I recently joined Engy Abdelkader, Jill Jacobs, John Inazu, Johnnie Moore, Gerardo Marti, David Gibson, Andre Henry, Asma Uddin, Robin Fretwell Wilson, and Jonathan Calvillo in thinking about what we can expect on the religious scene in 2021. Thanks to […]
John Inazu
Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health calls churches to go back to remote services
The courts may be on the side opening churches, but Francis Collins, an evangelical Christian and director of the National Institutes of Health, does not think it is a good idea. Here is NPR: With COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths at […]
Faith leaders call for a “free and fair election”
Here is the statement: We join together as leaders of faith across political, religious, and ideological differences to affirm our commitment to a free, fair, and safe election. The values of our faith traditions inform our dedication to this cause. […]
John Inazu: “shutdown orders shouldn’t exempt religious gatherings, and those communities should comply”
John Inazu is a professor of law and religion at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference. Here is a taste of his recent piece at The Atlantic: What is a […]
John Inazu’s Advice for White Evangelicals
Inazu teaches law at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference and the forthcoming (with Tim Keller) Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference. Here is a taste of […]
Can Any of the Democratic Candidates Appeal to Evangelicals?
Here is a taste of my recently published piece at Religion News Service: Do the current Democratic candidates for president have any chance of winning evangelicals in November 2020? Probably not. Of the candidates left in the Democratic primary race, […]
Thoughts on a Discouraging Weekend
I was on Fall Break this weekend and probably spent way too much time reading and watching the news, following the Values Voter Summit, and tweeting. With the exception of the beautiful central Pennsylvania weather, I leave the weekend pretty […]
Beto O’Rourke: Churches and Religious Institutions Should Lose Tax-Exempt Status If They “Oppose Same Sex Marriage”
Here is Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke on CNN last night: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR02Kf4wS_0&w=560&h=315] Every Democratic candidate for President of the United States should be asked this question. I have always appreciated Beto’s sense of conviction, but I hope he rethinks […]
Duke University Rejects Young Life
Universities like Duke claim to be bastions of free speech, inclusion, and pluralism, but they tend to define these commitments very narrowly. For example, the student government at Duke recently rejected Young Life‘s official status on campus because the Christian […]
What is Going on at the University of Iowa?
The administration of the University of Iowa does not want a Christian student group called Business Leaders in Christ (BLinC) on campus because they do not permit LGBT students to hold leadership positions. After de-registering BLinC as an official student […]
What Does the Trump Administration Mean by “Religious Freedom?”
At the State Department’s recent “Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions claimed that there is a “dangerous movement, undetected by many” that is “challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom.” This “dangerous movement,” Sessions added, […]
John Inazu Still Believes in Confident Pluralism
Inazu is the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law & Religion at Washington University Law School. He is the author of Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference. That book was published two years ago and Inazu continues to […]
What Happens When a Culture Warrior and a Confident Pluralist Exchange Tweets About Trump’s Border Wall?
Last week I did a post on evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem’s biblical defense of Donald Trump’s border wall. Here is what a couple of smart people tweeted about Grudem’s defense of the wall: I admire much of Wayne Grudem’s work. […]
What Looms on the Horizon for Christian Colleges?
Over at First Things, church historian Carl Trueman argues that Christian colleges need to prepare financially for a bleak future in a post-Christian age. He writes: The specific point of conflict is likely to be (once again) Title IX legislation that […]
The Nashville Statement is a Disaster
It is a disaster for all the reasons Chris Gehrz makes clear in his post today at The Pietist Schoolman. (I should add the title of this post is mine). The so-called “Nashville Statement” is indeed “theology for the […]
Confident Pluralism, Princeton Seminary, and Tim Keller
John Inazu, a law professor at Washington University and the author of Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Among Deep Differences, has weighed in on Princeton Theological Seminary’s decision to rescind the Kuyper Prize from evangelical Presbyterian minister Tim Keller. Get some background […]
Answering "Secular Purism" With "Religious Purism"
Alternative title for this post: “The heroes of Rod’s book are almost all monks.” David Brooks has reviewed Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option. Here is a taste: Rod is pre-emptively surrendering when in fact some practical accommodation is entirely possible. […]
The "Benedict Option" Versus "Confident Pluralism"
In his March 2017 Christianity Today cover story, conservative writer Rod Dreher introduces evangelicals to “The Benedict Option.” I like Dreher’s published works. I read his book Crunchy Cons at a time in my intellectual journey when I was also […]
Confident Pluralism
I am looking forward to reading and possibly reviewing John Inazu‘s new book, Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference (University of Chicago Press, 2016). If Inazu’s argument in the book is anything like his recent piece with Tim Keller […]