Notes From The Roanoke Pigfest On March 24th

I opened the Pigfest with a Thomas Aquinas quote that "civilization is constituted by conversation." Lewis, Wilberforce, Newton, Franklin and Jefferson, understood the importance of mixing hospitality and conversation in advancing ideas and thought. I am sure each of them would have enjoyed dynamic conversation and excellent food we enjoyed in Roanoke on Friday night.

We discussed four truth propositions.

One, the church (defined as evangelical protestant churches) teach our youth that love amounts to being meek, mild and gentle. Jesus, however, was clearly not a casper milktoast wimp. So we need to teach our youth that love involves more than meekness -- it involves getting angry about what angers God, and it involves taking bold stands for justice.

Two, the Bush administration in its efforts to be tolerant of Islam has gone too far in accepting Islam's intolerance towards others. The most recent example of this was in the administration's inexplicably slow response to the Talibanish threats of the Karzai government to execute Abdul Rahman, the Christian convert in Afghanistan. Diana argued that Sharia law must be removed from Afghanistan's constitution, because Islam cannot co-exist with the notion of religious freedom. The discussion led to a great discussion about natural law.

Three, physician assisted suicide requires physicians to violate the Hippocratic oath of healing, and therefore they should not participate in helping patients to kill themselves. It was the most engaging discussion of the evening, and was enriched by contributions from two physicians and two nurses who were at the Pigfest.

Four, an artist can either pursue art wholeheartedly, or pursue God wholeheartedly, but he cannot do both. An artist who pursues creating the perfect piece of art will ultimately succumb to the temptation of idolatry in creating that piece of art. This led into a great discussion of art, beauty and worship.

The devil's rule was effectively used on several occasions, and the discussion was intense but friendly.

One of the participants summarized the propositions with the following aphorisms.

Love is more than just getting along.
There is a higher law, than the laws of man.
Human life has intrinsic value, beyond it's utilitarian use.
You are not your job. You are called to a higher purpose.

More details at : The Dawn Treader.

PIGFEST!

Pigfest is t'nite. The Pigfest staff at Mr. Dawntreader managed to scrounge up 28 of the sharpest thinkers in Virginia to attend ... from middle school ranks up through grandparents ... from poets to scientists ... from empiricists to romanticists.

There are some challenging topics in store for t'nite. Mr. Dawntreader himself has seen a preview of the topics to be discussed ... you won't be disappointed.

Bring your worldviews, your ideas and your appetite with you -- but leave your high school diplomas at home. Diplomas are not required for Pigfests.

The table has been set in the basement. The chairs are deployed. The food is being prepared. All we need ... is you.

P.S. Don't forget, apathy is strictly prohibited at all Pigfests.

cross posted at : The Dawn Treader.

Thomas Jefferson And The Art Of Pigfesting

Our third president, Thomas Jefferson, was quite the Pigfester.

It all began in his days in Williamsburg, Virginia. Jefferson enrolled in the college of William and Mary in 1760. He was mentored by Scottish Enlightenment thinker Dr. William Small. Small took his star pupil to the house of Governor Francis Fauquier for dinner and scintillating conversation. They were joined by the brilliant legal scholar, George Wythe.

Dennis Montgomery writes,

His [Jefferson's] scholarship was less the product of the classroom than the extramural inspirations of a maverick professor who recognized and cultivated frecklefaced Jefferson's budding genius. A torchbearer of the Scottish Enlightenment, Dr. William Small taught natural history. Under his tutelage, Jefferson toiled with the triumvirate of Bacon, Newton, and Locke, and gained admittance to the charmed circle of Governor Francis Fauquier. At the Palace with Small and George Wythe, he dined with three of Virginia's best minds, feasted on science and philosophy, bowed the fiddle, debated ethics, and polished his manners. They quickened his interests in the world, interests he would apply to the heavens, weather, music, mathematics, paleontology, surveying, gadgets, linguistics, education, literature, physics, metaphysics, architecture, art, history, antiquities, medicine, natural law, religion, government, and scientific agriculture. They opened his mind.

