Marvin Olasky
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Marvin Olasky (born June 12, 1950) is Christianity Today's executive editor for news and global, a senior fellow of the
Discovery Institute The Discovery Institute (DI) is a conservatism in the United States, politically conservative think tank that advocates the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific concept Article available froUniversiteit Gent of intelligent design (ID). It was fou ...
, and an affiliate scholar at the
Acton Institute The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is an American conservative and libertarian think tank in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with an office in Rome. Its stated mission is "to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by i ...
. He also chairs the Zenger House Foundation and is the author of 29 books. From 1992 through 2021, he edited '' World.''


Education and career

Olasky was born in the city of
Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...
, to a
Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...
family. He graduated from Newton High School (now Newton North High School) in 1968 and from
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1971 with a B.A. in American studies.Olasky, Marvin
''Unmerited Mercy''.
''WORLD Magazine''. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
In 1976, he earned his Ph.D. in American Culture at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
. He became an
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
in adolescence and a
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
in college, ultimately joining the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
in 1972. Olasky married and divorced during this period and, according to Olasky, broke each of the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...
except "
Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not kill ( LXX, KJV; ), You shall not murder ( NIV, ) or Do not murder ( CSB), is a moral imperative included as one of the Ten Commandments in the Torah. The imperative not to kill is in the context of ''unlawful'' killing resulti ...
". He left the Communist Party late in 1973 and, in 1976, became a
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
after reading the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
and several Christian authors. Olasky was a professor at the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
from 1983 to 2007, provost of The King's College in New York City from 2007 to 2011, and Patrick Henry College's distinguished chair in journalism and public policy from 2011 to 2019.
The Acton Institute, Marvin Olasky Staff Profile, Retrieved September 1, 2011,
He joined World (magazine), '' World'' Magazine in 1990 and became its editor in 1994 and its
editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
in 2001. Earlier, he was a reporter at the ''Boston Globe'' and a speechwriter at the Du Pont Company. Since 1996 he has been a ruling elder within the
Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Calvinist, Reformed in theolog ...
. Olasky has chaired the boards of the City School of Austin and the Austin Crisis Pregnancy Center. His writings have been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian, and other languages, and he has lectured and given interviews around the world.
"In Depth with Marvin Olasky," C-SPAN, 6 May 2007


Writings and reception

Olasky's most famous book is ''The Tragedy of American Compassion'', which in 1995
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
distributed to incoming Republican representatives of the
104th Congress The 104th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 19 ...
.Grann, David
"Where W. Got Compassion."
''The New York Times Magazine'', 12 September 1999.
The book, an overview of poverty-fighting in America from colonial times to the 1990s, argues that private individuals and organizations, particularly
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
churches, have a responsibility to care for the poor and contends that challenging personal and spiritual help, common until the 1930s, was more effective than the government
welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...
programs of recent decades."The Tragedy of American Compassion" Regenery, 1992. Olasky argues that government programs are ineffective because they are disconnected from the poor, while private charity has the power to change lives because it allows for a personal connection between giver and recipient. The book eventually helped to define " compassionate conservatism" about welfare and social policy. In 1995, Olasky became an occasional advisor to
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
candidate
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
. Bush made faith-based programs a significant component of his 2000 presidential campaign, and Olasky's academic work helped form the basis for Bush's "compassionate conservatism." In 2001 and after that, Olasky and ''WORLD'' criticized the Bush administration for not following through on school choice or on ideas for tax credits to encourage more individual giving to poverty-fighting groups

