An Historic Tradition

In an age of sound bites, commercialism and the celebration of the trivial, our culture makes it difficult to dialogue about ideas. However, the popularity of coffee houses, talk radio and Internet blogs, among other things, highlight the appetite that exists for meaningful "conversations" about what is true and why it matters.

Thought leaders throughout history have understood the importance of learning how to think critically, and how to communicate in a company of challenging peers. Enlightened culture is born of enlightened people. Enlightened people are the result of enlightened conversations, many of which happen around meal tables.

This has been one important aspect of the best of education in the Western World. Indeed, a classical education at institutions like Cambridge and Oxford is still centered more around meal hall conversations than classroom-based activities. This approach to "conversational mealing" together is most commonly associated with the Greek tradition but is evident in the Biblical witness as well, most notably in the examples of the Apostle Paul and Christ Himself.

No wonder, then, that men like William Wilberforce understood the importance of setting the table to facilitate discussions about subjects like slavery and "the reformation of manners" in the England of his day. These gatherings offered the opportunity to change the minds of others, to improve one's own thinking, and to collaborate around worthwhile ideas and initiatives. Breaking bread and enjoying a good drink of one's choosing was typically the context in which that happened best.

In the case of Wilberforce and the prodigious "Clapham Circle" he co-founded, all of the participants "had embraced the life-changing faith that had transformed Wilberforce's life, and sought to love God and promote the happiness of their fellow creatures as he did." C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Dorothy Sayers similarly met with like-minded friends, naming their group of collaborative critics "The Inklings". But each of these groups had an apologetic and evangelical aim as well as a goal of personal betterment.

The historical context for PigFesting in America would be incomplete without reference to Ben Franklin, who formed his own discussion group, called "The Junto," with 12 of his friends. The Junto, which was organized for private discussion and "as a surreptitious instrument for leading public opinion," lasted for 40 years and eventually became the nucleus of the American Philosophical Society. Franklin described the genesis of The Junto in his Autobiography as follows:

I formed most of my ingenious acquaintance into a club of mutual improvement, which we called The JUNTO; we met on Friday evenings. The rules that I drew up required that every member, in his turn, should produce one or more queries on any point of Morals, Politics or Natural Philosophy, to be discuss'd by the company; and once in three months produce and read an essay of his own writing, on any subject he pleased. Our debates were to be under the direction of a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute or desire of victory; and to prevent warmth, all expressions of positive opinions, or direct contradiction, were after some time made contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties.

The legacy of The Junto, like that of The Inklings and the Clapham Circle, and many other such discussion groups not here mentioned, is stunning in its scope and reach. The deliberations of The Junto gave our nation its first volunteer fire department, first police department, first public hospital, first public library, paved streets, and the University of Pennsylvania. They gathered as a group, in order to be about the serious business of improving the culture, one discussion at a time.