Ideas

Hospitality of Ideas

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“Open-minded” does not exist.

Everyone is “closed-minded” to something.

“Broadminded,” however, means one entertains others and their ideas.

We may disagree with each other but being hospitable, means we listen.

Watch how we welcome people and their beliefs, without giving up our own (full text below).

We should be hospitable to all, caring about them and why they believe what they do.

Find out more about becoming a Christian APOLOGIST. I would be glad to talk with you about the work of RATIO CHRISTI (here). Subscribe to “Truth in Two” videos from Comenius (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), hosts a weekly radio program with diverse groups of guests (1 minute video), and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT:

Often when people say someone is “closed-minded” they mean “You don’t agree with me.” The same folks don’t see they may be the ones “closed” to the ideas others may hold.

Being broad-minded as a Christian means I listen to others, showing a hospitality of ideas. The distinctiveness of the Bible’s message begins with “holy,” meaning set apart or other than. The First Testament is very clear that Yahweh is distinctive from all other gods. When the prophets say “There is no other God” they mean other “gods” exist; but comparatively, there is no comparison. As Moses summarized in Deuteronomy 32:31, “Their rock is not like our Rock”.

Our responsibility as Christians is to be generous, welcoming of people with perspectives other than our own: and when given the opportunity, to explain the unique nature of Jesus’ gospel message in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me”.

As a Christian thinker, I am broad-minded, listening to others, secure in my answers for certain questions about the origins, ends, and ethics of life. If we can understand that all of us are in some way “closed” in our thinking, but “open” to people, no matter their beliefs, we might be better able to understand and respect others even while we hold to our own philosophies.

At the Comenius Institute we are secure in our core beliefs. We are secure in the fact that The Eternal, Personal, Triune God exists. We are secure in the fact that the natural world came about by a supernatural process. We are secure in the fact that God Providentially sustains His world.

But we are very “open” to the opportunities of broadmindedness, displaying a hospitality of ideas.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

 

 

Progressive-Conservative

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Is it possible to disagree agreeably?

Watch our Truth in Two to find out if it is possible (full text below).

 

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, RIT

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Denzel Washington is famous for saying,

“It is easy to spot a red car when you’re always thinking of a red car. It is easy to spot reasons to be mad when you’re always thinking of being mad. You become what you constantly think about.”

If you’re always looking for it, you’ll find it. If you think the worst of some person or group, that’s all you’ll see. I am constantly concerned about the one-sidedness of viewpoints.

To my conservative friends I say, go conserve something. If you care to be a true conservator of the great ideas and ideals given us, then be proactive, participate, do good, above all – be kind to those who disagree with you. And to my progressive friends I say, remember the “progress” in progressive. If you care to be a true progressor of future possibilities available to us, then celebrate goodness, growth, improvement, above all – be kind to those who disagree with you.

And let me be very clear. I care deeply for all my friends, no matter your social or political positions. I need my progressive friends to remind me that human concerns still need immediate attention. I need my conservative friends to remind me that human concerns are still rooted in perennial truths.

I encourage everyone hearing my voice to go make a friend with someone who has a very different view of the world than you do. Find out why they hold that view. Read a book together, one from each of your perspectives. Organize a symposium together about a hot-topic and then kindly discuss your differences before the crowd. Practice what I call “the hospitality of ideas” so that people can see an example of civility. Defend the other person in the presence of those with those who agree with you.

And, to Denzel’s point, think about the color blue, so you’re not always seeing red.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally pleased to have many friends who disagree with me.

The pictures herein are of Cornel West and Robert P George. They are progressive-conservative friends.

