Thursday, October 3, 2024

Part I

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The Targeting of Classical Christian Education: Massive Worldview Battle Behind Newspaper’s Hit Pieces Against Local School

Well, one of the biggest movements in the Christian Church and among conservatives in the United States in recent years is the rise of alternative models of education, and that means an alternative in particular to the public schools and to the progressivist ideological empire. And so, one of the most important of these developments has been the rise of classical Christian schools or Christian classical schools, and the combination is powerful when you put those three words together. School is understandable. Very quickly, you understand this means an organized form of education. It is for learning and teaching. But the other two words are absolutely crucial. You have the word Christian and the word classical, and in this case, both of them mean exactly what anyone throughout most of the history of Western civilization would understand that they mean.

Christian means Christian, not only in terms of the people, but of the content of the education, the truth that’s being conveyed. And classical means an unembarrassed embrace of classical modes of teaching that go back to the very earliest period of what became Western civilization, in particular, the schools and the educational philosophy that emerged in the civilizations of Greece and Rome. So you think of Athens and Rome. You think of the classical heritage. That’s exactly what is being recovered here. And as you’re looking at the rise of classical Christian education, we’re looking at something that’s basically now about 20 or 30 years old, maybe just a little older in some cases, but younger in most cases in terms of people coming to understand what the movement is all about.

And what’s really interesting right now, and the reason we’re talking about it today on The Briefing is that here in Louisville, Kentucky, well, here is located a major classical Christian school or Christian classical school, and that is the Highlands Latin School. And it has grown from just a handful of students indeed meeting in a house, to now a school with several hundred students, with multiple campuses here in Louisville, and furthermore satellites elsewhere and affiliated schools trying to follow the very same model.

But the reason that is particularly important today is because, just in recent days, the Courier Journal, that is the local Gannett-owned city newspaper here in Louisville, traditionally very liberal and certainly even more liberal in today’s sense, the Courier Journal has run a series of articles entitled “The Cost of Empire,” and what they’re talking about is what they basically accuse as being the new empire of Christian classical education, and in particular, Highland Latin School because it has been particularly influential and particularly successful.

Now, the thing I want to note is this. When you look at the implications of this package, you look at the approach of the secular media, what you see, in the first place, is just what you now must expect, which is a pushback and a rejection of anything that holds the public schools and the reigning academic ideology in suspicion, and that’s exactly why you have the rise of these schools. That’s why so many conservatives and so many Christians, add those two together. So many conservative Christians, so many conservative Christian families have looked for alternatives to the public school system. And that’s only going to grow, because the public school system is increasingly everywhere, especially where you have federal mandates and other concerns. The dominant reality of the public schools is increasingly in open opposition to Christian conviction, and frankly, to the moral values and worldview held by Christians and, well, frankly, it’s our responsibility to see passed on to our own children and our own grandchildren. I am a big supporter of the Christian classical school movement, and I have been for as long as I have known about it. And I want to state an indebtedness to many who pioneered in this area.

And I also want to say that if there’s shock here, it is what some philosophers call the shock of recognition. In other words, what we are seeing here is something that we should have been seeing all along, and that is the fact that where you have the perpetuation of Western civilization—I’m not just talking about explicit Christian conviction—where you have the survival of Western civilization is something that has to be taught. It is something that requires education. And the schools have been seen, for millennia in Western history, and let’s just say, in the period since Christ, two millennia. The schools have been seen as absolutely necessary, epoch by epoch, in the inculcation of the right beliefs, in order to create the right kind of citizen, to be able to produce the right kind of society. Now for Christians, of course, we have even deeper concerns, but this is where the confluence of classical and Christian turns out to be so very powerful. And it’s not at all new.

And as a matter of fact, when I look at the kind of package that the Courier Journal put together, it’s basically a journalistic hit piece. What it accuses, it doesn’t use these terms, that’s the point, but what it basically accuses Highland Latin School and other Christian classical schools of doing is perpetuating Western civilization, which, as it turns out, they see as a problem rather than as a goal. At one point, in one of the articles in this series, the reporters write, “But the terms Western and Western civilization have been embraced by members of the far right in recent years and are viewed by some as euphemisms for whiteness.”

Now, I just want to back up, by the way, I’m going to give you one more quote here. You have a professor of sociology at University of New Hampshire who says, “You hear Judeo-Christian or you hear Western, and it’s a very thinly veiled dog whistle term for white.” Now, I just want to point out that that is absolutely ridiculous. I’m not saying that no one can use the term in that way, but I am saying that if you’re talking about Highland Latin School or you’re talking about Christian classical education, you’re talking about figures such as Augustine, who by the way was a bishop in Hippo, and you’re talking about the 4th century in North Africa. We are not here talking about just a euphemism for whiteness. What you see here, however, in mirror image, is a hatred of Western civilization. And so what you have is simply a giant suspicion that is cast upon anyone who would seek to perpetuate Western civilization.

