Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

HEATHER MACDONALD - THE UNIVERSITY'S ROLE IN THE COLLAPSE OF THE WEST

"The University's Role in the Collapse of the West" may not be MacDonald's title but it comports well with her alarm at what has happened to Western culture via the universities and in particular the humanities.  Her article, "The Humanities and Us," begins with this paragraph:

In 2011, the University of California at Los Angeles decimated its English major. Such a development may seem insignificant, compared with, say, the federal takeover of health care. It is not. What happened at UCLA is part of a momentous shift in our culture that bears on our relationship to the past—and to civilization itself.

Until 2011, students majoring in English at UCLA had to take one course in Chaucer, two in Shakespeare, and one in Milton—the cornerstones of English literature. Following a revolt of the junior faculty, however, during which it was announced that Shakespeare was part of the “Empire,” UCLA junked these individual author requirements and replaced them with a mandate that all English majors take a total of three courses in the following four areas: Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Disability, and Sexuality Studies; Imperial, Transnational, and Postcolonial Studies; genre studies, interdisciplinary studies, and critical theory; or creative writing. In other words, the UCLA faculty was now officially indifferent as to whether an English major had ever read a word of Chaucer, Milton, or Shakespeare, but was determined to expose students, according to the course catalog, to “alternative rubrics of gender, sexuality, race, and class.”

AMERICAN ANIMALIST ASSOCIATION CONFUSES PLURALISM WITH ANTI-RELIGION

From the Family Research Council:

One Nation Under [Censored]

The new Congress hasn't even been sworn in yet, but that hasn't stopped atheist groups from lobbying the incoming freshman. Less than 24 hours after the elections, the American Humanist Association was already warning new representatives about any involvement with the Congressional Prayer Caucus (CPC). "Incoming House members should know that approximately one in five of their constituents are not religiously affiliated, and even more insist on maintaining the wall of separation between church and state."

The letter, posted here, accuses the Congressional Prayer Caucus as relegating people who don't pray as "second-class citizens"--a ridiculous allegation, in part because the CPC is about a lot more than prayer. Just last week, the bipartisan group published a special booklet outlining all of their projects from the 112^th Congress, which show that secularists--not the CPC--are the real threat.

Congressman Randy Forbes (R-Va.), a good friend of FRC's and co-chair of the CPC, was on "Fox & Friends" this morning to talk about the Association's letter. "They don't want anyone in government to be able to even mention or say anything related to God, faith, or religion. And they don't want anyone in the church to say anything about government. That's clearly not the intention of the First Amendment and the Constitution as most of us know it!"

Note:  I got the term "Animalist" from Vishal Mangalwadi whom I heard use the term  "secular animalism" (for "secular humanism") in a radio interview in July, 2012.  Indian-born Mangalwadi recently authored  The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization. 

An important review of the book may be found here.
The broad-brush thesis of this book is this: without the Judeo-Christian worldview, there would be no Western civilisation as we know it. The Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament have contributed more to the development of the West than any other single factor.

In over 400 information-rich pages the Indian-born scholar documents how the Bible directly and profoundly contributed to the rise of the West. And not only has the West benefited immeasurably - so too has the rest of the world. Indeed, he argues that the "Bible was the force that created modern India" as well.  [more. . .]

--  See my previous post on Mangalwadi here which contains strong endorsements of the book from outstanding Christian thinkers including Chuck Colson, Dallas Willard, Ravi Zacharias, and David Lyle Jeffrey.

VISHAL MANGALWADI - "The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization"

I have long appreciated the mind and heart of Vishal Mangalwadi, the outstanding Indian thinker who has done much to point out the positive influence of the Bible on the development of the West.  (Previous blog posts here).   Now he has written his 450 page magnum opus (but perhaps there is more to come?), The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization.

Charles Colson is excited about the book.  He writes:

Vishal Mangalwadi, a native of India, is one of the greatest Christian worldview thinkers of our day. He believes that much of modern India, including its language, educational system, and political freedom, developed not out of Hinduism, but out of Christianity.

His newest work, The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization explores the Bible’s impact, not only in leading the West to unparalleled liberty and prosperity, but in helping India and other nations to share in the West’s success.

Mangalwadi carefully examines the intellectual roots of Western concepts of human dignity, reason, morality, science, liberty, and self-sacrificial heroism, explaining how each of these concepts grew out of Biblical principles. He then contrasts the biblical view of life with alternative worldviews like Secularism, Islam, and Hinduism.

Colson writes a lot more, and concludes:

I recommend a lot of books on BreakPoint, but this is a must-read. If Western civilization and our way of life are to survive, we must understand and re-embrace the biblical principles and values they were built on.  [my emphasis]

Many other leaders enthusiastically endorse the book:

VISHAL MANGALWADI'S NEW BOOK - "TRUTH AND TRANSFORMATION: A MANIFESTO FOR AILING NATIONS"

  I have long been an appreciative reader of Vishal Mangalwadi, whom I regard as one of the seminal thinkers of our time.  (See an earlier post about him here.)  In fact, on the left side of my blog I have included a category, "Online Books," where I have listed a number of Mangalwadi's books available for free downloading:  "When the New Age Gets Old," "India: The Grand Experiment," "Yoga: Five Ways of Salvation in Hinduism," and "Corruption and the Culture of the Cross."

Today I learned via Charles Colson's Breakpoint, that Mangalwadi has published a new book, Truth & Transformation.   Colson writes:

A TREASURE TROVE OF MP3 LECTURES AVAILABLE AT THE MacLAURIN INSTITUTE

Edited 1/9/11  (Updated links)

Information on the MacLaurin Institute can be found here.  Located near the University of Minnesota, it's a place for the integration of Christian thought with the wider world of academia.

Of special interest to me is the 2002 series of lectures by Vishal Mangalwadi, the great Indian thinker whose understanding of the West and the world-wide spiritual crisis is so profound.  For more on Mangalwadi click here. 
Actually there are so many wonderful lectures on this site that it boggles the mind. 

The larger audio tape list (below) is from this link.

VIEW BY PROGRAM CATEGORY
Student Apologetics Training Conference
View 4 audio files
Must the Sun Set on the West?
View 1 audio files

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