Spirituality
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Donald Trump and Hannah Arendt’s On Violence: Power Without Power
“A politics that cannot cooperate must coerce. And a politics that must coerce has already failed.” Continue reading
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Beyond Mastery: Grounded Human Power
The choice between domination and cooperation is therefore not merely political or organizational. It is existential. How we exercise power shapes who we become. Leverage secures obedience but hollows identity. Cooperation demands patience and humility, but it produces belonging. Continue reading
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A Letter to David Brooks
My brother and I have had recent dialogues about the necessity of the death of self. I feel like in much of the conversations surrounding the death of self, many people have meant the complete submission of the individual. But some mystics have understood the death of self to mean the destruction of the false… Continue reading
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Understanding Sovereignty in Modern Political Discourse
Sovereignty renewed appeal cannot be explained solely by shifts in global power or the breakdown of international institutions. Rather, sovereignty has become inspirational because it mirrors a deeper concern of our age: the struggle for authenticity, i.e. the desire to act from within one’s own values rather than as an instrument of external systems. In… 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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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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Re-thinking Inclusion Part 2: Neurodiversity and Expectations of Agency
This is a snippet of an upcoming publication – in a slightly modified form. It is a section of a chapter entitled, “A Social Model of Learning” 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 