Thank you for this. I agree: ethical and philosophical education is absolutely essential.
It seems to me that our world would be such a better place if we taught not only how to do something, but also the why. And, as you said, how to live a life that makes the world a better place.
Practically though, I wonder about how this would be included in school systems where we can barely convince many students and families that foundations like math and reading and history are important. How can we possibly bring so many on board with such an abstract and "non-career" focused thing such as philosophy and religious studies?
Regardless, thank you for this post. It reminds me of an instruction from my own faith tradition: Above all, pursue Wisdom.
As stated, this is a response to the short sighted Christian Nationalist desire to fill the public schools with their own ideas instead of American ideas. I am saying expand that impulse to include everyone and the wisdom and ethics of all cultures. That is the logical progression in an enlightened society.
My work, as I see it, is to place into the public conversation the visions I believe would serve us best. That is my responsibility as a citizen, and it is my voice. I’m not here to count how many agree, or to water down an idea so it meets less resistance. Opposition is inevitable. The point is to plant seeds - clear, strong, and visible - so they can take root in the imagination of the culture.
This is not a quick harvest. It may take ten years, or twenty. Like making art, it requires showing up again and again, even when it feels like the work is vanishing into the void. You do it because the alternative is silence, and silence leaves the field to lesser visions - visions that diminish us, that shrink our sense of what is possible.
I am suggesting that creativity is what needs to be the basis of education. that helps with any career path, makes a stronger better more alive citizen. that's what we need more than anything. AI and robotics are for all the menial tasks. No reason to waste the next generation's time on that. They need to become humans.
Every story, every proposal, every vision for the future is an act of resistance against that narrowing. You never know which sentence will strike a nerve, whose mind it will open, or how far its ripples will travel. A single idea in the right place, at the right moment, with the right hearer, can change the course of things.
It all begins there - with the courage to say, This is the world I see, and I offer it to you. My role is to shape those worlds and speak them into being. The work of carrying them forward belongs to many more hands than mine, but without the spark, without the vision, the larger fire never catches.
So I offer these visions not as final answers, but as starting points. The work ahead is larger than any single voice, and it will take a chorus of citizens, creators, builders, and dreamers to move them from possibility into reality. If something here stirs you—if you see a glimmer of the future you want to live in—then take it up. Carry it into your conversations, your circles, your work. Shape it, challenge it, make it stronger. The future is a story we tell together, and it begins with those willing to speak it aloud.
I am so with you. My belief is that this class(es) should start early on in school before young people become prejudiced against any religion (or person who practices that religion) that they do not fully understand. You can find this type of class (or classes) at the college level, but it is likely that the people who takes these classes are open-minded or seeking to find a religion that they can identify with. I think that the categories (is that the right word?) of atheists and agnostics should also be included as atheists and agnostics fit into every religion, right? I think embracing our journey here on Earth is much easier by embracing the religion and culture you choose that makes you happy (or at least happier).
With atheists, I have often noticed that their position is not so much a rejection of Reality itself, but a rejection of particular portrayals of it. They are mostly against established beliefs, or they no longer believe in the God-ideal they inherited from childhood. In many cases, it is a reaction against a concept that felt too small, too distorted, or too burdened with human hypocrisy to be worth keeping.
The difficulty comes when this rejection hardens into a blanket dismissal - when, in resisting what they have known, they close the door on what they have not yet met. The refusal becomes a kind of belief in itself: the belief in not believing.
From a more expansive perspective, this can still be seen as a stage along a greater journey. Turning away from false images of the Divine may be a necessary clearing of the ground. But at some point, if one is alive to the depth of things, the Unknown asserts itself. The veils lift, and the old definitions - whether for or against - lose their relevance.
One eventually has to surrender even the conviction of disbelief when confronted by a reality that is undeniable, immediate, and beyond all prior naming. In such moments, the stance of resistance is no longer possible, for what is met is not the image of god one argued against, but the living presence that all true seeking has been moving toward all along.
I have loved all your ideas on education. All I can do is share and hope that some seeds with get planted. Also, I’ve enjoyed the artists you’ve been using to illustrate your writings. Seeing a few “old friends” and being reminded of people I haven’t seen in a while.
Thank you for this. I agree: ethical and philosophical education is absolutely essential.