Phillis Wheatley

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“In every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom.” – Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley contributed the first publication by an African American in 1773; a book of “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.” What attracted me this past week to Wheatley and her writing was a letter she penned to Reverend Samson Occum, a Mohegan Indian and an ordained Presbyterian minister. Occum had written an indictment of slave-holding Christian ministers. The contradiction between colonists who wanted freedom from England but were determined to uphold slavery was obvious. Take a few moments to read Wheatley’s words as she points out “the Absurdity of their Conduct.” Her “Cry for Liberty” reverberates to our own day.
Letter to Reverend Samson Occum
Rev’d and honor’d Sir,
I have this Day received your obliging kind Epistle, and am greatly satisfied with your Reasons respecting the Negroes, and think highly reasonable what you offer in Vindication of their natural Rights: Those that invade them cannot be insensible that the divine Light is chasing away the thick Darkness which broods over the Land of Africa; and the Chaos which has reign’d so long, is converting into beautiful Order, and reveals more and more clearly, the glorious Dispensation of civil and religious Liberty, which are so inseparably Limited, that there is little or no Enjoyment of one Without the other: Otherwise, perhaps, the Israelites had been less solicitous for their Freedom from Egyptian slavery; I do not say they would have been contented without it, by no means, for in every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance; and by the Leave of our modern Egyptians I will assert, that the same Principle lives in us. God grant Deliverance in his own Way and Time, and get him honour upon all those whose Avarice impels them to countenance and help forward tile Calamities of their fellow Creatures. This I desire not for their Hurt, but to convince them of the strange Absurdity of their Conduct whose Words and Actions are so diametrically, opposite. How well the Cry for Liberty, and the reverse Disposition for the exercise of oppressive Power over others agree, — I humbly think it does not require the Penetration of a Philosopher to determine.
– March 11, 1774

The Right Side of History

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So you can see the future, huh?!

Watch our Truth in Two to find out why we say, “Not so fast!” (full text and afterword below).

 

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat

“Don’t You Want to be on The Right Side of History!” Such a warning is given to anyone who would dare stand in the way of current cultural narratives. The story being told could be political, sexual, racial, or social. But be assured, whatever the objective, some group thinks they know what is best now, for the future. It would seem that the people who make the claim, have some crystal ball, an ability to see the future based on their own self-designed storyline. The problem is this: the story told now may not be the right side of history later.

Augustine, the famed African theologian, addressed the historic events of his day and saw the future. The great city of Rome was overthrown by Visigoth armies in A. D. 410. People in Augustine’s day thought they knew what was the so-called “right side of history.” Pagan people had placed their future on the human power of Rome. But they were decidedly on the “wrong side of history.” Augustine reacted to the fall of Rome by writing a masterpiece entitled, The City of God. Augustine responded to history’s meaning in his day. The African theologian made it clear that the fall of Rome was but one battle in the long war that humanity waged against God. The human city, according to Augustine, was a place that hated God and loved its own story, even if their story was wrong.

You want to be on the right side of history? Then understand that being on “the right side of history” is to recognize God’s direction of history; because history is “His Story.” For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, personally sure that the right side of history is to be on the right side of God’s Story.

AFTERWORD When people claim “You must be on the right side of history” they are thinking about the fourth idea of history: what is history’s meaning, what importance or significance can be attached to the story we wish to tell about the past?

The word “history” needs some explanation. “History” can be one of four ideas: (1) remembrance of events (2) the writing about those events (3) the actual researching of those events or (4) asking the question “What meaning do those events have?”

 

Calling Someone “Phobic” Cancels and Alienates People

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Labeling people by what you think they fear . . .

. . . is nothing more than labeling people.

Saying someone is “-phobic” is an attempt to stifle conversation: watch our Truth in Two(full text below).

 

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, hassan-pasha-7SjEuEF06Zw-unsplash, etienne-girardet-NJ7_RKmfsXw-unsplash

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We are told not to live in fear. But we implant the suffix phobic to implant fear that is not there. Let me explain.

Sometimes a person in our culture is labeled transphobic, homophobic, or Islamophobic. Words such as these label the person not the person’s belief. Saying that I “fear” people whose identity, sexuality, ethnicity, or nationality differs from mine is absurd. To call someone phobic is as bad as name calling on an elementary school playground. The intention is to label someone as fearful so that they can be excluded and then dismissed from conversation. Worse, those who are told they are phobic lose their reputations and economic stability. See the link in this Truth in Two to see what has happened to “cancelled” people. Disagreement or even questioning is cause for immediate censure. Words like racist, sexist, classicist, or elitist are thrown about so as to discredit, to bring a person into disrepute.

