This is a new low for the politically correct left, which is adding demands for public repentance to its roster of activist tools. But while these soon-to-be college graduates may be scoring political points against institutions’ alleged friendliness towards oppression, they are unwittingly depriving themselves of one the benefits of their increasingly-expensive education: the opportunity to hear the perspectives of those with whom they may disagree. In time, they may ultimately appreciate the difficulties that come with making decisions in leadership roles, even if they disagree with the outcome. These students are completely missing the forest for the trees. Blinded by progressive idealism and committed to purging those who trespass their moral code, these college students are only succeeding in ridding their campuses of the meaningful dialogue that would bridge the gaps they claim to be fighting. ~ Marjorie Romeyn-Sanabria Perhaps the saddest thing about this pendulum swing on our college campuses toward a coerced conformity to one worldivew is this: If the development of critical thinking and wisdom through the impartation of the worlds collective knowledge and experience isnt happening on our college campuses, its not going to happen anywhere else. A tour of social media persuades me that we are either too busy, too overwhelmed by information, or too tribalized to rise above the brevity of slogans, insults and confirmation bias in the marketplace of ideas. We should note, however, that these tendencies are not confined to those who consider themselves liberal or progressive, although the rash of actions on college campuses as of late do fall into that camp. I understand how easy it is for Christians to build a fortress to keep the world out, but please give the words that follow some thought. Confidence in ones worldview comes not from living in information silos whose only function is to tickle your ears with what you want to hear; rather, it is in the energetic exchange of competing ideas, seasoned with common grace and civility because we are all flawed humans who bring darkness and light into the world, meaning that someone with whom he disagree is entirely capable at times of imparting goodness, truth and beauty, just as someone with whom we agree can at times be wrong. The Christian worldview teaches us that everything belongs to God the Creator, and that Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). That means that if it is good, it comes from God - even if it comes from a non-Christian person or institution. The Bible is full of examples where God uses people who do not follow Him to accomplish His purposes. Eric Metaxas, speaking at our Baccalaureate, said The fact is that, in most cases, separating the so-called secular from the so-called sacred is a very bad and unbiblical idea...Jesus is not Lord over the religious sphere...He is Lord over all. He goes on to say, He is not Lord over only those lyrics and lines of poetry that mention Him, He is Lord over all that is, and especially over all truth and all beauty anywhere you find it, whether in an old Baptist hymn or in a Pink Floyd song. If its beautiful, if it is good, if theres anything praiseworthy in it, it belongs to Jesus Christ...He can speak to us through anyone, not just Christians, and He often does, and we need to know that and to expect it. If He is speaking, it doesnt matter where its coming from; what matters is whether He is speaking. Gods creation has no sacred or secular divide; its all His. What that means is that we deprive ourselves of the full benefit of the good, the true and the beautiful if we wall ourselves off from people who do not believe as we do.
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 12:32:15 +0000
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