Authenticity
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Anabaptism and the Post Secular Condition: Witness, Pluralism, and the Limits of Secular Reason
I had gone out into the world as if it was completely unknown; I came back with the world in tow. Continue reading
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The Structure of Resilience: Part 1, A Lesson from the Steel Industry
You deserve an economy where resilience and fairness coexist, not one where one is used as an excuse to ignore the other. And as we think about fairness, it’s worth examining how power has operated in this sector for years. Large corporations have often held the upper hand, able to relocate production, shift supply chains,… Continue reading
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Doubt Beyond Certainty
My hunch that our religious instinct is best realized when we are exploring, and when we occupy places that permit exploration. Continue reading
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Secularism and Pluralism: Divergent Social Imaginaries
My faith as a Christian cannot be privatized. My relationship with God is personal, but it isn’t private. Continue reading
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A Deteriorating Internet
Advertising becomes more aggressive. User data is harvested more thoroughly. Algorithms are introduced not to foster understanding, but to prolong engagement. What was once delightful becomes tedious. Continue reading
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The Gift of Knowledge: Absorbed by Truth
Why do I say ex-philosopher? Because, since Descartes and perhaps before, modern Western thought has turned knowledge into a problem to be solved. Rationalism, empiricism, idealism, phenomenology, utilitarianism: all these systems tend to make knowledge into a mechanism of control, a means of prediction, a form of power. Descartes and Locke both used the word… Continue reading
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The Aura of Thought: McLuhan and Benjamin on AI
“Without presence, there is no memory. Without struggle, no ethics. Can a civilization survive on imitation alone?” Continue reading
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What A.I. Really Threatens: Yuval Harari and the Red Flag of Intimacy
It isn’t our sovereignty that AI threatens (since we never have been sovereign); it is our authenticity. Continue reading
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Alberta Can’t Follow Through
“You call for freedom, yet chain yourself fast, A restless spirit, but bound to your past.” Continue reading
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Rethinking Inclusion Part 3: Case Studies in a Revolution in Education
When we dug into it, we found that human agency, while widely assumed as a human right, is, in fact hotly contested and often inarticulate. It turns out this so-called human right to agency is something that isn’t assumed; it must be achieved. These institutional barriers have become systemic, and as such, we may begin… Continue reading
About me: I am a career educator and traveler at heart. My written work includes academic writing in philosophy and linguistics, English acquisition, and most intently in the areas of spiritual engagement with reality and what that means for our public lives.
My education is a mixture of formal study in philosophy, political theory, Biblical studies, and history, along with professional teaching certification in TESOL and in cognitive testing, and international teaching.
My travel experiences include a range of countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. I have lived in Canada, the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand. From those places I have traveled to many others besides.
I am a child of the 70’s and a “family man.” That means I have two wonderful kids who have been round the world with me.
Lastly, I am married to a wonderful woman since 2004. She is my partner, my friend, and my muse.
Thanks again for stopping by,
Raymond Klassen - Ideals and Identities 