By: Darcy Hansen on March 9, 2021
I’ve been working toward advanced educational degrees for seven years. Life has changed in many ways. My daughter was 14 and my son was 10 when I began my seminary journey. With a large measure of God’s grace, my daughter is now 21 and in her last year of college; my son is 17 and…
By: Jer Swigart on March 9, 2021
There is a cave on a farm in the hills just outside of Bethlehem that is among the most transformational locations for me in the world. It’s a cave that has been hand dug by a family of Palestinian Christians because they were denied permission and permits by the Israeli government to build structures on…
By: Dylan Branson on March 8, 2021
There’s an old saying that goes, “Don’t ever meet your heroes.” The theory goes that the moment you actually meet the people you admire most, you’ll come to find they aren’t what you always thought they would be. This is a common trope that has made it into various forms of media – that moment…
By: Shawn Cramer on March 8, 2021
My attention has been captured by the research around social capital. As Robert Putnam painstakingly and thoroughly popularizes the use of the term in Bowling Alone, leadership scholars like Simon Walker also find it helpful as they address a way forward in the future. I’ll briefly address Walker’s use of the term and investigate social…
By: Chris Pollock on March 5, 2021
It is difficult to listen to someone who is pushing an opinion that does not fit with one’s own worldview or, be it, one’s own preferred way-of-seeing. Michael Shellenberger, acclaimed environmental activist, a recovered vegetarian and proponent of nuclear energy, is the author of the book ‘Apocalypse Never’. The book, though chalk-full of reference notes…
By: John McLarty on March 4, 2021
In the introduction to his book, “Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All,” Michael Shellenberger says that he wrote the book “because the conversation about climate change and the environment has, in the last few years, spiraled out of control.”[1] His general thesis is that extremist activists, organizations, and efforts can actually do more…
By: Darcy Hansen on March 2, 2021
When we die, we want to believe our time here on this earth was worth something, that we had a purpose and made a difference. In Apocalypse Never, Michael Shellenberger notes, “…secular people are attracted to apocalyptic environmentalism because it meets the same psychological and spiritual needs as Judeo-Christianity and other religions. Apocalyptic environmentalism gives…
By: Chris Pollock on March 1, 2021
Dorothy Day, in her earlier years an anarchist, in her memoir ‘A Long Loneliness’, often references the thought and political ideologies of 18th Century socialist revolutionary, Karl Marx. She reflects with a surprising tenderness on ‘the Marxist slogan, “Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.’1 She felt connected to…
By: Dylan Branson on March 1, 2021
When you think of alarms, what do you think of? At first glance, perhaps it’s that dreaded morning “wake up alarm” when your phone sounds off like death siren screaming at the top of its lungs at you. Maybe you think of an alarm as a warning of something bad is about to happen. We…
By: Jer Swigart on March 1, 2021
In blending together research data, policy analysis, and learnings from a rich history of environmental justice movements, Michael Shellenberger makes a compelling and surprising argument for why the environmentalists are hurting more than helping.[1] Put simply, he argues in Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All that the important work of environmentalism is being…
By: Greg Reich on March 1, 2021
In the book Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, the author Michael Shellenberger, a self-proclaimed environmental activist, tries to bring a voice of reason to an emotional explosive topic. His desire is to not only protect the environment but obtain what he states as “universal prosperity for all people.” He believes all scientists…
By: Shawn Cramer on March 1, 2021
Discovering and uncovering the driving questions of leaders and thinkers fascinate me. Behind most divisive topics usually lies a driving question best attributed to the fields of philosophy, ethics, and religion. Here I will make a brief argument broadly for the arena of underlying questions, then specifically through the issue of environmentalism with the artifact…
By: John McLarty on February 25, 2021
Doris Kearns Goodwin closes her book, “Leadership in Turbulent Times,” with a chapter called, “Of Death and Remembrance.” She spends a few pages on each of the presidents featured in her book writing about the circumstances of their leaving the presidency and the impact their term had on the nation. Two of the presidents profiled…
By: Greg Reich on February 24, 2021
Each individual, in one sense or another, wants to leave a legacy. They want to put their signature stamp on the future and impact generations to come. Some do it consciously, some unconsciously. We all want our lives to matter. We hope that in some small way we make a difference to those around us.…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 23, 2021
On July 22, 1943, with the country in shambles, struggling under the weight of war and horrific economic downfall, Mussolini received word from members of his Grand Council that he was to resign his position immediately and that the State would take over all governing affairs. Mussolini deferred response until the Grand Council meeting on…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 22, 2021
In my recent leadership reflections, I’ve become convinced that leaders get out of bed not to primarily further a cause, but to answer a question. While multiple questions persist and exist, there’s one that tends to hold the rest in orbit. It gnaws, focuses, and drives the leader. For Frederick Douglass, the question began with…
By: Jer Swigart on February 22, 2021
In the very moment when Swiss theologian Karl Barth asserted that Christianity was separated “as by an abyss from the inherent godlessness of National Socialism,” Germany was working to fuse the German Volk (people) with the German Kirche (church).[1] Embedded within Hitler’s masterplan for domination was a strategy to make the violent rule of the…
By: Chris Pollock on February 21, 2021
Dorothy Day was a passionate advocate for the oppressed. Her book, ‘A Long Loneliness’, depicts her as strong, intelligent and never alone in the cause. Community was an essential living modality for Dorothy. Her style was not ‘lone ranger’ rather, she seems to have been a contemplative with regards to key partnerships and intentional collaboration.…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 20, 2021
Delusional, stubborn, determined, dreaming only of seeing Fascist glory on the battlefield. Outdated military, scant troops and supplies, accurate information withheld from Il Duce out of fear of punishment- Italy struggled at war’s onset. Intertwined and tangled relations with Germany, the love affair with Hitler endured despite Italy’s military defeats. Positional survival now…
By: John McLarty on February 17, 2021
There are moments when a leader whose vision, positional authority, relationships, and style all converge to accomplish something that seemed to be impossible. Such moment emerged as Lyndon Johnson stepped into the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. While the country was reeling emotionally from Kennedy’s death, it still faced…
