Gadfly's Muse

The International Mind

It is the vogue of this doctrine (exclusive national sovereignty) or dogma that presents the strongest barrier to the effective formation of an international mind which alone agrees with the moving forces of present-day labor, commerce, science, art, and religion.

John Dewey, Reconstruction in Philosophy, p. 203-205

In Dewey's mind the boundless potential inherent in the human mind meant that it was not only possible to transform the human cultural condition into something far more conducive to the advancement of the species but that it was morally imperative that we undertake to do so.

If generalizations are allowed, and they are always problematic, Dewey's overall agenda rested on a few basic presuppositions.

First - he believed that man is both the molder of his cultural environment and also the product of it.  He understood the surrounding ethos in which a child is immersed, immediately upon birth, as of immense importance in the progressive development of that child's character.  For him the idea of an individual "nature" which is not so much formed as it is inherent, was vastly over-rated.  We are not so much creatures of "instinct" as we are of patterned habits, and these habits are acquired through interaction with our surroundings.   Yet, at the same time, our culture is what we make of it.  As we interact with our surroundings we also participate in them and hence shape it in return.

Second - he believed in "change" and "progress" not "perfection."  All of life is process, moving from one state to another.  The highest good for mankind, corporately and individually, was to keep getting better in an "ever enduring process of perfecting, maturing, refining" which was the "aim in living." (Reconstruction, p. 177)  What must be guarded against was stagnation which is actually decline.  Dewey knew that this required some idea of direction, that change for change's sake was not the answer and hence there must be some guidelines for distinguishing true "progress" from its opposite. This then lead to his next axiom.

Global Warming... Global Schwarming....

100 reasons why we shouldn't panic:

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/146138

View:  Overlook at Covenant Village, Pa. 01/09/09

Supreme Court to Hear Rights vs. Religion Case - NYTimes.com

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from a Christian student group that had been denied recognition by a public law school in California for excluding homosexuals and nonbelievers. The case pits anti-discrimination principles against religious freedom.

via www.nytimes.com

Freedom of Religion in a "progressive society"!

Every group has the "right" to determine the rules of membership for its own body. What this kind of situation demonstrates is that the danger of ideological totalitarianism is more of a threat from the so-called liberal side of the culture than it is from the so-called "fundamentalist" right-wingers.

It's not just Christians who should oppose this kind of stuff. Freedom of Religion is intimately related with Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of Assembly. They all stand or fall together. It is not all that long a step from assuming the power to discriminate against Christians based on their beliefs and rounding up all dissenters under the guise of "national security" or "eugenic purity."

Wildlife Management

Every once in a while Nature reminds us that we need to be a bit more humble.  It really isn't up to us to fix everything.  Perhaps we ought to be open to the idea that some of our "solutions" are only the foundation for some other, different problem.

The beaver dam in the foreground was about as impressive as I have ever seen.  The water drop was at least three feet.  Also, if you look closely you can see two beaver condominiums which were hundreds of yards behind the dam.  This whole flat land had been converted into a wonderful little wildlife habitat by some of nature's best engineers.  So, maybe we ought to learn that wildlife management might be best attained by letting the wild life manage.

I recall the oath that stretches all the way back to Hippocrates (I think)... Physician, do no harm.  Maybe if we adopted that for our own individual and corporate lives in the beautiful land God has given us, then we might see some improvements for both us and the creatures.   It really shouldn't be that hard.

Contentment Is Knowing Our Limits....

Psalm 131:1-3 LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me.  2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.  3 O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever. 

A quiet soul is a gift of God. 

The glow of sunset added shimmering sparkles to the wind-whipped waters of Lake Ontario but it did nothing to soften the chill factor.  Occasional showers were more soft mist than torrents.  The clouds were low and dark. 

Some might have considered it gloomy... and maybe it was... but gloom can have its own charm.

There was a great tension in the moment.  The golden hue'd sunset seemed at odds with the foreboding clouds and showers and that had its effect on the emotions.  The human soul cries out for such tensions to be relieved.  Like the open musical cadence which tugs at our ears until harmonically resolved, so the inconsistent glory of the sunset called for balance from the surrounding sky.... but none was forthcoming.

I don't think it too much of a stretch to trace this same yearning for resolution to other, more transcendent topics also.  I don't think humans can truly be "at home" in this fallen world because of this trait.  We want resolution to the tensions of our lives.  We want to know that the discordant notes of evil resolve into the harmonies of justice.  We wonder how beauty can coexist with so much sordidness, and seemingly only be understood and valued in the contrast.  We wonder about the infinite but we fear what it implies about our own insignificance.

At no point, in this life do these tensions truly ease.  From our youngest inquiry to our oldest musing, the questions really don't change... they just present themselves in greater complexity. 

In the face of such unanswerable questions, how can the soul find rest?  Is it possible to ever be at peace when we are immersed in paradox? Well, .... yes.

The psalmist has discovered the great secret of life... he has discovered that hidden island of peace in the midst of life's ocean of peril.  He has contented himself with what he CAN know and has learned not to occupy himself with questions too profound for his understanding.  "My ways are not your ways" the Lord GOD said.  It is enough to know that all seeming paradoxes find their yea and amen in Him.  It is comforting to know that evil has an answer, that beauty is eternal and that the colors of the sunset are the promise of tomorrow in the face of today's darkness.  When Jesus said that we must have the faith of a child, he was pointing at this simple assurance... that God is God, that we are not, and that there are things that we must accept without fully comprehending.  The finite never attains the infinite. 

To be at peace requires only that we cease striving and know... that... He is God.