Category: Sociology
The Role of Social Science in ‘Deconstructing’ White Evangelicalism
My friend Jonathan Leeman has written a thoughtful reflection on what he calls the project of evangelical deconstruction. I want to respond, in part because I expect some readers may view my forthcoming book, The Religion of American Greatness: What’s...
To Laugh at Death
Yesterday I had the misfortune of having to go shopping for costume elements, which included looking for rubber snakes. Side note: Kids these days just don’t seem to be interested in snakes. Dinosaurs are still doing a roaring trade, but...
A Tail is a Leg is a Marriage?
As usual, The Public Discourse’s latest article does not leave the reader disappointed. In its current post, Stephen Heaney offers an incisive argument on the illogical premises of gay marriage. His conclusion? Same-sex marriage and opposite-sex marriage are as similar...
Political Correctness…, I mean Religious Correctness
[This post is lengthy; be forewarned] As I expected would happen, the readers of Mere-O have responded both with class, sensitivity, and elegance to my original post, in which I provoked conversation about the Mosque Controversy in New York City....
Discussing a Delicate Issue
Of late, one of the current topics I’ve spent the most time thinking about has been the debate surrounding the plan to build a Mosque near Ground Zero. Below is a video which has garnered significant attention on YouTube. I...
Carrying the Fallen
Three American flags draped the coffins lying on the cargo floor of my C-17. It was only three hours earlier that I had received a phone call informing me that my crew was to fly from Europe to America; no...
Full Video of MLK’s “I Have a Dream”
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. do yourself and your countrymen a favor by watching the video of what many consider the second greatest speech in American history. After all, “We cannot walk alone.”
People of the Numbers: Christian Smith on Evangelicals and Statistics
Christian Smith, who has made a living correcting mistaken notions about the lives of evangelicals, recently reprimanded evangelicals for their inappropriate use of statistics. Drawing from the extreme and bogus “only 4% of young Christians will remain Christian” stat, Smith...