If Ignorance Were Bliss: then Dawkins Would Be Happy Much of the Time

Last updated on: December 16, 2019 at 11:25 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

From Richard Dawkins’ Twitter feed: Surprised by common reverence for Plato. Alexandrians like Eratosthenes made superb progress. But what did Plato say that was actually right? And didn’t he mislead generations of theologians & philosophers into thinking you could find truth by making stuff up in an armchair? I am not surprised by the common respect for Plato, philosophers do not revere philosophers, because Plato introduced most of the great questions of philosophy and proposed several solutions that remain viable... Read more

The Genealogies of Christmas

Last updated on: December 15, 2019 at 10:30 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

As a boy, if it was my turn to do the Bible reading in devotions, I dreaded the “son of” sections. There were names I did not know that are challenging to sound out for anyone, but given my difficulty pronouncing vowels, a constant embarrassment, the reading was hard. This is not, perhaps, the most serious childhood problem, but it was not fun, at all. All evils produce goods, given the deep beauty of God’s cosmos, and one good that... Read more

To Fight is Noble

Last updated on: December 14, 2019 at 6:58 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport that the world affords. Most excellent friends in California shocked me today by sending a bronze art piece (1920!) of Theodore Roosevelt, a president I much admire, for The School. This gift was wonderfully timed. These are weary times in education where wearisome bureaucrats, often decent folk with limited imaginations, labor to dismantle education in the name of pragmatism while simultaneously embracing the ideology of the spirit of our age. Thus, in... Read more

To Dream is Hopeful, to Do Divine

Last updated on: December 15, 2019 at 2:00 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

God never dreams, He is all do. Humans, created in God’s image, begin in hope, grow in faith, act and so create. Hope suggests what desires might be good. Faith gives hope rational and experiential substance and when we act in this rational faith, inspired by God’s empowering love, we create something wonderful and new. At least some of the problems of our time come from the passage of the revolutionary, progressive, excited generation that believes to the managers, administrators, time servers, wage earners... Read more

What’s happening at Edgestow? (A Parody of a Bit of That Hideous Strength)

Last updated on: December 12, 2019 at 6:04 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

That Hideous Strength In his prophetic novel on culture, particularly on the state of education, CS Lewis describes the fall of a young academic, Mark Studdock. His decay is his fault, he longs for “the inner ring,” acceptance with the in-group. His first job is at Bracton College and the “progressive element” of faculty and administrators is determined to change things: more administrators, less scholars, fewer teachers, greater leftist ideology*. The focus of any planning is on size, power, and money. To... Read more

On Aunt Tilley and Christian Higher Education

Last updated on: December 11, 2019 at 9:05 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

“Aunt Tilley is coming,” he said and laughed. “Time to roll out the Christian stuff to keep that bequest coming.”* What did he mean? He meant that there were some old folks, people who did not “get it,” and did not wish to let “Christian U” find the future. The administrators wanted Aunt Tilley’s money, but knew if Aunt Tilley (“bless her heart”) knew what they were doing, then . . . . No. They told Aunt Tilley what she... Read more

How to Sell Bragdon Wood: Lessons in Leadership from “That Hideous Strength”

Last updated on: December 10, 2019 at 1:41 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

To: President Al Cibiades RE: Need to sell “Bragdon Wood” From: Acting President Currey (New Edgestow University) Thank you for writing. . . the rebuilding of the University is going wonderfully well. While the loss of the NICE is unfortunate, the benefit of starting all the colleges from “scratch” has been an exciting opportunity to finally get to where the University needed to go. And after all, our colleagues at the NICE were a mixed lot, some not understanding the... Read more

Complaining about 10-3: ‘Ware This, but Even More Beware This Leader

Last updated on: December 9, 2019 at 9:39 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

Packer fans can be demanding. If you do not care about sports, wait a bit, as the Packers reminded me of a human trait that is terrible when found in leadership. If you have a friend who cannot enjoy winning, that is hard, if the Boss is never happy: may the Lord God have mercy on your soul. On Winning, But Not By Enough My team, and as an owner of a Packer share, they are one five millionth my team, the... Read more

The Day After Devastation: After Pearl Harbor Kind of Day

Last updated on: December 8, 2019 at 7:15 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Sometimes bad news seems to sneak up on you. On December 7th, 1941, a day that has lived in infamy and one really bad recent movie, the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. For regular folks, this seemed sudden, but Washington should have been better prepared. In business, a giant like Kodak sneers at the competition (“Fuji? Snort!”), until one day bankruptcy comes to the Great Yellow Mother. The problem built up slowly, through years of “best practices” management, and... Read more

How a Pearl Harbor Happens

Last updated on: December 8, 2019 at 8:24 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

December 7th was a day that would live in infamy. The Empire of Japan was the malefactor, but a complacent and racist United States government was the enabler. Why remember Pearl Harbor? Japan is now a democratic ally under an enlightened Emperor. Only a few brave souls now remember “where they were” when everything changed because of Pearl. Pearl Harbor happened, but might have been avoided. The lives lost were precious and the ships sunk needed. While the United States won... Read more