What we’re about
Who we are
"The unexamined life is not worth living" is a famous dictum supposedly uttered by Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth. This is the ethos that we live by.
A friend recently told me, "I feel driven to Christianity at this time in my life, but one discussion with a Christian talks myself out of it." I think this is a real unfortunate problem for people: people need meaning and yet can't settle for a meaning given to them that is insufficient. First of all, we will welcome all creeds in this group, and we will ask for some decency on delicate subjects, but nothing is going to be above criticism.
I hope this will be unlike any book club that you've ever been to. If you're like me, you've tried going to book clubs and found that you don't need anyone to help you read, nor do you need the half-baked opinions from other members of the group who spent all of their energy just processing the material by rote.
What we do
I don't know exactly how to lead a group like this yet, but I believe we can do better. I think we could use monthly meetings to discuss an entirely new subject and ask that our members bring something of substance to that discussion. This may mean we all read our own books and compare notes. It may mean we do all read the same book, but only something so incredibly dense and vital to everything (which I think would be difficult to fit into a single month of reading requirements anyway). I'm more interested in having good discussions that are driven by a desire to learn, as well as people just passionate enough to share their latest interest.
I'm envisioning either a weekday evening or a weekend midday meeting. We can figure out what is best for regular attendance. Eventually, we can mix in other activities like mini golf, bowling, and things of that nature. However, there are a lot of groups out there that just do those things, so I'm looking for a little more substance here first.
Subjects
I'm not so much driven to the passionless discussion of words and definitions, even if someone says they are important. I'm driven to things that move me, give me meaning, and develop virtue in my life. In other words, it is not lack of opinion, but the continued molding of one's opinion, that makes up "free thought".
I've read books on philosophy, mythology, history, and science, and I find them all insightful to the human condition, and many are passions of interest. I love specific historical periods. I like comparing different archetypal systems and theories of psychology. In the end, I'm going to decide for myself what is right, not what any single author or authority says it is.
