Christian Ethics

Moral Courage and the Grim Necessity of Sacrifice 

American audiences are still hungry for cinematic portrayals of the old virtues: patriotism, heroism, courage, and self-sacrifice

One Less Irony

Niebuhr realized that an overweening faith in the powers of human rationality was a severely misplaced and perpetual threat which has reemerged in 2022 America. 

It’s Okay To Run For School Board

Political action, in the form of running for a school-board seat, is not the abdication of discipleship or a self-serving act to win the culture war.

Utilities of the Christian Imperative

From Christianity and Crisis, July 1947: “The beginning of wisdom is to know that God’s will rules His world.” But discerning the end of wisdom is more complicated.

Post-War Munich and American Housing Requisitions: A Christian Realist Plea
Post-War Munich and American Housing Requisitions: A Christian Realist Plea

“The people of Munich were informed by proclamation of the city administration that the requisition of private homes for army housing was to be carried through, and to a greater extent than had been hitherto feared.”

Five Impressions on Niebuhr and Co., 1945–47

From 1945 to 1947 as the United States and Soviet Union moved toward the Cold War, Christian realists writing for Reinhold Niebuhr’s journal, Christianity and Crisis, responded to global dilemmas. Here are five impressions of those articles, along with lessons for today.

Is It Time to Preach Optimism? - Hope Pessimism
Is It Time to Preach Optimism?

Recognizing the place for a genuine religious hope born of faith and for an enthusiasm for realization of social and ethical gains in any historical situation, Christianity will nevertheless, when true to itself, set its face against utopianism or popular brands of optimism.

Free Speech Healthy Politics House Un-American Activities Committee
Free Speech and Healthy Politics

Now what is here symbolized has been the most fundamental idea in our American democracy. Ours is a government by discussion.

From Attacks on Civilians to Spiritual Injury: Future War Trends from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
From Attacks on Civilians to Spiritual Injury: Future War Trends from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

The war in Ukraine is proving to be a tragic proving ground for trends that will almost certainly be replicated in other twenty-first-century warfare. Decentralized decision-making, the targeting of population centers, tactical speed in decision-making, the rise of artificial intelligence, vital intelligence sharing, and the strategic impact of moral and spiritual injury demonstrate the boundaries for future combat.