By: Alex Mwaura on January 16, 2025
There is so much happening in the world we live in. We often seem to be moving from one level of information to another at a very rapid pace. With Artificial Intelligence, (AI) facts and information on the widest range of topics is right at our fingertips. Sometimes when I listen to a show on…
By: Graham English on January 16, 2025
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4.18,19) In this blog, I…
By: Jennifer Eckert on January 16, 2025
Start. Stop. But wait, there’s another question. What about this or that? Articulating my thoughts about liberal democracy proved challenging as I ventured down several rabbit trails. In this blog, I’ll share my initial views on liberal democracy and how they evolved after reading Patrick Deneen’s Why Liberalism Failed. “We have frequently printed the word…
By: Betsy on January 16, 2025
I love books, their smell, their feel, and ordering them in categories. I love my library, which is in a wooden shed office in my garden overlooking the sheep that are scattered over the nearby field. The first hour of reading Adler’s and Van Doren’s book, ‘How to Read a Book’, was like being thumped…
By: Elysse Burns on January 16, 2025
Pre-Deneen Reflections When I think about liberal democracy, I’m reminded of a scene from Almost Famous, a movie I loved as a teenager. Set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the character Anita Miller decides to break free from her repressive “house of lies” and her overly strict mother in pursuit of a more…
By: Robert Radcliff on January 16, 2025
I’m from Iowa, so let me start with a parable about planting crops: One early spring day, a man didn’t know if he should plant corn or beans. So, he went to the village elder. He told the elder all of his thoughts on the weather, the heartiness of corn, the economy, and the price…
By: Rich on January 15, 2025
I studied mechanical engineering at Rice University. Dr. Pol Spanos taught my statics and dynamics classes. He was a brilliant engineer with a huge smile and an endearing Greek accent. I found the material quite difficult, yet he had a way of bringing joy to my state of impending failure. He gave me two quotes…
By: Shela Sullivan on January 14, 2025
Exploring, Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen Knew Very Little I knew very little about liberal democracy. History traces its origins to 18th-century Europe during the Age of Enlightenment. This period was marked by a shift in thinking, where intellectuals began to challenge the traditional authority of monarchies and aristocracies. They emphasized principles such…
By: Diane Tuttle on January 14, 2025
Prior to reading: What I believe about Liberal Democracy. When I think of liberal democracy I think back to elementary school where history captivated me. Being in Washington, DC in September 2024 stirred a sense that what the founders of the United States were trying to accomplish was different, important, and life changing for an…
By: Joff Williams on January 14, 2025
After riding bicycles through the Piney Woods of East Texas, my friend Justin commented on a popular maxim. “You know how they say ‘time is money?'” he asks, sweaty helmet in hand. “I think we have it the wrong way around. Time isn’t money. Money is time.” What he described that day has remained with…
By: Ryan Thorson on January 14, 2025
**What I currently believe about liberal democracy** Its interesting the the first prompt is to write about what I “believe” about liberal democracy, as opposed to what I know. On first glance of the question I had begun to think about what I know about liberal democracy. I reflected on civics and government classes in…
By: Jeff Styer on January 13, 2025
Previous Knowledge When I looked at the term for our previous knowledge assessment and saw liberal democracy, I remembered that I read about it in Jesus and the Powers[1]. I knew that the authors spoke in favor of it, but honestly that is where it ends. The term liberal as used in society today, depending…
By: Adam Cheney on January 13, 2025
Before reading Deneen- Immediately, I recall that NT Wright and Bird wrote that a liberal democracy is the “least worst” option for governance.[1] Each system has its’ flaws, but a liberal democracy might have fewer. One flaw of a liberal democracy highlighted recently is the idea of allowing multi-culturalism at all costs. This has historically…
By: Glyn Barrett on January 13, 2025
Before delving into Why Liberalism Failed[1] by Patrick Deneen, I held a range of deep convictions about liberalism and its societal impact. These convictions were shaped by multiple influences: some rooted in deeply held biblical principles, others shaped by the Pentecostal Church heritage in which I was raised. Additionally, two decades of reading on leadership…
By: Mathieu Yuill on December 7, 2024
For two years, I didn’t have a home. Not in the figurative “I’m searching for where I belong” sense, but in the very real, very cold “I have no idea where I’ll sleep tonight” sense. I became an expert at overstaying my welcome on friends’ couches, right up until the moment I could feel the…
By: Joel Zantingh on December 7, 2024
I just returned from a trip to British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. Geographically, it is part of the Pacific Northwest Rainforest, and the biodiversity offers a multi-sensory experience of wonder and joy. I love all the ways the topography, flora and fauna contribute to a way of life for those who reside…
By: Noel Liemam on December 5, 2024
Introduction ‘LEADERSHIP: THEORY AND PRACTICE,’ by Peter G. Northouse is a comprehensive resource and reference for the topic of leadership. This book provides the leadership theories along with real-life cases that provides examples to the leadership theories or style presented. In addition, questionnaires are also included with the cases studies to stimulate discussion and deepened…
By: Daren Jaime on December 5, 2024
College was a trying time for me as I was forced to embrace another level of life at a pace that seemed all too quick. This higher academic level led me to anxiety, uncertainty, and knots in my stomach. The major culprit in these feelings was my high school teachers forewarning me of the college…
By: Todd E Henley on December 5, 2024
As I prepared to delve into Dominion, two words resonated deeply within me: Adam Harris. As I settled into my seat next to him on that train departing from Oxford, he gently nudged me to read Dominion. It was clear how much it resonated with him. Later that year, he shared in class how a…
By: Julie O'Hara on December 5, 2024
In 2020, the local church I then served as Executive Pastor was closed for in-person worship for over 10 months. During that time, a number of large changes took place within the church. The main campus was remodeled, it merged with another church, that campus was remodeled and became host to a growing Christian school.…
