John talks to historian Dr. Stephen Chavura on the history of Western civilisation, Western thought and the historical roots of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. He explains how contemporary representations of Western history are often misguided and misleading. Dr. Stephen Chavura teaches European and Australian history at Campion College, Sydney. Before he worked at Campion he was a lecturer in sociology and political philosophy at various Australian universities. He has published in numerous journals including History of European Ideas, Journal of Religious History, and Australian Journal of Political Science. His most recent (co-authored) books are The Forgotten Menzies: The Mind of Australia's Longest-Serving Prime Minister (2021), and Reason, Religion, and the Australian Polity: A Secular State? (2019). He also writes opinion pieces on current affairs that have appeared in The Australian, Spectator Australia, and ABC Religion and Ethics. #StephenChavura #WesternCivilization -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnY... And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnAndersonAC Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnandersonac/ Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Chavura: https://www.facebook.com/stephen.chavura https://twitter.com/ChavuraStephen