Latest Posts

May 01, 2006

How do you spell relief?

You may have heard about the debate in Washington that erupted late last week, as Senate Democrats and Republicans sought ways to respond to rising gas prices. According to Marketplace’s Hillary Wikai, the majority Republicans settled on “a $100 gas-tax rebate to be paid for by drilling in Alaska’s Wildlife Refuge.” Continue Reading...
April 27, 2006

Acton scholars in the news

Several Acton scholars will be on network cable this weekend to speak about current affairs in the United States. Andrew Yuengert, author of the “Inhabiting the Land” monograph (pictured at left), and Fr. Continue Reading...
April 26, 2006

Wanted: a Duke lacrosse team hero

Duke University is embroiled in a sensational scandal involving its lacrosse team and allegations of sexual assault of a stripper at a wild party. But, as Anthony Bradley points out, the case is really symptomatic of a much larger problem in American society. Continue Reading...
April 25, 2006

Alarmist profiteering

Remember when I said that I thought there is a dangerous incentive in climate change research to make things seem worse than they are? (If not, that’s OK. I actually called it an “analogous phenomenon” to the possibility that AIDS statistics are exaggerated.) Continue Reading...
April 24, 2006

The morality of narrative imagination

While doing research for my upcoming lecture at the Drexel University Libraries’ Scholarly Communication Symposium, I ran across this excellent book by Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace (New York: Free Press, 1997). Continue Reading...
April 22, 2006

Evangelicals and Earth Day

Check out my Detroit News column today, “Humanity’s creativity helps environment,” in which I give a brief overview of the conflicting evangelical views of environmental stewardship. Continue Reading...
April 21, 2006

The iron law of unintended consequences

A report from the road: I’m in Colorado Springs this week, and I noticed this note taped to the wall of the bathroom in my spartan lodgings at the local Ramada Inn: Due to restrictions made by the City of Colorado Springs, the toilets have reduced water pressure and may not flush as well as you are accustomed to. Continue Reading...
April 21, 2006

The ‘gospel’ of Judas

Over at OrthodoxyToday.org, Fr. Theodore Stylianpoulos demolishes the media driven speculation that the so-called Gospel of Judas might somehow turn traditional Christianity on its head. The Gospel of Judas is but another small window to Gnosticism, a hodgepodge of religious speculations that exploded on the scene during the second century. Continue Reading...
April 21, 2006

College and carbon neutrality

Tom Friedman asks in today’s NYT, “Why doesn’t every college make it a goal to become carbon-neutral — that is, reduce its net CO2 emissions to zero?” (TimesSelect subscription required) I’ll give an initial possible answer: they already have enough to worry about with double-digit tuition increases practically every year without adding such costs. Continue Reading...