Texas A&M Veritas Forum on Feb 3

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m11green
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This is Professor Micah Green; I am part of the Texas A&M Christian Faculty Network. I wanted to get the word out about the annual Texas A&M Veritas Forum coming up on Thursday February 3 at 7pm. Details of the event are below:

Howdy!

Join us for the Texas A&M Veritas Forum with Dr. Karen Swallow Prior:
"(Re)considering Faith? How to navigate doubt amidst chaos"

When: February 3, 2022 at 7:00pm CST
Where: Rudder Theatre, Texas A&M University
Free Tickets: tx.ag/VERITAS22

About the Talk: College students can and should examine their core beliefs about meaning and purpose to see if it's more than just an inherited belief system. Students frequently take their beliefs apart ("deconstruction"), but struggle to put those beliefs back together. This is especially true in the context of American Christianity, where the lines between the historic Christian faith and our cultural, religious expressions can be blurry and frustrating. Dr. Prior will walk us through the process of navigating doubt and deconstruction in a healthy way, so that our core beliefs can handle the hard questions.

About the Speaker: Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is the author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press, 2012), Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah MorePoet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson, 2014), and On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos, 2018). She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan 2019) and has contributed to numerous other books. Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Relevant, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, Religion News Service, Books and Culture and other places.

Thanks, and Gig Em!
Rocag
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AG
Quote:

Dr. Prior will walk us through the process of navigating doubt and deconstruction in a healthy way, so that our core beliefs can handle the hard questions.

I find this to be an odd premise. It's essentially advertising "How to question your beliefs in a way that results in you maintaining the same beliefs you started with". If all you're doing is being guided to a predetermined outcome what is even the point?
PacifistAg
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AG
Rocag said:

Quote:

Dr. Prior will walk us through the process of navigating doubt and deconstruction in a healthy way, so that our core beliefs can handle the hard questions.

I find this to be an odd premise. It's essentially advertising "How to question your beliefs in a way that results in you maintaining the same beliefs you started with". If all you're doing is being guided to a predetermined outcome what is even the point?
In my experience, most who deconstruct don't begin that process by wanting to walk away from the faith. But so much of the garbage that we're raised with becomes so intertwined with those core beliefs, that many do deconstruct right out of their faith altogether. So what Dr. Prior is saying is that we can tear down the garbage without tearing down the core faith.

It's like a tarnished piece of silver. If not careful in ridding the silver of the tarnish, you can damage the silver. There's a way to get the tarnish off, the stuff the doesn't belong, without damaging the silver.
AGC
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AG
PacifistAg said:

Rocag said:

Quote:

Dr. Prior will walk us through the process of navigating doubt and deconstruction in a healthy way, so that our core beliefs can handle the hard questions.

I find this to be an odd premise. It's essentially advertising "How to question your beliefs in a way that results in you maintaining the same beliefs you started with". If all you're doing is being guided to a predetermined outcome what is even the point?
In my experience, most who deconstruct don't begin that process by wanting to walk away from the faith. But so much of the garbage that we're raised with becomes so intertwined with those core beliefs, that many do deconstruct right out of their faith altogether. So what Dr. Prior is saying is that we can tear down the garbage without tearing down the core faith.

It's like a tarnished piece of silver. If not careful in ridding the silver of the tarnish, you can damage the silver. There's a way to get the tarnish off, the stuff the doesn't belong, without damaging the silver.


Indeed. Deconstruction should be a tool, not the goal itself. We have cultural beliefs, familial beliefs, etc. intertwined with our practices. They don't invalidate everything but may require rethinking because of how our practice manifests.
nortex97
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AG
I think almost all Christians go through a process of doubt/questioning at some point. Martin Luther, Augustine, you name it, a lot of the great names we all know went through such an introspection/doubt/period of questioning as to The Way.

Glad TAMU faculty provide this for kids/young adults to engage with.
Rocag
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AG
I don't think I was misunderstanding the intent of the program. However, when I think of "deconstruction" in terms of specifically Christianity it goes quite a bit beyond simply identifying what it means to be a Christian (in other words identifying those core beliefs or removing the garbage that PacifistAg referenced).

Though I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that Christians and former Christians might not view the word "deconstruction" in quite the same way.
m11green
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that's a great analogy; thanks!
Thanks, and Gig Em!
PacifistAg
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AG
Rocag said:

I don't think I was misunderstanding the intent of the program. However, when I think of "deconstruction" in terms of specifically Christianity it goes quite a bit beyond simply identifying what it means to be a Christian (in other words identifying those core beliefs or removing the garbage that PacifistAg referenced).

