The Breakdown of American Public Life and Its Rescue
I gave a lecture at the University of Nebraska College of Law on March 4, 2024.Audio Player
AI – Bruce Ledewitz and Arc of the Universe
Bruce Ledewitz, author of The Universe is on our Side, discusses the moral arc of the universe, the problem of meaning, and the influence of AI.
The Plight of a Secular Society
Clay interviews Bruce Ledewitz, the author of The Universe is On Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life. Since Nietzsche’s famous pronouncement that “God is dead,” Euro-American culture has become profoundly secular — and it shows, according to Ledewitz. Without the great tradition of Christian culture, America has descended into radical individualism without any moral anchor for public or private behavior. Ledewitz rejects the Enlightenment’s belief that secular culture is a sufficient restraining mechanism for humans who are, in the Enlightenment’s formulation, capable of considerable perfectibility. Jefferson’s belief in a “moral sense” is not enough to give American culture meaning or restraint. Ledewitz sees little hope for a restoration of a morally grounded American society.
The 2022 Symposium: Controlling the Supreme Court: Now and “far into the future”
The Wisconsin Law Review Forward was founded to publish pieces on current issues and reach a wider audience than our more traditional print law review. In keeping with that goal, we are launching a podcast to discuss current legal issues that affect those within the legal community and beyond. Our goal is to make the legal scholarship happening within the University of Wisconsin impactful and useful to individuals around the state and beyond. Each week, we will discuss a different current event topic with experts that have published law review articles on the area of interest.
Podcast interviews—American FreeThought. John Snider.
An interview with Duquesne law professor Bruce Ledewitz about his new book The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life. Bruce is a secularist who nonetheless proposes that the current societal crisis in America (and perhaps the entire Western world) is rooted in the aftermath of what Neitzsche called “the Death of God.” It’s a controversial proposition, as is his prescription for a way forward.
WhoWhatWhy | Jeff Schechtman
In The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life Bruce Ledewitz argues that there has been a breakdown in American public life that is beyond issues or politics. He argues that America is living with the consequences of the death of faith, which Nietzsche presumed would be momentous and irreversible.
According to Ledewith, America’s future requires that we begin a new story by asking a question posed by theologian Bernard Lonergan: Is the universe on our side?
Is the universe on our side? | Michael Ashford, the follow-up question.
In the Age of Evasion, irony replaces reason and passion replaces planning. And a lack of or even complete loss of faith. As a man who grew up religious who now is atheist, Bruce has a unique perspective on this loss of faith and what it has meant to our society. Yet interestingly enough, Bruce is also hopeful. In his new book, The Universe is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life, Bruce seeks to answer the question: Is the universe on our side? To those of us who believe in a higher power, the answer is an easy one, but there needs to be a deliberate attempt to understand how and why others don’t come to this same conclusion. And as for the answer for people like Bruce, who don’t believe in God, he actually makes the case that even so, yes, the universe is on our side. And if the answer is yes no matter where you stand on the topic of God, it has huge implications for our ability to overcome our lack of significance, trust, and faith.
Brad King, Writer’s Jam
Professor, anti-death penalty legal advocate, and author Bruce Ledewitz stopped by the Jam Bunker for a very soberting conversation about his latest book, The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life. Bruce and Brad sit down to discuss whether the United States can build a humane society without religion at the center of life, and the similarities between religion and secularism. You know: just a nice holiday dinner conversation!
In a time of political hostility, this Pittsburgh author blames ‘the death of God’ | WESA Interview, March 1, 2022
Bitter partisanship has become a hallmark of public life in the U.S., and in his new book “The Universe Is on Our Side,” Duquesne University law professor Bruce Ledewitz traces this breakdown to a loss of faith – in the future, in other people, and in truth.
Although the acrimony blocks action on issues ranging from immigration to climate change and has even erupted in violence at the nation’s Capitol and schools, Ledewitz writes that Americans can find hope if they are honest about the cause and ask a serious question: Is the universe on our side?
Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, March 3, 2022 | Made Local: Bruce Ledewitz
Parallax Views with J.G. | Michael, May 17, 2022
On this edition of Parallax Views, returning guest and occasional Mondoweiss contributor Yossi Gurvitz joins us from Israel to discuss the latest events around Israel/Palestine with a focus on events in East Jerusalem and the West Bank (particularly the Jenin refugee camp), the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the violence that erupted at her funeral, and the news that Hamas has announced it will retaliate if the Israeli nationalist far-right holds it’s “Flag March” in East Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day (May 28-29th).
