Luther Profess of Religion Bob Shedinger attended two lectures on campus last week and came away with two very different experiences.

Luther's Robert Shedinger, professor of religion, expresses his concern for the mental wellbeing of his students in the face of diagnostic inflation.

After being a minority for two days, Professor Shedinger reflects on how easily he fit in with fellow colleagues despite being different.

Taking on a nationally divisive topic, Professor Shedinger asks us to re-envision 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the National Anthem as an act of patriotism.

Shedinger asks: what if we start viewing depression and anxiety as responses to life experiences... what if we listen to the messages encoded in peoples' pain and resist the temptation to simply medicate it away?

Shedinger grants us access to a guest column recently printed in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. He implores us, "... my interfaith Christmas wish is that my fellow Iowans — especially those who are Christian — will use this season of peace, joy and goodwill to be a light to the rest of the nation"

Are presidential candidates working to wedge an even stronger divide between Christians and Muslims? Can that chasm be repaired? Bob Shedinger thinks we must work together on it if we are to survive as a species.

Professor Shedinger dissents from a 150-year-old argument only to feel like he's confessing a murder.

Intelligent Design (or ID) does not equal creationism, but is sometimes called "intelligent design creationism" and other times called a scientific alternative to Darwinian evolution... is your head swimming yet? Read on as Professor Shedinger explains the differences and the arguments behind Intelligent Design.

Professor Shedinger questions the ongoing biologist debate regarding intelligent design theory. Are biologists challenging ID as unscientific because they truly believe it to be so... or because they're worried it may a legitimate scientific argument?

Can intelligent design theory be considered a valid scientific alternative to Darwinian evolution? Can evolutionary questions be answered by naturalistic science alone, or do religion and philosophy still have a valid stake? Read on as Bob Shedinger, Luther associate professor of religion, explores the possibilities in Dogmatic Darwinism.

Can natural selection create design without the existence of an Intelligent Designer? Luther Professor of Religion Robert Shedinger asks this and more in his newest blog post "Darwinian (Dis)analogies."

An hour south of Decorah, Iowa lies the small town of Elkader which bears the distinction of being one of the few towns in America (perhaps the only one) named for an Arab Muslim figure. Elkader’s founder named the settlement after the Emir Abdel-Kader, a well known Algerian military leader. Robert Shedinger, Luther associate professor of religion, asks "What was so significant about this Muslim leader that Davis would preserve his name in a small Iowa town?"

In his most recent blog post "Debating Darwin," Robert Shedinger, Luther College associate professor of religion, asks whether Darwinian evolution is compatible with religious faith or if a person of faith must reject Darwinian principles. Is Intelligent Design an intellectually coherent alternative or just a conservative Christian ideology dressed up as science?

Should religion courses challenge conventional norms? Robert Shedinger, Luther associate professor of religion, defends the benefits of provoking spiritual crises.

Robert Shedinger, Luther associate professor of religion, asks the questions, if mental illness is the result of chemical imbalance, why are incidences increasing despite drug treatment? Could loss of a deep spiritual connection be the cause of the epidemic of anxiety and depression?

Robert Shedinger, Luther associate professor of religion, contemplates the irony of Handel's "Messiah." For Isaiah, Cyrus is the Lord's Messiah, not Jesus! Does the 2,000-year-old interpretive tradition that reduces Isaiah to nothing more than a prophetic predictor of the coming of Jesus erase the far more prophetic message standing at the heart of Isaiah's proclamation?

Bob Shedinger, Luther associate professor of religion, discusses what we can learn from traditional societies, after befriending an Old Order Amish family.