Combating the Enemies of the Humanities

Neil Postman in his most important book Technolopy: The Surrender of Culture to Technology suggests that all academic disciplines should be taught from a historical and philosophical view. Could you imagine taking a course on the History and Philosophy of Biology? Or maybe a course on the History and Philosophy of History!

I was encouraged recently to read an article by historian Jackson Lears (author of Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America). In the article, The Radicalism of the Liberal Arts Tradition, Dr. Lears asks the key question-- Can liberal education survive in a university increasingly committed to the ideals of the market, the corporation, and the entrepreneur? For those of us in the academy, some wonder is it already too late while others are counting the days before it does come to a close. In the meantime, Lears proposes that history may help (in part) redeem the situation. By history, Lears does not mean a course, but a grand frame of reference.

While I do not agree with all of the article, one point stayed with me for a good while. It was Lears' contention that, "The attempt to turn universities into businesses challenges the conservative understanding of the humanities. If the liberal arts tradition is understood as a worldview, rather than a collection of courses, it poses a radical challenge to the managerial impulse..." After reading the article carefully, it moved me to reflect deeply on where I teach with all the hopes and pitfalls of the future.

Are the Darwinian Wagons Circling?

I have noticed a growth of articles and books supporting the philosophical version of naturalism commonly called Darwinism (including two new editions of Darwin's writings).

One article in particular that caught my eye is in the December 2005 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. The article Is God an Accident? is authored by a Yale Prof who most seriously and repeatedly commits the logical fallacy popularly called, "nothing-buttery". The more technical term for his philosophical error is reductionism. As you read the article, notice the following items and draw your own conclusion about this essay:
1) How often the author slants the issue with extreme illustrations
2) How often the author appeals to "among scientists" "most believe", etc
3) How many times the author reduces complex realities to mere simplicities
4) How many times the author gives ground to take it away

On the last point, the reader should know that the Yale prof. states that, "Most people I know believe in a God who created the universe, performs miracles, and listens to prayers. He is omnipotent and omniscient, possessing infinite kindness, justice, and mercy." Furthermore, Bloom asserts that this is actually "part of human nature". The catch is that it is an accident of evolution! Ooopps!

An older (1999) more sophisticated response to Paul Bloom's Is God an Accident? is found in an article and recording by Alvin Plantinga entitled Evolutionary Arguments against Naturalism.

For the literary type, after you read the Bloom piece, you may want to wash you imagination (accidentally evolved?) with C. S. Lewis' Evolutionary Hymn found on William Dembski's helpful Uncommon Descent website.

Final Exams and the Playoffs

An idea struck me as the MLA faculty discussed various end-of-semester events over lunch this week. We noted that some students begin the semester in a lackadaisical fashion (failing to turn in assignments, skipping class, and performing poorly on exams), and then try to turn things around late in the semester by studying intensely, asking for extra credit work, etc. The funny thing is that many of these students are confident that they can get their desired grade by this last-minute outburst of energy, as though what happened earlier in the term is irrelevant to the final outcome.

I wonder if these expectations stem in part from our sports-saturated culture. In the age of the soundbite and diminished attention spans, some sports leagues at the college and professional levels have responded by instituting end-of-season playoffs or tournaments to determine the league champion. What is so silly about the process is that often the standards for admission to these events are laughably low. For example, wildcard teams in the NFL sometimes get into the post-season with an 8-8 record. NBA teams with .500 records can get into the playoffs as well.

What this does is to make the regular season in these sports almost meaningless. Every mediocre team conceivably has a shot of making it into the post-season, and a hot streak at that time could give that team the league championship.

Is this the mentality that university students bring into the last couple of weeks of the semester, that any grade is possible no matter what has transpired over the first fifteen weeks of the term? Many of my students over the years have been sadly disabused of this notion. When the final exam is 30% of the course grade, even a 100% on that exam will not bring a student up to a B average if he has been performing at a D level the whole semester. Competent work over the entire semester is necessary to achieve good grades.

On Reading and Misreading Narnia

I was attending my second "Literary Conference" as a graduate student and I remember vividly the comment made by the speaker--"there is no such thing as a misreading." In the "sophisticated" (emphasis on sophist) world of literary conferences, one is discouraged from gasping at such silliness, but internally I was seriously questioning the obvious nonsense being proposed.

Anyone who reflects for a moment realizes that there are bad readings, misreadings, and good readings of any given text.

By way of example, let me begin with a really bad reading which may say a great deal more about the reader and less about what is being (mis) read. Miss Polly Toynbee is a great example of bad reading in her article, "Narnia Represents Everything that Is Most Hateful About Religion". As you read this article simply notice how narrowly and violently she defines her terms.

In another fine example of bad reading, Philip Pullman (author of the nihilistic children's series His Dark Materials) argues that Lewis hated women, minorities, and yet loved violence. This is revealed in the masterful response by Michael Nelson in his solid response to Pullman's misreading.

In regards to The Chronicles of Narnia, the best thing to do is to be a good moral reader and read them as Lewis intended them to be read. The best reading of the Chronicles that considers the life and mind of Lewis is by Christian literary critic Alan Jacobs in his book The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis.

The best guide to the first volume of the Narnia series is by Leland Ryken and Marjorie Mead--A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S. Lewis's Classic Story.

The Real War Against Christmas

While the news shows have made a great deal over the "war against Christmas" being waged by mega-stores because they will no longer greet customers with "Merry Christmas", the real war may be located in the mega-churches. Many will not be greeting their "customers" this Christmas with "behold the King is born" because they will be closed on Christmas day. In truth, one should not be surprised that the mega-church is following the example of the mega-store. Many practices of the mega-church are borrowed directly from the mega-store and have their roots in Madison Ave and Hollywood.

A great failure of these mega-churches is the unscriptural manner they define family. They are insisting that they are simply allowing for the members (aka customers) to spend time with their family. Apparently, these mega-churches have missed how Jesus redefined family in the Gospels. We can always hope that the widows and orphans can find some family somewhere else in town to "fellowship" on Christmas day. Maybe there is a 24 hr. Christmas buffet that will welcome them.

While the mega-church members are all feasting on their "roast-beast" they have sadly forgotten that they missed the most important meal of the day--the table their older brother Jesus prepared for them.

Another Blow to Modernism?

The growing field of geomythology.

"'If you had asked me 10 years ago if there was value in local myths I would have said "not a lot",' added Nunn. 'Since then I have had a Pauline conversion.'"

Christianity and Architecture

As a contrast to the earlier post regarding the architecture of the mega-church, here's a review of a book describing the subtleties used by Huguenot architects who had been employed by Catholic nobility and royalty to build churches. In protest against the persecution of Huguenots, they inserted Calvinist stuff into the structures. For example: "Scripture verses would often be included on the interior of a building. Calvinists did not expect Catholics to complain about the verses because it would be a complaint against the Bible itself. However, Calvinists were careful to use verses that reflected their perspective. Fellow Calvinists walking into the building would recognize that a Huguenot had built that structure."

Structural modifications were made as well to put forward the Huguenot point of view. Art means something!