A new concern emerged during the twentieth century that was more common among ‘conservatives’ (of a certain sort), and there has been something of a countercurrent from those more critical of present affairs: I am referring to the defense or attack of what many have called “Western Civilization” (or, more simply, the “West”). To pointContinue reading “The Incoherence of the “West””
Category Archives: SocComm
A Late Review of Life After God
Writing a book review for a rather obscure little book that was published thirty years ago may seem an odd pursuit, but such might be justified when circumstances give rise to fresh relevance in a given work. In the case of Douglas Coupland’s Life After God, published in 1994, I think this is a bookContinue reading “A Late Review of Life After God“
A Note of Self-Reflection
At the wise suggestion of my wonderful wife, I intend to take a summer break from this blog each year. Though I thoroughly enjoy writing these posts and truly attempt to do so for its own sake, there are weeks in which I have written posts merely to maintain my self-imposed goal of a postContinue reading “A Note of Self-Reflection”
A Layman’s Consideration of the Binding of Isaac
When I was atheistic in my self-consciously held beliefs, I was dismissive of the Bible in many ways. As is the case for many non-Christian critics of Christians, I would accuse believers of never reading their Bibles; if they had read their Bibles, I would then trot out the usual panoply of complaints about theContinue reading “A Layman’s Consideration of the Binding of Isaac”
On the Need and Risk of Poetical Experience
After having run a few errands, I returned home to find my wife and infant son resting on the couch after what seemed to have been quite a good feeding. Though he has not yet figured out his facial muscles and the relevant expressions that display certain emotions, I could tell given his posture andContinue reading “On the Need and Risk of Poetical Experience”
Love or Euthanasia
My wife and I were recently sat in our living room enjoying some tea, and our conversation turned to her asking me a few questions about my return to Faith. She, having grown up in the Church, has had quite different experiences than I, and our conversation occasionally turns to these matters. It is alwaysContinue reading “Love or Euthanasia”
A Note on the ‘Individual’
Our age is, by and large, one that we might describe as individualistic. What precisely is meant by individualism is not always clear, though I believe there are some common tendencies in the way that this word is used today. This notion was perhaps best captured by J. S. Mill in his seminal On Liberty,Continue reading “A Note on the ‘Individual’”
A Tension of Christian Life
Much of my time is spent on a university campus. To be a Christian in such a context often devolves into debates centered around merely speculative theology and philosophy, typically forwarded as a means of defending one’s faith. Especially in the broader culture of twenty-first-century North America – of which the universities are arguably theContinue reading “A Tension of Christian Life”
Socialism & Modernity: Considerations from George Grant
For P. T. K., an ever-enlightening interlocutor Socialism is a topic that, like many other contemporary “-isms,” I do not think has a particularly stable definition. One can provide rough histories of the topic that either associate it with the theorizing of figures like Karl Marx or reasonably connect it to the workers’ movements ofContinue reading “Socialism & Modernity: Considerations from George Grant”
A Reflection on What Moves Us: Power & Force
In what is, in my view, one of the most audacious works of political theory written in the twentieth century, The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt formulates a distinction between two ways in which human beings relate to one another: power & force. This pairing is specified by her to have a meaning that is notContinue reading “A Reflection on What Moves Us: Power & Force”
Hoping for Clarity 