A Time for Critical Assessment: Speakers at the Ready
Fourth Quarter 2003
Government is serious business. Justice is at stake. Yet we live in a time when everything seems to be up for grabs. Terrorism keeps the world on edge. Scandals bury giant corporations and their employees. The U.S. Supreme Court shifts, slides, and divides. Religions—many of them—pop up everywhere. Scientists try to clone humans. HIV/AIDS ravages Africa. American elections cost more and more while delivering less and less. Iraq changes from an arena of American bravado into pit of danger and uncertainty. Anticipated federal budget surpluses give way in a flash to projected $550+ billion deficits.
How shall we assess these developments and our responsibility as citizens in the United States with its huge influence in the world? Meaningful assessment leading to dedicated service requires open-eyed honesty and critical reflection. It doesn't come from ideological cant.
This fall, the Center for Public justice announces a new Speakers Bureau just in time for the coming election year. More than two dozen thoughtful Christians from many walks of life are prepared to address many of the most important issues of our day. Some work in the arena of politics and policy making, others come from the academic world, while others serve in church and society. All share the Center's commitment to public service as a response to God's call to do justice.
A new brochure just released introduces some of the speakers now available to churches, schools, colleges, and civic groups. Additional speakers on additional topics are also available.
Among the speakers and topics are:
Timothy Sherratt—professor of political science at Gordon College, giving particular attention to American politics, electoral system reform, and the exercise of civic responsibility.
Charles L. Glenn—professor at Boston University, former education official in the state of Massachusetts, and a fellow of the Center for Public justice; an international authority on education policy and the reform of educational governance to include parental choice of schools.
Nancy Pearcey—author of a forthcoming book on a Christian worldview and co-author, with Charles Colson, of How Now Shall We Live?
Harold Dean Trulear—scholar, pastor, seminary professor, expert on African-American history and church life, and a trustee of the Center for Public Justice.
Gail Jansen—attorney at law, specializing in family law with expertise in education governance and the right to life of the unborn and the elderly.
Clarke Cochran—professor of political science at Texas Tech University and a leading authority on health-care policy and Christian responsibility in medical care.
Stanley Carlson-Thies—former assistant director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, one of the country's leading experts on welfare policy and government's relation to non-profit organizations, and senior fellow at the Center for Public Justice.
Carol Veldman Rudie—freelance writer and long-time civic activist in her home state of Minnesota, where she is working with several organizations both for school choice reforms and the reform of the electoral system.
Tracy Kuperus—specialist in African politics, particularly South Africa, currently working with the Center for Christian Studies at Gordon College and teaching part-time at Calvin College.
James W. Skillen—president of the Center for Public Justice, focusing on America's changing foreign policy and international realignments, and on Christian public philosophy and the essentials of civic responsibility.
If you would like to see the new speakers bureau brochure, Uncommon Perspective, and to learn more about the costs and procedure of inviting a speaker to address your conference, speak in a class, or lead a workshop or retreat in your church or school, call Stephen Lazarus at the Center's toll free line: 866-275-8784, or 410-571-6300, or send your inquiry to stephen@cpjustice.org. You may also download a copy (PDF) of the brochure here.
