By: Joe Castillo on February 24, 2020
You are intelligent, liberal and well informed. He can’t understand why working-class Americans vote for Republicans. He thinks they have been duped, but he is wrong. This accusation did not see Ne from the right. It is a warning from Jonathan Haidt (New York, 1963), a social psychologist at the University of Virginia who, until…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on February 24, 2020
As I write this paper on Pinker this morning, I reflect on the day ahead. I will be serving as guest minister at the Paw Paw Presbyterian Church today (thank you for this opportunity, Jacob!), babysitting my beautiful grandmunchkins this afternoon, and dinner plans this evening. So, my heart and mind are conflicted at this…
By: Shermika Harvey on February 24, 2020
The invasion of the sacred sanctum of my world has commenced once again. Within the internal hallways of the temple lies the battle between intellect and spirit, and society and kingdom. For the sake of education and knowledge, I have embarked on this journey, but in no fashion is this an enjoyable encounter. Sometimes, the…
By: Digby Wilkinson on February 24, 2020
Hi friends, this comes late after a wedding and other family-related events. So, did I read Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress?[1] Refer to Pierre Bayard.[2] Mr Rogers has been very helpful too (see the end). A story. The once a man struggling through his midlife years. A symptom…
By: Chris Pollock on February 23, 2020
‘In the world but, not of the world.’ This is a political statement. It is not from scripture, though it could almost be iterated as if it was. Some scriptures come close, like ones in the Gospel of John or Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome. Nevertheless, I have heard these words repeated ad…
By: Wallace Kamau on February 23, 2020
There’s a commonly used quote attributed to Earl Nightingale, “Everyone is self-made but only the successful admit it”, to the effect that every person is the master of their fate and the captain of their destiny. Quotes are very popular and are often used and make written or spoken language beautiful and its common not…
By: Mary Mims on February 22, 2020
Humans have been fascinated with time travel for some time now. One would only have to look at the plethora of Hollywood movies that deal with the subject of time travel such as “Back to the Future”, “The Terminator”, “Time After Time”, and one of my favorites, “Somewhere in Time”. It seems there is…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 21, 2020
“Why should I live?” This was the question posed by a student to Steven Pinker, cognitive psychologist and Harvard professor. He then took an evangelistic posture to share his worldview with the young woman. He explained that though this was not in his “usual job description as a professor of cognitive science,” he was…
By: Jenn Burnett on February 21, 2020
This week our living room gained a Nutritower. This 5’5 innovation will allow my family to grow our own food year round, using 95% less water and will save 1 million food miles.[1] The added benefit is that my children will learn how to grow and pollinate their own food. It is one minuscule way…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on February 20, 2020
I have a relationship with Walt Disney dating back to the New York World’s Fair in 1964. I was in the third grade, and my class made a field trip to the Fair, where I first saw the wonders of Disney’s animatronics. The Carousel of Progress was a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction created as the prime feature for the…
By: Harry Edwards on February 20, 2020
I am not quite sure how I feel about Steve Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. It was like riding a roller coaster for me. There is the thrill and edge-of-the-seat anticipation of ratcheting to the peak just before a heart stopping descent through the twist and turns, not knowing…
By: Mario Hood on February 20, 2020
FYI, the title has nothing to do with my post, it just came in my head so I decided to go with it :)! Steven Pinker, Ph.D., is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. In his book, Enlightenment Now, he lays out his argument for why the Enlightenment, reason, and humanism, aka…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on February 20, 2020
“Too long!” It was three weeks after Christmas and the pastoral staff was going over the feedback we had received after Christmas Eve. We had led four worship services, 11:00 AM (the Early Service), 4:00 PM (the Family Service), 8:00 PM (Lessons and Carols – with Communion) and 11:00 PM (the Midnight Service – with…
By: Andrea Lathrop on February 20, 2020
Steven Pinker is a Harvard Professor of Psychology who has studied languages and cognition. He is an ardent atheist and a staunch proponent of reason, science, humanism and progress. His project in Enlightenment Now is to demonstrate the successfulness of the modern era and to recapitulate it so that we do not lose the precious…
By: Jer Swigart on February 20, 2020
A decade ago, I sat in the back of a room in the Palestinian territories. I was a part of a delegation of US American Christians traveling throughout Israel and Palestine in an effort to understand the conflict there more fully. The overall objective of our presence became evident as I listened to a prominent…
By: Sean Dean on February 20, 2020
In the book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress experimental psychologist Steve Pinker explains that using the tools of the Enlightenment humanity is seeing measurable progress. He argues that, while there are risks to be aware of, there is reason for optimism in a world that seems to be bombarded with…
By: Wallace Kamau on February 20, 2020
In most the African traditions, children were taught by their aunts and grand parents through stories which have been passed through generations, that help explain certain myths and traditions that are related to specific communities. Its common in Africa to have stereotypes that are related to particular tribes. Its through these stories that you can…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 19, 2020
In our call this week we talked about the power of metaphor. Metaphors are not just rhetorical devices, but are visions or pictures by which we align our will. Metaphors capture stories by which we orient our lives. I will suggest here that we (American Evangelicals) need to exchange the metaphor of the promised land…
By: Greg Reich on February 18, 2020
Pinky: “Gee, Brain. What are we going to do tonight?” The Brain: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world” This was the response at the beginning and end of every episode of the 1995 animated parody television series oriented around two genetically altered lab mice with the intentions…
By: Steve Wingate on February 18, 2020
Dr. Hunter, a social theorist, provides summaries of world-changing philosophies and practices by comparing and contrasting views on how to change the world. His book, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity Today addresses various modes and means of both groups and individuals; their effort and ideals for how to make…
