THOUGHTS ON “The Courage of Dauntless Hope” by Ken Zick

1. on “Free Speech”. At what point does the exercise of “Free Speech” become so harmful that it needs to be curtailed, censored, or silenced? The classic defense of free speech comes from Oliver Wendell Holmes, who believed the cure for harmful speech was more free speech, reasoned counter-arguments that a society of critical thinkers could evaluate and decide upon for themselves. Against this thesis Ken Zick cites the controversial work of Stanley Fish, who seems to say that power determines whose speech is going to be heard, and the idea of an even-handed “market place of ideas” is an illusion. Hate speech needs to be regulated in the interest of preserving civilization itself. The whole issue becomes more complex when social media companies assume the role of arbiters of what speech is to be considered suitable for public consumption. Ken Zick acknowledges the complexity of this issue, but asserts that “we must be open to exploring controversial ideas without silencing the speaker.” Participants in a free society must be “open to the possibility that we could be wrong”, and that “Universities should be places to promote civil discourse on painful and emotionally disturbing topics.” Importantly, he also advocates “forgiveness” as a crucial element in making society workable. 
2. The Liberal Arts are essential for a workable democracy. The tendency to evaluate higher education in terms of its future earning potential ignores the importance of a capacity for critical thinking and an appreciation for “beauty, artistry, and wisdom”. “The magnitude of student debt threatens to imprison many students in what one author calls the great American debtor’s prison”. My father, Henry W. Sams, was an academician who advocated his entire professorial career for an approach to higher education that included the humanities, science, and mathematics in every students’ curriculum, regardless of their major interest. Ken Zick argues that “if return on an investment is the measure of a successful college education, the very core of our cultural heritage is endangered.” 
3. What constitutes “wisdom”? “…the empathic capacity for knowledgeable, ethical,and experiential discernment which becomes reflected in superior advice or judgments that capture a transcendent understanding of life, used for the good of others…true wisdom exhibits altruism and sacrifice for the benefit of others.” Humility is essential, along with an ability to not take oneself too seriously. 
4. Aristotle’s concept of “phronesis” refers to the balancing of “the need of the community with that of the individual”. Ken Zick refers to the work of John Dewey, “founder of the the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools”, my Alma mater, as it happens, who wrote that “ education is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction.” 
5. Ken Zick offers a nuanced approach to “Critical Race Theory”. It “can provide a useful lens to examine and reform disparate policies and practices. Indeed, it can enlighten. But if the mantra of systemic racism becomes a way of stigmatizing ‘white racism’ instead of edifying our understanding of racial disparities, we have failed to promote the ideal of equality…individuals cannot be forced to accept condemnation because of their racial identity…individual accountability must be based on one’s actions and speech alone.”    I am not sure how this has played out in the academic world, but in my own experience I have been astonished and grateful to find myself accepted, embraced, and forgiven despite my identity as a white male American with a privileged background. I accept that I have benefited in many ways from institutional racism and sexism, at the expense of women and oppressed minorities. It is painful when I find myself “stigmatized” by others because of my identity, but I don’t take it personally. I guess I am used to the idea of collective guilt because of my familiarity with the doctrine of Original Sin. As a godparent at baptisms I “renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God” on behalf of infants who haven’t had opportunity to harm anybody or anything, yet have been implicated in the sinfulness of all humanity simply by being conceived in a fallen world. Being anti-racist and anti-sexist does not exonerate me from being a white male, but it does free me to become part of efforts to dismantle oppressive systems and form relationships with others engaged in the same struggle. Of course, Original Sin is a theological concept that includes everyone of any race or gender, as does the notion of redemption…the black people and women and gay people who accept and forgive me are doing so out of grace, not because I am innocent. There are those who decline the opportunity to forgive, and want revenge and retribution. Such people come in all colors and genders. I don’t blame them for feeling aggrieved…they have a legitimate beef, especially descendants of holocaust victims and Native Americans and African Americans…which makes me all the more grateful for the inclusivity I have experienced among people who have every reason to condemn me for my white male identity. But righteous retribution leads only to more violence and resentment. As Martin Luther King and Desmond Tutu exemplified, reconciliation and forgiveness provide the only hope for a viable human future. As Ken Zick says, “perhaps we all need to forgive each other more than ever.” Amen.
