The Rise of the Christian Left in America,” is a recent piece from The Atlantic. It does a good job illuminating the popular rise of the Christian Right’s “Moral Majority” in the latter decades of the twentieth century, and explains how that political powerhouse is fading. It goes on to suggest that the new “Moral Majority” may be on the more progressive side of the aisle. Interesting read.

August 2, English MajorThe Chronicle Review of Higher Education posted this piece called “The Ideal English Major” about why everyone should study English. According to the professor who wrote it, Mark Edmundson of the University of Virginia, an English major has a “love for language, hunger for life, openness and a quest for truth.” English majors live in constant reincarnation, living the lives of many great men and women through history and fiction. I think it’s all true, I love my English major friends and I seriously considered an English major for myself. Ultimately, I decided I could live this way — loving language, life, truth and stepping into other peoples’ shoes — without the academic major. Even so, it’s a good read for anyone pondering their educational past or future.

Here’s a cool story about a NASA superstar scientist who has, for years, been uncovering exoplanets — planets outside of our solar system. Now he’s taking his talents, his data and his government funding to search for alien life. The extraterrestrial issue has always fascinated me. It raises interesting questions for anyone interested in religion and science.

Charles DarwinMarilynne Robinson has an essay called “Darwinism” that is long, but pretty gripping throughout. The essay doesn’t pose a debate between evolution and design. Rather, it juxtaposes Darwinism and creationism, which, according to Robinson, are ethical positions drawn out from scientific and spiritual ones. This might be particularly interesting to anyone interested in the issue of and problems associated with social Darwinism. It’s a bit heavy at times, focusing much more on morality than science.

Posted by Griffin Paul Jackson

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