Joseph Knippenberg

Early this year , in a course in cross-cultural psychology at the University of Central Florida, some Christian students bore witness to their faith in a way to which the professor objected. I doubt that their expressions were mature and winsome, but I also doubt that I would have reacted in the . . . . Continue Reading »

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has just published a major study on charitable giving. The study tends to reaffirm a commonplace—that religious people (or at least people who live in regions where religion plays a larger role in people’s lives) are more generous. Thus folks in the more . . . . Continue Reading »

The study described in this article found that among the residential college students queried, “egalitarian sexual conservatism” was the modal position. Fully 48% of the respondents disapproved equally of men and women who engaged in the collegiate “hook-up” culture. By . . . . Continue Reading »

My apologies for being late to this iteration of the conversation. The charms of my parent’s home, my sister’s pontoon boat, and my lovely little grand-niece (is that the proper term?) have distracted me over the past few days. Here’s only one of the latest salvos fired by those . . . . Continue Reading »

I’ve heard so much about the WinShape Foundation’s “anti-gay” contributions that I decided to do a little checking.  Here’s what I learned, beginning from the Equality Matters site , which tells us the following: WinShape Gave Over $1.9 Million To Anti-Gay Groups. . . . . Continue Reading »

Mark Juergensmeyer is a distinguished sociologist of religion, but if this piece is an example of his reasoning, I don’t for the life of me know why. Here’s the core of the argument: It is fair to call [Wisconsin mass murderer Wade Michael] Page a Christian terrorist since the evidence . . . . Continue Reading »

My wife and I will have lunch at Chick-fil-A today.  It’s not an uncommon experience in our family, since our son works there. (For the record, he and his sister are on a mission trip this week, working with immigrant kids , so they won’t be joining us. Also, for the record, my son . . . . Continue Reading »

Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s ringing endorsement of the traditional family has caused quite a stir.  More than a few of my Gen X and Millennial former students have vowed (on Facebook) never to darken the doors of their erstwhile favorite chicken restaurant again. I can’t help . . . . Continue Reading »

President Obama’s remarks last week about the dependence of American businesspeople have provoked quite a bit of controversy.  In case you’re living in a bubble, here’s what the President said: “There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me . . . . Continue Reading »

O.K., I’ll admit it up front.  I haven’t yet read the decision, so I’m going entirely by what I’ve read about decision, which amounts mainly to half-digested reactions.  My first thoughts are subject to massive revision, after I’ve had the time to read and . . . . Continue Reading »