Joseph Knippenberg

I have a great respect for the Roman Catholic tradition in political and social thought, and believe that some of the most interesting and “provocative” contemporary commentators depend very heavily on that tradition.  I saw this morning the letter written by some prominent . . . . Continue Reading »

David Barton has attracted a lot of attention recently, beginning with a rather soft piece in the New York Times .  I have to confess that I’m not a big fan of watery accounts of religion in American history, by which I mean those that attempt either to baptize it or to scrub it . . . . Continue Reading »

My son, now 15, aspires to be a Navy SEAL.  I have little doubt that, when the time comes (barring unforeseen circumstances), he will be able to meet the physical requirements of SEAL training.  The mental and emotional side of it remains to be seen, though  these words are . . . . Continue Reading »

Joe Carter can speak with more authority about this question than I can. I’m merely an Army brat, having spent the first sixteen years of my life living on or near Army bases in the U.S. and Germany. I was indifferently churched, but did spend time in a variety of Army-sponsored . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m not going to add my weight to the pile already atop the prominent Atlanta law firm that walked away from the defense of DOMA, though I may alter my carbonated beverage purchasing habits somewhat (a bit hard to do in Atlanta).  But the willingness of opponents of DOMA to use all sorts . . . . Continue Reading »

My students often refer to their lives on campus as occurring within a bubble. They mean thereby to be both self-deprecating and self-critical about their self-absorption. Since there’s ample evidence that their general levels of knowledge about current—let alone . . . . Continue Reading »

As my good friend Peter Lawler would say, ” studies show ” that students who believe in a “harsh, punitive, vengeful, and punishing” God are less likely to cheat on a test than are non-believers or students who believe in a “loving, caring, and forgiving” God. . . . . Continue Reading »

Apropos of Joe Carter’s earlier post about Douglas Kmiec’s difficulties as U.S. Ambassador to Malta, I’ll take the occasion of his resignation from that post to add my two cents’ worth. Let me begin by noting my early perplexity (to put it mildly) regarding the Obama-Kmiec . . . . Continue Reading »

I’ve written elsewhere (and will have more to say soon, since I’ve got a lecture deadline) about the Supreme Court’s quite breathtaking (in a good way) decision in the Arizona tuition tax credit case.  Hard on the heels of that decision comes an appellate decision against one . . . . Continue Reading »

Jordan Ballor summarizes quite nicely ( with all the relevant links ) the state of the conversation regarding evangelicals and natural law.  Among the links he provides is one to this piece by Vincent Bacote. Bacote attempts to explain why evangelicals, especially in politics, seem to . . . . Continue Reading »