Prescription – Ten Images of Hell in the Twenty-First Century

How should we respond to manifestations of Hell on earth? The answer we give is a matter of prescription. In the preceding sections, we discussed the moral implications of the view of hell we take. In this section, I want to pose two questions: First, what does it mean to say that we have a duty to follow our moral principles? Second, when (if not always) do we have this duty?

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THE PLIGHT OF THE REFUGEE: “HELL ON EARTH”

The goal of this section is to meditate on the plight of the refugee, not necessarily to get into the nitty-gritty political questions surrounding the world refugee crisis. To this end, I would like you to be prepared to talk about the following issues:

What does it mean to be a refugee?
Why do we, as human beings, struggle with the issue of empathy?
If we should be empathetic, how can we be sure that we will be?

Jesus was a refugee: She brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn (World English Bible)

23. Tuesday, April 7

Discussion:

Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil’s Highway: A True Story. Read at least the first half of the book. Available online under course reserves on the Hesburgh Site

WWJD?: Jesus the Refugee – Matthew 2:1-15 READ AND PRINT

24. Thursday, April 9

Discussion:

Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil’s Highway: A True Story Finish the book. Hesburgh online.

Contrast with “The Forbidding Reputation and Hypnotic Scenery of the Devil’s Highway: HERE

EASTER BREAK

Friday, April 10 – Monday, April 13

25. Tuesday, April 14

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with Barbara Szweda, an attorney and expert in immigration law. Szweda has extensive experience with the issues and human experiences depicted in The Devil’s Highway.

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26. Thursday, April 16.

COVID-19: “Sick as Hell”

What are the concrete implications of the Coronavirus for our daily lives? What do these implications suggest about the choices we should make? These articles offer four possible scenarios (one can think of many more). As you read them, please ask why each is more, or less, persuasive, and why.

Discussion:

“The Pope sees the pandemic as a chance to ‘see’ the poor”: READ

Brian Chen, “The Lessons we are Learning from Zoom” READ As you read this, think about Eggers’ message in The Circle.

Paul Krugman, “American Democracy May be Dying” READ

This article is very critical of Donald Trump. And why not? All of our leaders, Republicans and Democrats, should be subject to criticism; in fact, the idea of democratic representation suggests that they should be more subject to criticism than anyone else. After all, we have elected them; they hold power over our lives. Please feel free to disagree with the author (I do, in part).

“As I was walking I saw a woman step out of a building with a jar” READ

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GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: “The Fires of Hell”

27. Tuesday, April 21

Discussion: Do we have the same moral obligation to care for our planet that we have to care for our fellow human beings?

Fourth National Climate Assessment (2017): Official Report to the US Congress and President: READ ONLY the Italicized summary points HERE

Pope Francis. Laudato Si’: A Summary : PRINT AND READ THE SUMMARY OF EACH BULLETED ITEM Concentrate on Sections II, IV, and VI.

A. James McAdams, “Post-Truth, Climate Change and the Idea of the Modern Catholic University” PRINT AND READ

Interview with Leonardo Boff: RE-READ focusing on the second part on related to our natural environment

“Coronavirus holds key lessons about how to fight global climate change” READ

What can the Coronavirus teach us about how to prepare for the looming existential danger of global climate change. I say “looming” in reference to the United States. Climate change has already resulted in the devastation of vast parts of the developing world, especially Africa.

“Trump on climate-change report”: READ

27. Thursday, April 23

Discussion: In this session, I would like to focus on the idea of Hope. Up to this point, we have looked at some pretty awful aspects of the human experience. Does this mean, however, that this is the whole story. I would not like you to come away from this class as hardened cynics. Indeed, I think we can–and should–come to the opposite conclusion. For humans to survive in a troubled world–one which is largely of their own making–we have to cultivate the opposite of cynicism. We must cultivate Hope. Today, I ask you to reflect with me about the meaning of Hope in our lives. Where does Hope come from? How do we maintain it?

Please read these articles about Hope. Identify their similarities and differences. As you read these articles, ask yourself whether they correspond with the views of any of the specific authors we have read this semester. If so, which ones? Or do they represent concincing alternatives to these authors’ arguments?

Kelly J. Baker, “Why I remain hopeful,” Chronicle of Higher Education PRINT AND READ

Samuel Scheffler, “The Importance of the Afterlife. Seriously. PRINT AND READ

Roy Scranton, “Raising my child in a doomed world” PRINT AND READ

Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Nobel Lecture” PRINT AND READ

28. Tuesday, April 29

Great Debate #3

In this class session, we will conduct a debate about the following scenario:

It is 2070. The world appears to be coming to an end. Global climate change has transformed once fertile parts of the world into arid deserts. From Tampa to Miami to New Orleans, entire cities have disappeared into the ocean. Forest fires have destroyed the West Coast. And there is not a drop of water in Arizona and New Mexico.

In this scenario, even the most dire predictions of climatologists in 2020 about the existential threat to humanity have been exceeded. Still, there remains a tiny—indeed, almost imperceptible–sliver of hope that a very small number of human beings will find a way out of this hell on earth and stay alive to repopulate the globe, even if it will take tens of thousands of years to restore even a minute fraction of the planet’s population.

Nonetheless, it is too late to save one aspect of human existence. Given the daily struggle to survive, the few human beings still alive will have already reverted to their basest instincts and become engulfed in a “war of all against all.” Not a shred of human decency, morality, or respect for the dignity of others remains

Opportunities for further thought:

What does it mean to love your neighbor? And why on earth is this subject relevant to our class? Two of many images from the Christian Bible:

2 Timothy 3: 1-5 READ

1 John 3: 16-18 READ

“Bears thriving at Yosemite. Clear skies. Does coronavirus reveal a ‘World Without Us’? READ and WATCH

“The World Without Us” WATCH (If one of you could find a sharper version of this video and then show me how to copy it, I’d be very grateful).

Ecclesiastes 9:11 “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.

No one ever asks me why I put this passage from the Bible at the end of my courses. Will you?