COMMENTARY

Clapham Institute Blog

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That's Obscene

A broader story required… “It’s not about porn at all,” said a University of Maryland (College Park) student. “It’s about free speech.” The campus screening of a triple-X film this past week raised tensions between some people of faith on one side and students and faculty on the other – but neither side resolved anything….

Doughnuts

When Americans and Europeans look toward Africa, Asia, and Latin America, they see Christians doing many good things like digging wells. Closer to home, however, Western Christianity looks like a doughnut. Not healthy.

Immunization Shots

Nonsense and knowledge… “Math is the only language all human beings share,” according to IBM’s new TV ad. “Math can do anything.” Some would say this is nonsense pretending to be knowledge. Others however don’t catch it because they haven’t been immunized against idiocy. C.S. Lewis had an antidote. Here it is – see if…

Finding the Four Corners

Piecing together the puzzle… “First find the four corners” – good advice, especially for people piecing together the puzzle of connecting Sunday to Monday. The first corner piece might be called unprecedented. If so, horizontal, imagination, and institutions might be the other three corners and frame a more realistic picture of changing the world.

Making a Good Stink

Shrinking market… Since 2001, the only religious group that grew in every US state was people saying they had “no” religion – 15 percent of the population. Moreover, the number of Americans identifying themselves as Christians is dropping, according the same survey. GM and Xerox reacted poorly when their market share began to drop. Lockheed…

Hitting the Pause Button

You know… kind of… like… Caroline Kennedy didn’t mean to say “you know” 142 times in one interview. But she did – and with it, her candidacy collapsed. Nowadays, people don’t mean to punctuate every point they make with you know… kind of… like – but more of us do. And with it, we’re revealing…

Starting Block & Finish Line

Problem and product… On March 3, 1887, an unruly six-year old Helen Keller first met her mentor, Anne Sullivan. Over the next 49 years, Sullivan unlocked the intelligence of her remarkable protégé who changed the world. Less well known, however, is another product of this mentorship. It’s the story of a starting block and finish…

Starting Block & Finish Line

Problem and product… On March 3, 1887, an unruly six-year old Helen Keller first met her mentor, Anne Sullivan. Over the next 49 years, Sullivan unlocked the intelligence of her remarkable protégé who changed the world. Less well known, however, is another product of this mentorship. It’s the story of a starting block and finish…

Learning by Osmosis

Almost all wrong… I think that architectural training as currently practiced in North America is almost all wrong. It is based on an Enlightenment model (truly based on Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am”) that imagines that verbal and or written communication equals knowledge transfer equals education. It’s the opposite of mentoring.

Socrates and the Bottom Line

A three-minute conversation… As companies pare people from their payroll to restore the bottom line, Socrates might raise a simple question: What is the bottom line? The answer is not as straightforward as you might imagine. Consider this fictional three-minute conversation with a CEO.