Why a Return to the True, Good and Beautiful is Needed Now More than Ever

We will discuss October 9th at our next New Trier Neighbors event about "How to Teach - and not to teach - Literature"

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

New Trier Neighbors mourns, with all Americans of goodwill, the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It is both real, and inconceivable, at the same time. We pray for his family and closest friends. Charlie, from our own backyard of Arlington Heights, demonstrated courage and civility that some of our nation’s political leaders, well beyond Charlie’s 31 years, could learn from.

What is especially concerning for America’s future is that some are celebrating and rationalizing his murder, because he had ideas they disagreed with. The lack of prominent leaders on the Left speaking out against the murder is especially worrying.

What we know at this time is that the alleged killer, 22-year old Tyler Robinson, once a bright student with a bright future, had drifted increasingly toward the hard progressive Left in the past year. We will not speculate here beyond what the investigation has revealed to date.

We will note, however, that Leftism is an ideology fueled by nihilism. Political violence coming from the Left is no surprise because nihilism is the rejection of fixed moral values, and the belief that nothing can be truly known or communicated. It is the opposite of seeking what is true, good and beautiful, as captured in the famous Bible verse above.

Charlie Kirk, RIP. May his memory be a blessing, and a call to action.

A return in our educational institutions to seeking truth, goodness and beauty is desperately needed right now. Indeed, long before Charlie Kirk’s murder, we had asked Northwestern professor Gary Saul Morson to address this very issue at a New Trier Neighbors event. Professor Morson is a world-renowned professor of Slavic languages and literature, and on October 9th in Glencoe, he will be speaking at New Trier Neighbors gathering about “How to Teach - and not to teach - Literature.”

Professor Morson believes that Russian literature, his speciality, is uniquely potent for speaking to profound issues of discerning right from wrong, seeking truth, and finding meaning. He will share with us why his approach to Russian literature is one of inquiry, contemplation, and seeing its moral horizons.

We are so grateful that at this inflection point in American history that Professor Morson will be speaking to us about why this approach to all worthy literature can help us reject nihilism in favor of truth, goodness and beauty. What would it look like for educators to take this approach, and could doing so on a wide scale be a needed life raft for our youngest generations right now?

Register here for October 9th “How to Teach - and not to teach - Literature.”