Peter Kazmaier

C. John Sommerville, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Florida, has written an engaging book entitled Religious Ideas for Secular Universities. As he looked back on fifty years of university life as both a student and a professor, he wondered at how much the mission and role of the university had changed in that time period.

“I thought I was finally able to see our universities the way American society does, as a good way of preparing us for our jobs, but not where we look to answers for our important questions.” [Page 3]

Sommerville amplifies this view on page 7.

“It seems that some time in the 1980’s accountancy became the queen of sciences. Universities are about money in a whole new way. They are now measured in terms of money – the size of their endowments, how much they can charge for tuition, and the return on that investment in the starting salaries of new graduates.”

Sommerville’s views lead to three questions:

1. Are universities becoming corporations?
2. If they are, is this a good or a bad thing?
3. If it is a bad thing, what can be done to reverse this trend? (continue reading…)

With the advent of the deep recession we have just experienced, there has been a resurgence of the theme that capitalism has failed and is dead or at least. The discussion around this topic has caused me to re-think Capitalism and in particular to wonder what makes Capitalism work.

One explanation both for the success of Capitalism and it’s failures is that Capitalism is founded on greed, the most predictable of human shortcomings. But is this really true? (continue reading…)

At the first lecture of Get Over Yourself by Bruxy Cavey an interesting book by J. M. Twenge and W. K. Campbell entitled The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in an Age of Entitlement was discussed.

In summary, Cavey, while he acknowledged there were people who had self-destructive perceptions of themselves, argued that “self-love” and “self-affirmation” have become a panacea of our generation for almost all psychological ailments. Instead promoting this, in his words we should:

“…renounce the pop-culture pursuit of self-love. Forget trying to love yourself more. In fact, most of us would benefit from thinking about ourselves less, period. Start focusing on the needs and desires of others, especially those people who are on the margins of social circles.”

In response to this, I would ask:

• Is it true that our generation is overly focused on ourselves?
• If we are, is it a bad thing?

(continue reading…)

Disclaimer: This review contains content and plot information so if you plan on seeing this movie, you may wish to defer reading this review.

The Valley of Elah is a dark, troubling movie. Although I hesitate recommending it to others, I found it to be thought provoking.

So what was the movie about? (continue reading…)

When I was an undergraduate, I was told by a fellow student who knew that I was a Christian that a Professor of mine had said to this student that he (the Professor) did not really believe one could be a researcher in science and a Christian. Now do not misunderstand me. I am not writing to show another example of “anti-Christian bias,” but rather the contrary. I believe the Professor in question, if this hearsay is accurate, was expressing a personal conviction. (continue reading…)

Why do so many people read Science Fiction? Why do so many more watch movies with Science Fiction themes. This was discussed on a TV Special called Listen Up TV on Global Television yesterday. You can also see it online .

One of the key conclusions was that Science Fiction encourages a sense of wonder and even of hope.

At the end of the special, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Lorna Dueck about The Halcyon Dislocation and my motivation for writing it.

Thanks for reading,

~Peter

Links to other Science Fiction Blogs cited in this episode:

• Gabriel McGee – SF Gospel Blog
• John C. Wright – John C. Wright’s  Live Journal
• Robert Sawyer – Robert Sawyer’s SF Blog

Every generation asks "how do I oppose injustice, tyranny, and oppression?" The answer to this question was the topic of a lecture called "Winning the Culture War " given to the Harvard Law Society on February 16, 1999. The speaker, the source of the oppression, and his solution may surprise you. (continue reading…)

Warning: If you haven’t read The Shack and are planning to read it, leave this review until later since I do discuss the content.

My overall rating is 4 stars. The Shack is a thought provoking book well worth reading.

The shack is a novel that tackles very difficult questions in a way that puts the reader in the very middle of the action and challenges him to tackle these questions in a personal way.. (continue reading…)

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed opened in Canada last night. I had family visiting so I went to the late showing to see what all of the internet buzz was about. In the end I think it is an excellent documentary that draws attention to the academic blacklisting of researchers who have demonstrated the audacity to reference or provide data that supports Intelligent Design. Although I knew of several of the individuals interviewed, there were many I had not heard about. As a person with one foot in academia, and who is quite familiar with the grant and publication peer review process, I could readily understand how that process could shut the door on any researcher who wanted to investigate a blacklisted topic such as Intelligent Design, however, what surprised me were the examples where this process was also applied to journalists who had attempted to highlight the plight of Intelligent Design researchers. The fact that journalists also have had their careers threatened for writing sympathetically on Intelligent Design was chilling. (continue reading…)

Dr. Armand Nicholi, Jr. is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He has taught a course on Freud and Lewis at Harvard College and the Harvard Medical School for more than 25 years.

In this book he compares the lives and thoughts of these two thinkers. He sets the stage for a debate on topics as diverse as God, love, sex, the meaning of life, and death.

The comparison is compelling because both grew up with a superficial religious upbringing and then became atheists. However from there their paths diverged dramatically. (continue reading…)