By: Laura Fleetwood on October 29, 2023
The search for Truth has been at the center of war, politics, religion, science, technology, art and most of the conflict that our world has experienced over millennia. In this sense, it extends far beyond the philosophical realm into the very fabric of our lives. Stephen Hicks, Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, sets out…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on October 29, 2023
Introduction In his book “Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault,” author Stephen R. C. Hicks explores the philosophy of postmodernism and its effects on politics, cultural practices, and individual lives. Hicks argues that postmodernism, with its emphasis on skepticism and rejection of objective Truth, has its roots in the philosophical and political ideas of…
By: Jana Dluehosh on October 27, 2023
Strange title huh. I want to start by saying, as I have heard by some of you say and I quote “this is hard”. Yep, it is! I have to be honest, I am struggling trying to find interest in the topics this semester. I’m struggling hard, and I am also struggling with my NPO…
By: Chad McSwain on October 27, 2023
It is the moment that I can’t stop thinking about. It occurred during my ordination interviews in the dreaded Theology Room. I had written about the temptations of Jesus and offered an interpretation of Jesus struggling with self-reliance, power, and self-preservation. The critique came: “Being middle-class, would you read this story differently if you were…
By: Caleb Lu on October 27, 2023
There was a general hush over the room as our ultrasound technician took measurements for our first “growth scan”. The chipper answering of questions became a more muted “we’ll have to wait for the doctor to answer that”. We would discover in the following hour that the baby’s abdominal circumference was measuring small, an indicator…
By: Shonell Dillon on October 26, 2023
French lawyer, politician, and famous gastronome, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin became famous for the words‘‘Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es’’. These words were equivalent to what we now mimic when we say “you are what you eat” (‘Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are’).…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on October 26, 2023
My Mom’s eightieth birthday is this weekend. It will be the first time our extended family has been together since Christmas 2019, due to significant rifts that developed over Covid and political and cultural tensions. My family “derailed.”[1] Our postmodern climate, under pressure, created the perfect storm for a family clash between experience, reason, and…
By: Russell Chun on October 26, 2023
Kapitalizmus – vadló futás, Capitalism – wild horse running – Hungarian Part 1 – What Polanyi says… Part 2 – What Clarks says…and a current Capitalist Part 3 – What my peers say… Part 4 – What Russ learned.. Part 1 – What Polanyi says… Apparently, I have become an audio learner. Perhaps because…
By: David Beavis on October 26, 2023
When you are in the boarding line behind your new transgender Icelandic witch friend waiting to board the plane, the conversation is far from boring. My wife and I were leaving Iceland after a vacation. As we were in line, we struck up a conversation with the person in front of us. Conversation with them[1]…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on October 26, 2023
Postmodernism and the history of thought could seem like a distant discussion from leadership, a more critical look is a reminder that our history and our development of identity and thought play a role in many parts of society including leadership. Questions As I picked up this book by Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism, I thought to…
By: Pam Lau on October 26, 2023
“The Gospel itself is a disembedding from social and collective memberships into a new social reality.”[1] Before identifying the central theme from Karl Polanyi’s paradigm of exchange, The Great Transformation, I found it helpful to remember and recall the story of Ruth from the Old Testament to offer a framework for how I understand Weber’s,[2] Polanyi’s[3] and…
By: Kally Elliott on October 26, 2023
Next Friday the Presbytery of the Cascades will vote to give one of our church properties to the Future Generations Collaborative, a coalition of non-profits representing many Native American communities. As I understand it, they will turn the church property into a village of sorts for single native American mothers and their children. It will…
By: Kristy Newport on October 25, 2023
Steven Hicks in Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, takes his readers on a philosophical journey. The following is a conclusion the author makes about postmodernism: In postmodernism we find metaphysical antirealism, epistemological subjectivity, the placing of feeling at the root of all value issues, the consequent relativism of both knowledge and…
By: Becca Hald on October 25, 2023
My husband and I love going to the theater. Every year for our anniversary, we get season tickets. Last year, I was so excited to see Oklahoma! On the roster. I remember watching the movie of this musical growing up. I loved the fun, upbeat songs and cheerful melodies. We arrived at the theater for…
By: Kim Sanford on October 24, 2023
Black-and-white thinkingIn Oxford and immediately afterwards, our cohort had numerous conversations about over-simplified thinking. Simon Walker spoke about the overwhelming complexity of our current era and how our brains desperately grasp at over-simplifications. I found his explanations comforting. It’s not our fault that we reach for simplicity. Our brains crave it. Of course, as responsible…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on October 24, 2023
I picked up The Great Transformation; The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time and I went straight to the back of the book looking for some insight before I began to read. The first thing that I read was Karl Polanyi (1886- 1964), I said a prayer that this book would be easier for…
By: Tim Clark on October 23, 2023
In the 1987 film, The Princess Bride, the character Vizzini, repeatedly uses the word “inconceivable” when things don’t go as planned. Finally, Inigo Montoya responds: “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means”. A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog I titled “Words Matter”, admitting that…
By: Laura Fleetwood on October 22, 2023
It was May 2020, the world was in lock down, and I watched the television in horror as news broke about a police man pressing a knee to George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 20 seconds. To have an authority figure who is supposed to protect you needlessly destroy you is a horror that…
By: Chad McSwain on October 22, 2023
“Our struggles are not only external, against laws and institution, but internal, against our own malformed habits, feelings, and values. In this sense, we all participate in dignity because we all struggle against domination.”[1] We all struggle. We struggle externally or internally, but we are struggling against something that seeks to dominate us.…
By: Daron George on October 21, 2023
Introduction: In a world of divisions and hierarchies, the quest for dignity and joy becomes a collective endeavor transcending color lines. Vincent Lloyd’s ‘Black Dignity’ is a philosophical exploration of racial justice and human dignity, revealing how affirming black dignity is intrinsic to recognizing inherent human worth. As we navigate nuanced terrains of racial activism…
