In recent years Progressivism has developed into one of the most powerful political and religious forces in the contemporary world. Even within more traditionally conservative communities, Progressivism has made significant inroads.
One of the common phrases heard within Progressivism is that there is a ‘right side of history’. This idea captures the belief that there is a correct position to take on many contentious issues within contemporary society. Depending on where you locate yourself in relation to that position, defines whether you are a relic of the past or a citizen of the future. In this way, the Progressive appears to posses a type of clairvoyant ability to know the future, or at least, how the future should turn out if we heed their sagely advice.
But what if the future is radically undecided and all our visions of how things should be are in actual fact adaptations of our present worldview… much like animated sitcom The Jetsons offered a fantastical future that really just represented the ideals of the age in which it was made.
In contrast to Progressivism, I’ll be making a case for Apocalypticism. In Apocalypticism we do not pretend to know what the future will be like - or should be like - and instead concentrate on exposing the cracks within the present system. An approach that can open up the possibility of novelty in the world, and lead to the formation of previously unimagined solutions to the problems we face today.
In this seminar, I will use the example of Northern Ireland to offer a critique of the Progressivism that dominates the contemporary religious and political landscape, exposing its implicit dangers and offering an alternative approach that can provide real solutions.
As always, it can also be watched live or later via Patreon. To access this - and all other - pyroseminars, you just need to be signed up to the Flame level, or above, on Patreon.
OTHER PYROSEMINARS INCLUDE:
Embracing the Absurd | Atheism isn’t Enough
Beyond Belief | Christianity and Ideology Critique
The Alien from Inner Space | Sin and Prometheus
On Love | The Unwanted Gift of Nothing
Embracing Failure | On Not Getting what you Want
The Tech of Pyrotheology | Transformance Art
The Tech of Pyrotheology | Decentering Practices
Freedom from Meaning | Drive, Grace, the Absurd
The Last Guru | On Fantasy and Transference
Escaping the Sitcom | On Brent and Gargoyles
Catching Light | Lewis and the Sublime
God After God | The Certainty of Doubt
Joined by Lack | The Ontic and the Metaphysical
Confronting the Holy | Whole or Hole
Losing the Lost Object | On Conversion
On Envy and Jealousy | Girard and Christology
Deranged Animal | Desire, Drive and The Thing
The Meaning in Life | Drive and the Transcendental
Alienation Times Two | Traversing the Fantasy
God Forsaking God | Conversion, Forgiveness, Joy
Who is No. 1 | Peterson, PC and the Unconscious
Is God Dead | The Event of Radical Theology
Mapping Pyrotheology | Returning to the Start
Problem or Symptom | The Zizek/Peterson Debate
The Magic Trick of Christianity
The Difference Between Identical Wines
Pyrotheology and Ultimate Concern