Faulkner University's MLA Blog

Cultural Literacy Series on Lewrockwell.com

2009-09-30T08:01:00.003-05:00

Back in the spring, I wrote a series of articles for Lewrockwell.com on cultural literacy. It turned out to be a recommended reading list of 150 books. The categories weren't as nice and neat as I would have liked because of the way in which the articles came about. Still, it's a good list, despite the inevitable omission of a number of worthy titles. Here are the links:

Part 1 (Narratives, antiquity-19th century): http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/jewell2.html

Part 2 (Narratives, 19th century-present): http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/jewell3.html

Part 3 (Other fields): http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/jewell4.html

The Liberal Arts and National Security

2009-09-25T14:06:00.000-05:00

We had a great colloquium last night with Mark Conversino of the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base here in Montgomery. Dr. Conversino spoke on "The Liberal Arts and National Security," and I think he brought to the audience a new understanding of the value of liberal arts education in the "real world."

The abilities to think critically about the "big picture" and to "ask the right questions" about strategic issues are essential to success in the armed forces, particularly among senior officers. Dr. Conversino shared several anecdotes from recent military history and from his own experience that illustrated this principle. He noted that when Gen. Petraeus was trying to put Iraq back together, he didn't rely on technical specialists to determine his policies, but on "woolly-headed" academics who had voiced skepticism about the prospects for easy victory back in 2003. He pointed out the errors of those who assumed that the Serbs would "roll over" on Kosovo in 1999 as they had in Bosnia in 1994, not realizing that Kosovo played a much larger role in Serb national consciousness than Bosnia. He described the awakening his students had when confronted with the unanticipated vociferous opposition, based on cultural and historic ties, voiced by Russian officials over the proposed NATO membership for Ukraine.

In all of these scenarios, the skills acquired by study of the liberal arts enabled people to ask the right questions and potentially avoid the loss of life, while the absence of those skills, exhibited in the unawareness of cultural issues, etc., led to very negative consequences.

Everyone who attended spoke highly of the session. We hope that we will be able to collaborate with Dr. Conversino and the Air War College on more joint efforts in the future.

Checking In

2009-09-23T16:23:00.000-05:00

I shudder when I think how long we've gone between posts on this blog. Part of me wants to take the easy way out and simply shut it down, but I still believe it can play a useful role in building community within the MLA program and also in reaching out to others.

Our program is slowly growing; this fall I have my largest group yet in 5330 (Community and Culture), and the level of discussion in class has been high. Everyone turned in his first paper last night; we'll see if my high expectations are justified there!

Our fall colloquium will be held tomorrow evening in the Lester Chapel; the topic is "The Liberal Arts and National Security." Now THAT should be interesting.

Old Sesame Street Episodes Labeled "Adults Only"

2007-12-04T06:51:00.000-06:00

It strains credulity, but it's true. Apparently, "today's preschool child" will be adversely affected by the unhygienic Oscar the Grouch, the overeating Cookie Monster, and the delusional Big Bird, who talks to an imaginary Mr. Snuffleupagus.

Thank heavens there are good-hearted people out there protecting The Children from these horrors!!

Modern-Day Emperor Worship

2007-02-22T10:18:00.000-06:00

And I bet you thought this sort of thing went out with the Romans . . .

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=YO3UR4VQ05ZZJQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/02/19/wphilip19.xml

Sad, isn't it?

Herodotus Vindicated?

2007-02-16T11:20:00.000-06:00

For hundreds of years, archeologists and historians have been speculating about the origins of the Etruscans, the civilization that dominated central Italy before Rome's rise to power. They should have just trusted Herodotus:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11174-on-the-origin-of-the-etruscan-civilisation.html

Yet another example of the trustworthiness of ancient sources in the face of modern skepticism.

The Bible and English Literature

2007-02-03T13:05:00.000-06:00

My wife and I read to each other in the evenings, and recently we've been going through a volume of Rudyard Kipling's short stories. I have been struck by the extent to which Kipling's style was influenced by the Authorized Version (or King James Version, if you prefer) of the Bible.

For example, in the story "Three and--an Extra," we find the following statement concerning Mrs. Hauksbee, a lady given to dallying with married men: "You had only to mention her name at afternoon teas for every woman in the room to rise up and call her not blessed." This, of course, is a clever twist on the description of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:28 : "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Kipling knew the Scripture and was confident his readers did as well.

The ironic part about all this is that Kipling was no Christian. In fact, a thinly-veiled hostility to the Church is evident in much of his writing. Yet he still worked within the idiom of the Bible. The same could be said of many other 18th- and 19th-century English and American authors.

