Professor Glenn on the Tyranny of Public Education

Professor Charles L Glenn of Boston University once contributed a thought-provoking piece over at First Things concerning Secular Education in the United States. It is well worth reading and pondering. Below are a few excerpts.

Most Americans are products of the public school’s 140-year near-monopoly on education, and have an understandable residual loyalty to our current educational settlement; many believe, as advocates of the “myth of the common school” have been arguing since Horace Mann, that only the public school can form citizens. But low test scores and concern over the moral vacuousness of both curriculum and school life dominated by peer culture have shaken faith in the public system. Parents are seeking alternatives, not only in private schools but in charter schools (legally “public” but functionally private), homeschooling, and cyberschools. Even those parents who do not want religion taught in the schools their children attend usually see no problem with other children attending schools whose religious character is preferred by their parents.

America did not always have a rigid educational establishment that claimed religious neutrality. Its rise was propelled by anti-Catholic sentiment, leading to a unified educational system that displaced the patchwork of local arrangements that prevailed in the early republic and that provided a degree of religious pluralism surprising to those raised with the contemporary idea of the separation of church and state. It was common in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries for public funding to be provided to schools that we would now consider “private” and religious, the great majority of them Protestant but some of them Catholic. These denominational arrangements were actually the norm in federally funded schooling for children on Indian reservations until the late nineteenth century.

Our nation needs to confront the loss of faith in public education, a loss fueled both by disappointing international comparisons of test results and by a severing of the rootedness of schools in local communities. Consolidation of school districts, professionalization of educational administration, the unresponsiveness of teachers’ unions to the concerns of parents, and ballooning state and federal requirements, all have led to a loss of confidence in America’s schools.

Read the whole article here.

Professor Glenn on the Tyranny of Public Education

Professor Charles L Glenn of Boston University has contributed a thought-provoking piece over at First Things concerning Secular Education in the United States. It is well worth reading and pondering. Below are a few excerpts.

Most Americans are products of the public school’s 140-year near-monopoly on education, and have an understandable residual loyalty to our current educational settlement; many believe, as advocates of the “myth of the common school” have been arguing since Horace Mann, that only the public school can form citizens. But low test scores and concern over the moral vacuousness of both curriculum and school life dominated by peer culture have shaken faith in the public system. Parents are seeking alternatives, not only in private schools but in charter schools (legally “public” but functionally private), homeschooling, and cyberschools. Even those parents who do not want religion taught in the schools their children attend usually see no problem with other children attending schools whose religious character is preferred by their parents.

America did not always have a rigid educational establishment that claimed religious neutrality. Its rise was propelled by anti-Catholic sentiment, leading to a unified educational system that displaced the patchwork of local arrangements that prevailed in the early republic and that provided a degree of religious pluralism surprising to those raised with the contemporary idea of the separation of church and state. It was common in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries for public funding to be provided to schools that we would now consider “private” and religious, the great majority of them Protestant but some of them Catholic. These denominational arrangements were actually the norm in federally funded schooling for children on Indian reservations until the late nineteenth century.

Our nation needs to confront the loss of faith in public education, a loss fueled both by disappointing international comparisons of test results and by a severing of the rootedness of schools in local communities. Consolidation of school districts, professionalization of educational administration, the unresponsiveness of teachers’ unions to the concerns of parents, and ballooning state and federal requirements, all have led to a loss of confidence in America’s schools.

Read the whole article here.

Rod Dreher and the Norway Bomber

Rod Dreher speaks to the issue of the Norway terrorist bomber and the media's somewhat biased coverage. It is worth your time to read it. Find it here. Below are a couple of snippets.

...In the rambling document, Breivik calls for a new "crusade" against Islam,
and quotes from the work of journalists and commentators (including, briefly,
me) who have spoken out against Islamic extremism and the refusal of our liberal
institutions -- including the media -- to hold Muslim leaders to account....

...The late Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, an openly gay hedonist whose
politics were to the left of the Democratic Party's, was routinely denounced in
European and American media as a member of the "far right" because he criticized
Muslim extremists on secular liberal grounds....

