Visions for Christian Public Life
What is the goal of Christian public life? How should Christians engage in societies, political systems, and cultures that are, in some cases, antagonistic to the core principles of our faith? Do we set ourselves apart? Do we assimilate? Do we actively engage and seek to transform?
Problems Recruiting a Reverend? An Economic Perspective on the Market for American Clergy
Grant Seiter was a 2018-2019 Young Scholar Awards Program recipient. He is currently a senior at Baylor University, majoring in economics and finance. An increasing number of American pastors such as Ed Young, Rick Warren, and Joel Osteen have amassed sizeable incomes...
Assessing the Viability of the Middle East Strategic Alliance to Counter Iranian Influence in the Post-Islamic State Middle East
Jonathan Deemer was a 2018-2019 Young Scholar Awards Program recipient. He attended Union College and majored in international relations and business administration. I am twenty two years old. This means that for me, and the millions of Americans in my generation, we...
Coalition of the Developing: Can regional trade agreements on the African continent lead to development?
Mary Katherine Lederer was a 2018-2019 Young Scholar Awards Program recipient. She attended the University of Notre Dame and majored in economics and political science. Still struggling to attain stable political regimes, sound economic institutions, and greater...
The Illiberal Cake We’re Baking
Nicholas Marr was a 2018-2019 Young Scholar Awards Program recipient. He is currently a senior at the University of Notre Dame, majoring in political science and history. In May, the U.S. House passed H.R. 5, the “Equality Act,” on a near–party-line vote. It would...
Refugee Protection to Victims of Generalized Violence: Mexico’s Response to Central American Asylum Seekers
Emilio Rodriguez was a 2018-2019 Young Scholar Awards Program recipient. He attended Trinity Western University and majored in international relations. Protection to refugees has a well-established legal tradition. But almost everywhere in the Western world, these...
China Holds No Cards
It was 2 a.m., and my father and I had finally settled down for our flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Bleary-eyed, I was about to drift off to sleep, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I hadn’t realized it, but there was a Chinese teenager more or less my age sitting right next to me. He asked me if I was American, and I told him I was, and from Houston. He then brought up the Rockets and excitedly asked, “Have you been to a real live NBA game before?”
How Should the Church Engage in a Consumer Society?
“To be prophetic is to host a world other than the one that is in front of us.” Christians, as theologian Walter Brueggemann so eloquently wrote, ought to be set apart, practicing faith and life in a way that is unique and attractive to those outside of the body of Christ. Consumerism, an idol of the West, aspires to control the appetites and patterns of its practitioners, orienting their desires toward itself. As Matthew 6:24 cautions, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Thus, it is time for Christians to examine the influence of consumerism on churches and ecclesiastical culture, not with fear or distrust, but with wisdom, understanding, and prayer.
Emergency Powers for Climate Change
In case of a national emergency, the United States government must, in a quick and focused manner, react. Because an orderly response is most likely to come from one voice—the commander in chief—emergency powers fall into the lap of the president. But over the last 230 years, Congress has bundled more and more powers into the emergency package without the stamp of the Constitution. At the same time, the Trump administration and the American majority grow further apart on what they think real national emergencies are.