Stan Oakes founded Christian Leadership Ministries in 1980 to network Christian academics and encourage them in the unique contribution they can make in the university.
Stan Oakes founded Christian Leadership Ministries in 1980 to network Christian academics and encourage them in the unique contribution they can make in the university.
Research is forming the world as we know it. Thoughtful people comprehend that to enact policy, the media, government and education rely upon the enriched information provided by experts, both in and out of the university.
Just over forty years ago, Professor Alfred Kinsey changed forever the way in which homosexuality is understood. Though his study has been discredited in important ways, still the notion that homosexuals comprise 10% of the population lingers on. The Los Angeles school district implemented an entire program based on this faulty premise.
Now, sociological research has taken the place of the Bible as the north star for our culture. In fact, religion is now the "forgotten factor." Not only is the Bible considered a relic for an earlier, more superstitious time, but religion is largely censored from the public square. Fortunately, there is an increasing interest among research ers to explore the role of religious commitment in the health and well-being of individuals. Training to be a psychiatrist, Dr. David B. Larson was taught that religion stunted mental health. So at his career pinnacle, holding top research posts at the National Institutes of Health and Mental Health, he tested the conventional wisdom against research data. He found that "the one consistent variable, church attendance or religious practice (such as prayer), seemed to help people avoid heart disease and mental disorders." An expert in epidemiology, Dr. Larson's work has since compiled various sum maries of clinical research on health and religion.
But who is doing the research on how the "forgotten factor" influences the lives of university professors? Has religion been a help or hinderance in academic pursuits? At minimum, the new interest from secular researchers demonstrates that religion's tarnished reputation is up for review. At best, it's a new avenue of discussing with the deeply secularized colleague the role of faith in their own "language."
With this in mind, Leadership University, the virtual univer sity of Campus Crusade for Christ, is issuing a call for papers. Below are topics from various disciplines listed for the stimulation of ideas. Please consider how you can contribute to Leadership U. and then email Christian Leadership at prof@clm.org with your ideas.
Economic policy and a Christian role for government.
Federal charity and the Christian worldview.
Christ's view of taxation.
Subjective v. objective economic theory and a Christian response.
Effects of divorce on personal income.
Assessing technology: a cost benefit analysis.
Radioactive wastes and future generations.
Decentralization and participation in energy resources.
Biblical stewardship and modern American farm policy.
Providing for the masses.
Ethics of the Green Revolution.
What is known about the earliest hominid?
Astronomical evidences for a personal, transcendent God.
How measurements of the universe can tell us about God and His nature.
The Big Bang: friend or foe?
Ethics and implications of genetic engineering.
Evidence for a mind separate from the brain.
Current criticisms of the prebiotic soup theory.
Artificial intelligence and human nature.
Computer technology the new social structure.
Strengths and limitations of computer modeling.
From concept to consumer; the acceleration of delivery and inherent dangers.
Stewardship and care of the earth; how much damage has humanity wrought?
A stewardship response to deforestation and reforestation.
Dehumanizing the environment.
The rise of Chaos and the future of naturalism.
Discovering the structure of creation.
Non-Euclidean geometry and the revolution in mathematics.
Reassessing the early earth and its atmosphere.
What is known of the "ozone hole?"
A comparison of contrast between theistic and methodological science.
Can knowledge about God be gained through studying nature?
Intelligent Design v. macroevolution.
Modern secular scientists who doubt the paradigm of evolutionary belief.
Will physics uncover a science of consciousness?
The relation of quantum mechanics and relativity to creation.
Physics and Eastern Mysticism.
How the language capacity is unique to humans and evidence of special design.
How parents can shape a child's sexual identity.
The characteristics of strong families.
How the belief in a sinful nature affects self-esteem.
The theatrical treatment of political correctness.
The treatment of religion in modern drama.
Sound ethics in scientific research.
Radical feminism and Goddess worship in modern curriculum.
Trends and implications of student teacher evaluations.
An examination of Gay Studies and other liberal programs.
A brief history of curriculum; a shift from sacred to secular.
Student dishonesty and cheating; a ten-year evaluation.
Special interests and the S.A.T.
Correlations of religious commitment and women achieving higher education.
Government/Political Science
A Christian response to Bosnian policy.
Building a conservative Christian agenda for Minority policy.
Christian charity and federal humanitarian aid.
Support and criticism of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The intents of the Founding Fathers.
Secular v. sacred: the origins of feminism.
Do we learn from our mistakes? Examining the gap between scholarship and society.
Religion and the history of science.
The historicity of the resurrection.
Religious ideas and the history of the American newspaper.
The influence of Orwell and Huxley on modern literature.
The origins and trends of deconstruction.
The abridgment of classical literature.
Spiritual implications of The Faerie Queene.
The Bible as literature.
Teaching truth from the Great Books.
The concept of original sin in Eastern and Western thought.
Opening dialogue between the Naturalist and the Theist.
The morality of passive resistance.
Can all of reality eventually be explained by the laws of physics?
Can there be a scientific theory of creation?
The collapse of the intellectual grounds for holding an atheist position.
Absolutism v. relativism.
Theories surrounding the evolution of religion.
The problem of evil and suffering.
Criticism of the world as God's body.
A Christian solution to rehabilitation.
The origins of the Separation of Church and State.
Civil rights v. Civil Liberty.
Pros and cons of pursuing academic litigation. Changes in the judiciary; from interpretation of law to dispensing fundamental values for the public?
Ramifications of the Convention on the Rights of a Child.
Are religious persons more or less likely to suffer psychopathology?
Are people who experience spiritual forgiveness more or less well-adjusted in family relationships?
Psychological foundations for rearing masculine boys and feminine girls.
Divorce and shorter life-spans; correlations between marital separation and longevity.
The rejection of determinism and materialism in psychology.
Results of tithing on personal community service.
What environmental factors accompany increases of smoking among teenagers?
Correlations between men with multiple sex partners and condom failure.
Cultural reality v. the sin nature of Man.
Overpopulation and God's command to "fill the earth."
How a father's absence affects childrens' development.
The affects of cohabitation on an individual's social mores.
The effects of good relationships between teenagers' and their fathers and the values those teens hold as adults.
Correlations between cohabitation and divorce.
The sociological shift from positivist dogmatism.
Divorce rate increases and no-fault divorce laws.
Is religion relevant to coping with illness?
Correlations between active spiritual life and good physical health.
Alcohol consumption and the suicide rate.
Personal religious faith and patient recovery rates.
Causes of premature death among teenagers past and present.
Condom use among sexually active individuals and STD rates.
Gender identity disorder in childhood.
Euthanasia and prenatal genetic screening.
Prevention of high risk behavior for AIDS transmission.