Young Jefferson's mind was stretched and challenged at those early Williamsburg Pigfests. He was also a close companion of Pigfester Benjamin Franklin when the two of them were in France. James Gabler explores this fascinating relationship in his book of fictional conversations between Franklin and Jefferson, An Evening With Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Dinner, Wine and Conversation.

Thomas Jefferson continued his Pigfesting while serving as the nation's third President. He used" dumbwaiters" to serve his meals.

When he had any persons dining with him, with whom he wished to enjoy a free and unrestricted flow of conversation, the number of persons at table never exceed four, and by each individual was placed a dumb-waiter, containing everything necessary for the progress of the dinner from beginning to end, so as to make the attendance of servants entirely unnecessary, believing as he did, that much of the domestic and even public discord was produced by the mutilated and misconstructed repetition of free conversation at dinner tables, by these mute but not inattentive listeners.

Jefferson's dinner parties became known for their pêle-mêle style in which visitors sat without regard to rank, and the presentation of food was no less unusual. By employing dumbwaiters, Jefferson reduced the number of servants or slaves required to serve the meal (customarily one servant per diner), but more than that, these dinners provided a mechanism for conversation among powerful political elites. Jefferson recorded the outcomes of his dinners by tracking the actions of legislators after they had personally learned of Jefferson's stance on a subject.

The "pell mell" seating at Jefferson's table stirred things up a bit with the soceity of his day. Gone were the days when the nobility were seated first. Jefferson would allow guests to sit randomly. Though it offended some, Jefferson lived consistently with his famous words : "all men are created equal".

Jefferson was a thinker, a musician, an architect, a scientist, a president ... but above all, Jefferson was a Pigfester.

Roanoke Pigfest On Friday, March 24th

A Wilberforce Forum Pigfest has been announced in Roanoke, Virginia for Friday, March 24th at 7:00 pm. Set the TIVO to record the Boston College -vs- Villanova game and head over to the Pigfest.

Greensboro Pigfest On March 23rd

A

WILBERFORCE

FORUM

pigfest

has been announced

for 23^rd March at half past seven o’clock

Mark your calendars !

Indulge yourself (pigishly) with fine food, drink

and conversation about the news and issues of the day.

Poets , songwriters and country philosophers welcome.

High school diploma not required.

But...come with a Proposition written down on an index card. A
proposition of something you propose to be true, with a brief (one
sentence) explanation of why you believe it, and why it matters.

There will be a celtic theme for the evening....

Roanoke PIgfest Gets A Nice Write Up In The Blue Ridge Business Journal

The Roanoke Pigfest got some nice press coverage recently. Dan Smith, the editor of the Blue Ridge Business Journal, attended the Pigfest in Roanoke on February 17th.

He writes a column in the journal (circulation: 60,000), and recently wrote an essay reflecting on his evening with the Pigfesters.

Smith's essay is entitled Ben Franklin and the Art of Conversation.

Southern Hemispheric Pigfesting

The first ever Pigfest in Johannesburg convened on Friday March 10. There were 20 lively participants. BBQ Pork ribs and chicken were provided by the host. Side dishes, desserts, and drinks were brought by each participant. The following 7 proposals were discussed:

1. *The South African government is just as guilty of genocide as Zimbabwe, given their abysmal handling of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
2. It is time to drop the “S” word (submit) in marriage counseling and replace it with another word beginning with “S” (subordinate).
3. The technology connecting the global village is ravaging interpersonal relationships.
4. As a result of specialization, knowledge has become inaccessible because of its complexity. In the postmodern world, researchers have become the arbiters of truth, but given the $ link to sponsors, it produces knowledge with a spin.
5. After WWII, the Japanese said that education is strength. In light of what is happening in our country, I agree with this statement.
6. *A Christian political party is ill-conceived at best and counterproductive at worst.
7. If the role of a pet is to provide for the lacking deep-rooted emotional needs of the owner, in a house with a cat, the owner is the pet!