Labeling someone as phobic does nothing more than separate people into adversaries. Labeling someone as phobic suggests the one doing the labeling is in need of an enemy, someone to be against. As long as you agree with the non-phobic group you are accepted and referred to as an ally.

One of the ways you create phobic people is to portray them as vile in movies and TV series. If you are told again and again that men, fathers, America, U.S. soldiers, priests, and pastors are bad, you begin to see them as a villain. Take that a step further, and the institutions of family, country, and religion are brought into question. Calling people phobic does nothing more than alienate people from each other.

And I will say it again. I am not transphobic, homophobic, or Islamophobic. I am not afraid of anyone whose sex, identity or ethnicity differs from mine. So if you continue to use phobic to describe people who differ in their beliefs from yours, I’m going to wonder if you aren’t the one who is fearful.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally following Jesus’ command to love God’s teachings, which includes loving, not fearing, people.

Canceledpeople.org

 

 

 

Mr. Jones

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How does a piece of fruit describe a culture?

An orange represents the emptiness of socialism.

Watch our Truth in Two to discover why everyone should watch the movie Mr. Jones (full text & link below).

 

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

FULL TEXT

An orange is the only color in the scene.

On a train bound for the hinterlands of the Ukraine, Gareth Jones sits among starving peasants. Stirrings of hunger prompt Mr. Jones to reach in his satchel for an orange. Every eye in the train car focuses on that piece of fruit. Mr. Jones, at this point in his journey, is unaware of the starvation being imposed on Ukrainians by Joseph Stalin.

One orange images a story Mr. Jones must tell. One courageous man. One cadre of self-serving Western journalists, covering the truth by silencing their pens. One megalomaniac dictator. One nation on the brink of starvation. One movie that will smash vapid idealistic visions of communism. If you want to know why history matters in the present, please watch Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones displays exactly what happens when dictators subjugate a people and the journalists who are supposed to cover the story, silence their pens. Over one hundred million people died in the 20th century at the hands of despots. Many of these tyrants began their belief and practice based on atheism.

To understand the 20th century, one must begin with naturalism, materialism, and yes, atheism. YouTube abounds with testimonies about the horrors. There are stories of some who hid others from discovery by jackbooted thugs, and some were spared bloodshed by Providence. Pick a dictator: Mao Zedong, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Castro, they are all cut from the same cloth.

It is important for students to know history, especially this history. Why is it important to defend one’s beliefs, essential documents, country, or ideals? Why have people died in defense of freedom? To what lengths would we now go to stand athwart oppressors? These are questions that haunt me for my children and grandchildren; I hope they do for yours as well.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally teaching history so that we might have a future.

5,000 Books

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5,000 books. That is the approximate number of volumes I own.
Stating this fact is not a matter of arrogance but one of humility. Every time I open one of these covers and turn the pages, I discover again how much I do not know. Often as I read, I shake my head not only at the supreme knowledge of those whose words I hold in my hand but also my own insufficiency. There is this drive within me toward knowledge. Every morning when I waken, I give myself to reading and writing; because I hear the ticking of the clock, the sense that time is so vaporous.
Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations agrees, “Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly” (Book Two, #11). This morning I am rereading Meditations and am reminded again both of the greatness of this Roman emperor but also his commitment to what in philosophy is called “Stoicism.” Among other ideas, the Stoics gave themselves to discipline. Stoics, as Aurelius says, regulated themselves. Further, they believed that a person was responsible first for herself. Emotion was tempered. Knowledge was esteemed.
And it was not as if Aurelius’ could sit around thinking great thoughts without interference. No, any brief history of the Roman prelate immediately explains he was confronted by enemies within and without the empire. Yes, he had a good upbringing and was in a position of privilege but reading his Meditations the reader knows if he only acted on half of his beliefs, Marcus Aurelius was one disciplined man.
In the same meditation, Aurelius questions the existence of “the gods.” A quick overview of his theological belief about Roman “gods” would show his and my own view of The Divine would diverge from the start. However, he does acknowledge a transcendence beyond himself, saying this “Providence” does “exist” and does “care.” The rest of Aurelius’ views of life’s intersection with this deity is very different than my Hebraic-Christian understanding. Yet, I find in the emperor’s words an appreciation that commends his spirit to my own. In short, I bear responsibility to discipline myself.
Since life is short “regulate every act and thought accordingly.” I wish that I could say I accomplish this effort without fail. Such would be a lie. I find constant weakness in my own person, a desire to quit, give up, or even create a bonfire of all my books in my back yard. But I know within me that I have been given a responsibility with the knowledge I have had the privilege to acquire, and then, to teach. My view of life arises from James chapter four where the half brother of Jesus declares, “your life is but a vapor, it lasts for a while, then vanishes.” Considering that common ground between Aurelius and James, the Scriptures also say, that I bear responsibility not simply to hear The Word, but “be a doer” of it (James 1).
I have always had the utmost respect for those whose views differ from my own; a practice begun decades ago in my public-school upbringing and the influence of Francis Schaeffer on my thinking. That respect for other’s beliefs continues today. No matter the voice from Marcus Aurelius two millennia ago or the great humanist Isaac Asimov in the 20th century, I am glad to learn from them. Our greatest difference – the worship of The God who has given all knowledge or the worship of human knowledge by itself – does not dissuade me from interacting with their thoughts, even in disagreement. My job within a Christian context is to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) practicing “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15) with “kind correction” (2 Timothy 2:24-25) with those who disagree.
I will continue to shake my head at how much I don’t know, respecting other voices, caring for their perspectives, contrasting my Christian thinking, reminding myself of the responsibility given me, passing on what has been my privilege to know.
5000 books is a burden, gladly carried.

