Reclaiming Goodness: Education and the Spiritual Quest

Religious Education, Fall 2002 by Garber, Zev

Reclaiming Goodness: Education and the Spiritual Quest. By Hanan A. Alexander. Notre Dame, In.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001. 268 pp.

Cross-denominational American religious education shares a two-- fold concern: (A) how to preserve our own religious beliefs and preserve our secular society; and (B) can the wellspring of religion fill the loss of spirituality and absence of goodness in contemporary America. That is, the founders of America, influenced by the Enlightenment, established a secular democracy, which, in the mind of some pundits and religious leaders, denigrated or deleted religion in public life, and, thus, the raison d'etre of hopelessness and lack of self-esteem and empathy by many in today's America. Alexander Hanan understands this sentiment and strongly suggests a centralist educational dynamic between relativism on the left and fundamentalism on the right. Additionally, Alexander affirms his religious identity as a traditional Jewish believer and pluralist, who sees the received revelation at Sinai constrained by rabbinic and contemporary moral insight, which in turn enables different Jewish communities to shape their own wielding of "the yoke of Heaven."

After an overview on the lack of ethics in American education. Alexander discusses personal, communal, religious, and moral virtues where spirituality becomes the matrix around which seven chapters (awakening, enlightenment and emancipation, subjective, collective, objective, intelligent, education), each containing three or four subtopics, are spun. Each topic is examined against itself and against the cultural and historical background from which it evolved, and in a select range of classical, medieval, and modern sacred and secular sources. The chapter on "Spiritual Awakening" assesses the theories of Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, and Locke about knowledge, ethics, and religion and argues that they are wanting in providing an agenda of the good life. On "Subjective Spirituality," direction is provided from turning inward, from cognitive belief to rational confirmation to mystical affirmation to words of unshakable belief in God and leading to discovering the self in transcendence. Other chapters critique the impact of dogmatism, positivism, relativism, scientism and a plethora of other-isms. The result is a challenging read in to obtain and maintain what Alexander calls "intelligent spirituality."

The last chapter focuses on incorporating spirituality into liberal education, where Alexander informs that this is possible and in the fullness of democratic principles, such as, critical thinking and exchange, freedom of thought and behavior, and fallibility that says no to absolutism. Alexander argues that spirituality demands an organic community, whose pragmatic philosophy of self-interest and mutual interdependence (Gesellschaft) is anchored to hard-core sectarian belief and practice (Gemeinschaft). Americans of all faiths have a stake in improving the moral quality of education. Thus, if Jews obey the words of Torah, "that you look upon it (present), and remember all the commandments of the Lord (past-present), and do them (present-- future) (Num 15:39) and Christians heed the word of the Lord. "Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Cor11:24) then individually and collectively, Synagogue and Church commendably contribute to the public policy of E Pluribus Unum.

The book is imbued with a sense of urgency and surety. For the general reader (a targeted audience), it will appear at times difficult to penetrate, sifting through pedagogical viewpoints or nuanced analysis of specialized data. Cavil aside, the book is engaging, forthright, and somewhat personal. Further, in the arena or morality and goodness, it maintains that we have the power to change the character and quality of our lives. Religious educators will no doubt agree.

Zev Garber

Los Angeles Valley College