How can these defining elements be better brought together to create a richer picture of reality? It’s not easy, but here are some proposals the working group offered.
Ron Hansen M.A. ’95
10 Dec 2010
Culture is a set of values, attitudes, and behaviors that give us something in common with a definable group of others. Science seeks to elucidate and appreciate the complexity of our world and the laws governing material creation. Theology seeks, among other things, to understand and appreciate the Creator and the significance of created reality for human happiness and our ultimate destiny. Each can benefit from the insights of the other, and also challenge each other. Of particular interest for global institutions of Jesuit higher education in some cultures are the powerful influences of science, technology, and religion upon belief, resulting in new challenges such as atheism, secularism, and fundamentalism. In Mexico City, an international think tank dedicated to analyzing and evaluating “culture” was proposed. Regional consultations uniting similar cultural legacies would follow, and then Jesuit institutions would respond to the cultural analysis and evaluation with factual, imaginative, analytical, and experiential learning.