Provocations: A Journal from the Trinity Forum

The Spaces We Inhabit

Sat 09 Jan 2010 by Keely Latcham

In thinking about the importance of the spaces we inhabit, I recently read The Architecture of Happiness by Swiss philosopher and author Alain de Botton. An interesting read accompanied by many beautiful photographs, the book encouraged me to think further about the connection between space and identity—and virtue. We are not just spirits; we are more than our online presences. We have bodies and we live in spaces that help shape our experience of life.

One of de Botton’s central ideas is that of an alignment between the visual and ethical realms. That is to say, we find architecture beautiful because it corresponds to our ideas about “the good life.” Beautiful buildings, de Botton suggests, correspond to virtuous and happy people. Of course this is not always the case, nor is it a causal relationship; while architecture may suggest such ideals, it doesn’t necessarily bring them about. De Botton notes, “Not only do beautiful houses falter as guarantors of happiness, they can also [fail] to improve the characters of those who live in them.” While architecture undeniably possesses moral messages, he says, it “simply has no power to enforce them.”

However, de Botton insists that beautiful buildings convey a moral attitude, which recalls the claim of the great nineteenth-century critic John Ruskin that buildings speak to us “both of what we find important and what we need to be reminded of.” De Botton writes that architecture invites us to emulate its spirit, offering values it encourages us to adopt as our own. “It is architecture’s task,” de Botton says, “to render vivid to us who we might ideally be.”

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Forgiving Enemies in Northern Ireland

Wed 06 Jan 2010 by Nigel Biggar

Spiritual Self-preservation, Absolution, and Compassion

Professor Nigel Biggar presented this talk on his understanding of reconciliation and its specific application at an evening event for the Westminster Forum of Trinity Forum Europe in December 2009.

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A Comeback for Faith in the UK

Tue 05 Jan 2010 by Jonathan Aitken

New spiritual interest emerging from the rubble of arrogant materialism

Jonathan Aitken, Executive Director of the Trinity Forum in Europe, reports on a rise of faith to deal with an age of anxiety in this piece written for the Daily Mail.

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The Gift and the Warning

Tue 24 Nov 2009 by Al Sikes

Lessons from the Bees

Trinity Forum Chairman Al Sikes reflects on his role as a beekeeper. True gratitude for God’s gift of nature includes learning to respect nature’s lessons.

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Before Clapham

Fri 30 Oct 2009 • Responses: 2 • by Cherie Harder and Peter Edman

Photo: Colin Smith [Wikipedia], CC License

The Legacy of Margaret Middleton

Lady Margaret Middleton is a nearly forgotten hero of abolition and a critical early influence on William Wilberforce through her networking, hospitality, and passion for justice.

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Secularism’s Special Pleading

Mon 05 Oct 2009 • Responses: 3 • by Hunter Baker

Wishing for the Naked Public Square

Hunter Baker looks at efforts to enforce a strict secularism in public discourse. Why would we need to prohibit people from using any public argument they wish to offer?

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The Importance of Gratitude

Wed 02 Sep 2009 • Responses: 1 • by Roger Scruton

Moving from charity to justice—from gift to rights—has social costs

Senior Fellow Roger Scruton reflects on the nature of gratitude and the cultural costs of ingratitude. When gifts are replaced by rights, so is gratitude replaced by claims.

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