In an interview with
Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...
on October 10, 2009, Olasky denied that the Bush administration had implemented compassionate conservatism, remarking that "it was never tried." In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Olasky edited the 16-book ''Turning Point: A Christian Worldview Declaration'' series with Herbert Schlossberg, director of Howard Ahmanson Jr.'s Fieldstead Institute, which privately funded the series. Ahmanson has funded four of Olasky's 28 books, and in 2006 Michelle Goldberg, author of the book ''Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism,'' placed Olasky in a crucial role in the
Christian reconstructionism Christian reconstructionism is a fundamentalist Calvinist theonomic movement. It developed primarily under the direction of R. J. Rushdoony, Greg Bahnsen and Gary North and has had an important influence on the Christian right in the Unit ...
movement. Olasky points out that in 2003 he published a book, ''Standing for Christ in a Modern Babylon'', that criticized reconstructionist ideas. Olasky has described himself as a Christian who believes in God's sovereignty and man's liberty. Olasky argues in his 1996 book ''Telling the Truth'' that God created the world, knows more about it than anyone else, and explains its nature in the Bible, so "biblical objectivity" accurately depicts the world as it is. In contrast, conventional journalistic objectivity shows blind materialism or a balancing of subjectivities.Moll, Rob (2004)
"World Journalism Institute Changes Its Focus"
''Christianity Today''. Retrieved 2006-08-08.
He has emphasized the Christian origins of freedom of the press and investigative journalism, and teaches in a 2019 book how to advance biblical principles through street-level rather than suite-level reporting. Olasky was prominent in the 1995–1996 welfare reform debate and came under attack when he contrasted
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
's first presidential campaign in 2000 with that of
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
: "It would be pushing it too far to talk of the religion of Zeus trumping the religion of Christ. McCain's no polytheist. But a lot of liberal journalists have holes in their souls. Some of them grew up in nominally Christian homes but never really heard the Gospel; now, they look for a purpose in their lives but do not understand God's grace. Others know more but don't want to repent. So, McCain's emphasis on the classical virtues gives them a post-Clinton glow without pushing them to confront their own lives.""McCain and the Religion of Zeus,
D&xcal_useweights=no Austin American Statesman
Austin American Statesman Feb. 16, 2000.
Jonah Goldberg Jonah Jacob Goldberg (born March 21, 1969) is an American conservative journalist, author, and political commentator. The founding editor of ''National Review Online'', from 1998 until 2019, he was an editor at ''National Review''. Goldberg writ ...
, who took exception to Olasky's descriptions of both candidates, nonetheless recognized what Olasky was trying to say:
The
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
reference seems to be derived from the ending of
Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
's novel, ''
A Man in Full ''A Man in Full'' is the second novel by Tom Wolfe, published on November 12, 1998, by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. It is set primarily in Atlanta, with a significant portion of the story also taking place in the East Bay region of the San Francisc ...
'', in which two of the characters decide to convert to Zeus worship. And what Olasky meant by it was that McCain supporters generally, and Brooks specifically, are attracted to "Zeus-like strength" rather than Christ-like compassion. McCain is all about honor and duty, and Bush is about charity and love. Zeus versus Christ. There you have it.
In her 2004 book ''Bushwomen'',
Laura Flanders Laura Flanders (born 5 December 1961) is an English broadcast journalist living in the United States who presents the weekly, long-form interview show ''The Laura Flanders Show''. Flanders has described herself as a "lefty person". The brothers ...
writes, "Olasky is not a fan of high-achieving women. Women joining the workforce have had 'dire consequences for society,' he told a Christian magazine in 1998." Olasky later said in response to this book that he was praising the high achievements of women in major philanthropic organizations: "From my study of the history of poverty-fighting in America, I found that it was women who ran the charitable enterprises. Men were involved, but it was essentially women who had the time to volunteer."


Editing philosophy and practice

Olasky described ''World'' as a magazine that "tries to be salt, not sugar. We like to report good news but don't make it sticky-sweet. We also report bad news because Christ’s grace becomes most meaningful when we're most aware of sin. We want to be tough-minded but warmhearted." In practice, that meant criticizing liberal policies but also
corporate welfare Corporate welfare refers to government financial assistance, Subsidy, subsidies, tax breaks, or other favorable policies provided to private businesses or specific industries, ostensibly to promote economic growth, job creation, or other public b ...
and supporting challenging, personal, and spiritual help to the poor. Olasky instituted a Daniel of the Year award for individuals who stood up to persecution. He furthered "compassionate conservatism" by creating Hope Awards for Effective Compassion, given to Christian organizations that helped people rise from poverty. ''World'' also became known for reporting flash points in Sudan, Iraq, and China. In 2007, Olasky gave up his tenured position at The University of Texas to try to keep alive a struggling Christian college in New York City. In 2014, ''The New York Times'' reported that "evangelical Protestant journalism is generally more public relations than reporting; ''World'' stands out as an exception. 'We're a Christian publication but not a movement organ,' Olasky said." That became even more evident in October 2016, after Donald Trump had consolidated his support among evangelicals. Olasky received about 1,500 critical letters when he wrote a cover story called Trump "unfit for power" and proposed that he step aside because "we set the stage for even worse behavior when we ignore blatant offenses." In 2019, Olasky wrote a book laying out his journalistic philosophy and emphasis on God's objective sovereignty and man's liberty. He explained biblical objectivity through the use of a whitewater rapids analogy that he says will help Christians avoid overusing the Bible (claiming "God saith" when He has not) or underusing it (ignoring God's wisdom when it does not conform to our biases). He emphasized the importance of careful reporting rather than opinionating and noted that reporters do not have to be Christians to be biblically objective. In 2021, after ''World'''s editorial leader hired Al Mohler to edit the new World Opinions platform, Olasky resigned, as did WORLD Magazine's seven other senior editors and reporters. The entire non-magazine editorial staff remained. In 2022, the Zenger House Foundation gave the first "Zenger Prizes" to eight journalists who emphasized "street-level" reporting rather than "suite level" opining. Prize winners included writers for secular as well as Bible-based publications. Olasky now writes a weekly column about homelessness. In 2019, The Gospel Coalition reported Olasky saying, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the streets declare the sinfulness of man.'... Olasky expresses intense awareness of his own story of sin and Christ's glory. Olasky, writing in 2008 soon after he had double-bypass surgery, said, 'Christ changed my life a third of a century ago. Every year since then has been a gift.TGC Blog. 28 July 2019. ''The Gospel Coalition.''


