John G. Stackhouse Jr.'s Blog, page 14

Defending Franklin Graham’s Speech

I’ve been to Liverpool only twice, and both times the city was hospitable. The next time? I’m not so sure. In 1965, my family was returning to Canada after several years living in Plymouth, England. We were booked on the … Continued

Keeping Up with the Windsors

One cannot avoid encountering the soon-to-be-no-longer-HRH Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, and their little boy Archie. They’re inescapably everywhere, from tabloids to “serious” news outlets, even as their stated reason for withdrawing from royal duties is to avoid ubiquitous press … Continued

“The Future Is Already Here…”

So says William Gibson, the American author who followed his wife to her native Vancouver and from there has spun out his tales of the near future—from Neuromancer (1984) to Agency (to be released next week). Gibson decades ago coined the term “cyberspace,” and his … Continued

The Whole Truth about Abortion

Discussing abortion seems to make it difficult for people to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In last month’s number of The Atlantic, Caitlin Flanagan tries to tell the truth about abortion in an article titled, “The Things We Can’t … Continued

Best Year Ever? Yes! And also…No

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has gotten a lot of attention recently for declaring that “This Has Been the Best Year Ever.” And there is much to celebrate. Extreme poverty has declined since 1981 from 42% to 10%. “As recently as 1950,” … Continued

What Child Is This?

In the wake of Christmas and in anticipation of the new year, charitable organizations are asking us for donations. In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens included a brief, horrifying tableau that should give us pause as we consider where to place … Continued

It’s a Terrible Life

The approach of Christmas and then New Year’s Eve prompts us to reflection—when we’re not hurrying through last-minute shopping, decorating, baking, wrapping, hosting, volunteering, and the like. And that reflection is often helped by…movies. George Bailey and Ebenezer Scrooge come … Continued

Christmas Isn’t General: It’s Jewish

The commercializing of Christmas offends many—so many, in fact, that major corporations have sponsored endless movies and television shows bemoaning the…commercializing of Christmas. (One can see the trend at least as far back as Miracle on 34th Street, a movie released … Continued

Going (Much) Deeper on LGBTQ+

“Simplify as far as possible,” Albert Einstein is supposed to have said, “but no farther.” In the vexed and vexing issues surrounding sex and gender politics in the church and in society at large, we should heed his advice. Not … Continued

Does a Leader’s Personal Religious Practice Hurt or Help with Voters? “It Depends”—but on What?

The reliable Angus Reid Institute (ARI) released a report on a recent poll, undertaken in concert with our friends at Cardus, that “suggests that it is not necessarily a leader’s faith that provokes negative or positive reactions, but how the leader approaches and handles the … Continued