Let’s not be too quick to read too much into Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny certiorari (judicial review) in a 9th Circuit case (Alpha Delta Chi v. Reed) that applied a nondiscrimination rather than “all-comers” policy to deny recognition to a religious student group at a California public university. Because the Court denies cert in 95% of its cases, its denial of certiorari means nothing about the merits of… [Continue Reading]

What would you think of a Town Hall meeting held in a room too small to accomodate the town, ground rules that don’t allow the opposition 5-10 minutes to present their side, and lastly rigid control over who had access to the microphones?  Welcome to deliberative democracy at Vanderbilt  University.  Video of Town Hall Meeting Articles about the Town Hall Meeting: The Hustler (2/1/2012) The City Paper (2/1/2012)  Fox and Friends Video: Swain and Saio (2/1/2012)  

Jeremiah 29:11 ”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. When I share my Christian testimony I often call myself the accidental professor because academia was not a career choice that I consciously sought. In the early years, when I earned my GED and started my education at a… [Continue Reading]

This article was published in The Blaze on October 4, 2011. Colleges and universities pride themselves as being vanguards of pluralism.  Nevertheless, in the past decade, more and more institutions have been quietly, but systematically, restricting freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly under the guise of non-discrimination. The Supreme Court has only added to the confusion.  In a 5-4 decision, the Court allowed a public law school to… [Continue Reading]

(Published in The Tennessean 9/15/2011) Evangelical Christians are increasingly under attack for their biblically-based worldviews. Shortly after graduation last spring, Vanderbilt University’s Office of Religious Life quietly deferred its annual approval of several mostly conservative Christian organizations. Groups affected included the Christian Legal Society, InterVarsity and the graduate chapter of Campus Crusade. These organizations face an uncertain future because of a new policy that prohibits religious organizations from requiring that… [Continue Reading]

Is there a connection between the debt crisis and the spiritual health of our nation? I discuss these  matters in Chapter two of my new book Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith and Promise.  According to Deuteronomy 28:15-62, “ a nation that rebels against God will not thrive. Its people will suffer ill health, and natural disasters will strike the land. Its ventures will not prosper. Until recent decades, America has prospered. But the twenty-first century finds us dealing… [Continue Reading]