Now, let’s just do a quick reality check. Even when I was a student in the public schools, and I was an elementary school student in the 1960s, you can do the math. At that point, I believe every one of my teachers, and every one of the school administrators, and every single school board member would’ve agreed that one of the central purposes of the public schools in the United States of America was the perpetuation of Western civilization. And that was not a racist ambition. That is simply the acknowledgement that civilization matters, and Western civilization matters, and the achievements of Western civilization matter. And by the way, you cannot separate Western civilization from the roots that are classical and Christian. So if you do hate those two roots, guess what? You do hate Western civilization. And quite honestly, that explains much of ideologically progressive higher education.

The dominant academic establishment in the United States basically now is open in antipathy towards both classical and Christian. I think the only word they would want to retain in the entire combination is the word school. And trust me, they want to control the schools because they want the minds and hearts of your children. By the way, as you are looking at this, you also recognize a lot of criticisms are brought in this package of articles against HLS and, by application, other classical Christian schools. And look, no educational model is beyond criticism. No school is without faults. But the point here is that, what they’re accused of doing as the central fault, is exactly what I believe they should be doing. What they’re teaching is what they should be teaching, the habits, the intellectual content that they are inculcating in students. I think that it turns out to be absolutely right.

And furthermore, the product they produce is actually superior, in so many cases, to what you’re going to find when you look at the graduates of the educational mush. And if anything, that’s a kind understatement of what’s coming out of the public schools. Now, I’m not saying every student that comes out of the public schools is committed to that kind of confusion, that kind of worldview, that kind of unwisdom, but I am saying that as you look at those who are in ideological control and bureaucratic administration of these schools, school systems, take it all the way up to the federal government, you are looking at an influence that is most often directly at odds if Christian parents understand what’s at stake.

Now, in one sense, this kind of hit piece, or in this case, hit package, is something of a tribute to the fact that this school is seen as posing a threat to the dominant educational establishment. And that, I have to say to listeners to The Briefing, is actually good news. The fact that there are people who all of a sudden are aware that this kind of education exists, and frankly, they are understandably very cognizant of the fact it comes with a very persuasive argument, and as I say, for very good reasons. And frankly, it sets in contrast the dominant educational models of our time. And you look at this and all of a sudden you have these little kids, and they are memorizing texts in Latin. They have a deep understanding of history. They’re memorizing enormous texts. And you say, for what? Well, it is because of the habits of mind, the habits of learning, and the content, not only in the mind, but in the heart it turns out to be a very powerful combination.

But I want to turn the tables for a moment and just say, and I discuss this at length in an article I published today at World Opinions entitled The Empire Strikes Back, what we are looking at here is the recognition coming from the secular progressivist Left that this is a real threat. This series of articles would not have been offered if they did not see the rise of Christian classical education as a real threat. And I want to say, of course, it’s not a threat to the society. It is a threat, by contrast, to the dominant educational establishment.

And as you look at the public schools, and you look at what is taught in those schools, and you look at the pressure coming on students, and by the way, we have a lot of Christian parents who are, all of a sudden, waking up to the fact, when they hear comments from their own children, it’s clear that they are increasingly indoctrinated in all kinds of ideologies, including the LGBTQ movement, well, you just go down the list. And by the time many parents find out what their students have been “learning,” I put that in quotation marks, what they have been receiving, how their minds and hearts have been formed, I think many of those parents recognize, quite accurately, if lamentably, that it’s already too late. At the very least, they need to understand that if they are in these public school systems, they’re almost assuredly going to be exposed to this kind of content and alternative worldview, sooner or later, and in all likelihood sooner.

But all that to say, I celebrate the rise of these alternative movements, and by the way, they come in several forms. It’s not just forms such as this particular Christian classical school known as Highlands Latin School here in Louisville, but frankly, homeschool curricula that are also increasingly based in a conservative, in a Christian, in a classical understanding. And consortia programs, there are many different arrangements, and honestly, a lot of Christian parents are finding their way into one or another of these arrangements.

But at this point, the most important worldview analysis comes down to the fact that every educational philosophy matters, and it matters not only in what it produces, but you have to track it back to the worldview in which it is established. And every one of these educational approaches comes with proponents and the proponents of public education, and let’s just leave out the word public at this point, let’s just say secular progressivist education, well, they have an awful lot of political allies.