It seems to me that our world would be such a better place if we taught not only how to do something, but also the why. And, as you said, how to live a life that makes the world a better place.
Practically though, I wonder about how this would be included in school systems where we can barely convince many students and families that foundations like math and reading and history are important. How can we possibly bring so many on board with such an abstract and "non-career" focused thing such as philosophy and religious studies?
Regardless, thank you for this post. It reminds me of an instruction from my own faith tradition: Above all, pursue Wisdom.
As stated, this is a response to the short sighted Christian Nationalist desire to fill the public schools with their own ideas instead of American ideas. I am saying expand that impulse to include everyone and the wisdom and ethics of all cultures. That is the logical progression in an enlightened society.
My work, as I see it, is to place into the public conversation the visions I believe would serve us best. That is my responsibility as a citizen, and it is my voice. I’m not here to count how many agree, or to water down an idea so it meets less resistance. Opposition is inevitable. The point is to plant seeds - clear, strong, and visible - so they can take root in the imagination of the culture.
This is not a quick harvest. It may take ten years, or twenty. Like making art, it requires showing up again and again, even when it feels like the work is vanishing into the void. You do it because the alternative is silence, and silence leaves the field to lesser visions - visions that diminish us, that shrink our sense of what is possible.
I am suggesting that creativity is what needs to be the basis of education. that helps with any career path, makes a stronger better more alive citizen. that's what we need more than anything. AI and robotics are for all the menial tasks. No reason to waste the next generation's time on that. They need to become humans.
Every story, every proposal, every vision for the future is an act of resistance against that narrowing. You never know which sentence will strike a nerve, whose mind it will open, or how far its ripples will travel. A single idea in the right place, at the right moment, with the right hearer, can change the course of things.
It all begins there - with the courage to say, This is the world I see, and I offer it to you. My role is to shape those worlds and speak them into being. The work of carrying them forward belongs to many more hands than mine, but without the spark, without the vision, the larger fire never catches.
So I offer these visions not as final answers, but as starting points. The work ahead is larger than any single voice, and it will take a chorus of citizens, creators, builders, and dreamers to move them from possibility into reality. If something here stirs you—if you see a glimmer of the future you want to live in—then take it up. Carry it into your conversations, your circles, your work. Shape it, challenge it, make it stronger. The future is a story we tell together, and it begins with those willing to speak it aloud.
I am so with you. My belief is that this class(es) should start early on in school before young people become prejudiced against any religion (or person who practices that religion) that they do not fully understand. You can find this type of class (or classes) at the college level, but it is likely that the people who takes these classes are open-minded or seeking to find a religion that they can identify with. I think that the categories (is that the right word?) of atheists and agnostics should also be included as atheists and agnostics fit into every religion, right? I think embracing our journey here on Earth is much easier by embracing the religion and culture you choose that makes you happy (or at least happier).
With atheists, I have often noticed that their position is not so much a rejection of Reality itself, but a rejection of particular portrayals of it. They are mostly against established beliefs, or they no longer believe in the God-ideal they inherited from childhood. In many cases, it is a reaction against a concept that felt too small, too distorted, or too burdened with human hypocrisy to be worth keeping.
The difficulty comes when this rejection hardens into a blanket dismissal - when, in resisting what they have known, they close the door on what they have not yet met. The refusal becomes a kind of belief in itself: the belief in not believing.
From a more expansive perspective, this can still be seen as a stage along a greater journey. Turning away from false images of the Divine may be a necessary clearing of the ground. But at some point, if one is alive to the depth of things, the Unknown asserts itself. The veils lift, and the old definitions - whether for or against - lose their relevance.
One eventually has to surrender even the conviction of disbelief when confronted by a reality that is undeniable, immediate, and beyond all prior naming. In such moments, the stance of resistance is no longer possible, for what is met is not the image of god one argued against, but the living presence that all true seeking has been moving toward all along.
I love the way your mind thinks and processes things. Thank you.
I have loved all your ideas on education. All I can do is share and hope that some seeds with get planted. Also, I’ve enjoyed the artists you’ve been using to illustrate your writings. Seeing a few “old friends” and being reminded of people I haven’t seen in a while.
Boy, that is a big shoe to fill. How many lifetimes would it take?
well, let's see, it has taken at least a 1,000 lifetimes to get to this point. Hum...