Isn't it sad that these unbelievers' writing styles were more influenced by the Bible than the style of professing Christian writers today?

A Faith-Producing Culture?

2006-08-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

Those of you new to Faulkner and my rambling diatribes will soon become accustomed to my references to Chronicles magazine and its various contributors. Chronicles is a monthly publication that deals with the American (non-)culture from a "paleoconservative" perspective. There is a pronounced Roman Catholic tinge to much of what appears there, but other voices are also present. It is the one magazine to which I would never dream of canceling my subscription.

The most recent issue has education as its theme, and the article "Educated at Home" by Hugh Barbour contains a stimulating passage I wanted to share with everyone:

"The most serious and dangerous challenge for Christians today is not precisely the loss of faith and religious practice among the fallen away, but a more material, basic human threat--namely, the lack among believers of a human cultural foundation capable of disposing them and their offspring to persevere in the Faith. I mean here not a lack of cultural Hochformen, but a lack of culture in its everyday, domestic, and social sense. This deficit produces among devout Christians a "mere" religiosity, a reduction of Christian life to explicit devotion and moral uprightness, and the sense that things suffice, and that culture is at best an accidental thing, harmful if secular and amoral, helpful to the extent that it is or can be made explicitly religious.
"In this case, religious practice either takes the place of culture or is indifferent to it so long as it is not clearly contrary to faith and good--especially sexual--morals."

Before I comment on the passage, I'd like to know what some other folks think about it. Do you think Barbour is on target, or is he overrating the importance of culture?

I'd especially like to know whether Dr. Woods considers American Idol an "accidental thing."

Clowns in the Pulpit

2006-08-19T22:51:00.000-05:00

After we mentioned this at our gathering Saturday evening, I couldn't resist posting it here for the students to see. I wonder how soon we'll see this in Montgomery.

Some of my favorite user comments:

"At least they admit they are led by clowns. I can think of a few churches that are still in denial."

"….can’t sleep…clown will eat me…can’t sleep…clown will eat me "

"Notice how Racism is the chief evil nailed to the cross. I’m sure erosion is on there too (perhaps out of view.)"

"One minute later the congregation was shocked when the secret member of the Clue Clucks Clowns set the cross on fire."

The Hiatus Has Ended . . .

2006-08-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

Now that the school year is about to begin, it's time for the posting drought on this site to end. The MLA faculty are ready to begin posting again, and we have a bright new crop of students to keep the conversations invigorating.

So look for a lot more action here in the near future . . .

Recapturing Relevance in the Church

2006-04-04T19:16:00.000-05:00

How?

By playing rock music during communion, of course!

Introducing the U2 Eucharist.

What will they think of next?

The Other Shoe Drops

2006-02-21T16:38:00.000-06:00

Remember Eugene Robinson, the first openly homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church-USA? It turns out that he is also an alcoholic.

Not to worry, though. Condemnation of drunkenness is so first-century, just like condemnation of homosexual offenses. God is more enlightened now, apparently. According to Robinson, "We worship a living God, not one locked up in the Scripture of 2,000 years ago."

Translation: The "Scripture of 2,000 years ago" is no longer the Scripture of today. It speaks volumes about the ECUSA that it would make a man with such a view of Holy Writ one of its bishops.

Last weekend I met a member of the University of the South's board of trustees. (The University of the South is affiliated with the ECUSA.) He told me that the ECUSA is set to be ejected from the worldwide Anglican communion within the next year or so over this bishop. That should be interesting to see.

The Forgotten Byzantine Era

2006-02-16T10:36:00.000-06:00

Here is a brief but largely accurate article about how most Westerners are ignorant of the Christian civilization that flourished in the East during the European "Middle Ages." The Byzantine Empire had its problems and its heretical ideas (caesaro-papism comes to mind), but we can still learn from it in some areas. I just wish we had time to cover it more in the Western Heritage series.

It Had to Happen . . .

2006-02-13T07:56:00.000-06:00

You may have suspected that I wouldn't be able to resist making a post about Brokeback Mountain. No, I have not seen it and have no intention of doing so; one doesn't have to enter the sewer to know that it stinks. However, I did want to pass along some perceptive comments made by Chris Ortiz over at the Chalcedon Foundation's blog:

"Brokeback Mountain

The world is swimming in hogwash over the release of Brokeback Mountain. Critics are falling over themselves to laud compounded praise over this story of two ranch handlers who can't keep their hands off each other. What is disturbing -- beyond the celebration of sodomy -- is the idea that "love" redefines all God-created categories of the Biblical social order. God created man and woman and ordained their consecrated union as the covenantal unit upon which civilization find its fulcrum. Yet, Joe Bob and Jethro can two-step over divine order "cuz they love each other."

