Blog 3 Columns

Why Amish Romance Novels Are So Popular 0
- Culture
- February 15, 2018
In the “New and Popular” section of my local public library, there are multiple shelves dedicated to Amish romance novels. Yes, you read that correctly: Amish romance novels. As it turns out there’s quite a market, especially among evangelical Christians, for what’s also waggishly known as “bonnet-ripper” fiction. The three most popular authors of Amish
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The Education System Loves Promoting Anti-Bullying… Until Homeschoolers Do the Same 0
- Culture
- February 15, 2018
For many American parents, the idea that their child is talented enough to land a small role in a famous Broadway musical would be enough to burst a few buttons. But imagine that this same child went to Broadway intending to try for a small role and walks away with the lead instead. Now that’s
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Minnesota Seeks to Insert ‘Social Justice’ in Teacher Licensing 0
- Culture
- February 15, 2018
A newly created Minnesota board is seeking to implement a rule that critics say would introduce “social justice” training to the state’s teacher licensing. The board, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB), was created after a 2016 audit concluded that the state’s teacher licensing system was “broken.” The new 11-member board is seeking
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Frederick Douglass Knew That Racial Identity Is No Antidote to Racial Injustice 0
- Education
- February 15, 2018
Frederick Douglass, the greatest of all American abolitionists, possibly the greatest American champion of the cause of equal rights, was born 200 years ago in February 1818. Perhaps the infant Douglass arrived on Feb. 14, as he liked to think, remembering a morning in his boyhood when his mother, enslaved as he was, walked miles
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10 Books You Need to Read Before Graduation 0
- Culture
- February 15, 2018
“If you don’t read good books, you will read bad ones,” C. S. Lewis writes. We may need to update Lewis’s claim for the twenty-first-century reader, for those who do not read good books will not necessarily read bad ones, but may—in not knowing why or what they should read—substitute books entirely with hours of
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Why So Many Lovers Don’t ‘Grow Old with Me’0
- Culture
- February 14, 2018
When holidays like Valentine’s Day come upon us, it seems like every other news article has something to do with the escalation of one-night stands via Tinder, the state of divorce rates, and the ways one can know if an individual is “the one.” So when an article tackles long-term, consistent love – what many
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Who Was St. Valentine and Why is February 14 a Romantic Holiday?0
- Culture
- February 14, 2018
It’s customary on St. Valentine’s Day to write odes, buy chocolates, and lavish romance upon the burning object of one’s affection. Approximately 140 million Valentine’s Day cards will be exchanged on the holiday, estimates suggest. But why do we do all these things? Most people, it’s safe to say, undertake these tasks without an inkling
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Individualistic Nations Provide the Most Charity for Strangers, Survey Shows 0
- Culture
- February 14, 2018
Christian life relies on faith, not on sight. But it is a serendipity when social science bears out its teachings about spiritual and religious freedom – and it is particularly delicious when those findings are featured on NPR. “The world’s wealthiest and most individualistic countries also happen to be some of the most altruistic,” wrote Georgetown University’s
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From Dummies to Blankies – When Should You Worry About Your Child’s Attachment to Comfort Items?0
- Family
- February 14, 2018
Many parents will feel a twinge of concern if their five-year-old can’t sleep without his dummy or their teenager refuses to throw out the tattered blanket she’s had since she was a baby. The topic of comfort objects is hotly debated, with some arguing that the attachment to objects from babyhood is childish, unnecessary or
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Why Amish Romance Novels Are So Popular 0