« Lent and the Desert | Blog Home | God-Sized Assignments »
At the risk of gutting the full intent of Frank's thoughtful post on rational faith, this particular comment jumped out at me:
The willingness to think is one of the most scarce capacities in our current situation. There is a great scarcity of critical thinking. We value the kind of thinking that 'produces results'—that is, which helps us to know how to do things, and to do them better. We value the kind of thinking that will give us more things, more money, more 'outcomes'. But we find it uncomfortable, or downright annoying, when someone asks questions about the values in these activities. We need the rational inquiry which involves self-criticism and moral challenge. In other posts I have written about the quest for truth. Most important for me is the quest for truthfulness.
It appears that one of the significant cultural shifts post-September 11 has been the reluctance to allow open publicly debate about the bigger questions of value and culture. Those who do so usually find themselves stereotyped - images such as "unAustralian" or "unpatriotic" are freely used - and suspicions about motives are raised. In times of crisis, this level of debate becomes more important, rather than less. In an era of redefinition, it remains equally so.
Posted by gary at March 25, 2006 12:37 PM
Great thought Gary. Fear, it seems, has extended beyond the game of politics to be an ingredient in the very life of the ordinary. To whom shall we go to escape, and learn to confront, such fear? Keep up the good work. I really enjoy reading your blog.
Posted by: Jason Goroncy at March 28, 2006 12:10 AM
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |