On August 24th, I had the great pleasure to speak with the critical theorist, dialectical religiologist, and theologian, Rudolf J. Siebert, to talk about political violence. Spawned by the latest attempt to assassinate the former U.S. President, Donald J. Trump, we discussed the long history of political violence and assassinations, the reasons why they continue to happen, and the potential for future violence in the name of political change. This discourse was sponsored by Ekpyrosis Press and the Institute for Critical Social Theory.

On April 17th, 2024, I was awarded two important awards at The University of Olivet: 1) Doctors Gorton and Peggy Riethmiller Award for Excellence in Teaching, and 2) the Presidential Distinguished Medalist – Most Influential Professor. The first is voted upon by the student body, and the second is given by a top five graduate of the senior class. I was nominated for the latter by Chelsea Wiltse, one of my Philosophy and Religious Studies students. Below is me at Convocation with Sydney Lynch, one of my very gifted and talented students, as well as a dinner I had with The University of Olivet President Steven Corey and Kelly Corey, with my students, Chelsey Wiltse, Taylor Darhower, Garrett Ennis, Sydney Lynch, and Sarah Zaharian, as well as my wife.

On March 28th, 2023, I had the opportunity to present my work on Russian political theology at the “Political Theologies after Christendom” conference at New College at the University of Oxford, UK. My presentation covered the development of the idea of the “Katechon,” first devised by St. Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians, later to be politicized and “Nazified” by Carl Schmitt, only to be now invoked by the fascist Russian philosopher, Alexander Dugin. The later sees the Russian Empire, and the current Russian Federation, as the “restrainer” of the Anti-Christ, i.e., the collective West and most specifically, the United States of America. Thinking of Russia as having such a God-bearing mission transforms Russia’s genocidal war of aggression against Ukraine into a soteriological project sanctioned by God: a perverse justification for mass slaughter, rape, and child abduction.

The conference was a wonderful experience. I had the great pleasure to be in the presence of some of the most profound scholars, many of whom came from Ukraine and Russia. Our discussions were lively, well-informed, and intellectually stimulating. Thank you Marietta van der Tol and Sophia Johnson for coordinating the event and New College/Oxford for hosting us.