Spirituality
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Social Imaginaries
“the social imaginary… are the ways people imagine their social existence, how they fit together with others, how things go on between them and their fellows, the expectations that are normally met, and the deeper normative notions and images that underlie these expectations.” Continue reading
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Canada’s Mindful Approach to Managing Trump’s Influence
“Canada’s long-term relationship with the United States is more significant than any one leader’s policies, and recognizing the impermanence of Trump’s influence helps in moving forward without dwelling on past conflicts.” Continue reading
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A Review of David Beck’s Fragments: Reflections on Life and Faith throughout the Years
If you are going through a midlife change, or reflect on life at all, you have to read this book. Book reviews are supposed to be brief, but exercising restraint in reviewing David Beck’s “Fragments: Reflections on Life and Faith through the Years” ($15 softcover, $9.99 Kindle US, on Amazon.com), would be inauthentic. Moreover, it… Continue reading
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The Moral Stakes in Being Authentic
“It turns out that the concept of common goods is constitutive of pursuing one’s interests.” Continue reading
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For Mom, not a mom
I stand and look out, at the dark lake,With the moon rising.And the horse and buggy are coming back in,From the past, in silenceWhere things they don’t existAnd we’re all in this together, till the endWhere the pearly gates remain openAnd welcome me homeBy the time I came to Manitoba, I diedAt the hands of… Continue reading
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Authenticity in an Age of Totality
In an age when the fifth type of totalitarianism, Mass Society, has systemically devalued and degraded the human person, I hope it is proper to demand a hearing of any and all authentic reactions in favor of a person’s inalienable solitude and for her effective freedom. The murderous cacophony of materialism cannot be allowed to… Continue reading
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It’s Hard to be Embarrassed; is that a problem?
This may be one time when we all know that we exist between the past and future. Continue reading
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Liberal Democracies buttressed by Illiberal Forces: a Social Imaginary
“what is meant by individual freedom is hotly contested and not just a brute fact. It must be nurtured and grown. This is how I experience my moment of bliss over bacon and eggs. This emerging freedom is a profoundly different social imaginary than the one on offer by liberal democracy.” Continue reading
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Rosie
I hope, at some point, a kind stranger will be a safe light in the middle of the night for my youngest. 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 