auerwas deals skeptically with both political and religious virtue, but holds out hope for a type of political virtue within church. His treatment in Christian Existence Today is a bit cursory, but it’s thought provoking. The second half of this video deals with the problems of community and political virtue in church. Hint: it doesn’t mean joining team red or blue. … More Political and Religious Virtue: Really?
The first part of Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution of France takes on England’s Revolution Society and Rev. Richard Price, whom Burke considered a dangerous and radical agitator. We begin to see that Burke does not like mixing religion and politics, and he dislikes politics practiced with religious zeal. He argues that there is a big difference between the Glorious Revolution in England in 1688 and the French Revolution of 1789. Is he right? … More Edmund Burke: Is Revolution Ever OK? (Reflections 2)
You know what they say… This is the third and final part of the interview I did with Dr Jeremy Cowan, an expert in organic and permaculture agriculture, we conclude our reflections on Distributism by breaking both taboos. In this one we deal with the role of religion and politics in changing the way we grow food, but we do more than that. We delve into questions such as why religion is often unhelpful and how it could be otherwise, why political divisions get in the way and what might solve that problem … More Religion and Politics–Whoops, We Talked About Both (Jeremy Cowan Interview Part 3)
In a discussion that launches from Part 4 of McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, especially the part on the Arts and Crafts movement and its preoccupation with beauty, we get into the question of how to view human labor and the material world. McCarraher’s sacramental view of nature informs a discussion of whether and how it is realistic and beneficial to see matter as sacred. What would it mean for Christianity and other religions if we did? What would it mean for work and for the economy? … More What if Matter Is Sacred? Conversation with Jakob Hanschu on Arts and Crafts Movement (McCarraher 7-Video)
Harbinger, the journal of the Institute for Social Ecology, has re-launched, and I aimed to be in the inaugural edition, which was recently published. The founder of social ecology was Murray Bookchin, and the Institute for Social Ecology carries on his legacy. While I do not fully agree with the ideas of either Social Ecology or Canadian psychologist and public intellectual Jordan Peterson, I resonate with some of the concerns of both positions. I thought it would be interesting to think about what would happen if the ideas of these two very different thinkers were put into dialogue with each other. Here is the result. … More Jordan Peterson, Carl Jung, and the Challenge for Social Ecology (Harbinger)
Neoliberal Christianity may be persuasive as a political and economic ideology, but is it religious (as in something other than worldly) when it diverges from a straight-forward reading of the Christian account of Jesus’ life and teachings. … More Neoliberalism and Religion
Political Philosophy 