Confronting Evil Today

Beginning this Friday, Jan. 16, 2009, Dr. David Seljak, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at St. Jerome's University in Waterloo, will be presenting a three-part mini-course on the nature of evil in modern society.

In the first lecture, on Jan. 16, Seljak will discuss why acts of great evil often result from efforts to build good societies. He will discuss the role of ideology, bureaucracy, technology and scientific reason in the process of spreading evil in modern society.

This should be interesting. The fetish for social engineering, which has been the calling card of Progressivism since the late-nineteenth century, ought to figure prominently in any such analysis. Remember eugenics, anyone?

If you're in or around the Grand River area (I'll never get used to calling it that), and wish to check out Dr. Seljak's presentation, here is the location and contact information:

The 7:30 p.m. lectures will take place at St. Jerome's University, 290 Westmount Rd. N., Waterloo. Admission is free. For more information visit the website http://sju.ca or call 519-884-8111, ext. 28259.

Subsequent lectures in the series will focus on peace activism (Jan. 23) and Roman Catholic teaching in responding to evil (Jan. 30).