Learn how social virtues might help us navigate a democratic society in this webinar featuring Dr. J. Aaron Simmons from Furman University. This event is hosted by the Interfaith Dialogue Certificate and the Al-Ghazali Program.
Democracy requires that we work together, and yet American society seems to have slid into a radically antagonistic conception of public life. Opposition is the name of the game in a world where many conservatives accuse progressives of being anti-American, and many progressives accuse conservatives of being anti-democratic. This situation is made even more complicated once we consider the role of religion in our political orientations. It would be easy to give in to hopelessness or despair. In Camping with Kierkegaard, however, J. Aaron Simmons suggests as a possible solution the cultivation of humility, hospitality, and gratitude. These social virtues might allow us to navigate a democratic society under threat from rising authoritarianism, nationalism, and division. How can we cultivate such virtues? Simmons suggests a rather mundane reality: going camping and spending time in the mountains, on trails, and in rivers. Simmons contends that these virtues can be developed in ways that invite us to see each other as all inhabiting a similar human condition.
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