By: Travis Vaughn on February 12, 2024
In the course of four weeks, I had three conversations with three pastor-types that revolved around a common issue, yet with three different perspectives. The issue involves a crisis of leadership (e.g., pastoral and church planting leadership). It’s a wicked problem – “complex, messy, and unpredictable.”[1] It’s a problem that involves “ill-defined, ambiguous, complicated, interconnected…
By: Jennifer Vernam on February 12, 2024
“Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.[1]” Sometimes, when I meet people from other countries and they learn that I am an American, working in Change Management in the Healthcare Industry, I think I notice subtle nonverbal cues, like wry, knowing smiles or maybe…
By: Jana Dluehosh on February 9, 2024
Do you know what cancel culture is? Have you been mysteriously ghosted after a night out? Have you had a long-lost relative jump out of the woodwork and begin to attack your latest post? Well, The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott may be the book for you. Lukianoff comes…
By: Dinka Utomo on February 8, 2024
It’s time to bring back the old adage “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” -Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott- Two delicate matters cannot be handled carelessly in our country: first, politics, particularly the election of the President and Vice President. Second, religion. However, it is more harmful if the two are combined. In a…
By: Adam Harris on February 8, 2024
When it comes to the First Amendment and freedom of speech, so many conflicting thoughts run through my head concerning “Cancel Culture”. I’m a huge fan of Jonathan Haidt, who wrote the forward for this week’s book, The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott. In fact, I would put Haidt’s…
By: Todd E Henley on February 8, 2024
In the book, Rethinking Leadership, Annabel Beerel said, “Leading in a time of crisis requires multiple skills. These include a calm demeanor, the courage to speak to reality, an ability to find clarity amid chaos, a capacity for deep empathy, and sensitive timing.”1 And we are in a crisis. The crisis of cancel culture. It…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on February 8, 2024
“Think of the dumbest thing you did as a teenager. Now, imagine if that moment were preserved forever in the permanent record, available for anyone to see.”[1] I am so grateful that social media was not a thing when I was in High School or in college. My high school days were filled with…
By: Scott Dickie on February 8, 2024
The Canceling of the American Mind (1) by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott is, in my view, a mid-level examination of a troublesome trend that is increasingly taking place in our culture. The book builds off of Lukainoff’s previous work with Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind (2), which, in part, explains one…
By: Cathy Glei on February 8, 2024
“Gone are the days when dumb, insensitive, or offensive teenage mishaps were forgotten or simply disappeared. Their extensive digital record makes Gen Z the most cancelable cohort, and that makes modern adolescence kind of nightmarish. The ever-present threat of being canceled harms friendships, undermines trust, and fosters paranoia. And it’s certainly not helping the record…
By: Jenny Dooley on February 8, 2024
In the early 1980s when I was an undergraduate student at a large state university, I had several unsettling experiences in which it felt unwise to express a different point of view. To publicly disagree, raise alternative perspectives, or refer to my faith was risky. In my naivete I thought university would be a respectful…
By: Mathieu Yuill on February 8, 2024
Do you have a personal story – or a story of someone close to you who has been on the edge of being canceled? Anecdotally in my world it seems everyone can either tell of a moment they were on the verge of being accused of something or know someone who was accused of something…
By: Esther Edwards on February 6, 2024
In 2021, the Dr. Seuss Foundation voluntarily pulled several books from print due to racial and ethnic stereotypes which caused quite a backlash in the children’s literary community as well as with the many fans that still adore Dr. Seuss’s writings. An article, “Dr. Seuss Books are Pulled, and a ‘Cancel Culture’ Controversy Erupts” put…
By: Russell Chun on February 6, 2024
مسیحی منصرف شده در کلرادو اسپرینگز., Cancelled Christian in Colorado Springs (Arabic) Part 1: Introduction/I think I have been cancelled! Part 2: What I gleaned from Greg Part 3: What my peers are saying Epilogue Part 1: I think I have been cancelled When I came to Colorado Springs in 2021, I was dead…
By: Kim Sanford on February 6, 2024
“Cancel culture” has always seemed to be one of those terms that everybody uses differently. Ask ten people what it means, and you’ll get ten different answers. This coupled with the fact that many examples of canceling seem happen to celebrities and/or public figures, I’ve never really given too much thought to cancel culture. This…
By: Tim Clark on February 5, 2024
From elementary age until I was a young adult, Bill Cosby provided me with hundreds of hours of entertainment. From watching the animated series “Fat Albert” on Saturday mornings, to belly laughing while listening to vinyl comedy albums (remember those?) to my standing appointment with “must-see TV” that kicked off every Thursday at 8p with…
By: Jennifer Vernam on February 5, 2024
What is so distinctive about this point in time that earns it the designation of being a “Cancel Culture?” Surely, there have been other times when society has been strongly rewarded for complying with a norm and penalized for going against the grain. These thoughts and more were in my mind as I sat to…
By: John Fehlen on February 5, 2024
I have a bad case of jet lag. Really bad. I experienced it going TO Europe a few weeks ago, and I got it again coming BACK to Oregon a few days ago. I didn’t think it would affect my return trip, because I was drinking lots of water, holding off bedtime, and doing all…
By: Travis Vaughn on February 5, 2024
As I write this, I’m pondering Bobby Duffy’s Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything, reminding myself that “the world…is frequently not anywhere near as bad as we think.”[1] But even if we ARE wrong about a lot of things, the effects of Cancel Culture are real, particularly on college campuses, especially over the past several…
By: Pam Lau on February 5, 2024
For my post, I wrote a hypothetical letter to leaders in Christian higher education believing that things can and will improve–based on the solutions our readings suggest. A Letter Written on the Walls of Higher Education Dear Christian Higher Education Administration, Whenever I read books like The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines…
By: Kally Elliott on February 5, 2024
In The Canceling of the American Mind: How Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All, Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott focus on what has become known as “cancel culture,”: how it began, its destructive effects, and how to push back against it. How did Cancel Culture come about and what is…
