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Marvin Olasky is editor-in-chief of the national news magazine World, and provost of The King's College.
Dr. Olasky has written 13 books of history and cultural analysis, including Compassionate Conservatism, The American Leadership Tradition, The Religions Next Door, and The Tragedy of American Compassion. Marvin Olasky has also co-authored seven more books (including the recent Monkey Business), written seven monographs, and served as general editor of the Turning Point Christian Worldview series.
Marvin Olasky received an A.B. from Yale University in 1971 and a Ph.D. in American Culture from the University of Michigan in 1976. He is an elder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, vice-chairman of the board of City School, and a former chairman of the Austin Crisis Pregnancy Center. He has been a foster parent, a Little League assistant coach, and a PTA president.
Marvin Olasky and his wife Susan have four sons: Pete, David, Daniel, and Benjamin. Susan is a senior writer for World and the author of the Annie Henry series of historical novels for children.
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Marvin Olasky (Dec 28, 2011)
It's time once again to relish the worst mainstream journalism of the past 12 months. For the 24th year in a row I'm a judge for the Media Research Center awards, and this... more
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Marvin Olasky (Dec 14, 2011)
Impasse.
Democrats want higher taxes on the rich and say GOP stalwarts are "selfish." Republicans oppose tax hikes and say the Dems are big-government... more
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Marvin Olasky (Dec 01, 2011)
With baseball my spirit was always willing but my flesh was weak. One example: I never
hit a home run in a game and came close only once. In 1976 I played in a University... more
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Marvin Olasky (Nov 18, 2011)
Is it unfair to suggest, as we did in WORLD’s Nov. 19 cover story, that 46 million people on food stamps is too many? That the prospect of half of... more
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Marvin Olasky (Nov 02, 2011)
WORLD Magazine’s current cover story is about hope in Afghanistan. This column is about hope in America. Occupy Wall Street cadres shout that selfishness rules America, but... more
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Marvin Olasky (Oct 18, 2011)
Last month I wrote about creating more jobs by not worrying about inequality and putting aside class envy. One reader responded by asking whether I truly understood the... more
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Marvin Olasky (Oct 03, 2011)
When John Piper needed surgery a few years back he wrote a great piece, "Don't waste your cancer." He argued that it would be wasted "if you think that 'beating' cancer means... more
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Marvin Olasky (Sep 19, 2011)
President Barack Obama's rhetoric shows that politically liberal Christians differ from politically conservative ones not only in policy proposals, but in... more
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Marvin Olasky (Sep 06, 2011)
We're regularly told how complex the national debt issue is, particularly with programs like Social Security and Medicare radically underfunded. I agree that Medicare is... more
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Marvin Olasky (Aug 22, 2011)
Pastor John Piper and others have told the story of 19th-century evangelist D.L. Moody visiting Scotland and opening his talk at a local grade school by asking rhetorically,... more
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Marvin Olasky (Jul 29, 2011)
Mattie Ross, the lead female character in last year's movie True Grit, is a 14-year-old in 1877 with determination so steely and speech so precise that some reviewers have... more
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Marvin Olasky (Jul 15, 2011)
For nearly a decade Democrats have sought a religious wedge issue that could separate big chunks of white evangelical voters from their Republican home. Now they've... more
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Marvin Olasky (Jun 29, 2011)
WORLD Magazine’s article on its 2011 Books of the Year assumes that teaching about creation or evolution is important—but is it? After all, we are entering a... more
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Marvin Olasky (Jun 18, 2011)
After listening to sermons for the 35 years I've been a Christian, I agree with those who say the call to preach is the highest honor there is.
It can also be the... more
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Marvin Olasky (May 31, 2011)
Some anemic academics say biblical belief has no place in the social sciences because it keeps people from open-minded analysis of data. Actually, the opposite is true:... more
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Marvin Olasky (May 19, 2011)
"Where it began, I can't begin to know when, but then I know it's growing strong." That's the opening line of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," a song inspired by Caroline... more
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Marvin Olasky (May 03, 2011)
This year's Pulitzer Prize announcement on April 18 was largely the same old same old:
four prizes for The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, as the good old... more
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Marvin Olasky (Apr 19, 2011)
Could you remind me how the Trinity works? And could you explain to me again this
idea of grace?" One diligent student had no problem grasping Islam. She had no... more
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Marvin Olasky (Apr 05, 2011)
A doctor tells a patient that she has three months to live. She asks, "Is there anything
I can do?" He replies, "Yes, marry a tax accountant." She is surprised: "How will... more
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Marvin Olasky (Mar 23, 2011)
I said yes when a Glenn Beck producer asked me to come on the show for an hour as the expert on Edward Bernays, who manipulated public opinion from the 1920s through the... more
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Marvin Olasky (Mar 08, 2011)
As Wisconsin rages, two commemorative days coming up may help us put its battle in
context.
The first is "the wildest, most action-packed day of the Jewish year,"... more
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Marvin Olasky (Feb 23, 2011)
How many of us let headlines create lines in our foreheads? With TV and internet reports around the clock, it's easy to become manic-depressive news junkies—and that's why... more
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Marvin Olasky (Feb 08, 2011)
The first video to go viral this year (see YouTube) starred Ted Williams, not the hitter but "the man with the golden voice," a 53-year-old homeless guy who has spent the... more
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Marvin Olasky (Jan 26, 2011)
In an article in The New Republic by Tiffany Stanley last month showed how skewed some liberal thinking is. She wrote about how Democrats had made inroads on the religious... more
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Marvin Olasky (Jan 13, 2011)
Organizations develop mission statements: Should we have individual ones? If you've made a specific New Year's resolution such as, "I will stop smoking," good. But how about... more