John Roberts’s Political Decision (by Ross Douthat)
Roberts’s attempt at a “reasonable construction” looks more like a re-construction, and his ruling reads as a decision made much, much more out of deference to the legislative and executive branches than out of a straightforward application of the Chief Justice’s views of the Constitution to the plain language of the statute.
Why We Need More Than a Fundraising Campaign for the Bullied Bus Monitor
So while it’s great that the internet rallied to send Karen on vacation, and Josh and Wesley may feel genuine regret, we need to teach students—and everyone, really—to identify situations in which group behavior is veering into dangerous territory and to speak up effectively. That means changing the cultural norms and practices in a school, so that kids and adults alike learn to help each other rather than compete. It means cultivating empathy with the same zeal that we teach science and math. And it means rethinking how we educate, so that today’s lunchroom bullies don’t grow up to be boardroom bullies.
Listening by “WALKing” (by Garrett Higbee)
If we agree that listening can be a problem for most of us, then how about some solutions? You have probably heard the saying, “You need to walk in their shoes for a while.” There is truth to that but it is more intentional than just empathy. Counseling is more than giving answers, and listening is not just about information. God’s has created a place of deep fellowship and community. The local church is God’s chosen place for care. So, if the community of believers is the best place to get help, how we care really matters. When it comes to listening remember this:
W A L K: – Watch, Ask, Listen, and Know.
Tracing the Fruit to the Root
When Fire Forces You from Home
If you had only a few minutes to gather up a few select treasures of your life before fleeing a raging inferno, what would you take – and what would you leave behind?
See How He Loved Him (by Amy Hall)
There are those who see Jesus dying on the cross to put an end to suffering and say, “See how He loved us!” And there are those who say, “If He’s really all-powerful, couldn’t he prevent the suffering in the first place?” The first set has their eyes fixed on God Himself; the second is firmly focused on their own thwarted plans.
Needless to say, the second view leads straight to anger and bitterness. Only the first view, resting on God’s loving, trustworthy character, is strong enough to carry a person through suffering.
SANITY & MATRIMONY - Ten Arguments in Defense of Marriage (Part1 of 2) (by Anthony Esolen)
Most people believe that the principal objections, or even the only objections, to the drive to legalize homosexual “marriage” spring from religious faith. But that is not true. I can offer ten objections that have nothing to do with any religion at all…
Not Understanding Nothing: A review of A Universe from Nothing (by Edward Feser)
The spate of bad books on philosophy and religion by prominent scientists—Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Hawking and Mlodinow’s The Grand Design, and Atkins’ On Being, among others—is notable not only for the sophomoric philosophical and theological errors they contain but also for their sheerrepetitiveness. Krauss’ fallacious account of how something can come from nothing, though presented as a great breakthrough, and praised as such by Dawkins in his afterword, is largely a rehash of ideas already put forward by Hawking, Mlodinow, and some less eminent physics popularizers. Dawkins has been peddling the “Who created the creator?” meme since the eighties.
