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Blog

Primarily featuring posts written by students and faculty in our network, our blog is a forum for writing on issues of faith, politics, economics, and society. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors alone.
It’s the Little Things: How Committing to Smallness can Renew America’s Social Fabric

It’s the Little Things: How Committing to Smallness can Renew America’s Social Fabric

I didn’t know Marvel movies provided relevant commentary on American society until I watched Thor Ragnorok. After finishing “Renewing America’s Social Fabric: Faith, Community, and Public Policy,” a class taught by Dr. Ryan Streeter as part of AEI’s Summer Honors Program, I sat down with my family and watched another world’s troubles, only to have it frame my thoughts about ours.

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The Church and the Public Square

The Church and the Public Square

For most of my life, I lived in a world where politics never came up at church, and the Church never came up in discussions of politics. Whenever the two did meet, I saw political leaders turning the Church from its prophetic ministry and making it a tool for partisan ends. Not until my participation in the AEI Summer Honors Program did I feel as though substantive policy discussion grounded in shared faith could even occur.

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Liberalism Matters and America Must Defend It

Liberalism Matters and America Must Defend It

It was not so many years ago, 2005 to be precise, that we hit a certain “highpoint” in terms of the number of countries classified as democratic. Since then, while there are a myriad of stories testifying to the success of democracy, this period has been characterized by democratic backsliding. An increase in authoritarianism as well as nationalist sentiment have put liberalism (the political philosophy based on liberty and consent of the governed) on the defense.

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On Neighbors and Nations

On Neighbors and Nations

Studying at an international university in Eastern Europe last year, I was caught completely unaware by something I had never before felt—a strong sensation that I needed to apologize for my nationality on behalf of my nation. The first time this happened, I was seated between students from Iraq and Afghanistan in a conflict studies course when the professor entered and asked the aggravatingly simple question: what is peace?

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The Power of Local

The Power of Local

With the uncertainty of quarantine dictating our current social norms, a looming question many of us face going forward is this: how do we re-engage in society post-isolation with purpose and meaning?

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The Stories We Tell Ourselves: An Optimistic View for Graduating During a Pandemic

The Stories We Tell Ourselves: An Optimistic View for Graduating During a Pandemic

Though college students are statistically among the least likely to die from COVID-19, we’ve all been affected by it in one way or another, such as dorm closures and online classes. Our commencement ceremonies have been pushed back to the fall, or even as far as May 2021. We’re entering a hurting job market and a bleeding economy. How can we turn this situation to our best advantage?

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