Blog 3 Columns

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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Chesterton on the Dangers of ‘Cloudy Political Cowardice’0
- Philosophy
- February 14, 2018
If G. K. Chesterton were around to account for what’s wrong with our world today, he’d likely list political correctness high among our current ills. The term itself would not have been familiar to him, but the phenomenon was. He detected in the atmosphere of his era a “cloudy political cowardice.” Instead of telling others
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The ‘Real’ St. Valentine Was No Patron of Love 0
- Culture
- February 13, 2018
On Feb. 14, sweethearts of all ages will exchange cards, flowers, candy, and more lavish gifts in the name of St. Valentine. But as a historian of Christianity, I can tell you that at the root of our modern holiday is a beautiful fiction. St. Valentine was no lover or patron of love. Valentine’s Day,
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Should Schools Purge Literary Classics From Reading Lists Because Students Feel ‘Uncomfortable’?0
- Education
- February 13, 2018
The English writer George Orwell once observed that the “most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” This idea is working itself out in one of Minnesota’s largest school districts. A decision to pull two of the most influential novels in recent American history, To Kill
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School Tells Girls They Can’t Say ‘No’ When Asked to Dance….Because Inclusivity 0
- Culture
- February 13, 2018
Have you ever noticed that living in a politically correct world is akin to navigating a field of landmines? The truth of this metaphor recently made itself apparent in the realm of Valentine-themed dances. The first instance occurred in a New York elementary school, which cancelled its father-daughter dance because it failed to
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Confabulation: Why Telling Ourselves Stories Makes Us Feel Ok 0
- Science
- February 13, 2018
In a now classic experiment, the psychologists Richard E Nisbett and Timothy Wilson at the University of Michigan laid out a range of items, such as pairs of stockings, and asked people to select one. Participants consistently preferred the items on their most right-hand side. But when they were asked to explain their choices, they
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Children Are the UN’s ‘Secret Weapon’ Against Climate Change 0
- Education
- February 13, 2018
The United Nations is an outspoken proponent of taking action against global warming, and enlisting youth organizations to participate in the cause has long been part of their strategy. Recently, however, UN panelists explained that getting young people involved against climate change isn’t just important. Rather, it was described as “one of the most effective
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Who Was St. Valentine and Why is February 14 a Romantic Holiday?0