Fwd: [MargiesWin] Careful Not to Get Too Much Education...Or You Could Turn Liberal

[Guest guest]

Forwarded from a friend who's currently in grad school. It appears to me

that if corporate America can't succeed in killing off America, the religious

wrong is determined to finish it off. Margie

--------------

 

I've been getting a lot of mail on this subject lately, presumably because of

this Justin Pope

article:http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2004/12/25/conserva\

tive_students_target_liberal_profs/

I know MY professors are getting worried - though they try to be careful,

several of them have been given poor evaluations from a few students because

they've brought up politics in class. What I want to know is, how the hell do

you

teach masters' students in a professional degree program about public policy

analysis, funding streams and how to evaluate available research without

bringing up politics??? These subjects are mandated by the Council on Social

Work

Education.

 

Anyway here's something from today that reminded me of the Christian cult

that sends their missionaries out to troll the coffee shops in Kansas City,

looking for street kids to convert. Their mantra is - you guessed it -

" Intelligence is the enemy of faith. " Which is, I guess, what the last four

years have

been about...

 

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1228-32.htm

Published on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 by CommonDreams.org

Careful Not to Get Too Much Education...Or You Could Turn Liberal

by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst

 

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to a conversation I overheard at a

Starbucks in Nashville last winter. It was a cold and rainy night as I worked

away at my laptop, but the comforting aroma of cappuccino kept me going. My

comfort was interrupted, however, by two young men who sat down in upholstered

chairs near my table. One was talking, the other listening, in what appeared to

be an informal college orientation.

" The only trouble with David Lipscomb (a conservative Christian college

nearby) is that old man Lipscomb apparently didn't like football. So we don't

have

a football team, but we have a great faculty. "

" But you do have to be careful about one thing, " he said more quietly, coming

closer and speaking in hushed tones, " My professor-I have this great

professor-told me that you have to be careful not to get too much education,

because

you could lose your foundation, your core values. "

The neophyte nodded solemnly, his eyebrows raised with worry.

" If you get a bachelors, " the seasoned student reassured, " you'll probably be

okay. But my professor said that when you get a master's, and definitely if

you go beyond that, you can lose your values. He said that college students

have to be watchful because if you get too much education, you could turn

LIBERAL. He's seen it happen to a lot of good Christians. "

Both young men looked around again to make sure no-one was listening

(unfortunately my hearing is excellent, even when I wish it weren't), and

shuddered

visibly. They shook their heads at the terrifying fate that could befall them.

I found it hard to concentrate after that, my mind returning again and again

to one question: " What would happen to higher education in America if this

fear of " too much education " , and this presumption that liberal views are the

devil's snare rather than the logical consequences of exposure to science,

philosophy, literature and diversity, became widespread? "

Sadly, it has already happened, and is growing on college campuses across the

US. A recent article by Justin Pope, " Conservatives Flip Academic Freedom

Debate: Liberal professors are accused of attempting to indoctrinate students.

But some teachers say pupils are trying to avoid new ideas. " (AP, 12/25/04)

describes this anti-liberal movement, weakly disguised as " balancing " their

courses with conservative views:

" Leading the movement is Students for Academic Freedom, with chapters on 135

campuses and close ties to David Horowitz, a onetime liberal campus activist

turned conservative commentator. The group posts student complaints on its

website about alleged episodes of grading bias and unbalanced, anti-American

propaganda by professors - often in classes.

" Instructors " need to make students aware of the spectrum of scholarly

opinion, " Horowitz said. " You can't get a good education if you're only getting

half

the story. " " The " other half " of the story may not be factual, however, but

doctrinal. As the young man in Starbucks said just before he and the incoming

freshman got up to leave,

" Even at Lipscomb, you have to be careful what you pay attention to. My

professor said that a few faculty members might lead you astray without meaning

to,

by bringing in ideas that aren't biblical. He said that if you're ever taught

anything that sounds questionable, you should talk about it with your

minister to see if it's right. "

Even as a Christian raised in the evangelical tradition, this shocked me. I

suppose it shouldn't have; the Southern Baptist Convention recently considered

a proposal to urge all parents to pull their children out of public schools to

prevent their exposure to " non-biblical ideas " which, as it happens, run

rampant in fields like medicine, physics, archeology, literature, philosophy,

history, astronomy, psychology, theology-in short, everything.

What will happen to that innovative American spirit if radical

" conservatives " have their way with our educational system? How will the US fare

in the

global marketplace when certain ideas, or entire fields, become off-limits to

students who've been indoctrinated to consult their ministers before learning

new

information?

What will happen to medical research, for instance, if this movement proceeds

to its logical conclusion: outlawing the scientific method, a method

notorious for not relying on biblical principles?

I fear men like Horowitz because uncensored education is essential to our

democracy, our people's well-being and the nation's long-term survival. The

" conservative " movement that he's spearheading reminds me of the news reports

coming out of Iran in the months just prior to the conservative religious

takeover

of that country when its professors were warned to present the " correct " views

in class.

This movement pretends to be about " balancing " liberal with conservative

views, but the reality is a lot uglier than that. As the conversation I

overheard

suggests, this movement isn't about balance, it's about censorship-or even

better, self-censorship that's easily achieved by frightening students with

social rejection, hellfire or both. Either way, scholarship is degraded in the

process. According to the article, " many educators, while agreeing that students

should never feel bullied, worry that they just want to avoid exposure to ideas

that challenge their core beliefs - an essential part of education. Some also

fear that teachers will shy away from sensitive topics or fend off criticism

by " balancing " their syllabuses with opposing viewpoints, even if they

represent inferior scholarship. "

Whether through self-censorship or junk education, our country's children are

paying the price for the political aggression of the far right. Robert Frost

once wrote, " Education is the ability listen to almost anything without losing

your temper. "

Tempers are short in today's radical " conservative " America, and the

emboldened radical right is in no mood to listen to anyone.

Dr. Teresa Whitehurst is a clinical psychologist, author of Jesus on

Parenting (2004) and coauthor of The Nonviolent Christian Parent (2004). She

offers

parenting workshops, holds discussion groups on Nonviolent Christianity, and

writes the column, " Democracy, Faith and Values: Because You Shouldn't Have to

Choose Just One " , which is posted on her website, wwww.JesusontheFamily.org

 

 

 

 

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