From the Net

MercatorNet recently had a very interesting piece on the new Hungarian Constitution. It's worth a read.

Mattingly on Fundamentalism

Terry Mattingly always provides thoughtful and insightful comments, and this week's submission,"Define fundamentalist, please", is no exception. Below is one excerpt to tease you along to read the full text.

The problem is that religious authorities — the voices journalists quote — keep pinning this label on others. Thus, one expert’s “evangelical” is another’s “fundamentalist.” For “progressive” Catholics, in other words, Pope Benedict XVI is a “fundamentalist” on sexuality.

Anyone who expects scholars to stand strong and defend a basic, historic definition will be disappointed. As philosopher Alvin Plantinga of the University of Notre Dame once quipped, among academics “fundamentalist” has become a “term of abuse or disapprobation” that most often resembles the casual semi-curse, “sumbitch.”

I expect brother Mattingly will be offering more on this topic in the future.

Of Gandalf and Darwin

Salvo Magazine has a very interesting and thought provoking discussion entitled, Gandalf on Mars: What Bleeping Codes Say About Intelligent Design by Richard W. Steven. It is rational, entertaining, and persuasive. Give it a go! (Its even got Turing machines!)

Of Trolleys and Trains

Ok...

Consider the following thought experiment:

A trolley (a tram or a streetcar) is running out of control down a track. In its path are five people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, you could flip a switch, which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch or do nothing?

Of course, while one can argue either way, consider this one:

As before, a trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. You are on a bridge under which it will pass, and you can stop it by dropping a heavy weight in front of it. As it happens, there is a very fat man next to you - your only way to stop the trolley is to push him over the bridge and onto the track, killing him to save five. Should you proceed?

Now go to MercatorNet and read A Streetcar Named Moral Confusion by Zac Alstin.

And while you're there, also check out Tactical Intimidation by Matthew J. Franck.

Upside-Down Religion

Check out the offering by David Warren over at Real Clear Religion. It's entitled, We Have an Upside-Down Religion. I won't even quote it; I'll just say, Read it.

Egypt and the turning point of history.

Over the last couple of weeks we've been following the growing turmoil in Egypt. There are many questions: What is happening? Where is it all going? What does it all mean?

There is also a question about what led to its eruption.

For live coverage, Al Jazeera has an English language web cast available here.

Israel's Haaritz News service has produced a thought provoking deliberation about the place of the Egyptian revolution in the context of the broader Middle Eastern history and the decay of Western hegemony. It is available here under the title "The Arab revolution and Western decline". It is well worth a slow and careful reading.

Of great concern is the fate of Egypt's Christian community, particularly the Coptic Christian community, as events continue to unfold.

The Copts, after all, are the original indigenous population of Egypt, still remembering the old Egyptian language, and having the only other Pope historically recognized by title other than the Patriarch of Rome.

Prayers should be offered for the Egyptians and other Middle Eastern nations currently experiencing the tidal wave of change and uncertainty as events transpire.

Prayers for the non-Moslem population of the region should also be offered as the Copts and other Christians and religious minorities have much to hope for and much to fear as today drifts into a tomorrow that no human hand has yet written. For too many centuries these populations have lived the second-class citizen status that is little more than slavery by another name.

St Mark, St Cyril, St Antony and all Desert Fathers pray for us.

The Myth of a Myth: Complete Update

Patheos presents the first of a promised four article series by James Hannam examining secularist arguments that Jesus Christ never existed. The series is entitled Is Jesus Christ a Myth? Regarding his purpose, Professor Hannahm says

In this four-part series, it is not my intention to study the minutiae of the various arguments. Instead, I will focus on three central contentions often advanced in discussions about Jesus. These are 1) the lack of secular references, which I cover in this installment; 2) the alleged similarities to paganism, which I deal with next; and 3) the silence of St. Paul. Finally, in the fourth part, I will bring all these arguments together to show how ideas similar to those that deny Jesus' existence can be used on practically any ancient historical figure. With this in mind I set out to "prove" that Hannibal never existed.

