Diane Ravitch’s recent two-part essay on education in the New York Review of Books is a must-read, beginning with “Schools We Can Envy” (on the model of Finnish education) and culminating in “How, and How Not, to Improve the Schools.” While Ravitch can be polarizing, the quarry of her concerns–the dismal state of public education…
I just got my copy of The Post-Secular in Question: Religion in Contemporary Society, edited by Philip Gorski, David Kyuman Kim, John Torpey, and Jonathan VanAntwerpen (published by NYU Press). This is the fruit of a conference at Yale University several years ago. My paper, now chapter 7, is entitled “Secular Liturgies and the Prospects…
Some of you might follow @jameskasmith on Twitter. I should point out that, in a sense, that’s not me. That account was set up several years ago by someone else who merely used it as a feed for my blogs. And since he can no longer remember the account details, I’m unable to use that…
Here’s a timely resource that might be a fitting follow-up to my “Open Letter to Praise Bands” (and the P.S.): At the Calvin Worship Institute’s 2012 Symposium, I had the privilege of being part of a panel discussion (and hymn-sing!) on the “re-tuned” hymn movement. I was really just an interloper, since the panel, hosted…
So, I guess my little “Open Letter to Praise Bands” generated some interest. I’m glad that it could be a catalyst or foil for some intentional reflection on the how of Christian worship. I won’t even attempt to address the array of responses it has generated. I’m content to let some misreadings spin themselves out….
This TED talk encapsulates the core thesis of Alain de Botton’s new book, Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion. Anyone who has read Desiring the Kingdom will note obvious overlapping concerns and sensibilities. And while much more deserves to be said (I’ll do so in a forthcoming review of the…