Category Archives: Current events

(Higher) Educational Lament

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Now that I’ve been teaching for a couple of years, I see a few things over which I lament. One thing I’ve lamented since my own college days (in the early 1980s) is the high rate of inflation in higher … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Current events, Education, Higher Education, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Wrath of God

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

We modern believers often feel a need to take care of God – or at least God’s reputation. We have our ideals, and God had better live up to them. One of our ideals is that anger (or, in its … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, God, Jesus | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More or Less?

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

One of the books I’m reading now is William Cavanaugh’s Being Consumed. In his discussion of consumerism he writes: What really characterizes consumer culture is not attachment to things but detachment. People do not hoard money; they spend it. People … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Current events, Marriage | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Autism Awareness Day

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

We have “awareness” days, weeks, and months for just about everything now. I’ve never paid much attention to this phenomenon. I am feeling peeved about Autism Awareness Day however. I’m not peeved because I’m against people with autism. I’m not … Continue reading →

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What About MOOCs?

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Academia is being shaken to its foundations. There’s the funding crisis: College costs have outpaced inflation for a generation now, and the states and the feds are beginning to grumble. Right next door is the debt crisis: students are graduating … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Current events, Diversity, Education, Higher Education, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Thinking about Newtown

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Richard Heyduck

Beyond praying for the people of Newtown, I think. As long as the first thing we fight for is our individual freedom (to anything), we will end up astray. As long as safety is our highest goal, we will end … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Death, Discipleship, Jesus | Leave a comment

Which One?

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Richard Heyduck

I’ve seen various claims that we need to “Put God back in the Whitehouse.” The context of these claims indicates a few assumptions: God is not now in the Whitehouse. Whether or not God is in the Whitehouse is within … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Elections, Politics | Leave a comment

Civil?

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Richard Heyduck

I’ve seen this claim several times, as part of an apologetic for same-sex marriage. Marriage is a civil ceremony. Because it is a civil ceremony, it is a civil right. I don’t get it. The hidden premise, “All civil ceremonies … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Current events, Marriage, Politics | Leave a comment

Decline of Authoritarianism? Not where I look

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Richard Heyduck

Martin Thomas writes in The Guardian about the shift from authoritarian to a more horizontal and collaborative style in business. He sees this as a shift from a Platonic to an Aristotelian approach. It may be happening in business, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Ecclesiology, Education, Epistemology, United Methodism | Leave a comment

What Do You Do?

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Richard Heyduck

Since January I have been on faculty at Wiley College in Marshall. About half my students are young black men. I worry for them, that some armed, fearful, paranoid white guy, will take out his fear on them. What are … Continue reading →

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