Sociology as Personal

Today, I read about faith integration and it was so "up my alley". Why? Because it used the sociological to engage the disciplines that make public policy!!! This is what my blog has been about all along, as I have journeyed in my faith...

Sociology was my major when I left the university, before finishing at IWU. When I met with Steve Stahlman, a professor in the social sciences at our university, many years ago, there was no sociology major, only social work. I tried to explain that my heart was theoretical, as I desired at that point to integrate a professor's Western Intellectual Social History with the disciplines. This professor had set "Athen at odds with Jerusalem"....

Sociology was important to me because it touched on the human. And since the human was important to me, my ethics class impacted my decision to change my major to religion and philosophy. Ethical questions are real questions that impact real people, and that matters...a LOT!

But, sociology was also the experience within the social structures, that were to bless and gift life, itself. Sociology, in this sense, is personal. Personal because religion is personal, because religion is how one views "god", while sociology is how one views relationships, and politics is the playing out of relationships in the "real world". And ethics is how we put is all together in our values, that make our lives meaningful....

Politics is known as a dirty word, as usually it is used to make a contrast between "us and them". But, politics does not have to be a dirty word, as politics is the domain of leaders, who impact vision, policy, and impact others in their personal life, as to lifestyle and choices available.

I am glad that we live in a free society that is free from tribalism, inhumane governments, and a limitation of choice. But, that does not mean that I don't want to see change in other governments, or international policy to influence other governments. In fact, our government is the greatest, highest, and best moral order available to man. And I hope that we see the friut of our moral form to be spread, or at least, our moral influence to impact others for good....

So, sociology is personal, as it gives a framework of understanding life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But, sociology does not mean socialism, but social value, which each human life must have.