Articles for tag: Civil Discourse

February 14, 2017

By Mark A. Taylor Confronted with doubters, some Christians display one of two unfortunate reactions. Some look away. They prefer not to think about serious skeptics. Isolated inside the church with no real relationships outside it, they are comfortable with a faith they themselves may never have questioned. They ignore the skeptic. But others attack. They can”t pretend doubters don”t exist. They”ve heard the cynical sneers about Christianity from public critics, and the arguments make them angry. They view disbelievers as the enemy, and their instinct is to defend the faith with sarcasm, condemnation, or insult. Those in either group

June 9, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Culture & Public Square Reconciliation

Truth in Labeling

By Mark A. Taylor If you”re buying fashion, you look for the right label. But when you”re relating to people in a polarized world, labels can be as damaging as they are discouraging. I, for one, am tired of the expectation that I”ll believe and behave according to the label someone else places on me. Must I, for example, echo the rhetoric of either the blue state or red state where I live? Must I agree with every statement and every position of the presidential candidate I vote for? Must I commit to either a conservative or liberal position in

March 19, 2012

Christian Standard

Colleges & Seminaries Organizations & Events

What Good Is a College Education These Days?

By LeRoy Lawson With ever larger numbers of college alumni running the country, and not doing such a good job of it, what good is a college degree, anyhow? Are colleges just cranking out more dumb people with diplomas? A friend recently asked my opinion of the “dumbing down of America.” He was referring to the general agreement that, in spite of record numbers of college graduates out there, Americans as a whole appear to be less civil, less informed, less able to reason, and less articulate than ever. (Even the term “dumbing down” is evidence, isn”t it? Is there