Maverick

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Everyone should know about Thomas Sowell.

No one can properly respond to any idea until they have read Thomas Sowell.

Find out why this public intellectual is so important by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).

 

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat, 

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Thomas Sowell’s ideas have taken root in the soil of the next generation. Sowell has written over thirty books, over forty years of weekly writings. Hundreds of Sowell’s interviews can be found everywhere on YouTube. Jason Riley, himself a prolific writer, has done the world a service by reviewing the lifetime impact of Thomas Sowell in Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell.

Maverick should be read by everyone everywhere. Everyone in the sciences or the humanities needs exposure to the intellectual history and ideas that Maverick provides. Not only does Riley give an exceptional review of Sowell’s life and thought, but he also shows how the Hoover Institute fellow establishes the basis for how to think. Every person on the planet asks enduring questions about philosophy, knowledge, interpretation, and justice. Sowell always approaches his subjects with our views of human nature in mind. Summarizing Sowell, you either believe in the tension between human depravity and human dignity or you believe that you can make humans perfectible by human rules.

As a matter of full disclosure, I have been reading Thomas Sowell’s books and columns and watching his videos for decades. Sowell’s thinking has been influential to my own intellectual processing for most of my teaching life. As Hebraic-Christian thinkers know, it is important to weave biblical, doctrinal thinking through an explanation of Sowell’s visions. Essential to biblical understanding is the origin of ideas, acknowledging that The Personal Eternal Triune Creator of all things has set the stage for human understanding of everything.

Sowell’s concern should be the concern for all citizens of all countries everywhere,

“The most basic question is not what is best but who shall decide what is best”

Answering the question, “Who says?” should be at the center of our concern as well.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