The first installment argues from a logical and rigorous common sense perspective; something too little seen or appreciated in this politically correct (i.e. Intellectually Censored) age. It's reasoning is concise, and it is not overly long - worthy of the time spent reading it. I, for one, will be looking forward to future installments.

Read it here.

UPDATE: And here is part two.

2nd UPDATE: Here is part three.

3rd UPDATE: Here is part four.

PS, Happy Christmas to all following the New Calendar.

PPS, Christ is born! Glorify Him! to those following the Old Calendar.

Children, Adults, Abuse and Experts

Offered for your consideration: two links to provoke reflection on the state of Western society.

Both deal with children and 'progressive' dystopic interference with their childhood development. We all know that physical, psychological and sexual abuse of children is immoral (or do we? See the second link). However, we should also be on guard against the societal abuse of children.

The first is from the New York Times: A Best Friend? You Must Be Kidding

From this piece consider the following:

“I think it is kids’ preference to pair up and have that one best friend. As adults — teachers and counselors — we try to encourage them not to do that,” said Christine Laycob, director of counseling at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis. “We try to talk to kids and work with them to get them to have big groups of friends and not be so possessive about friends.”

The second link is from the always poignant MercatorNet: Troubling theories about childhood innocence

And from our second witness:

In a paper on this theme, “Kiss and tell: Gendered narratives and childhood sexuality”, Mindy Blaise, a senior lecturer in the faculty of education at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, describes how she tested this theory on some three- and four-year-old children in an Australian childcare centre.

It is worth looking at this is some detail to understand her method.

Using a popular picture book aimed at 6- to 10-year-old children (Clarice Bean, That’s me by Lauren Child) Blaise focuses on a page where Clarice’s older sister Marcie is sitting on her bed reading a fashion magazine. The researcher points and reads out to the children (4 girls and 3 boys) thought bubbles saying: Do boys give you the dreamy eye? Are you a flirt? Have you ever kissed a boy?

Beyond the deadly serious issues both articles raise (and make no mistake, these reveal very serious matters, indeed), I am also led to ask the more prosaic questions:

Why do children need to 'schedule' playtime?

Is this not already a sign that something is seriously wrong with Western society's approach to child rearing?

Random Comments

"Christianity is going to, at some point, offend people in the secular world."

Professor Thomas Kidd
Baylor University

As my Grandfather would have said, "Now, there's stem cells and there's stem cells...."

Real Clear Politics has an essay by Kathleen Parker regarding President Obama's recent "lifting" of the stem cell ban by the US Government. Here are a few pertinent excerpts:

Unfortunately, the stem cell debate has been characterized as a conflict between science (as though science is always right) and religious "kooks" (as though religious folk are never right). In choosing sides, it is, indeed, easier to imagine lunch with a researcher who wants to resurrect Christopher Reeve (whom Obama couldn't resist mentioning) and make him walk again, than with the corner protester holding a fetus in a jar. (Note: I don't believe I've ever heard of an abortion protester "holding a fetus in a jar".)

The insistence on using embryonic stem cells always rested on the argument that they were pluripotent, capable of becoming any kind of cell. That superior claim no longer can be made with the spectacular discovery in 2007 of "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPS), which was the laboratory equivalent of the airplane. Very simply, iPS cells can be produced from a skin cell by injecting genes that force it to revert to its primitive "blank slate" form with all the same pluripotent capabilities of embryonic stem cells.

The iPS discovery even prompted Dr. Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep, to abandon his license to attempt human cloning, saying that the researchers "may have achieved what no politician could: an end to the embryonic stem cell debate." And, just several days ago, Dr. Bernadine Healy, director of the National Institutes of Health under the first President Bush, wrote in U.S. News & World Report that these recent developments "reinforced the notion that embryonic stem cells ... are obsolete."

Many scientists, of course, want to conduct embryonic stem cell research, as they have and always could with private funding. One may agree or disagree with their purposes, but one may also question why taxpayers should have to fund something so ethically charged when alternative methods are available.

