New Church Life November/December 2017 | Página 87
country, our church, our community, our family.
As American poet Walt Whitman once put it: “America is nothing but you
and me.” It is that simple – and that profound.
Howard Fast said of the American Revolution in Citizen Tom Paine: “The
revolution goes on: a man does not make the revolution, not a hundred men,
not an army and not a party; a revolution comes from the people as they reach
toward God, and a little of God is in each person, and each will not forget it.”
We pray each day: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done; as in heaven,
so upon the earth.” We know that no amount of praying will bring heaven on
earth. But by committing to living the life of heaven we bring it closer. And
kneeling takes on real purpose – not protest.
Talk about teachable moments.
(BMH)
against the tide
Sadly, much of the decline in our culture is happening where it should be most
protected – in the halls of “higher learning.” Our colleges used to be rooted
in traditional values, free speech, open minds, spirited inquiry and critical
thinking. Now too many of them – especially in the “elite” tier – aggressively
promote a progressive ideology. They are all about diversity, inclusion, social
transformation and protecting against offense, and have all but abandoned
their religious roots.
One sad example: Late in the summer a pair of law professors – one from
the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the other a law professor from the
University of San Diego – wrote an op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer calling
for a revival of the cultural norms of the 1950s. Their message: “Get married
before you have children and strive to stay married for their sake. Get the
education you need for gainful employment, work hard and avoid idleness.
Eschew substance abuse and crime.”
They argued that the weakening of these “traditional” norms was
contributing to low job performance, declining educational levels and the
rising opioid epidemic.
Not too controversial, right? Wrong. The dean of the Penn law school
wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper condemning his professor’s views as
“divisive, even noxious.” Half of her colleagues denounced her in an open letter
and asked students to report any such cases of “bias or stereotype.” Students
and alumni signed a petition accusing her of white supremacy, misogyny
and homophobia – the new trifecta of social offenses. They demanded she be
banned from teaching first-year law classes lest she corrupt the minds of these
“adult” innocents.
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