John G. Stackhouse Jr.'s Blog, page 33

Should Tax Money Go to Religious Groups?

[This is a lightly edited version of a post that first appeared on the “Context with Lorna Dueck” website.] One hears murmurs, whisperings, and hints that the Trudeau government is considering scaling back, or even eliminating, tax support for religious … Continued

Two Straws in the Wind: Evangelicals and the US Election

Factoid 1: Franklin Graham all-but-explicitly endorsed Donald Trump on the eve of the election. Factoid 2: Wheaton College students, according to a poll taken by their student newspaper, overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton. The Graham endorsement (let’s call it what it … Continued

Why Voting for a Third-Party Presidential Candidate Is Not a Valid Option

As we Canadians observe the American presidential election in various ratios of bemusement and horror, one position seems to stick out as distinctly unlikely to bear the weight of serious ethical scrutiny. That position is to vote for a third-party … Continued

Bathrooms, Identity, Rights, and Wisdom: Helping All Students in the Light of Trans* Issues

[The following is a re-posting from my weblog “On Second Thought” published weekly at ContextwithLornaDueck.com] Two years ago, the Vancouver School Board (VSB) was asked to accommodate students with varying sexual identities. More and more jurisdictions across the country are dealing … Continued

How to End “Working Poverty” in Canada

[The following is a re-posting from my weblog “On Second Thought” posted weekly on ContextwithLornaDueck.com] There should be no such category as “working poor” in Canada. As many economists have shown, if we paid people who work full-time for a … Continued

The Dangers of Forgiveness

[This is another reposting from the blog I have over at “Context with Lorna Dueck“]   Forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts we can give another person—or to ourselves. But it is surrounded by dangers. One danger is that … Continued

Do Sports Matter to God?

With the National Football League season just underway, pennant races on in MLB, university and high school teams soon moving from practice to competition, and, yes, minor hockey starting already in some locales (!), it’s time to revisit a column I … Continued

Theology and the University

The following is the penultimate draft of an essay recently published in the Canadian journal Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses. (The actual citation is “Putting God in God’s Place: Does Theology Belong in the University?” Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses  45:3 (2016): 377–396.) As … Continued

A Government Department of Euthanasia? Please, No

[This is another re-posting of a column earlier posted on the “Context with Lorna Dueck” website, for which I write weekly] ====== “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you.” My late father, a surgeon, used to make this … Continued

Installation Address at Crandall University

As we approach the start of a new academic year, I’ve returned to the Maritimes after a summer at home in North Vancouver to take up my duties again at Crandall University. In two weeks I’ll mark the one-year anniversary … Continued