Personal life

Olasky has been married since 1976 to writer Susan Olasky, and they have four sons and six grandchildren. His book ''Lament for a Father'' tells the story of his parents, grandparents, and early life. Olasky has served as a PTA president and a Little League Baseball assistant coach, and has partaken in
cross-country cycling Cross-country (XC) cycling is a discipline of mountain biking. Cross-country cycling became an Olympic sport in 1996 and is the only form of mountain biking practiced at the Olympics. Terrain Cross-country cycling is defined by the terrain on w ...
.


Notable publications

* ''Corporate Public Relations: A New Historical Perspective'' (1987) * ''Turning Point: A Christian Worldview Declaration'' (1987, with Herbert Schlossberg) * ''Patterns of Corporate Philanthropy: Public Affairs Giving and the Forbes 100'' (1987) * ''Freedom, Justice, and Hope: Toward a Strategy for the Poor and the Oppressed'' (1988, with Clark Pinnock, Herbert Schlossberg, and Pierre Berthoud) * ''Prodigal Press: The Anti-Christian Bias of American News Media'' (1988) * ''The Press and Abortion, 1838–1988'' (1988) * ''Central Ideas in the Development of American Journalism'' (1991) * ''Patterns of Corporate Philanthropy: Funding False Compassion'' (1991, with Daniel T. Oliver and Robert V. Pambianco) * More Than Kindness: A Compassionate Approach to Crisis Childbearing (1992, with Susan Olasky) * The Tragedy of American Compassion (1992, republished in 1995 and 2007) * Abortion Rites: A Social History of Abortion in America (1992) * Patterns of Corporate Philanthropy: The Progressive Deception (1992, with Daniel T. Oliver and Stuart Nolan) * Philanthropically Correct: The Story of the Council on Foundations (1993) * Fighting for Liberty and Virtue: Political and Cultural Wars in Eighteenth-Century America (1995).' * Loving Your Neighbor: A Principled Guide to Personal Charity (1995, with others) * Telling the Truth: How to Revitalize Christian Journalism (1996) * Renewing American Compassion: How Compassion for the Needy Can Turn Ordinary Citizens into Heroes (1996) * Whirled Views: Tracking Today's Culture Storms (1997, with Joel Belz) * The American Leadership Tradition: Moral Vision from Washington to Clinton (1999) * Compassionate Conservatism: What it is, What it Does, and How it Can Transform America (2000, introduction by George W. Bush) * Standing for Christ in a Modern Babylon (2003) * The Religions Next Door: What We Need To Know About Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, And Islam - and What Reporters Are Missing (2004) * Monkey Business (2005, with John Perry) * Scimitar's Edge (2006) * The Politics of Disaster: Katrina, Big Government, and A New Strategy for Future Crises (2006) * Unmerited Mercy: A Memoir, 1968-1996 (2010) * Echoes of Eden (2011) * 2048, A Story of America's Future (2011) * World View: Seeking Grace and Truth in Our Common Life (2017) * Reforming Journalism (2019) * Abortion at the Crossroads (2021) * Lament for a Father (2021) * The Story of Abortion in America (2023, with Leah Savas) * Moral Vision (2024) * Pivot Points: Adventures on the Road to Christian Contentment (2024)


References


External links

*
''In Depth'' interview with Olasky, May 6, 2007Interview with Marvin Olasky
by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, November 23, 2010

has 16 Olasky books available for free downloading

is an autobiographical series that ran in World from 2008 to 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Olasky, Marvin 1950 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Presbyterians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Presbyterians Acton Institute American columnists American magazine editors American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American people of Russian-Jewish descent American political writers American Presbyterians Converts to Protestantism from atheism or agnosticism Newton North High School alumni Patrick Henry College faculty Presbyterian writers University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Journalists from Boston Yale University alumni Discovery Institute fellows and advisors