Campus Spirtuality

Interesting article at Inside Higher Education. A group of non-religious students at Tufts want an institutionally appointed spiritual guide, just like the Christians, Jews and Muslims have. Is this the next wave of campus clergy? This question presented is one that secondary private schools have been doing for a while. I do like that [...]

The Inequality of Women

My advanced Placement European history classes are examining the age of reason and the processes of political change during the Enlightenment. Though paradoxical, it is safe to say that the term Enlightenment is not for all. For all of their talk of liberation from conservatism and oppression, many philosophers such as Rousseau and Spinoza do [...]

Religious Identity

I had my AP United States history classes read a piece from the America’s Journey text. I found this part very interesting on the perception of religiosity in America during the early 1990s. It reads:
The New York Times reported on ‘dozens of surprises’ contained  in an opinion poll on religious identification in America. The poll [...]

A History Lecture: Look to Reagan & FDR

I found this political cartoon on another blog I read. I thought it said a great deal about the paranoia and ignorance of many; however, it does speak to the heart and truth about some American  fear regarding President Obama. I do not know why some fear him except that he is different. And, people [...]

Learning from the Quakers: Carson on being a Pacifist

My United States history sections have been discussing the early formation of the American colonies and how each one developed its own particular identity. Our discussion today on the formation and settlement of Pennsylvania allowed us to discuss Quaker theology. In doing so, we addressed their role as pacifist. In colonial America, enclaves of Quakers [...]

Ann Coulter: She Hates Public School Teachers

I am ashamed to admit that I wasted ten bucks on this book on CD, but curiosity got the best of me. Ann Coulter is clearly the most pessimistic person in the media; she is not happy. According to her in The Church of Liberalism:
Liberals love to boast that they are not religious, which is [...]

European History Reading and Debating the Drinking Age

Above: Downtown Fort Collins
For the third year in a row, I am spending the second week of June doing European history work and reading at Colorado State University.  It is safe to say that I love this college town; it has all of the ingredients one would want: shops, bookstores, restaurants, bars, live music, and [...]

Political Cartel on Abortion

Again, another great post by David Manes at the Political Cartel; I am not comfortable writing about or discussing the topic of Abortion.  However, this post is worth a read. See here… I am going to close my comment box here; feel free to join their conversation.

Tenure, Race, Academic Freedom, and Religion

Addressing matters of faculty, academic voice, tenure, and promotion has long been an interest of this blog; I do believe that good schools — be it a university, boarding, or day school can be measured in status by the intellectual freedom and voice permitted on its campus. Honestly, it is what separates elite schools from [...]

The American Socialist Tradition

Above: Recent Issue of Time. Obama as FDR.
In Obama’s The Audacity of Hope, he noted his philosophical contention by addressing his favor for FDR’s New Deal — the birth of American Socialism and the death of America’s puritanical notion of Rugged Individualism. Modern sociologists and economic theorist Max Weber wrote in The Protestant Ethic and [...]

Schools

I am a big fan of independent schools — especially boarding schools; I realize I teach in what many might call just a religious school, but by nature we are independent of any denominational group, doctrine, and finances. We have no connections to a church body nor do we receive any financial support from religious [...]

Thoughts on Ed Blum, W.E. B. Dubois, Toni Morrison, Race, Sex, and Black Literature

I recall reading Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye for the first time in high school; in it, Morrison took on similar issues as W.E.B Du Bois did in The Quest for the Silver Fleece. Ed Blum addressed Du Bois’s character Zora, whose interest in the white Madonna’s whiteness and purity created some comparison to three [...]

The Right Attacks Again

I saw this on Mark Elrod’s blog….This is pretty sad. And some people wonder why Christians are viewed as fundamentalist. The Lame-O reports that “Update (4-21-08 @6:45 pm): The sign has been changed as the result of public outcry.”

A Review of Expelled by Jim Brown

Jim Brown teaches AP European History and World History at Brazoswood High School. He is also a reader for the AP European History exam. Jim and his wife Staci, who just joined the math faculty at HCHS, will be Houstonians in a few months. Jim is a great friend with much insight into matters [...]

Edward Blum’s University of Houston’s Seminar on Race by Phil Sinitiere

Phil Sinitiere, the department chair at the Second Baptist School and a historian of religious history and race published the photo above and the blog piece below here at his bald blogger blog; Phil invited me to join him (seated in the middle) and Edward Blum for a great dinner the day before Blum’s lecture. [...]

Expelled

Finally, a movie I am looking forward to seeing. There are not enough movies for smart people to watch; however, this one looks really good. In a year where popular books discussing the silliness of religion were published by the likes of Richard Dawkins and Chris Hitchens, Ben Stein is set to release Expelled. [...]

Do You Believe in Black Jesus?

In chapter 4 of Edward Blum’s W.E.B. Du Bois, American Prophet, Blum discusses the Gospel according to Mary Brown and her child Joshua, who represents one of Du Bois’s black biblical characters, who found comfort among those who were societal outcasts. He, who was [the black] Jesus Christ, marched with the poor, with sinners, and communists; [...]

What Would Du Bois Say?: A Response to Hitchens and Dawkins by Edward Blum

I am writing a comparative essay reviewing both Edward Blum’s religious work on W.E.B. Du Bois and that of David Lewis. This paper, in the end, will be more than just a comparative review, but an analysis of two great authors. I will share more on this later. Below is an essay that Blum published as a [...]

Christian Fundamentalism or Truth?

I have been engaged in a discussion over the photo below via e-mail. When I first received this, I hit reply and stated that it (the e-mail) sounded like Christian fundamentalism — which scares me. Take note of the response I got too.

Barack Hussein Obama’s photo (that’s his real name)……the article said he REFUSED TO [...]

Race and Jena 6

I recall attending a lecture in which Toni Morrison told the audience that America is most divided on Sunday mornings. I have always found it fitting that in the South black Christians and white Christians can attend church and talk about love, until it means loving a person of another color. My mom used to [...]