Schools that foment dissent, and reap the results

When one thinks of our great country the words “united," “indivisible,” and “one nation under God” come to mind.

However, the very freedom that has united us for more than two centuries seems to be under attack – not from without, but from within.

For example, I am more concerned about the radical left in America than ISIS. Alright, both are concerns, but since 9/11 we have, for the most part, been able to structure our society in such a way that we can preempt the Islamists’ terrorist attacks. At least Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are doing a reasonably good job of circumventing such atrocities.

However, there is no attempt to bridle the liberal teachings of our secular colleges and universities. Many of them do more indoctrination and propagandizing than teaching. For example, Columbia Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City is regarded as the premier graduate school of education in the country. Yet the students are expected to be “participants in a larger struggle for social justice.”

Protesters in support of President Donald Trump clash with anti-Trump protesters on the campus of the University of California-Berkley in mid-April, 2017. Screen grab/CNN

The term “social justice” may seem vague, but, in short, the college has become a template for socialist propaganda. David Horowitz, in his book One Party Classroom, insists, “Teachers are expected to share a radical view of American society and to consider their mission to be not educating the young but attacking the legitimacy of the social order.”

Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, has stated, “A professor’s job is not to tell students what to think: it is to help them to think carefully, critically, and for themselves. There is a legitimate place for the catechist, the preacher, the social activist, and the community organizer; but that place is not the university classroom.

“Professors who seek to indoctrinate their students violate a sacred trust. They should be forcefully challenged and publicly held to account.”

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is a national organization which has departed from its original purpose. Today it instructs professors to provide students with divergent opinions on “controversial matters.”

The indoctrination of students by college professors inflames many of them and rioting is the result. While rioting may be routine at the University of California at Berkeley, it is also becoming commonplace in many other institutions of higher learning across the heartland of the nation.

Bob Lange, associate professor emeritus of physics and an adjunct associate professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management, stated, “It is not terrorism to kill representatives of a government that you are opposed to.”

Statements like that could have prompted Madonna to suggest “blowing up” the White House. It could have incited Kathy Griffin to produce a simulated decapitated head of our president. It could have inspired the off-Broadway production of Julius Caesar to feature a character resembling President Donald Trump as Caesar, who was assassinated. It could have motivated James Hodgkinson to shoot U.S. Representative Scalise.

Samuel Abrams, a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, believed that liberal professors outnumbered conservatives and decided to do some extensive research to prove his point. He discovered that in the South and throughout the Great Plains, the ratio of liberal to conservative professors hovered around 3 to 1. On the liberal left coast, the ratio was 6 to 1. However, in New England there are 28 liberal professors to every one conservative professor.

Chris Sweeney, writing for Boston Magazine, declared, “At a time when Donald Trump is setting up camp inside the West Wing, our ivy-gilded campuses in the foothills of Vermont and the suburbs of Boston are emerging as some of the most contentious ideological beachheads in the country.

“In response to Trump’s ascendance, campus politics are primed to swing even more to the left,” he added. “New England’s college campuses are a powder keg ready to blow.”

And, I might add, conservatives are becoming even more entrenched in their ideological position.

The partisan politics in America is creating a divide as volatile as the rioting on college campuses. Watching Bernie Sanders, a product of the liberal University of Chicago, question Russell Vought and attack his Christian faith was disgraceful and unbecoming of a United States senator. He demonstrated a total disrespect for Christians and voted against him as deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget because of his faith.

David French of National Review wrote, “This is a disgraceful and unconstitutional line of questioning from the man who came close to being the Democrat for president. He’s not only imposing a religious test for public office in direct violation of Article VI of the United States Constitution, he’s gone so far as to label this decent man – who is seeking to serve his country in a vital role – as not someone who this country is suppose to be about.”

While Bernie Sanders did not participate in a violent riot, his inflammatory language could incite a riot. We need leaders, including the presidents of our nation’s universities, to focus on uniting the United States rather than fomenting dissent and chaos.

Thankfully, Georgia Baptists have three presidents of our institutions of higher learning who are outstanding educators and who represent the Prince of Peace.