I'm leaving newspapering -- but not journalism

Well, here's my big announcement: at the end of this year, I'm leaving the Dallas Morning News, and will start a job as director of publications at the John Templeton Foundation in suburban Philadelphia. My primary job there will be to create and edit an online magazine called Big Questions Online. It's going to be a philosophically-oriented magazine that explores fundamental questions arising from science, religion, the free market and public ethics/morality -- Templeton's four big areas of focus. I'm tremendously excited about this opportunity to bring the great work Templeton does to the reading public, and to put together a webzine that's intellectually diverse, lively and relevant to our public debates.

Readers may recall that I was a Templeton-Cambridge journalism fellow this past summer. That was my introduction to the work of the foundation. The two weeks I spent in June in Cambridge were among the most rewarding of my life. I heard from scholars and scientists -- some religious, some atheist -- who made me think hard and think differently about moral and philosophical questions. I'll never forget that afternoon session with Dame Gillian Beer, who spoke about how the Victorians interpreted Darwin's findings through the various lenses of popular culture. Similarly, John Gray's presentation of how the Enlightenment shapes the New Atheism and its blind spots offered another perspective on how the pursuit of knowledge is conditioned by culture. I wrote to my friend Gary Rosen at Templeton telling him that I was amazed and impressed by the great work the foundation does, and that more people ought to know about it. As providence would have it, I'm now going to be in a position to make that happen, and to enrich the public conversation about important issues and questions of our time. While eating cheesesteak.

Not long ago, I went to the bookshelf where I keep the books I read for my Templeton Cambridge project (on Traditional Chinese Medicine and its metaphysical-religious basis), trying to find a quote for a column I was writing. I stood there looking at the spines of those books, and remembered how intellectually refreshed I was from that experience. And now I'm being offered the chance to do that sort of thing for a living. Julie and I talked about it at great length, prayed about it, visited Philly and the foundation (twice for me), and concluded that this was a move we could and should make with confidence.

This move is going to require a significant shift in my own writing. Templeton is not a sectarian or politically partisan organization. Therefore, my own political commentary will be drawing to an end at the end of this year. This is probably just as well for me, as I've grown far more interested in culture than in politics. And my religious commentary will be in a more philosophical vein. What's more, I'll not be a commentator on culture war issues either. I know you'll all be so very, very sad to come to Crunchy Con and not find any more gay marriage threads. (Heh.) This blog will remain for at least a while, but its name will change, because its focus will shift somewhat. I find that the more philosophical posts I put up (e.g., this one about linguist Dan Everett, culture and the knowability of truth) are often the most popular Crunchy Con posts. You'll see more of them. And I think that's a good thing.

So, onward, into a new kind of journalism for me, and into a future we feel fortunate to have been granted. I think you'll be very pleased by the online magazine we'll be putting together at Templeton. It's going to be a great place for discussion and debate among people of widely divergent perspectives. The only bias I want to have in the magazine is toward the intelligent and the interesting.

By the way, anybody want to buy a great Arts & Crafts bungalow in historic Old East Dallas, with a fenced back yard, a big chicken run and coop, a small greenhouse and shed, and raised organic gardening beds. And a rainwater collection system? And a brand-new fireplace with a generous hearth? Because I'll make you a deal.