At the time that America was founded the western developed world was three centuries removed from medieval times and had gone through the Renaissance period which came about with the Protestant Revolution. The Bible became the basis for all truth and law. Education was based on the Bible, scientists believed the Bible and this knowledge of the Word of God motivated them to discover new things about the universe and the physical world they lived in.
This reliance on the common ethic of Judeo-Christian values also brought about innovations that improved the lot of humanity as a whole. This improvement movement really took off in the last four hundred years causing huge daily life-altering inventions, improving health care, spurning a growing middle-class, allowing for education opportunity for all and many other advances.
When education was truly local the level and quality of education was better. By truly local I mean controlled by the parents. The one-room school was truly local as parents hired a teacher to teach their children. Because they paid the teacher, the teacher had to teach what the parents wanted taught so because they paid they controlled the content of the material being taught.
The Twentieth century, because of all the World Wars etc., created an atmosphere of doubt and questioning that allowed other ideologies to emerge that sought to undermine the very foundations that had advanced the human condition. They thought that they alone could control and improve man. What they forgot was that the nature of man is a fallen sin nature and that cannot be altered without a heart change through receiving salvation through the finished work of Christ.
In his latest article, Dennis Peacock states, “…modernity’s intellectual and vast social improvements did not actually alter the nature of man. Sin not only still exists, the modern world has given it new levels of collective power. The modern world promised what it could not deliver, and worse than that, man should no longer place significant confidence in his ability to discover, comprehend, and build upon absolute objective truth.” What he is saying is that because of this false premise postmodern thinkers have taught us that truth is subjective – in other words it is whatever we think or “feel” it is. Facts and reality do not matter.
The only way this has been able to succeed has been because the church allowed the foundation of truth upon which the nation was built to be stripped away. We allowed God and His Word to be taken out of schools and we have allowed school districts and the state to take over the complete education of our children.
Remember, “He who pays controls”. Yes, our tax dollars pay for schools but once the state gets your money it becomes theirs and they control what is taught and how it is taught. Unfortunately, the state, as governments grow and take more power, also view our children as property of the state. They become objects to benefit the state alone.
When the foundations of truth have been removed everyone suffers. The future that once seemed so good now seems sketchy at best. Thomas Sowell, a very wise man and economist, explained in a recent column what our current situation is concerning education:
“At one time, 50 years ago or earlier, exposing students to a different viewpoint was considered to be a valuable part of their education. But that was before academia — and the education system in general — became virtually a monopoly of the political left. Today one can literally go from kindergarten to becoming a graduate student seeking a Ph.D., without ever hearing a vision of the world that conflicts with the vision of the left.”
This explains why students on college campuses refuse to be confronted with other ideas that conflict with the ideology the left has been putting forth for decades. For one thing this ideology doesn’t allow for “free speech” so they are, unless raised to believe differently, intolerant and would gladly give up individual rights to free thought, speech and beliefs because they haven’t been taught to process ideas through a filter of truth.
Group think is the end result of this type of education and media climate. Being politically correct is “group think” because it controls what and how people express themselves and even think. It is a type of slavery that was prevalent during medieval times where people thought only one way which kept them in servitude to an upper ruling class.
God’s Word is true that there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Dinner Table Discussion: What happens to society when everyone is led by feelings and emotion?