Though I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that Christians and former Christians might not view the word "deconstruction" in quite the same way.
Oh as for the last part, I don't if that's true. I have many friends who count themselves as "exvangelical" and have left the faith after deconstruction. We view the word the same way. They acknowledge that their deconstruction also tore down their core beliefs as well. Perhaps the garbage was too intertwined for them. Religious trauma can have the impact. I think the difference isn't in how we define "deconstruction", but where that deconstruction takes us. For many of us, we deconstruct, then reconstruct with a more Jesus-centric faith. For many others, they deconstruct and are left in a place where they either don't want to, or do not feel the need to, reconstruct any faith structure.
Year of the Germaphobe
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Jabin
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Rocag said:

Quote:

Dr. Prior will walk us through the process of navigating doubt and deconstruction in a healthy way, so that our core beliefs can handle the hard questions.

I find this to be an odd premise. It's essentially advertising "How to question your beliefs in a way that results in you maintaining the same beliefs you started with". If all you're doing is being guided to a predetermined outcome what is even the point?
Well, almost all education is to help students arrive at a predetermined outcome, isn't it? The only reason to question this approach is if you believe that the outcome is wrong. However, if one is convinced that the outcome is correct, then why not help the individuals "reconstruct" their faith in a way that will lead them to truth?

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Jabin
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Quote:

I saw the need to vaccinate my kids against this contagion by exposing them to it when they were young and helping them build defenses against it.
Kudos. Great approach.
nortex97
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AG
Good post. Agreed.
m11green
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Great point: This is the same approach that Dr. Prior takes. She says we should "disenculturate" our faith rather than deconstruct it. She was a part of a book that came out last year on this topic: https://www.amazon.com/Before-Lose-Your-Faith-Deconstructing/dp/0999284371
Thanks, and Gig Em!
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Jabin
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I've heard great things about Summit Ministries. However, most of what I heard was several years ago and ministries can change.

Welcome to Summit! - Summit Ministries
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Jabin
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Average Guy said:

Jabin said:

I've heard great things about Summit Ministries. However, most of what I heard was several years ago and ministries can change.

Welcome to Summit! - Summit Ministries
Whatever we do, Christian parents need to be actively preparing their children to face the university world. We can't assume that merely sending them to Sunday school and learning Bible verses will sufficiently arm them to face professors who have an active deconstructionist agenda and who refine their techniques every semester with a new wave of naive Christian kids who have been taught to more or less respect teachers unquestioningly.
100% right. In addition, many Christian teachers are teaching kids the wrong questions, or questions that profs were using 20 years ago. It is incumbent on Christian parents and educators to stay abreast of what the world is teaching now.
m11green
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IMPORTANT:
Because of the icy conditions on Thursday Feb 3, we are moving the 2022 Texas A&M Veritas Forum to an online format, still at 7pm. You can register at http://tx.ag/veritas22 and you'll receive the information you need to attend online.

Details: Join us for the Texas A&M Veritas Forum conversation with Dr. Karen Swallow Prior: "(Re)considering Faith? How to navigate doubt amidst chaos".
When: Thursday February 3, 2022 at 7:00pm CST
Where: Online, register at http://tx.ag/veritas22

(Although the event can be streamed online, you are also welcome to join faculty and students for an in-person Watch & Discuss party in MSC 2401 at 7pm Thursday Feb 3.)
Please help us spread the word that this event has moved to an online format.
http://tx.ag/veritas22
Thanks, and Gig Em!
cavscout96
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AG
Average Guy said:

Jabin said:

I've heard great things about Summit Ministries. However, most of what I heard was several years ago and ministries can change.

Welcome to Summit! - Summit Ministries
Whatever we do, Christian parents need to be actively preparing their children to face the university world. We can't assume that merely sending them to Sunday school and learning Bible verses will sufficiently arm them to face professors who have an active deconstructionist agenda and who refine their techniques every semester with a new wave of naive Christian kids who have been taught to more or less respect teachers unquestioningly.


Respect should be automatic. So should questioning. Just because you are questioned does not mean you are not respected.

I argued tooth and nail with some of the I structors I respected the most. I think they would likely say the same of me.

Despite the current social media/cultural echo chamber, it is entirely possible to agree to disagree and remain polite and cordial.
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