“Just Act, Don't Think!” Religion, Education, and Disciplinary Decadence

Abstract

Although Lewis Gordon's Disciplinary Decadence: Living Thought in Trying Times focuses on the frail health of the academic disciplines, its ultimate concern is for the human being as the subject in the pursuit of knowledge. This article analyzes the implications of this important text as well as the larger corpus of Gordon's work for people of African descent. It does so by examining the intersection of religious and communication studies and the instances of disciplinary decadence that arise therefrom. It then examines the paradox of religion in the academy in relation to people of color, observing that issues affecting Africans are not subjected to rigorous thought which is necessary to counter disciplinary decadence. It concludes that the interdisciplinary character of research is ultimately determined by commitment to humanity and the complex realities that humanity confronts.