Posts Tagged 'Radicalism'

Clayton to address rise of religious radicalism since 9/11
Interfaith Lecture Previews

Clayton to address rise of religious radicalism since 9/11

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Many innovations in recent years seem radical, but perhaps the most shocking are the the manifestations of radical religion, said Philip Clayton, provost of Claremont Lincoln University and dean of the university’s School of Theology.

Atheists often argue that religion is poisonous, Clayton said, but there are two sides to every argument. There are suicide bombers, but there are also religiously motivated radical reform movements. Clayton will discuss both sides of radicalism at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Hall of Philosophy. His lecture is titled “Suicide Bombers and Barefoot Prophets: The Faces of Radical Religion in the Early 21st Century.”

Former MI5 director general to discuss radicals in reality and fiction
Morning Lecture Previews

Former MI5 director general to discuss radicals in reality and fiction

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As the former director general of MI5, Stella Rimington has dealt with two types of radicals: those who threaten England’s security and those from her imagination.

In her 29-year career at MI5, Rimington dealt with several categories of radical extremists, a topic she will unfold in her 10:45 a.m. lecture Thursday in the Amphitheater. She will compare and contrast her experiences with spies, radical protesters and terrorists.

The point at which Rimington became involved with radicals is when their thoughts and writings turned to action, when their radicalism turned to extremism. She stepped in when individuals “have a grievance against the society they live in and decide to take action against people who represent that grievance.”

Patel: Appreciation of pluralism is both American, Islamic sentiment
Interfaith Lecture Recaps

Patel: Appreciation of pluralism is both American, Islamic sentiment

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Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, released his newest book, Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice and the Promise of America, Tuesday at the Chautauqua Institution. During the 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture, in the Hall of Philosophy, Patel gave a lecture of the same name.

Patel touched on the Week Eight theme, “Radicalism: Burden or Blessing?” in his speech, which discussed the inspiration for his book, the history of pluralism in both the United States and Islam and the nature of America’s sacred ground.

Every time he is in the middle of writing a book, Patel said, he turns to his wife and asks why she let him do it again. For every author who elects to write another book, there is a spark of inspiration that ignites them at the start of the process, a spark which they hope burns through to the end, Patel said. For him, that spark came in the summer of 2010, while the U.S. was inflamed in the controversial battle over the “ground zero mosque.”

Dyson: Without failures, there can be no revolutions
Lecturer Guest Columns

Dyson: Without failures, there can be no revolutions

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I am not a radical, but I lived through radical changes. Radical changes are exciting for the old and intoxicating for the young. I was lucky to be in Washington in the summer of 1963 when a quarter of a million black Americans marched for freedom and justice. I marched with them to the Lincoln Memorial and heard Martin Luther King uplifting them with his “I Have a Dream” speech, talking like an Old Testament prophet.

Also uplifting them were groups of young marchers carrying banners saying where they came from. The marchers from the really tough places — Birmingham, Ala., and Albany, Ga. — where the battles for civil rights had been raging, were very young, hardly more than children. In the toughest places, people with family responsibilities could not afford to take chances. From those places, only young people came. Most of them had never been away from their homes before. They had been fighting lonely battles. They had never known that they had so many friends. They looked like the hope of the future as they danced and sang their freedom songs with bright faces and sparkling eyes.

Malveaux: Protest movements today need specific goals
Morning Lecture Recaps

Malveaux: Protest movements today need specific goals

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Today’s movements and street protests lack the specific demands and effectiveness of the civil rights movement.

As the second speaker of Week Eight, themed “Radicalism,” Julianne Malveaux reflected on radicalism in the civil rights and women’s rights movements during Tuesday’s morning lecture in the Amphitheater.

Malveaux defines radicalism as an “unwavering commitment to progressive social and economic justice.” The civil and women’s rights movements were not considered radical to those who were involved, she said.

Chane embraces ‘radical’ label while building interfaith bridges
Interfaith Lecture Previews

Chane embraces ‘radical’ label while building interfaith bridges

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From rock ‘n’ roll artist to student activist to eighth Episcopal bishop of Washington D.C., the Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane is used to having “radical” attached to his name.

Chane will discuss what it means to be a radical — theologically and in his own journey — at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Hall of Philosophy. He said he will look at the term from various perspectives, because he thinks it is often misused.

Gordis explores the duality of radicalism within religion
Interfaith Lecture Recaps

Gordis explores the duality of radicalism within religion

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Radicalism is a loaded term. It can be explored in many contexts: social, political, religious. From the religious lens, there are two main forms of radicalism: radicalism and religion, and religious radicalism, Rabbi David M. Gordis said Monday in the Hall of Philosophy.

Gordis opened Week Eight’s Interfaith Lecture theme of “Radicalism: Burden or Blessing?” with a lecture discussing the duality of religious social functions, the two religiously focused forms of radicalism, and two radicals of the Jewish faith, in a lecture titled “Conserve or Transform: Religion’s Dilemma.”

Gordis is the president emeritus of Hebrew College and serves as a professor at the University of Albany. He began with discussing the two main functions of religion. Religion provides a sanctuary where people can find peace, prayer, worship and meditation. It is a stable institution that people can turn to when the world seems chaotic or insecure.

Roots of Chautauqua: radical to see and to understand
History/Archives

Roots of Chautauqua: radical to see and to understand

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It takes one to know one; that is truism. To see, one must understand; to understand, one must see: that is truth. Or is it French? Or is it radical?

“Too often, ‘radical’ has been taken to be someone who is left-wing or using extreme means to accomplish reform,” said Jon Schmitz, Chautauqua archivist and historian. “But it really means someone going to the root of the matter to solve a problem.”

Schmitz will present “Four Radicals at Chautauqua: Fr. Edward McGlynn on the Single Tax, Arabella B. Buckley on Modernism in Religion, John Dewey on Education, Arnold Schoenberg and Serialism.”

Part of the Oliver Archives Heritage Lecture Series, the presentation is at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ.

Romano: Radicalism, philosophical thinking can work hand in hand
Morning Lecture Recaps

Romano: Radicalism, philosophical thinking can work hand in hand

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A radical is the root of a chord in music, the root of a number in mathematics, the root of a plant in botany. Through the centuries, it has become the reflection of an idea as a whole.

“It should not surprise that no less than Karl Marx in 1844 said that ‘To be radical is to grasp the matter by its roots,’” said literary critic Carlin Romano.

True radicals — whether in politics, science, arts, literature or architecture — must take ideas as they are, reflect on them and head toward a new direction, he said.

Romano, professor of philosophy and humanities at Ursinus College, gave a lecture titled “America the Radical” during Monday’s morning lecture in the Amphitheater to begin Week Eight, themed “Radicalism.”