An Ecumenical Ministry in the Parish of St Patrick's Catholic Church In San Diego USA

米国サンディエゴの聖パトリックカトリック教会教区におけるエキュメニカル宣教

Friday, October 25, 2019

Teaching Ethics in Appalachia with Mark Galli


Mark GalliMark Galli
Mark Galli
Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today

Teaching Ethics in Appalachia

I’m seeing more and more pieces about individuals and groups who are not just complaining about our divided land, but trying to do something about it.
The 2016 election exposed a national rift so deep that it feels as if even reasonable conversation is impossible. I’m a liberal New Yorker, but I know that plenty of people on both sides of the political spectrum worry that this divide poses an existential threat to the American democratic project. On the most controversial issues—race and immigration, to name just two—we’ve lost the capacity for compromise because we presume the most sinister motives about our opponents. I’ve arrived here in the fall of 2018, hoping to find a wider range of views—not to change anyone’s opinions but rather to see whether there remain principles and a shared language of ethics that bind us together.
“Here” means Appalachian State University. And the story that follows is a good one. HT to BG.
Two Cheers for the Tried and True
This wouldn’t be the Galli Report, however, if I didn’t complain—or point to complaints—about something! And if I didn’t draw sometimes from unusual sources, like the socialist magazine Jacobin. HT to TO for this piece: Against Innovation”:
If there’s anything Americans love more than expensive outdoor recreation equipment, bacon, and wars of choice, it’s innovation. Imported from the Silicon Valley/venture capital sphere, the concept has pervaded every arena of human enterprise in this country and many others besides, from poetry to politics, education to agriculture.
The Early Bird Does Catch the Worm
Now for something constructive: An unconventional and compassionate guide to becoming an early bird.” I’ve been trying to become such my whole life, and it has not been a huge success. Take my wife: no matter what time she goes to bed, she’s up at 5:00 a.m. This is a major source of envy for me. Thus my attraction to this piece:
For the past 3 months, I’ve successfully transitioned into being an early bird. I go to sleep at 9 p.m. on average 6-7 nights a week. I currently wake up between 5–5:30 a.m. naturally…. I’ve tried to become an early bird many times in my life and this is the first time it has actually worked.
How to Manage Secularism
Every day in every way there is reason to be concerned about the declining influence of religion, especially Christianity, in America. I won’t bore you with more details, but I will point you to a time when the church was seriously marginalized and really persecuted. And how it not merely adapted but Thrived Amid Secularism.”
Worlds within Worlds
A few weeks ago, I shared a video of our solar system to scale. If you missed it, well, it’s big. This week, take a look at the “quantum world.” It’s small. Really small.
Grace and peace,
Mark GalliMark Galli
Mark Galli
Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today

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