Joseph Knippenberg

As Joe noted yesterday , our friend Jordan Ballor called attention to and discussed this article about philosophical counseling.  In part, Jordan emphasizes the way in which this developing niche (a kind of secular version of pastoral counseling, though I suspect that the latter often has a . . . . Continue Reading »

Some years ago, Ross Douthat wrote a wonderful and timely piece for FT, responding to the feverish concerns on the part of some folks on the secular Left that George W. Bush was either a theocrat or a theocratic fellow traveler. Well, Michelle Goldberg , one of those who feared for our country back . . . . Continue Reading »

I realize that this isn’t really a “first thing,” nor is it my first thought on the subject, but this is my soapbox and you are my captive audience, so here goes. There’s been a lot of noise recently about the War Powers Act .   The most recent moves include a . . . . Continue Reading »

Despite the fact that I once taught a course (one credit, for freshmen) on love, sex, and politics from Aristophanes to Bill Clinton, I wasn’t going to say anything about Anthony Weiner’s peccadillos.  But Laurie Essig knows how to push my buttons. I’ll restrict myself to two . . . . Continue Reading »

Dale Stephens thinks he knows enough to know that college is a waste of time .  It’s expensive and a lot of people apparently don’t learn a lot. I left college two months ago because it rewards conformity rather than independence, competition rather than collaboration, . . . . Continue Reading »

Today’s Inside Higher Ed brings word of yet another NLRB decision requiring a Catholic University to permit a labor union to attempt to organize its adjunct faculty.  This time, it’s St. Xavier University in Chicago.  A few months ago , it was Manhattan College .  In both . . . . Continue Reading »

We’re pretty close to the end of the graduation season, but the litigation about graduation season never seems to end.  Here’s an interesting call for some sort of truce in the prayer wars.  The author, a self-professed non-believer, offers a distinction between a communal . . . . Continue Reading »

At least that’s what this study says.  Republican professors allegedly give more grades at both ends of the spectrum than do their Democratic counterparts, and also seem to give marginally lower grades to African-American students. I haven’t seen the study (and won’t, until I . . . . Continue Reading »

Amy Sullivan wonders about the Republican embrace of the anti-Christian Ayn Rand.  Now, I don’t think that Republicans should be taking political advice from Sullivan, but one has to wonder how anyone can square his or her faith with Rand’s almost Nietzschean libertarianism. This . . . . Continue Reading »

Unaware that acting on his convictions was a bad career move, former Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Peter Vidmar resigned from his position as chef de mission of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.  His sin?  Attending a couple of rallies on behalf of Proposition 8 and giving money to an . . . . Continue Reading »