George Weigel on John Paul II's "Culture-First" Approach: The Pope-Saint's Lessons for Parents, Teachers, and Leaders
\u201cEducation,\u201d wrote G. K. Chesterton, \u201cis simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.\u201d If Chesterton is right, then education is about transmitting a culture, for what is culture if not the embodiment of a society\u2019s soul? And what \u201csoul\u201d can be passed on from one human to another if it is not first embodied?\xa0
To discuss the importance of culture both to society generally and education specifically, we welcome to HeightsCast George Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a New York Times bestselling author. In the episode, Mr. Weigel speaks about Pope St. John Paul II\u2019s \u201cculture first\u201d approach. Contrasting the late pope\u2019s view with Marx\u2019s view of economics as the primary driver of history and the Jacobin view of politics in the driver seat, Weigel explains the historical and philosophical roots of John Paul II\u2019s view of culture as the driving force in history.\xa0
Along the way, he discusses what culture is and what education has to do with it.\xa0
Recommended Resources\xa0
Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel
John Paul II and the Priority of Culture by George Weigel\xa0
Also on the Forum\xa0
Family Culture with Alvaro de Vicente
Creating a Culture of Learning in the Home by Alvaro de Vicente