It's Romeo and Juliet from the pit of Gomorrah -- forbidden love that leads to self-destruction. And, again, it is the oppressive authority of Christian culture and the Christian family that forbids "lovers" from fulfilling their persecuted desire and drives them to self-destruction. The victim is now the sinner, and God and His order are the tyrannical perpetrators.

Is Brokeback Mountain a great movie? I'll never know. Is it superbly acted? Who cares? It's celebrated for it's "bold statement" more so than it's creative content. Much the same as Scorcese's Last Temptation of Christ was held up as creative genius. Yea, right. What men love is not art, they treasure war against God. Producing such movies is their way of thumbing their noses at the pious ethic of Christianity. Their target is the Church and it's 2,000-year reign of puritanical morality. Perverted man seeks freedom to sin but obtaining a gay marriage license will never quiet his God-given conscience. Removing the Church will never stifle the Spirit that strives with man (Gen. 6:3)."

The entire post can be found at http://www.chalcedon.edu/blog/2006_02_01_archive.php#113968791200630743

Oh . . . my . . . goodness

2006-01-21T13:06:00.000-06:00

I'm having trouble believing that it's not some kind of joke. The title of this article makes it clear (unwittingly, no doubt) that this upcoming movie about "Jesus" preaches exactly the opposite of what Jesus himself taught.

The Further Decline of Civilization . . .

2006-01-16T10:19:00.000-06:00

as seen in the vanishing of movie manners. (I was prompted to post this article after hearing Dr. Woods complain about this very thing a few days ago.)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/p20s01-almo.html

Combating the Enemies of the Humanities

2005-12-30T00:52:00.000-06:00

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?

2005-12-29T23:45:00.000-06:00

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

2005-12-15T11:20:00.000-06:00

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

2005-12-13T00:08:00.000-06:00

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

2005-12-11T22:11:00.000-06:00

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?

2005-12-07T10:47:00.001-06:00

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

2005-12-02T11:50:00.000-06:00

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!

Why We Need a Renaissance of Medieval (and Ancient) Logic

2005-11-30T23:15:00.000-06:00

Imagine you are doing some research and you decide to use the flawed, but sometimes helpful tool called the Internet. You are searching for popular and scholarly articles on Intelligent Design and come across the following title, "Is Intelligent Design a Bad Scientific Theory or a Non-Scientific Theory?"

If you have had even Logic 101 you immediately recognize the fallacy committed. It is indeed the oldie but still frequently deceptive--either/or fallacy. Suppose I were to ask the author of this article, "are you stupid or just unintelligent?" you get a sense of how problematic the either/or fallacy can be. He would certainly feel offended at the words I used and his narrow options of self description.

What would you think if you saw the title, "Evolution: A Theory for Retards or Darwin's Greatest Fiction" or maybe an article with the title, "Evolution: Faith of the Atheist or Idiocy of the Mindless". These titles would certainly betray a bias and would be manifestations of the either/or fallacy.

Some may wonder why it is a fallacy and not just an astute title. Look at the title again--Is Intelligent Design a Bad Scientific Theory or a Non-Scientific Theory? Now consider all the missing options. Fill in the blanks below with several possibilities--Is Intelligent Design _______ or a _____________? How about--Is Intelligent Design True Scientific Thinking or The Long Needed Scientific Revolution? Or maybe--Is Intelligent Design Merely True Science or the Truest Science?

If you want to read the entire article and find the logical fallacies for yourself (I counted eighteen before I lost interest and this does not include the rhetorical acrobats the author demonstrated) read the entire piece.

Please, so you don't lose your mind in a mindless age, study your formal logic.

Do the liberal arts pay?

2005-11-30T09:07:00.000-06:00

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/elearning/?article=liberalarts

Here is a website article that advocates the value of studying the liberal arts. Perhaps our (we three professors - RMW, JJ, and MRY) citation of an article from the web will carry more weight than our enthusiastic, exuberant, insider-biased, over-the-top voices can muster.

What we are espousing folks is the highest form of education, that is sophia over against techne, wisdom over against skills or technique (see Aristotle's distinction of these two types of knoweldge in his Nicomachean Ethics). While some skills are eminently valuable, we are calling upon students to reach higher (deeper?) toward wisdom; a wisdom that certainly relies upon certain skills but also transcends technique. So we do not disparage techne we want something more for you!