6. Ken also examines the concept of “just war”, and makes the observation that “the threat of terrorism has become a slippery slope to justify all manner of mischief on the world stage.” He cites studies that reveal that soldiers in any army are chiefly motivated to fight by their love and loyalty to their comrades in arms, not by ideology or hatred for the enemy. I expect Ken would have agreed with my father’s position during the Vietnam War, when some of the faculty in the English Department he headed sought to shut down Penn State University as an anti-war measure. My dad defended their right to protest, but insisted that “a liberal education is the best anti-war measure one could possibly hope for.” 
7. Ken Zick also reflects on the pervasive culture of binge drinking and drug use that exists on most college campuses today. He associates this with “a media-saturated world of postmodernism, consumerism, relativism, and individualism [that] lead nowhere but to a culture of irony and the cultivation of cynicism.” I agree with Ken that a culture of addiction reflects a larger “addiction” to heedless consumption, self indulgence, and exploitation. I am not so sure that “irony” is a major culprit. The former Archbishop of Canterbury’s, Rowan Williams, has written about  “pervasive irony” that leads us to be skeptical of our own skepticism, and can lead us to a suspension of disbelief in regard to transcendent realities that our ancestors took for granted. Irony requires a degree of engagement, even commitment, to the reality portrayed in a film or a play. In the Twelve Steps, recovery from addiction requires an acknowledgment of “powerlessness”… an example of irony if there ever was one. For me, irony is not necessarily connected to cynicism, but rather a necessary component of faith and recovery. 
8. “The imprudent use of social media offers plenty of opportunities for magnifying the consequences of mistakes in judgment…an internet culture …provides a high-tech megaphone for every voice in our culture”. The plethora of such loud voices raises the ante in terms of the need for critical thinking, discernment, and access to wise counsel. Ken connects the ubiquity of social media to the emphasis on “self-esteem” that may have the “unintended consequence of elevating individualism over collective responsibility “. He regards the university as a context for teaching how “service to others takes us beyond ourselves and into a domain of concern for the feelings and dignity of others”. 
9. With regard to environmentalism, Ken cites a student who said “if we can’t change entrenched habits at a university…where else can we expect such change”? This was in the context of an effort to organize a campus-wide clean up of trash. “Most of us benignly accept our sense of hopelessness in addressing what we perceive as hopelessly complex global problems…but if the great majority of the world’s environmental scientists are correct, the consequences of global warming will eventually cause such devastating changes that the very existence of a livable planet will be endangered…to solve this global problem…will require a change in culture.” 
10. In regard to sexual morality, Ken Zick quotes a University president as saying “when no one is taught that sexuality is holy, how can we expect sexual conduct to be moral? Our discussions of human sexuality are missing reverence for these passions of the soul and for their motive and their emotive power. This sense of the numinous, the sense of that which is sacred and holy, is present in the act of love. That perspective we must seek to recover.” This reminds me of things written on human sexuality by Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, in which he seeks to regard sexuality as sacramental, and therefore calling for commitment and extreme respect, not casualness and self indulgence. For Archbishop Williams, the legitimacy of sexual relationships is less a matter of legality and more a question of “how much am I prepared for this to mean?” Many of the issues raised in Ken Zick’s book would be greatly impacted if one were to view the world, and human community, as “sacramental”, as “outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace.”
11. In his final chapter, Ken Zick relates experiences serving with Wake Forest students in a mission trip to Zambia. Here his Christian identity and perspective is most evident, when he cites the prologue to John’s gospel, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” For one who believes that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” there is always a basis for hope, creative effort, and sacrifice. Ultimately, educational efforts, service projects, social justice activism, and all creative activity have their genesis and their fulfillment in that conviction.