What is the IR?

What in the world is the IR? What does it stand for? Who is it? Look no further, for the answers are here. The IR stands for the Intellectual Renaissance. It is the brainchild of The IR Herald (me). The goal was to create an atmosphere and community in which it was not only acceptable to think and ponder ideas, but it is encouraged. We live in a society (in america especially) where so many people simply allow someone else to do their thinking for them. We of the IR encourage all to think, reflect, question and decide for themselves whether they agree with something or not. This is not a revolution, we are not proposing new ideas, nor are we attacking any particular school of thought. We are simply encouraging everyone to find out what their particular "school of thought" might be on each topic.

The IR began by meeting once a week for about two hours to discuss whatever idea presented itself. Soon a core group formed itself. This "core group" is only because they are the ones who chose to get on board with the premise quickly. I did have a familiarity with most of them, but they were not "hand chosen". If you are wondering a little more about us, here's some info. While we are not necessarily an ethnically diverse group, we have quite a varying range of positions on topics. I am the eldest of the group (currently). I am a 28 year old caucasian male. I have a wife and infant daughter. The rest of our core group are dating or single. We have a college student and a number of high school students. Our personal stances are not cut from one mold either. I am an ordained christian minister in our little midwest town, but the core group also contains those who profess atheism, agnosticism, and all ranges in between. We are neither "republican" nor "democrat" but look at each topic individually. Each member may find him or herself leaning toward one particular "side" if you took a general overview, but we choose not to look at it that way. We prefer to take each topic individually and see where we land.

The main rule of the group is simply this. "All views are allowed, but none have to be validated." Meaning, anyone can share their opinion on any topic, but we don't have to agree. I obviously believe in God, and it's my right to say so. But I also have to allow someone to claim that their sock is God, I just don't have to say they are correct, nor do they have to say I am. We both present our views and leave it at that. If a person finds their views changing, that's fine, but it is not mandatory. We also demand that each member be treated with respect. Derogatory terms or belittling will not be tolerated, feel free to challenge an idea, but not attack the person behind it. Everyone has a right to their opinion. Interestingly, the "dividing lines" tend to morph with the topic. One member may find himself in a heated debate with another member on one topic, only to find them defending each other on the next. There is no "us vs. them" mentality. At the end of the day we are still quite civil (we have yet to have friendships dissolve).

The purpose of exposing this group to the web in a blog is to give opportunity for others to engage in these discussions. For those who cannot attend the weekly meetings, due to location, time or some other factor, they can now interact on topics at their leasure. Also, sometimes a person is not as familiar with a point of discussion. In the weekly meetings it is in the moment, there are no resource materials, time to research, etc. These blog threads will allow time to search and ponder. A new topic will be added at least once a week (possibly more depending on how the interaction goes), but one thread does not end because a new one is posted. This will simply be the schedule for new postings. Because the topic threads may become quite involved, there will be a six member governing body to take care of any maintenance, enforce comment rules if needed, and make general decisions. Those six members the core members of the original IR meetings. They will be listed on the main page as they get their logins verified. If anyone ever has a question or concern they can be directed at any one of those six moderators.

Finally, who is eligible to comment on a post? Anyone who would like. There is no age, gender, race, view restrictions. We encourage all to speak as they feel. The point of this entire project is to open the door to discussion and thought. Feel free to sign your name to a comment or post anonymously (if the anonymous post option begins to be abused, i.e. offensive content, derogatory terms, personal attacks on other posters and not their views, etc., changes can be made) The topics will vary greatly. We will approach everything from politics, religion, science, society, and anything else we can think of.

We of the IR encourage and welcome your thoughts. We hope that you will join us in our goal of making "thinking" a popular thing again. Feel free to direct any questions or comments on this blog, the group, or the project to this particular post as a comment. Thank you for your time.

-The IR Herald
Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people. --William Butler Yeats