I asked Dr. Gerald Murray, an anthropologist and an expert on Haiti, and a Catholic, to write a blog post for Q Ideas about the religious response of people in Haiti to the earthquake a year ago. I know several American Christians who found their faith in the goodness of God rocked by the tragedy … Continue reading What do Haitians think about God and the Earthquake?
Current Affairs
Famous Chief Seattle environmental speech is actually a Southern Baptist document
"All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man does not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." Some of the most cherished words in the environmental movement were never uttered by the Native … Continue reading Famous Chief Seattle environmental speech is actually a Southern Baptist document
Children, Animals, and the Imago Dei
Two events for children are signs of life and expressions of the imago dei, the image of God, granted to humans. When kids' brains are filled with biodiversity instead of corporate-logo-diversity, they have the chance to think God's thoughts after him. When kids learn to love and train their pit bulldogs, they learn something about wise dominion and stewardship of the Creation.
Climate economics challenges left and right
As with climate science, the likely truth about climate economics is somewhere in the middle.
How front porches encourage loitering (aka “community”)
Public spaces are endangered in modern American landscapes. How can front-porch culture encourage spiritual loitering in a rat-race world?
Interview: Climatologist weighs in on groundhog science
I asked noted climatologist Katharine Hayhoe to comment on the main atmospheric science question unfolding today. Can we rely on groundhog science when it comes to predicting the weather or the climate?
Walkability, Justice, and Healthy Cities
We have for several generations built our most significant places on the cheap: homes, office buildings, churches, libraries and the infrastructure that connects them, all built on the low bid. faithful communities serving the poor are beginning to ask questions about our responsibility not just to green our lives and our houses, but also to create healthy places that foster community and justice, beachheads of livability and vitality that can begin to spread across the city landscape.
Climate scientists, skeptics earn a “great big time out”
By now you're bound to have heard of the great "Climategate" scandal of late 2009. Hackers broke into the computer archives of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and stole data and email archives dating back 10 years. Then, somehow (who can say?) these files found their way into the hands of climate uber-skeptics. It was discovered that--shock, horror--climate scientists were saying rude and very unscientific things about their most relentless critics.
Overpopulation: The environmental problem that isn’t
The "problem of overpopulation" is taking care of itself. Public policy should focus more directly on the things that make people better off. Coercive population control is immoral, and other efforts at "regulating population" are less effective than helping families lead productive, rewarding, and flourishing lives.
Should You Worry about Mercury in Swine Flu Vaccine?
Hint: if you wear a seat belt but also believe that thimerosal preservatives in vaccines cause autism, you may be inconsistent. Pregnant women and small children, and others at risk, should get the vaccine when it is available.
Tilling and Keeping 