By: Eric Basye on September 9, 2021
There were two people that I knew personally in my hometown growing up that were African American. One, a Physicians Assistant, married to a white woman; and the other, a fellow student in my class. Beyond these two individuals, everyone in the small mountain town of Wyoming I called home was white like me. I…
By: Jonathan Lee on September 9, 2021
I enjoyed reading this book. I can’t believe I read through it from beginning to end in one sitting. As I read through this book, I asked myself, ‘Why am I enjoying this book so much?’ One factor might be the author’s clear and organized writing style which allowed me to be more engaged with…
By: Denise Johnson on September 9, 2021
This follower of Jesus would love to wholeheartedly say that I am completely free of all racism, prejudice, bias but I know that would be a denial of the process to being more Christlike. As I reflect on my own journey from innocence to maturity, in relationship to the founding of the United States and…
By: Henry Gwani on September 9, 2021
Broadly speaking, Shame is a critical review of the hypocrisies that have characterized American liberalism since the 1960s and their damaging impact upon minority, particularly black, advancement. Steele argues that at the root of this long-standing and widespread problem is white paternalism, which is a false response to the sins of racism, sexism, militarism, and…
By: Roy Gruber on September 9, 2021
No one denies the palpable political polarization in America today. The questions “how did we get here?” and “how do we move forward well?” present a challenge not as easily understood as the present reality. In “Shame,” Shelby Steele lays the blame of how we got here squarely upon the new liberalism that emerged…
By: Troy Rappold on September 9, 2021
In his book entitled “Shame”, Shelby Steele gives us a conservative viewpoint about white guilt in America, persistent racism, and the failure of liberal ideals to solve these and many others social-economic problems of the past sixty years. Before I read the book, I didn’t know it was written by a conservative–the title made me…
By: Michael Simmons on September 9, 2021
I conducted my analytical reading of Steele on a flight from Portland, Oregon to Knoxville, Tennessee. His words were a primer for reentry into my hometown and back to the narratives and ideology I rarely hear first hand. I appreciate Steele’s historical perspective and the clarity and sarcasm he employs to make his case. I…
By: Nicole Richardson on September 9, 2021
“Unclean! Unclean!”, the leper shouts while walking through a crowd, all the while ringing the bell to announce his passing to those within ear shot. What a compassionate construct for caring for the humanity of the sick. Just kidding. But it is a historical testament about how human beings passive aggressively hold to power through…
By: Andy Hale on September 9, 2021
Raised in Alabaster, Alabama, I spent the first six years of my life in between Selma and Birmingham. These two places that hold great significance in the fight for equal rights for Black Americans; Selma for the second march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in response to Bloody Sunday, hundreds marched from Montgomery in solidarity;…
By: Denise Johnson on September 6, 2021
School, particularly the skills of reading and writing have always been a struggle. Therefore a reflection of my academic journey has to start with a separation between academic skills and learning. While I found myself in pre-college days struggle to keep up, my college days were filled with extra courses to remediate and make up.…
By: Nicole Richardson on September 5, 2021
“Do not be afraid”, the Angels, and well more importantly, Jesus, proclaim over and over. However, I am afraid; I’m afraid of reading too slow, of taking too much time on notes, and writing with an academic voice. I wonder how I have made it this far academically with so many weaknesses. The truth is…
By: Elmarie Parker on September 2, 2021
Our readings for this week have challenged and stretched my understanding of how to read, think, take notes, and write. Being high on the intuitive scale, it is often hard for me to write until I have a sense of inspiration or spark. Outlining my thoughts has always felt cumbersome and lackluster. Several insights from…
By: Troy Rappold on September 2, 2021
Twelve years of primary education, four years of higher education, another four years of seminary education, and now I find myself in the second year of George Fox’s Doctoral program. My ability to read, take notes, and compose critical essays has indeed improved over this trajectory. It’s rewarding to see one’s intellectual growth. Progress is…
By: Jonathan Lee on September 2, 2021
I immigrated to America when I was ten years old from Korea. I still vividly remember the fear and anxiety of learning English as my second language. I think growing up, understanding and learning numbers came much more naturally than language arts. I read a lot in Korean when I was young before I moved…
By: Roy Gruber on September 2, 2021
My educational journey to this point included plenty of expectations regarding reading, taking notes, and writing essays. Reading always came easy to me, but I enjoyed reading what I liked while complying with what was assigned in school. From elementary school through high school, good memory recall allowed me to read posted material quickly and…
By: Andy Hale on September 2, 2021
Digging deeper into academia at the start of my bachelor’s studies was a tremendous learning curve since I never enjoyed reading in my adolescence. Therefore, up until my first year in college, the reading assigned to me was always done at the very last minute and not effectively. So, you can imagine my struggle to…
By: Eric Basye on September 1, 2021
Upon entering my second year of doctoral work, I feel the weight of how little I know when it comes to reading, note-taking, and writing! On the reading front, over the years, I have challenged myself to become what I would consider an avid reader. However, in better understanding the four levels of reading as…
By: Chris Pollock on May 2, 2021
The experience of progressive thinking, considering philosophy, even, contemplative theology is new for me. For less than two decades, I have been on an adventure exploring truth (in all its wonderful variety). With the curiosity to learn, panic has arisen at times for there is just not enough time to passably explore-to-know the island I…
By: Dylan Branson on April 26, 2021
The key to understanding any social movement is to understand the language used to spread its narrative. In his book, Explaining Postmodernism, Stephen R.C. Hicks argues that postmodernism has become the language of the political Left. He writes, “Many deconstruct reason, truth, and reality because they believe that in the name of reason, truth, and…
By: John McLarty on April 26, 2021
“Explaining Postmodernism” is written by a professor of philosophy and seeks to make sense of why today’s society finds it difficult, if not impossible, to handle complex questions and function in ambiguity using methods like logic, reason, and rules for debate instead of resorting to extremist activism and identity politics. Stephen Hicks argues that the…
