T . S . Elliot reflected on this years ago in an essay about the purpose of education : “ If we see a new and mysterious machine , I think that the first question we ask is , ‘ What is that machine for ?’ . . . If we define education , we are led to ask , ‘ What is Man ?’ and if we define the purpose of education , we are committed to the question , ‘ What is Man for ?’ Every definition of the purpose of education , therefore , implies some concealed , or rather implicit philosophy or theology .”
“ Lewis clearly saw that years of attempts to de-moralize education would not give us a world without vice , but a world without virtue .”
Assuming that kids go to school only to acquire data is to assume that kids are mere computers made of flesh . With all due respect to this very concerned mother and Winnie the Pooh , 7 education is about more than how to make “ Twy-stymes ” and “ ABCs ,” or knowing where Brazil is . Here ’ s how Neil Postman put it : “ Modern secular education is failing not because it doesn ’ t teach who Ginger Rogers , Norman Mailer , and a thousand other people are but because it has no moral , social , or intellectual center . The curriculum is not , in fact , a ‘ course of study ’ at all but a meaningless hodgepodge of subjects . It does not even put forward a clear vision of what constitutes an educated person , unless it is a person who possesses ‘ skills .’ In other words , a person with no commitment and no point of view but with plenty of marketable skills .”
So , to summarize : Elliot taught us that a values-free education is impossible . Lewis predicted that the attempt at a values-free education would produce people not able to make moral decisions . Postman pointed out that education needs a moral center , or it ’ s not an education at all . Educating for “ skill acquisition ” doesn ’ t actually prepare students for life . And now , into the morals void , sundried progressive causes are promoting the ideologies that gave fascism to the world , in the name of being anti-fascists . We should ’ ve seen it coming .
But , we didn ’ t , and here we are , facing incredible challenges but also an incredible opportunity to show a better way for education and moral formation . ■
John Stonestreet serves as president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview . He ’ s a sought-after author and speaker on areas of faith and culture , theology , worldview , education , and apologetics . John is the daily voice of BreakPoint , the nationally syndicated commentary on the culture founded by the late Chuck Colson . He is also the voice of The Point , a daily one-minute feature on worldview , apologetics , and cultural issues .
Timothy D . Padgett Ph . D . is the Managing Editor of Break- Point . org with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview . His focus is on cultural engagement , living out the Christian worldview , and the way Christians argue for diverse viewpoints while sharing a common biblical foundation — particularly regarding the relationship between church and state , Christ and culture , and war and peace .
Endnotes 1 . Callie Patteson , “ Antifa teacher who wanted to indoctrinate students to reportedly be fired ,” New York Post , September 2 , 2021 , https :// nypost . com / 2021 / 09 / 02 / pro-antifa-teacher-gabriel-gipe-reportedly-will-be-fired . 2 . Ronny Reyes , “ California school to fire a teacher with Antifa flag on classroom wall who wanted to turn students into revolutionaries ,” DailyMail . com , September 2 , 2021 , https :// dailymail . co . uk / news / article-9952361 / California-teacher-Antifa-flag-classroom-wall-fired-schooldistrict . html . 3 . Colson Center , “ Podcast : Why Harvard Can ' t Teach Ethics , with Chuck Colson ,” YouTube , May 6 , 2019 , https :// youtube . com / watch ? v = HpHKWd0Wvo4 . 4 . Colson Center , “ Chuck Colson A Crisis of Ethics Doing the Right Thing , part 1 ,” YouTube , March 30 , 2011 , https :// youtube . com / watch ? v = n3-IiAXURfY & t = 15s . 5 . C . S . Lewis , “ Men without Chests ,” The Akademician , https :// akademician . files . wordpress . com / 2019 / 08 / lewismen-without-chests . pdf . 6 . See https :// colsoncenter . christianbook . com / Christian / Books / easy _ find ? Ntt = abolition + of + man & N = 0 & Ntk = keywords & action = Search & Ne = 0 & event = ESRCN & nav _ search = 1 & cms = 1 & ps _ exit =& ps _ domain = colsoncenter . 7 . Meesha Awan , “ The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Ending ,” YouTube , April 28 , 2011 , https :// youtube . com / watch ? v = ba5HllbvLf4 .
© 2021 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview . Reprinted from BreakPoint . org with permission .
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