian schools across Louisiana use textbooks that claim the monster was a dinosaur that existed at the same…
Welcome the moneychangers?
Although Jesus did through the moneychangers from the Temple, perhaps we would be well served to welcome them back. With summer nearly, officially, underway not only have beautiful flowers, graduations, and Romney/Obama attack advertisements arrived, but a so too has…
Walking spoils of war
Veterans Affairs needs an overhaul, and churches can lead the way in veteran care reform—only if they work together. I’ve wondered how the church would respond to wounded veterans’ needs. In communities across the country veterans return attempting to fight…
What will churches do about wounded vets?
By Zachary Bailes On Monday, it was announced that The Huffington Postwon the coveted Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Beginning on Oct. 10, 2011, they ran a 10-part series titled “Beyond the Battlefield.” The series was an exploration of the…