The second Pigfest convened the next night (Saturday, March 11) at the same venue and with the same meal setup. Attendance was 23. The following 6 proposals were discussed:

1. *The discovery of life elsewhere in the universe will undermine Christianity and creationism.
2. *Mainstream Christianity will ultimately have a postmodern flavor.
3. The Christian church in the west has failed by allowing attendance to drop to record lows.
4. *Poverty is a symptom of capitalism and as with any disease, we need to attack the cause, not the symptom.
5. If wealth is to be a source of blessing, it must not be uselessly hoarded, unjustly gained, self-indulgently spent, or ruthlessly acquired.
6. *There is no free choice. God is all-powerful and all knowing and has given us only a perception of free choice.

* liveliest discussion

Lessons learned:
1. It is going to work better for me to coach on and vet proposals by email in advance rather than on the spot.
2. Need stronger warning against long-winded comments.
3. I am ok with questionable proposals as long as I have a few “go to guys/gals” that can lovingly put the bwv spin on it.
4. A prize (The golden rule award) was voted on at the end. I had some extra copies of Packer’s Knowing God. This little carrot seemed to keep the conversation more gracious

The Greensboro Pigfest Report

The conversation was lively, and the food was great. It was our first PigFest that we “themed”, in this case with predominantly Mexican food. The evening featured the following propositional exchanges:

Proposition #1: Hard power will be needed in responding to situations like Iran, rather than soft power, because soft power does not work without hard power. The participant cited an Economist quote from an Iranian leader: “Thank God that our enemies are idiots.” Does soft power work given the state of human nature? Some contrasted the difference in political philosophy based on differing opinions to human nature, as illustrated in Reagan versus Carter foreign policy models. This resulted in some background on the idea of “checks and balances” advanced by our Founding Fathers because of their suppositions about the fallen nature of man. The timer stopped us short.

Proposition #2: Americans are not good at applying cultural context to our reading.
We must think more thoughtfully about the use and meaning of literary phrases that require contextual interpretation. For example, in the book The Alchemist, the term “omen” is used. The negative reaction to this may be specific to American interpretations of this as a negative, demon-related expression; while in other cultures this term refers to the appearances of God. People view all literature through “worldview lenses” and we must be aware of this. This challenge is becoming more acute as the world becomes “smaller” (i.e., more connected). Ideas were suggested about how we can become more globally literate.

Proposition #3: Pat Robertson was wrong in his recent statements about Sharon
One person discussed his recent visit to the Middle East and the convincing conversations he had with Palestinians, particularly Palestinian Christians. This made him wonder if we have been oversold on a “blind fidelity” to Israel. Another noted that “taking the Lord’s name in vain” in the Hebrew actually refers not so much to swearing, according to the rabbis, but to the inappropriate assumption of the voice of God in communicating with others, which he suggested is Mr. Robertson’s chief problem in these kinds of pronouncements. Another referenced a new book by a Wheaton professor on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Proposition #4: There should not be a Christian Party
Reference was made to Abraham Kuyper and his notion of “sphere sovereignty” and the idea of a Christian party. One noted the essay by C.S. Lewis on the subject of Christian Political Parties (in God in the Dock), in which Lewis noted that it would be a bad idea. One asked, “Why? To rule?” Another mentioned Jesus and the coin, where he notes that we ought to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Another referenced Colson’s book, Kingdoms in Conflict. Others noted that if key issues arose in either party, they might defect, and the only option would be an Independent ticket or a new party altogether.


Tikkun Olam: how to improve PigFests as they emerge around the country? One person noted that one great problem in our New Society is a “lack of front porches”…which is one aspect of what Pigfests hope to recreate. The Roanoke idea to have people come with a proposition card was well received. Others highlighted the importance of a “starter kit” to make it easy for people to get their own groups going….