tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post346054678512013969..comments2014-04-14T07:49:33.995-07:00Comments on Classical Ascendancy: The Rise of the Bully: Ethics and Education in AmericaChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09457983094573185233noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-78802474307350307862010-11-12T10:06:33.481-08:002010-11-12T10:06:33.481-08:00Excellent. I've fallen victim to the LINDLEY b...Excellent. I've fallen victim to the LINDLEY before, so I'm relieved to have avoided it... for now. <br /><br />Your very astute question, then, was, can you instruct the fear of God? I’m excited to hear your answer, but mine is, “Yes, and no.” The Scriptures are full of exhortations to educate children in the "training and admonition of the Lord," which would presumably include teaching children to fear - or respect - God. Proverbs 4 seems to be a clear example. I think we must confess that it is possible.<br /><br />So if it is possible, why doesn't it happen in every case, such as those you cited? Great question. For obvious reasons the fear of the Lord has to be taught early and consistently. If a child isn't raised respecting God, it takes a personal experience to change their perspective. This goes for every form of respect: if a child is raised using profanity and disrespecting adults, they aren’t going to reach their teenage years and suddenly decide that any of that is a bad idea. If an education isn't consistent, students get conflicting messages and for different reasons may or may not keep the faith. <br /><br />This much seems reasonable at least: what good does it do you as a parent if you try to train your child to respect God if you send them off to school for 8 hours a day and they are, at best, inundated with materialism and hedonism, or at worst, told that religion (and implicitly, God) are plagues on the human race? These messages get compounded by peer pressures and the god-complex of the modern-day secular humanist.<br /><br />One more thing before I let you jump in: all learning has the potential to be “empty and rote in the ears of the uncaring.” This isn't a danger particular to the humanities. I can force a student to memorize their sums, but unless they see how they can use them to manage their accounts or build a bridge, it won’t mean anything to them and they’ll get bored. I can teach a student their periodic table and organic chemistry, but if they can't translate their learning into curing diseases or preventing famines, its all "empty and rote." Consider your profession: I can teach all about different disorders and their symptoms, but unless we examine how they develop and what might work to cure them, the lessons won’t be very interesting or meaningful. Instructors of all disciplines have to find a way to get their students engaged, to show them how their discipline bears real-life applications. It is my opinion that because the humanities – and history in general – are taught so poorly that it often bears the qualities of being “rote and empty.”<br /><br />Any thoughts?Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09457983094573185233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-33372285202773774582010-11-11T19:11:53.922-08:002010-11-11T19:11:53.922-08:00I concede. Your statment about partnering with pas...I concede. Your statment about partnering with pastors and parents has spared you from the dreaded triple-barbed hook-- that few have shielded-- and some have called... LINDLEY.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17674719679153454197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-89362134171881023992010-11-03T16:50:51.521-07:002010-11-03T16:50:51.521-07:00You concede that the government system then is oft...You concede that the government system then is often hostile to the Christian worldview? I feel like you are letting me get away with something here. I expected something like, “Come on, Browne. It’s not as bad as all that!” A few points in my defense before moving on…<br /><br />The most significant part about the court case that I linked is not that the court found him guilty of only one charge – the one where he attacked a fellow instructor who was a Christian; the most significant piece of the story is that the school district dismissed the complaints to begin with. And that in light of the fact the student had the instructor on tape. This never would have become a story had a.) the student not complained; and b.) the parents had not decided to sue when their complaints were dismissed by the school district. This guy had been going on these anti-Christian tirades for fifteen years before someone decided to call him on it. How many similar cases happen every day where the students don’t complain, and parents don’t escalate their concerns when the local district dismisses them?<br /><br />Corbett is an example of overt opposition to the Christian worldview that can be found in the government system; I would argue that there is a much more subtle – and perhaps even more insidious – opposition that happens when students are indoctrinated in a secular humanist worldview. In science class, students are taught that they are evolved from monkeys, that they, too, are animals, governed by the same base and primal instincts. In history class, they are taught that the spiritualism of the “Dark Ages” was barbaric, backwards, and destructive; and conversely, that the “Enlightenment Age” rationalists saved us from all that crazy, superstitious, spiritual mumbo-jumbo. In reality, both are misnomers: the “Dark Ages” weren’t nearly so dark, and the “Enlightenment” wasn’t nearly so enlightened. In lit class they learn that they must “believe in themselves”, that people are intrinsically good, and that man is advancing forward on path to perfection (or at least improvement.) All of these ideas stand in stark contrast to the Christian worldview, and yet we don’t protest (much) when our kids are spoon-fed it day in and day out. And then we wonder why they don’t grow up to be C.S. Lewises or G.K. Chestertons.<br /><br />Any of that cause you some discomfort?<br /><br />(P.S. sorry it took me so long to respond. I’ve been busy. TJ has been gone since Sunday, and I submitted my manuscript to Dr. Odahl today.)