Trust but Verify

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WHAT DO I TRUST? [2 minute read] I am constantly bringing to my mind the classic, “What if?” My query is not a matter of doubt but of certainty. What will happen if I leave my garage door open all night long? Will people who want what I have be tempted to enter or will the person be stopped by some internal control? Would it be better for me to purchase a security system or trust the natural inclination of my neighbors or passersby to stay out of my garage, though the door is open?
For those who would point to my dogmatism, shaking their collective heads at my doubt of human goodness and reliance upon dead bolts, I would ask, “What is your dogmatism?” If I rely upon people to do what is right (whatever their definition of “right” may be) can I absolutely trust them when it comes to my person and property? And if I do trust in human decency, is that not now the new dogmatism?
But what if the very people I assume will stay out of my garage – the door open – decide instead to invade my home? Does not my assumption of goodness become my new hope, my new doctrine of anthropology, the bedrock of my ethics, or simply my desire to trust people? But what if, putting my belief in human integrity to the test, I discover not everyone will listen to their better angels? What if I find out that people, left to themselves, will use my property to better themselves?
If we were honest, we would have to question such an open-door policy. We put our money in banks for security. We lock our cars and our houses. We develop university policies such as FERPA for personal privacy. Doctor-patient privilege protects us from others knowing our physical information. Cyber-security has become a cottage industry to protect against fraud, identity theft, or hackers who want our money or desire a ransom to give back the flow of gasoline on the East coast.
No, I would rather live within the biblical tension of dignity and depravity. I know myself too well. Left to myself, I will always want what I want for myself. I will care for others only in so far as it benefits me. I have doubts, but I am certain about this: I am not to be trusted. Knowing what I know about me, I have to ask, “Can I trust others?” As a theologian, I can write pages of biblical warrant for my belief. But as a common, everyday person, I must use the famed phrase of President Reagan, “Trust, but verify.”
My certainty, my without-a-doubt commitment, is that to “verify” means I know we need laws, police, a judicial system, national defense, a strong military presence, and the will to employ not only locks on my doors, not only a closed garage door, but a response to wrongdoing that will keep my potential home intruder or our nation’s enemies at a distance, leaving the wrongdoer to wonder, “Am I ready for whatever I meet on the other side of that door?”
[First published on Mark’s FB page on 2 September 2021]

In the Shadow of 9/11, Prayers for Afghanistan

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I remember like it was yesterday. Televisions were being brought to landings around the workout facility where I had just finished lifting weights. We all watched in horror as two planes destroyed the twin towers in New York City, another targeted the Pentagon. I remember the walk to the train station – I was living and working in Chicago at the time – as a city was being emptied of its people. The sound of a sonic boom erupted above me as fighter jets flew over Chicago, another potential, terrorist target. Arriving home all of America was glued to its television sets, wondering what had just happened.

We learned of another plane, Flight 93, downed in the hinterland of Pennsylvania; only later did we learn of the valiant sacrifice of the first patriots to die in what we would call “the war on terror.” A phone call came later that day from my brother-in-law to find out if I was OK; I was scheduled to speak in 25 cities that school year. My first trip was scheduled for later that month of September in 2001, O’Hare was a ghost town in comparison to its title at that time as America’s busiest airport. Being on planes in those days, I would overhear men tell the stewardesses ahead of takeoff, “If there is any trouble let me know.” A cab ride to my home after one of my trips found me in a car of a man who was celebrating the 9-11 attack. My response of righteous anger was not missed by the driver as he responded with wide eyes and silence, looking at me in his rearview mirror.

President George W. Bush joined first responders in New York City days after the attack, uttering those famous words, “The people who knocked down these buildings will be hearing from all of us soon!” Cheers and tears overwhelmed many of us. We were no longer hyphenated-Americans. A new slogan was born, “United We Stand.” Sometime soon thereafter Americans first heard the phrase “Horse Soldiers” as elite troops were ushered into Afghanistan on the only transportation available entering the country where the perpetrators planned the attack. Stories of sixty-year-old veterans wanting to reenlist were heard around the country. Toby Keith’s song “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue” spoke the words that energized a nation and its military. The world changed on September 11th, 2001. Historians call events such as these, “hinges of history.” And today, twenty years later, the door has swung the other way.

I awoke this morning, sick to my stomach. My first prayers this weekend have been for the Afghan people, many of whom have, for twenty years been the beneficiaries of American military might protecting them from despotism. I have prayed for our veterans whose selflessness in sacrifice has been the deterrent against tyranny. I cannot begin to imagine their thoughts today as they see the results of their work eviscerated. As the stories of evacuation continue in the coming days, my prayers will shift to individual needs. But today, I also pray for America. I pray for the soul of our nation. I pray that we might remember our place in the world in God’s Providence. Proverbs 28 and 29 are peppered with statements that explain what happens to a people, depending upon those who govern. The universal ideals embedded in biblical theology are watchwords for this or any nation: “When the righteous triumph there is great joy, but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves” (28:12).

Continue to pray for the people of Afghanistan.

– Written on 16 August 2021 after the awful images of Afghans fleeing the Taliban emerged on media around the world (Picture credit: Twin towers, Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash and Snappy Goat)