In January, John did several events with his Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination counterpoint author Ryan T. Anderson, including this one at Concordia University in Irvine, California.
Concordia Debate Video
John Corvino named Dean of Honors College
The Provost of Wayne State University has announced that John will become the next dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College, effective Summer 2018. From the announcement:
“I am excited to begin this new role, having enjoyed working with our Honors students in many classes during my two decades at Wayne State,” said Corvino. “I am deeply humbled to follow founding Dean Jerry Herron, who has built a fantastic college worthy of the exceptional students it serves.”
Read the full announcement here.
John speaks at Bay View
On July 11, John spoke at Bay View, a Chautauqua in northern Michigan. As explained in this story from the Petosky News, his presentation was the inaugural lecture in a new series entitled “Bridges: Crossing Cultural Divides.”
If Gay Marriage, Why Not Polygamy?
In his Obergefell dissent, Chief Justice Roberts trots out a familiar slippery-slope argument:
[F]rom the standpoint of history and tradition, a leap from opposite-sex marriage to same-sex marriage is much greater than one from a two-person union to plural unions, which have deep roots in some cultures around the world. If the majority is willing to take the big leap, it is hard to see how it can say no to the shorter one.
Actually, it’s not that hard at all. For a detailed analysis of the constitutional problems with this argument, I recommend Stephen Macedo’s latest post at Slate. In terms of logic and public policy, however, we can answer Roberts with a short video, from my 2012 marriage series:
Where Does Morality Come From?
Is it possible to have a foundation for moral beliefs without appealing to Scripture? John Corvino argues that it is, making a plea for humility from all parties in the debate. At the same time, he challenges his fellow liberals to reject the claim that “morality is a private matter.”