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09457983094573185233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-29373322841835452172010-10-30T09:18:43.366-07:002010-10-30T09:18:43.366-07:00Great questions all, Matt. I'll do my best to ...Great questions all, Matt. I'll do my best to thoughtfully entertain them, if I can't outright answer them. Instead of writing One Post to Rule Them All, we'll try to handle this piece-meal so we can debate the issues.<br /><br />First, we can both agree that education is not a panacea for all that ails our society. In an ideal world, the "instruction of the soul" wouldn't fall solely on educational institutions. That's not what I'm advocating. In an ideal world, the educator would only partner with parents, pastors, and mentors to cultivate in students the heart condition that you are talking about.<br /><br />We agree: the fear of God is the beginning of both knowledge and wisdom. Without that, students can't move on to true knowledge of anything. It is through that prism that the Christian student should learn history, philosophy, literature, math, science, et al. The problem now is not only is the educator not a partner with the parents or pastor, but they often work in opposition - sometimes unintentionally, sometimes not; for example: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345274,00.html. People like Corbett (and Hitchens, Dawkins, et al.) aren't presenting the issues fairly and equally so students can decide for themselves. They use their position to defame and marginalize Christianity under the guise of "opening minds" and "teaching [students] how to think." My point is only that Christian families have sent their kids away to the lion's den for 8 hours a day for long enough. It is time to demand better for our kids.<br /><br />How are we doing so far?Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09457983094573185233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-42792422025905459392010-10-29T20:04:24.307-07:002010-10-29T20:04:24.307-07:00Okay, I've gathered my thoughts. More specific...Okay, I've gathered my thoughts. More specifically, can you instruct the tender heart-condition that would lead an individual to even care about these humanities? Just because you put it on the table doesn't mean people will choose to ingest. Think mushrooms. I don't even know what to call this heart-condition. But all of this higher-education is meaningless without the fear of God.... and can you instruct that? Otherwise it's all conjecture and stuffy ideas about a bunch of old people thought. Moreover, I contend that much of this higher education ends up a thinly polished veneer over what rings empty and rote in the ears of the uncaring.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17674719679153454197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-69070437156823317712010-10-29T18:56:25.313-07:002010-10-29T18:56:25.313-07:00Your call for a return to the humanities is well r...Your call for a return to the humanities is well received. As we have it now, these offerings are scarcely served on the table of pubic education. The call raises an interesting question however: what would you make of the factory-like parochial schools that churn out godless automatons? Or the stereotypical preacher's kid? Or better yet, of Judus Iscariot-- did he not have the most sublime Teacher? Please don't misunderstand, your prescription for meaningful instruction-- instruction that informs the soul-- IS woefully scant or missing in the public sector. We are agreed here. And while that is troubling to me, I see a deeper problem. It is difficult to explain in a line of prose. It is the idea that education, any kind of education is all that is needed. When did the instruction of the soul get passed onto public or private institutions anyway? Didn't hundreds of years of this type of education leave Europe a spiritual graveyard?Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17674719679153454197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-66275003688173959682010-10-26T08:25:15.103-07:002010-10-26T08:25:15.103-07:00DD, you raise the right issues. The unfortunate th...DD, you raise the right issues. The unfortunate thing about a blog post is that I try to keep them short and thought-provoking, so I can't necessarily express all I want to on the topic. That's certainly true here. My end game isn't for the government schools to start teaching Christian ethics again, although I think they could meet us half-way and reintroduce teaching religious texts as literature, teaching philosophy/logic, etc. My end game is for the government to empower parents to choose other options (private/parochial schools, home-schooling, etc) by way of a tax-credit to all parents who choose other options for educating their kids. It seems like a win-win (aren't the government schools always complaining about overcrowding?) until you consider that the educational establishment is perfectly content with their monopoly and they aren't about to surrender the power to brainwash all our children in secular progressive ideology under the illusion of moral neutrality. Anyway, that's a post for another day.<br /><br />And yes, I agree. Sometimes this is better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzn5d0dBLIUChrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09457983094573185233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284408590131383359.post-26292657316919891062010-10-25T08:41:58.818-07:002010-10-25T08:41:58.818-07:00But is it the place of our schools to teach the wh...But is it the place of our schools to teach the whole person or the parent? If I do not agree with their teaching methods or ideology, why would I want them morality, secular or not. Unfortunately, the more often parents set aside being the adult for being their child's friend, the more often the schools will want to be "the village" that raises the kids. <br /><br />I think that part of this also is the emasculation of society. If two boys go out on the playground and slug out their differences they are expelled under zero tolerance guidelines. So instead it is subverted into cyber- and gender-bullying. <br /><br />Sometimes a broken nose is a better solution.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12915379780233008322noreply@blogger.com