Read the entire essay here.

Bishop Hilarion Offers Hope and a Challenge

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev is the most erudite and outspoken hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. The article linked below presents his thoughts on Orthodox missiology in the Twenty-first Century.

The challenges he discusses are the same as those of Eastern Catholic Churches, particularly as regards 'heritage' issues. (I believe Arcbishop Elias Zoghby, of blessed memory, would rejoice to stand with Bishop Hilarion on the points he raises) The hope for the future is firmly in God's hands, and the imperative for Christian Tradition to be firmly established requires of each of us the commitment to the Christian Faith and its unchanging values. Only in Christ is there hope for the future. Sayidna Hilarion is correct that those Churches descending from the Undivided Catholic Church of the first millennium must stand together in what we hold common, examine what differs between us, and press forward to bring the healing message of Salvation to a corrupt, blind, and an otherwise dying world.

Read Bishop Hilarion's lecture on Orthodox Mission in the Twenty-first Century here.

Is it all relative?

If my bishop wishes, I will obediently remove this post.

On Innovative Theologies

St Basil the Great on the turning away from orthodox belief:

Our distresses are notorious … The doctrines of the Fathers are despised; apostolic traditions are set at naught; the devices of innovators are in vogue in the Churches; now men are rather contrivers of cunning systems than theologians; the wisdom of this world wins the highest prizes and has rejected the glory of the Cross. Shepherds are banished, and in their places are introduced grievous wolves harrying the flock of Christ… The elders lament when they compare the present with the past. The younger are yet more to be extended compassion, for they do not know of what they have been deprived.

Letter xc, quoted in The Life of St Basil the Great, The Lives of the Three Hierarchs, Holy Apostles Convent, 1998, p. 59f

Sometimes...

Sometimes an image is worth a thousand words...
(This is very 'graphic')


And if words are still needed...

Boys? What on Earth is Happening to Them?!

Hat Tip to Touchstone's Mere Comments for reference to Amanda Witt's blog featuring a fake ad to help the overactive boy. The "ad" is from Salvo Magazine. In true web-surfing fashion, I followed a link in one of the Salvo article's comments and checked out Dr Helen Smith's blog; which, in turn, led me to a "Top 10: Worst Male Bashing Ads" list over at Ask Men. {Note: I'm not very familiar with Ask Men, so don't assume I endorse the site. For example, some of the side-bar images are a bit too risque for my tastes. However, the commercials in the top ten list are certainly worth viewing.}

Altogether, these references contribute to a disturbing view of societal pressures to follow the materialistic relativism that tries to "do one better" than nature.

Ya hahram!

A Day to Remember - A Day to Pray

From the Scripps News Service, this sad reminder and warning.

Interesting Stuff from MercatorNet

Three snippets from three thought provoking essays over at MercatorNet.

We live in an age in which the media are scrupulously rigorous in self-censoring when it comes to the terrible social crime of offending women, gays, people of colour and natives. Only one identifiable group – white heterosexual men (if they’re Christian, so much the better) – is considered fair game for overt collective prejudice.

Identifying active misandry is easy. One has only to imagine the same words, image or falsehood or failure to report attached to any other identifiable group, and the imbalance becomes clear.

From Misandry is the Message.

The state must hold that mothers and fathers are completely interchangeable. Biological parents married to each other become officially equivalent to one parent plus their lover. The state will be indifferent as to whether children have any connection with their biological parents.

From Beyond Same Sex Marriage.

While “human dignity” is an idea which certainly requires extensive clarification and precise definition, “respect for persons” and “autonomy” are as squishy as a wet sponge. I would have thought that a Harvard prof would be more discerning. For instance, are dolphins or chimpanzees “persons”, too? Should Japanese fishermen be jailed for violating the person rights of minke whales? And is a sleeping person autonomous? A comatose person? A two-day-old infant?

Note: This essay's links also reward pursuit.

From Human Dignity, What a Stupid Idea!