CLA1911: Issues in 21st Century America: Diverse Christian Perspectives

The media often paints Christianity as a monolithic belief system that is outdated, opposed to science, and intolerant of opposing views. Such a characterization paints Christians in unfairly broad strokes, ignoring their diversity of views. If the media portrayal is inaccurate, how does Christianity really interact with the issues we face in American society today? This is the theme we will explore in this course. We will focus our study on Christian beliefs as grounded in the Bible. We will see that Christians understand their holy book in different ways and come to very different conclusions about its application to societal issues. We will explore different Christian perspectives, noting how conservative and liberal Christians both ground their beliefs in biblical texts, yet hold opposing views. Gender, gay rights, abortion, and immigration are just a few of the topics we will explore as we investigate the interaction of Biblical Christianity with 21st century American issues.