In this post, I want to help clarify some more of the nuances and ambiguities that need to be addressed if we are to recover the kind of Christian humanism that actually promotes human flourishing.
Life & Culture
Identifying Christian Humanism
Secular, or modern humanism, by virtue of its tenets, lacks the necessary tools to cultivate the imagination for the renewal of culture. The best this kind of humanism can do is exploit the volatile fractures within the culture by means of the inhumanness of the scientific method, the injustice of social justice, and the instability of multiculturalism.
Recovering Christian Humanism
Recovering Christian humanism will greatly benefit the culture, but it will be extremely difficult because the nature of the human heart is to fiercely resist renewal any way possible—and defend its loot to the death.
Reclaiming the Foundation for Cultural Identity
However, hidden beneath the surface, at the very foundation, is a shift in thought about the relationship between culture and politics. Historically, politics flowed out of the culture; whereas the current division is characterized by culture being forged from political activity.
Recovering Beauty in Art
Western Civilization has a long history of cultivating the kind of social order that makes this kind of human flourishing possible. But that does not mean Western Civilization has been without its conflicts and fractures, maladies that have pushed it to the edge of chaos–which seems to be where it’s heading now.
Renewing Rational Public Discourse
To be clear, what follows is not meant to be a political rant, but an astute observation and a simple solution to one of the enormous and complex social problems in America today, the censorship of public discourse—usually via social media sound bites, legal spin, and public shaming. As just stated, the problem in view […]
Is This Going To Be On The Test?
Inevitably I will have students who ask questions like, “Is this going to be on the test?” or “Do we have to turn this assignment in?” If you’re a teacher, this query is not a matter of if, but when; and educators worth their salt will immediately recognize this line of thinking as problematic. Education […]
Love, and Do What Thou Wilt in 2018
So 2017 is coming to a close and the New Year is on its way in. You’ve probably noticed social media is filled with laments of how bad last year “sucked,” seen various lists of personal achievements and failures, and read endless advertisements for programs that will help you succeed—whatever that might look like—in 2018. Regardless […]
James Schall Quotes on the Significance of Education
Quotes on education from Fr. James Schall In this sense, the beginning of wisdom is a small dose of humility, of our willingness to acknowledge how much was known and learned before we ourselves ever were. Consequently, if we are to confront the greatest minds we must do so in their books, to which we […]
What Are You Creating Today?
You could create value in the world. You could create more noise. You could create a warm memory. You could create a painful one. You could create better relationships. You could create division. You could create life. You could create death. You could create chaos. You could create order. You could create peace. You could […]