November 8, 2013
A Path Marriage Proponents Should Take
By Ryan T. Anderson, Princeton ’04In a 5–4 majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy (Harvard Law '61), the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Windsor struck down section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage in federal law for federal policy as the union of one man and one woman. The Court held that the federal government has to accept state redefinitions of marriage for federal policies.The majority concluded its opinion by stating: "This opinion and its holding are confined to those lawful marriages." So while the federal government has been ordered to recognize all state-recognized marriages, the Court declared that "the definition and regulation of marriage has been treated as being within the authority and realm of the separate States." The states remain free—and should continue—to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.The Court got the case wrong. While there is little of value in the majority opinion, the three dissenting opinions signal the path that marriage proponents should take from here.November 1, 2013
Analyzing the Analysis: Is the Narrative Changing?
By Jordan Monge, Harvard '12The following story was reprinted with permission from Christianity Today.
My story is almost always met with surprise: How could an atheist convert to Christianity at Harvard, the bastion of secular intellectual elitism?
Now this reaction has some empirical justification. A recent meta-analysis of studies on religion and intelligence found that yes, overall, people with high IQs and test scores are less likely to be religious.
October 18, 2013
Leadership Development Ministry Co-Hosts Event with Harvard Humanists, Atheists, and Agnostics
Students of various faith backgrounds (and no faith backgrounds) gathered in Harvard's Science Center's Auditorium B on the first Sunday after the start of classes for a debate on the topic, "Can the Christian God Be Good in Light of the Suffering in the World?"For the second consecutive year, Harvard College Faith and Action (HCFA) and Harvard Community Humanists, Atheists, and Agnostics (HCHAA) co-hosted a debate. HCFA is a leadership development ministry supported and resourced by Christian Union.October 15, 2013
Students Serve ... and Learn
About 70 students from top-tier universities gathered in Manhattan to participate in Christian Union's fourth spring-break trip for undergraduates involved in affiliated Christian leadership development ministries.The trip offered seven major service projects, including three focused on relief efforts in hurricane-battered Rockaway Beach and one providing crisis pregnancy intervention and support."The students really appreciated opportunities to serve," said Teal McGarvey, a ministry fellow at Harvard University. "A lot of these studentsOctober 11, 2013
Ministries Reach Out with a Sense of Urgency
Timing is everything; especially when it comes to freshmen.The first few days on campus are filled with opportunities for the new students to make choices about relationships and social circles that will impact their college years, and beyond.That's why ministry leaders throughout the Ivy League are working tirelessly to reach out to freshmen and help them make intentional choices about being part of a Christian community.October 8, 2013
October 17-19
Event details and registration at www.lifeandtruth2013.comA student organization at Yale hopes to make a big statement this fall with its conference, Vita et Veritas 2013: Promoting a Culture of Life and Truth.Hosted by Choose Life at Yale (CLAY) from October 17-19, Vita et Veritas will welcome students from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions.October 4, 2013
Princeton Relay Team Wins Indoor Championship
When the men's distance medley relay team from Princeton University won a national title at the NCAA indoor track and field meet, the victory was sweet, especially for Princeton Faith and Action (www.pfanda.com).Three of the four members participate in the leadership development ministry supported and resourced by Christian Union.October 4, 2013
Debate at Columbia University Features Apologist and Atheist
Belief in a supreme deity provides a solid foundation for embracing morality.Atheists, however, are only left with matter, energy, and the space-time continuum. Such elements are simply not enough to explain the existence of morality – or provide a basis for divine skeptics to claim atheism is compatible with the principles of objective morals.Those were some of the key points from David Wood when the Christian apologist debated atheist Kile Jones May 6 at Columbia University. The debate was entitled, "Good without God: Is God Necessary for Morality?"October 4, 2013
Dr. Ben Carson Says Political Correctness Is Damaging the United States
From low-income underachiever to prominent neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson personifies the American dream. However, in his latest book, America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great, Carson, Yale '73, warns readers that the dream could become mere fantasy if freedom of speech is silenced by political correctness and the nation loses sight of the values, freedoms, and faith upon which it was founded.October 4, 2013
Authors Tell Students to Defend Liberty, Speak the Truth in Love
In speeches during the spring semester, writers R.R. Reno, Yale PhD '90, and Eric Metaxas, Yale '84, exhorted college students and the nation to be aware of the growing sentiment against religious freedom."We're in the midst of climate change—one that's getting colder and colder toward religion," said Reno when he addressed students at Hillsdale College in Michigan.October 4, 2013
Columbia Alumnae Document How Promiscuity Hurts Young People
Casual sexual contact poses a substantial threat to the psychological well-being of young individuals.October 4, 2013
New Organization Offers Alternative to Hookup Culture at Princeton
A new student organization is spotlighting the dangers associated with the hookup culture that dominates Princeton University's social scene and offering counter-cultural alternatives.During the spring semester, the university recognized The Alternative (antibiotics-antibacterials.net), which exists to expose the harmful realities of the hookup culture and encourage students to pursue an alternative lifestyle, reducing the social acceptability of promiscuous behavior.October 1, 2013
Brown Survey Examines Students' Faith, or Lack of It
Almost half of surveyed Brown University students arrived without practicing a religion and remain faithless on campus, according to a recent poll by The Brown Daily Herald.September 26, 2013
George Whitefield Influenced Founding of Penn, Princeton, Dartmouth
Nearly 300 years ago, George Whitefield was born in Gloucester near the mighty River Severn and the historic docks that serve as links to England's navigational legacy.Just as the fast-flowing River Severn is famed as the longest waterway in the United Kingdom, one of its sons also is remembered for charting a far-reaching course that shaped the rich spiritual heritage of both the New and Old Worlds.September 6, 2013
Columbia Law School Alumna Founds E-Devotional
By Emily Belz, WORLD MagazineThe following story was reprinted with permission from WORLD Magazine (www.WorldMag.com).Bethany Jenkins, an effervescent 32-year-old with a face for television, in 2009 was finishing at Columbia Law School and preparing to take the bar. She had three job offers. A prestigious New York law firm wanted her.A federal judge offered her a clerkship. And MSNBC's Morning Joe, a top-rated cable news show, offered her a job as chief of staff. The recession was acute at the time, so one job offer was a luxury, let alone three. After a sleepless night, she turned all three down. Jenkins had decided instead to write a daily devotional. She passed the bar, but she prepared herself to work at a coffee shop."Am I crazy?" she asked a group of friends over lunch in Union Square the day after she turned down the jobs.April 4, 2013
Ravi Zacharias Speaks before Capacity Crowd at Princeton University
A life without God is an existence without answers to some of its most penetrating questions and comfort for its most arduous challenges.Acclaimed author and broadcaster Ravi Zacharias shared those perspectives when the international minister appeared at Princeton University on April 4 at the invitation of eight campus organizations.In a lecture entitled, Why I Am Not an Atheist, Zacharias said atheism leaves its followers with no moral absolutes and scant hope.November 13, 2012
November 5, 2012
Your spiritual vitality is a matter of national importance.
October 24, 2012
Students Spend Summer with Ministry in Uganda
Princeton students Blaire Bloxom '14 (below) and Amy Gonzalez '15 served with a humanitarian organization in Uganda this summer.A pair of underclassmen who participate in Princeton Faith and Action, a Christian leadership development ministry resourced by Christian Union, spent part of their summer serving with a ministry that targets villages in the eastern region of Uganda.
October 23, 2012
