By: David Beavis on March 19, 2024
With American public schools falling behind and an increasing distrust of the public school system, Emma Green, a columnist for The New Yorker, spotlights a trend in American education: families are substituting public schools with charter schools that focus on the classics.[1] With a foundation of ancient Greek and Roman writers, the pillars of classical…
By: Debbie Owen on March 19, 2024
The mood in the sanctuary was somber. After quickly getting some snacks in the dining room and saying hello to some friends, about twenty people returned to the sanctuary for a post-service “talk-back” about the sermon. The sermon was titled, “Jesus was a white guy holding a lamb” as part of the “Unlearning” series. During…
By: John Fehlen on March 19, 2024
“Something we cannot see protects us from something we do not understand.” Jordan Peterson in Maps of Meaning When I read the opening sentence of Map of Meaning I instantly knew we were in for a doozy of a book. I’m somewhat familiar with Peterson’s more current writings, social media posts, podcasts, blogs, and YouTube…
By: Glyn Barrett on March 19, 2024
Please forgive me. I am writing about “Why We Are Wrong About Nearly Everything” on a long-haul flight, so this blog will have a very short supply of cross-referencing with other sources. In a world where so many people are seemingly so sure about what they believe and why, Bobby Duffy’s book is…
By: Becca Hald on March 18, 2024
“The truth is the truth is the truth is the truth throughout the ages – that’s what it means to worship the one true God. And our job is to follow the truth, to fight for it, and to make way for it, wherever it may lead.”[1] So Matthew R. Petrusek ends Part I of…
By: Tim Clark on March 18, 2024
Every week, as we begin class, Dr. Clark gives our cohort the coffee table test: “If a person saw the book that we all read this week on your coffee table, and asked what it was about, what would you tell them?”. This week we read Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief,…
By: Jeff Styer on March 18, 2024
“Vote Yes on Issue 1.” Last year Ohio lawmakers voted to hold a special election on August 8th; special elections just months earlier had been outlawed unless a government entity faced a fiscal emergency.[1] The election had only one measure on the ballot, change Ohio’s Constitution to allow future constitutional changes only if 60% of…
By: Jennifer Vernam on March 18, 2024
Written in 1999, Jordan B Peterson’s Maps of Meaning[1] endeavored to help us make sense of the world’s cache of stories and myths that shared similar symbols and meanings. His assertion is that when we pay attention to the patterns we see in the narratives we use, we uncover helpful and necessary truths about ourselves…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on March 18, 2024
Nigel Biggar author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, stepped out on a ledge when writing his controversial book on British Colonialism. In the context of 2023, he took a risk and he also struggled greatly to have the book published. I believe in the value of varied perspectives. Learning from each other and seeking to…
By: Noel Liemam on March 17, 2024
In the Summer of 2015 Issue, the Westmont Magazine has a heading titled, “The Moral Leadership of American President,” [1] that speaks to the importance of Moral Leadership in the highest office of the Nation. Couple excerpt from the articles reads, “Moral leadership is in fact a central task of our presidents when it’s done…
By: Daron George on March 17, 2024
Colonialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster is “domination of a people or area by a foreign state or nation : the practice of extending and maintaining a nation’s political and economic control over another people or area[1]” Nigel Biggar, Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, challenges prevailing attitudes towards…
By: Chad McSwain on March 16, 2024
By what information do we form our perceptions, opinions and future behavior? Psychologist point out that people are not entirely rational and rely on shortcuts called “biases” to make sense of information. One particular bias that seems relevant for a reflection of historical events and their impact on the present and future is called the…
By: Jana Dluehosh on March 15, 2024
Let me tell you a story about a shy, little girl. She happened to be part of a family that a lot of people knew and sometimes put on a pedestal. They were talented and outgoing. This little girl did not want any attention, she just wanted to live her life. In her sophomore year…
By: Greg McMullen on March 15, 2024
During his midnight ride, Paul Revere alerted the colonial militia that the British troops were coming. However, in many countries there was not a person or warning of what was to come by invasion of the British Empire. We see many countries in Africa and throughout the continents of the world that were impacted by…
By: Esther Edwards on March 15, 2024
“I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or non-political, that does not have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular.” (E. B. White)[1] E.B. White is referring to writing. However, we all carry our own ‘slants’ whether we are writers or not.…
By: Akwese on March 15, 2024
In “Leading Out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership,” Simon Walker invites us to engage leadership on a more personal level, seeing it as a journey of self-awareness that’s fundamentally “about who you are, not what you know or what skills you have.” With this as the foundation, he says that …
By: Jennifer Eckert on March 15, 2024
In his interview with Simon Walker, former British Petroleum executive, Lord John Browne said, regarding the work environment, he wanted to ensure that “people are who they are when they come to work and not spending half of their brain being someone else.” [1] He went on to share that for many years, he led…
By: Audrey Robinson on March 15, 2024
Nigel Biggar’s work, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, is an ambitious, thorough, and all-encompassing analysis of Britain’s historical relationship with colonialism. I can understand why the book has received mixed reviews. It was a complex undertaking, and I consider myself just a few inches left of the center. However, rather than go point by point with…
By: Laura Fleetwood on March 15, 2024
Oxford professor, Dr. Nigel Biggar offers an appraisal of British Colonialism in his 2023 book, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning.[1] His thesis is that contrary to popular opinion, the British Empire largely had good intentions when it came to expanding their power and influence around the world. He emphasizes that they did not set out to…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on March 15, 2024
In his book Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, Biggar starts the introduction to his book and shares how he got notified that his “Ethics and Empire project had become the target of an online denunciation by a group of students, followed by a reassurance from the university that it had risen to defend my right to…
