Have you heard the "pro-life" argument for Planned Parenthood? It's being promoted everywhere by center-left journalists from Dana Milbank, to Ruth Marcus, to Damon Linker, to Will Saletan. Writing for the New York Times, Ross Douthat sums up this view: "..even though Planned Parenthood performs hundreds of thousands of abortions each year (while lobbying constantly against any restriction on the practice), to oppose channeling public dollars to its family planning operations is to be objectively pro-abortion, because these operations prevent many more abortions still." Douthat then debunks … [Read more...] about Debunking the “Pro-Life” Planned Parenthood Defense
Archives for 2015
Onward by Russell Moore
I enjoyed reading an advanced copy of Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel by Russell Moore. The book begins with a few chapters summarizing the increasing secularization in the United States (and even in the Bible belt itself), as evangelicals have shifted "from moral majority to prophetic minority." Moore then explains how the already, not-yet nature of the kingdom of God means that our priority, as individual Christians and as churches, should be the reconciliation of sinners to God not the subjugation of those who (sometimes vehemently) disagree with us. The next chapter … [Read more...] about Onward by Russell Moore
College is Not a Commodity
Fantastic article in the Washington Post by Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Universities and a former president of Cornell University and the University of Iowa. When we talk about the value of college, it's easy to compare schools based on metrics (graduation rates, student earnings, default rates, etc.) and forget that it's the effort from individual students that makes the difference. Excerpt: Unlike a car, college requires the “buyer” to do most of the work to obtain its value. The value of a degree depends more on the student’s input than on the college’s … [Read more...] about College is Not a Commodity
Student Turns Down Every Ivy League School for U of Alabama
Ronnie Nelson (left) turned down all eight Ivy League universities to attend the University of Alabama this fall. Nelson also declined offers from Stanford, Johns Hopkins, New York University, Vanderbilt, and Washington University in St. Louis. Why? Alabama offered him a full-ride scholarship and accepted him into their Honors Program. The Ivy's don't offer merit scholarships, nor do several other prestigious universities, such as Stanford. What about need-based aid? The Ivy's offer to meet "100 percent of a student's demonstrated financial need," but they take a comprehensive look at a … [Read more...] about Student Turns Down Every Ivy League School for U of Alabama
Nominals to Nones: 3 Key Takeaways From Pew’s Religious Landscape Survey
Ed Stetzer offers an insightful break down of the latest Pew Religious Landscape Report (summarized here). The short version is this: Nominal Christianity is on the decline (with the majority of those raised in Mainline denominations defecting to an "unaffiliated" status), but within the larger category of "Christian," there is a shift towards evangelical faith. Here are a few nuggets: … [Read more...] about Nominals to Nones: 3 Key Takeaways From Pew’s Religious Landscape Survey
What’s the Point of a Professor?
Mark Bauerlein is a professor at Emory University and the author of an outstanding book entitled The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30 (see commentary here). In a recent NYT article, Bauerlein laments wants happened to the role of the professor when students are more instead in a credential than an education (and more anxious about grading than eager for learning): When college is more about career than ideas, when paycheck matters more than wisdom, the role of professors changes. We may be … [Read more...] about What’s the Point of a Professor?