Perspectives

A Missouri pastor named Phil Snider recently made waves when he delivered a speech at the Springfield City Council that began as an attack on gay marriage but underwent an unexpected 180 degree turn as he concluded by advocating for marriage equality. I would encourage you to watch the video yourself, to experience the full impact of the surprise plot twist, but in short, he … [Read more...] about Conservatism takes a turn for the better

Last year Pepperdine tried out a student exchange sort of weekend in which a group of Pepperdine students were paired up with a group of foreign students. They said it was such a huge success that this year they decided to launch the program titled the “Listening Summit” in every IP program. To be honest, the Pepperdine Listening Summit applications weren’t too enticing. And … [Read more...] about Live from London: Listening Summit knocks out expectations

It’s that time again — the time when we all suddenly feel entitled to voice a political opinion because we’ve invested a total of four whole hours into watching the presidential debates. Many of us are tempted to fall under the delusion that listening to President Barack Obama and his challenger, Gov. Mitt Romney, exchange words somehow educates us better than other campaign … [Read more...] about Responsible and informed voters needed

There comes a time in every young whippersnapper’s life when he or she must question the established order of things. Each of us at some point has probably heard the call of childhood and felt liberty’s gentle yet anxious tug on your coattails as you mechanically scribble down notes from a lecture you probably won’t even attempt to remember until that 12 hour span before your … [Read more...] about The grading system stifles individual success

In the painfully long and awkward tunnel leading from adolescence into adulthood, there are several obligatory rites of passage that shatter one’s childish illusions and leave a jaded shell of a person where there once was starry-eyed wonderment. We all remember with vivid intensity the day we discovered our parents were Santa Claus or that Barney was really a man in an … [Read more...] about Weighing the future of America