A few days ago, I had the honor of joining President Biddy Martin and 17 fellow students for dinner. We discussed, among other things, what we liked and disliked about Amherst College. Some students expressed dissatisfaction with the advising process, saying that they almost never met with their advisors. Some students said they were unhappy about the athlete/non-athlete divide. Some felt that it was difficult to make new friends after First-Year Orientation ended.
Loud Christians make the most entertaining TV hosts, and of course, they have the funding and backing to get on TV in the first place. The majority of Christians around the world are poor, but they are not the ones who can afford to give their interpretation of the Gospel on late-night programs all the while asking viewers to continue padding their overflowing coffers.
Consider two issues.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did anyone else smell the vitriol on campus this week? Among newspaper readership, it was most evident in Dan Diner’s article on secularization and Andrew Kaake’s column on abortion. Their recent newspaper submissions have prompted an outpouring of student responses. Infuriated and affirmed readers alike shared their honest concerns, sometimes boldly proclaiming their identity, but more often remaining under the cloak of anonymity.
Where does a pistachio come from?
Christmas began last year in the United States on November 25, on the heels of our national celebration of over-stuffing and cross-country flights, as it is every year. It snuck in after the last dishes were dried, took its place at starting lines across the nation, and took off with a bang: a Los Angeles woman pepper-sprayed a fellow shopper who took the last Xbox 360; in Florence, AL, police stun-gunned a man and arrested him. Altogether, Black Friday shoppers exorcised a record $52.4 billion in a free market feeding frenzy.
This week’s column is the second of two that discuss a Christian environmental ethic.
Two weeks ago, I discussed two major descriptors of a Christian environmental ethic: Christianity provides a moral standard by which to explain environmental priorities, and therefore, by which to act; and additionally, the Bible presents proof that God cares about the planet.
