Contemplating Complex Realities
Asynchronous Session
Global Education in the Jesuit Tradition: Intercultural Practices as Truth and Reconciliation
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Laura Spitz, Eduardo Penalver
Jérôme Nadal, an early 16th century Spanish Jesuit priest, described “the world [as] “our house”. And while the precise meaning of that statement has been the subject of some debate, it is incontrovertible that from its inception, the Society of Jesus was known for its commitment to global engagement, including global education. Of course, the meaning and practices of that engagement have evolved in the last five hundred years, and Jesuit and Ignatian educators themselves acknowledge the importance of global collaboration toward the process of renewing, innovating, and re-imagining Jesuit education. This paper contributes to those conversations by putting the claim that a Jesuit education is necessarily a “global education” alongside the complicated and sometimes painful truths of the Church’s role in the violence and trauma of global colonialism. We take as our starting points (1) Pope Francis’s ‘Fratelli Tutti’—which in turn takes as its starting point, Saint Francis of Assisi’s call for a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance—and (2) Father Arturo Sosa’s ‘Encounter as a Dimension of Cultures and a Path to Peace’ and its call for intercultural encounter as a foundationally “participatory, interactive encounter with the historical, social, economic, and political context in which it unfolds” (at p.4). Ultimately, we aim to elaborate on the meaning, relevance, and value of a global education in the Jesuit tradition as part of a truth, reconciliation, and renewal process—or encounter—with Indigenous Peoples.
The Transformative Power of Vulnerability: Reflections on the Sermon on the Mount
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session June-Ann Greeley
Perhaps no other text in Christianity equates with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) as a teaching on social ethics, yes, but also as an exposition on the appropriate condition of being with which to navigate the troubled waters of daily life. Jesus spoke not to great scribes or scholars, leaders of the faith or the wealthy of society, but rather to the vulnerable and the defenseless, the broken, the forgotten, the poor, the abandoned, and that very act of preaching to that audience marks a prominent recalibration of perspective and meaning. While Jesus, as a Jewish rabbi, was not necessarily breaking completely new ground in all the exhortations of the Sermon, he was, as my paper argues, urging those before him to move more fully to other ground and to reorient their understanding of holiness and spiritual strength from exterior performance to interior reflection, from a condition of religious prowess to a status of spiritual (and personal) vulnerability. Jesus was asserting that the condition of being vulnerable, open-hearted, forgiving, and pacific, is the proper condition with which to confront God, yes, but also the only moral condition with which to live in the world and work for its transformation. My paper is a study of the Sermon as a validation of the transformative potency of vulnerability and refers also to some thoughts on the Sermon by Pope Benedict XVI and by Rabbi Jacob Neusner.
Reacting to the Irrationality Problem: Civilian Astrology and Certainty Posturing
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ian Anthony
This study investigates how individuals navigate what I term the "irrationality problem," i.e. the associated concepts in astrology related to religion and spirituality as they relate to science, particularly the gendered stereotypes of irrationality and the perception that those in astrology are uncritical. Through five years of participant observation and 45 semi-structured interviews, the study revealed three main findings: civilian astrology, astrological certainty posturing and hegemonic certainty posturing. Civilian astrology is a domain of astrologically interested individuals who engage deeply with astrology but frame their interest as "fun" to avoid the irrationality label. In contrast, those engaged in astrological certainty posturing assert the scientific legitimacy of astrology with unwavering confidence, often dismissing contrary evidence. Finally, hegemonic certainty posturing involves anti-astrology individuals, mostly men, dismissing astrology with little knowledge of it, often using sexist stereotypes to assert rational masculinity. These behaviors are analyzed through the lens of gender dynamics, particularly Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity, where rationality is a male performance. The study concludes that astrology serves as a site where gender, rationality, and scientific authority intersect, challenging simplistic binaries and highlighting the need for a nuanced understanding of how marginalized groups negotiate their identities within broader cultural contexts.
