{"id":37285,"date":"2024-04-08T07:54:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T14:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37285"},"modified":"2024-04-08T07:54:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T14:54:44","slug":"what-are-we-living-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-are-we-living-for\/","title":{"rendered":"What are we living for?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our pluralistic society, where everyone seems to have different thoughts and ideas and each one claims theirs to be true.\u00a0 Like I stated in an earlier post, I teach my Analysis of Social Policy class some of the basic philosophies with the purpose of helping them understand what people are using to make and justify their decisions if they are not using scripture. \u00a0Matthew Petrusek\u2019s book Evangelization and Ideology <\/em>went deeper into some of the philosophies than what I teach.[1<\/a>] Petrusek\u00a0provided two models that illustrate the process of making moral decisions. Each model contains seven elements that Petrusek defines: Politics, Applied Morality, Morality, Epistemology, Anthropology, Ontology, and Theology.\u00a0 On both models, Petrusek highlights epistemology, which he defines as \u201cWhat can human beings know and how can we know it?\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Petrusek states that \u201cepistemology has the unique status of serving as the interpretive key that unlocks the content of all other domains.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Our ability to define anything, such as God or morality is dependent upon \u201cwhat we can know and how we can know it.\u201d[4]<\/a> One of the models is a pyramid, in this model, Petrusek states that the higher blocks are dependent on the presence and I would add stability of the blocks beneath them.\u00a0 As a Christian, it follows that how we see and interpret the rest of the world is dependent upon the stability of our beliefs in God.\u00a0 \u00a0Petrusek focuses on much of the rest of the book discussing how various epistemological beliefs shape a person\u2019s ideology including Catholic social thought and the problems each has when compared to Catholic social thought.<\/p>\n

I had so many different thoughts running through my mind and how I might apply these in the classroom.\u00a0 I momentarily even debated assigning this book for my students to read as we no longer require students to take a basic philosophy class. One area my thoughts focused on was social justice and how it relates to Petrusek\u2019s Hope model and also Petrusek\u2019s discussion on worship.\u00a0 As a social worker, one of what the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) calls their core values is social justice with \u201csocial workers challenge social injustice\u201d being a guiding ethical principle.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 From a Christian perspective the desire for social justice should stem from, as Petrusek talks about, the inherent dignity and worth that a person has from being created in the image and likeness of God.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 As we (social workers and Christians) strive to make the world a better place by righting injustices, Petrusek suggests that we must keep our focus on the fact that we will never eliminate all injustices, this is part of his Hope model in dealing with societal perfection[7]<\/a>\u00a0 I bring this up because of a conversation a couple friends of mine were having.\u00a0 One of them was lamenting his perception that his church\u2019s denomination is focusing too much on social justice issues and losing sight of sharing the Gospel.\u00a0 After hearing about this conversation, I thought about Petrusek\u2019s section in the book discussing idols and worship.\u00a0 Petrusek writes \u201cWe either live for something in the world, for something in space and time . . . or we live for that which transcends space and time, a reality that is immaterial, non-contingent, changeless, and eternally alive, which we could, in the language of Acquinas call \u201cBeing itself,\u201d or more colloquially, \u201cGod.\u201d\u00a0 Both logically and metaphysically, it\u2019s either one or the other.\u201d[8]<\/a>\u00a0 I wonder, is it possible that as Christians we can focus all our efforts on trying to right an injustice that we begin to worship our cause<\/em> instead of God?<\/p>\n

In the last chapter Petrusek gives \u201cpractical advice for evangelists in the public sphere.\u201d[9]<\/a>] In\u00a0this chapter Petrusek warns that in our pursuit of social justice that we do not compromise our faith to gain an ally.\u00a0 This is a good thermometer to gauge our potential idolatry.\u00a0 If we find ourselves willing to compromise our faith to gain movement on a social justice issue, then we have lost our focus.<\/p>\n

To be transparent, this is a good book, but one that is hard to read at this point in the week and semester.\u00a0 There is so much to digest in this book and that\u2019s hard to do right now.\u00a0 What I would like to do is spend more time digesting Chapter 8 \u201cThe God of My Tribe\u201d and compare it to Yascha Mounk\u2019s The Identity Trap<\/em>.[10]<\/a> I\u00a0do not believe that it is coincidental that both of these books were published in 2023.\u00a0 Chapter 8 seems to focus on many of the topics found in Mounk\u2019s book.\u00a0 It contains many of the pluralistic beliefs that are currently inundating our world.\u00a0 Along with spending more time in Chapter 8, I just heard a podcast interviewing John Inazu about his new book Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect.[11<\/strong><\/a>] This<\/b><\/em>\u00a0book sounds like it may be a good companion book helping people navigate tough conversations.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture, <\/em>\u00a0(Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire, 2023. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Petrusek, Chapter 3, Kindle.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Petrusek, Chapter 3, Kindle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Petrusek, Chapter 3, Kindle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> NASW, \u201cRead the Code of Ethics,\u201d\u00a0 2021 https:\/\/www.socialworkers.org\/About\/Ethics\/Code-of-Ethics\/Code-of-Ethics-English<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Petrusek, chapter 4, Kindle.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Petrusek, Chapter 4, Kindle.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Petrusek, chapter 5, Kindle.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Petrusek, chapter 10, Kindle<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Petrusek, chapter 8, Kindle; Mounk, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time<\/em>, (New York, Penguin, 2023).<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> John Inazu, Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect<\/em>, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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