Joe Carter

Richard Mouw on a theology of cuteness : In his famous essay “A Plea for Excuses,” the Oxford philosopher J. L. Austin complained that philosophers of art typically spent too much time focusing on beauty, when most people’s aesthetic interests are less grand. Austin expressed the . . . . Continue Reading »

Want to be happy? Make some friends at church : Attending religious services regularly and having close friends in the congregation are key to having a happier, more satisfying life, a study finds. Even attending services irregularly — just several times a year — increases a sense of . . . . Continue Reading »

This  Chronicle of Higher Education post-mortem on the failed “Great Books college for devotees of Ayn Rand” filled me with both Schadenfreude and sadness. Because I’m a decent human being—at least most of the time—I don’t like to mock failure. But . . . . Continue Reading »

Throughout history people have been awed and thrilled by retellings of their culture’s creation story. Aztecs would tell of the Lady of the Skirt of Snakes, Phoenicians about the Zophashamin, and Jews and Christians about the one true God”Jehovah. But there is one unfortunate group”the children of atheistic materialists”that has no creation myth to call its own. … . Continue Reading »

In America, the highly educated (people with college degrees) are more likely to go to church every week than are the moderately educated (high school diploma or some college): In addition to an “education gap” in marriage, there is also a “faith gap,” says the new State of . . . . Continue Reading »

Hans Rosling, a professor of public health from Sweden, has an amazing presentation on how lifespan and income have risen together over the past 200 years. (Via: Blog and Mablog ) . . . . Continue Reading »

Doritos and Pepsi are holding a contes t for a commercial to be aired during Super Bowl XLV. The top five finalists haven’t been announced yet, but I’ll be surprised if this entry doesn’t make the cut. Although it’s calibrated to offend people of almost every faith (even . . . . Continue Reading »

Peter Augustine Lawler on much our democracy owes the Puritans : There’s little less fashionable today than praising the Puritans, especially for their egalitarian political idealism, their promotion of genuinely humane and liberating learning, and their capacity for enjoyment and human . . . . Continue Reading »

Here’s your crazy stat of the day : According to a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) report released Tuesday, one-third of all drug tests on drivers killed in motor vehicle accidents came back positive for drugs ranging from hallucinogens to prescription . . . . Continue Reading »

1. Why do we hate modern classical music? The highest-priced painting in history is Jackson Pollock’s swirlingly abstract No 5, 1948, which sold in 2006 for $140m. Tycoons and emirs covet avant garde architects. James Joyce’s Ulysses inspires worldwide drinking parties every 16 June. . . . . Continue Reading »