{"id":22928,"date":"2019-05-16T13:59:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T20:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=22928"},"modified":"2019-05-17T07:07:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T14:07:21","slug":"a-recovery-of-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-recovery-of-community\/","title":{"rendered":"A recovery of community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In The Coddling of the American Mind,<\/em> Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt advance an argument against three commonly held assumptions that guide Western cultural discourse today. These are: (1) we are fragile and in need of protection; (2) our feelings must always guide our actions; and (3) we must confront and oppose the enemy without. Rather than creating environments where reason and objectivity prevail for a community, these assumptions have led to a place where political correctness, groupthink, witch hunts, and a culture of grievance dominate. It\u2019s an ugly world, and academia is ground zero. In this course, we have seen these themes developed in the work of Haidt[1]<\/a>, Taylor[2]<\/a>, and Noll[3]<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Lukianoff and Haidt propose cultivating culture outside our current politicized environment. They argue that:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever your identity, background, or political ideology, you will be happier, healthier, stronger, and more likely to succeed in pursuing your own goals\u2026 [by] seeking out challenges (rather than eliminating or avoiding everything that \u2018feels unsafe\u2019), freeing yourself from cognitive distortions (rather than always trusting your initial feelings), and taking a generous view of other people, and looking for nuance (rather than assuming the worst about people within a simplistic us-versus-them morality.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book highlights certain themes that are (finally) beginning to resonate within academia as frustration with the current climate is peaking. Psychologist and best-selling author Jordan Peterson from University of Toronto is leading the challenge through his provocative YouTube account and via his recent book 12 Rules for Life<\/em> which has shaken the academic establishment.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Researcher Howard Doughty reviewed Lukianoff and Haidt’s work, and describes their context more fully:<\/p>\n

\u201cPostsecondary education in the United States, they conclude, reveals a set of social arrangements in which victimhood is celebrated. It harbours, in the lexicon of American conservatism, a population of \u201csnowflakes.\u201d Campus culture, they say, promotes a level of infantilism that makes students hypersensitive to insults, causes them to cower in the face of contrary opinions and renders them unable to engage in honest, robust discussions of the great issues of the day.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While reading, I frequently reflected back on the environment I am helping influence while consulting at our small Maritime university. Even in our setting, in a small and isolated academic context, we are influenced by these general trends. Over the past year, for example, we have discussed and are challenged by situations such as:<\/p>\n