Part II

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Support Opportunity for True Educational Choice and Empowerment of Parents: Why Every Christian Kentuckian Should Vote Yes on Constitutional Amendment 2

But as you might expect, there’s something more going on here, and there’s something more is Amendment 2 in the state of Kentucky. So Kentucky voters, coming in November, are going to vote on what is known as Amendment 2. The Constitution would be amended to read, “The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools. The General Assembly may exercise this authority by law, sections, [and then they are enumerated] of this constitution notwithstanding.”

Now, that’s a really important statement. It doesn’t obligate the General Assembly to do anything, but it does allow the state government to at least acknowledge the fact that thousands upon thousands of Kentucky parents are choosing to educate their children in alternative schools, including classical Christian schools among others, and it is the right of those citizens to receive the support of their own state in making this decision. The General Assembly would have the authority, if this constitutional amendment passes, and I dearly hope it does pass, the General Assembly will have the authority to respond to this with legislation, that’s go through the normal legislative process. The dominant educational establishment and their political allies are entirely against Amendment 2, which is almost entirely why Christian voters in Kentucky must come out and vote for it.

Frankly, it’s not just a matter of Christian voters, it is a matter of voters who understand that a monopoly is not a good thing. And when the public school has an absolute monopoly on education, that is a very dangerous reality. And I think most people know it, and I think most people are willing to say it. They’re at least willing to think it. What we need them to do is, if not say it out loud, at least vote the right way on Amendment 2. This hit piece, this hit package in the Courier Journal, is almost entirely explained by the fury of the secular Left and the idea that something like Amendment 2 might pass. No coincidence, the newspaper also has been running several editorials against Amendment 2. You catch the pattern?

But next, I want to shift to something else, still along the lines of defending and appreciating Western civilization, which I do. And by the way, I do not see Western civilization as faultless. On the other hand, I see Western civilization, based in its classical and Christian roots, as essential to human flourishing, and as uniquely positive, contributing towards human flourishing. And quite honestly, I think the fact that so many people want to get to the nations that are shaped by Western and Christian civilization, that should make the point very clear.

Part III

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Israel and the Fight for Western Civilization: There is Even More at Stake in Israel’s War Than Its Own Self-Preservation

But there’s a related issue that has just emerged, and it comes in a rather angular way because what I’m referring to now is the posture taken by the state of Israel against its own enemies. And in particular, as you know, Israel received a direct attack from Iran, a barrage of at least 200 missiles and rockets sent. The majority of them were blocked by the iron dome system, but nonetheless, it was a direct attack upon Israel by Iran. And that followed, of course, the fact that Israel has been so incredibly successful in military terms in neutralizing the threat of so many of Iran’s proxies, in particular, Hamas, Hezbollah, most centrally, and of course, in headline news even in recent days, but also the Houthi rebels in Yemen. And so Iran, who has been acting as a nation, nefariously through these proxies they refer to as the axis of resistance, the reality is that Israel has basically severely reduced the power of all three, but in particular, Hezbollah, which was the most powerful of all in Iran’s parallel arsenal.

But Iran now responded with this attack. Israel says that it will respond, but the reason we’re talking about it right now is not only because of Israel’s courage, but because as Gerard Baker, the Wall Street Journal says, Israel is defending itself “and may save Western civilization.” Well, it’s a very powerful argument. What Baker is arguing here is that Israel, in defending its own national interest and its own values and outposts, where, for one thing, you have an elected democratic government there in Israel, you have something like an outpost of Western civilization. And even as other manifestations of Western civilization seem to be absolutely immune from the ability to defend themselves, Israel is summoning the courage, and it’s doing so in a way that, quite frankly, has the attention of the whole world.

Baker gets right to the point when he writes, “How will we ever repay the debt we owe Israel? What the Jewish state has done,” he said, “in just the past year for its own defense, but in the process, and not coincidentally, for the security of all of us, will rank among the most important contributions to the defense of Western civilization in the past three quarters of a century.” That’s an amazing statement. I think it also is an absolutely accurate statement. Israel is now defending not only itself, but Western values when many other nations in the West will not defend the same, and frankly, will not even defend themselves.

Recent reports have been telling us that many of the nations in Europe, the democratic nations, the nations associated with Western civilization, they have been announcing that they are going to rearm themselves after basically disarming after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall. There was a sense in so many European capitals that even as they weren’t spending enough of their defense, then they could cut back even further. And recent reports are telling us that even as these nations have been giving assurances that they are now going to rearm themselves, they have faced all kinds of sociological and political obstacles to doing that. Meanwhile, Israel is fighting the fight.

Israel’s fighting the fight right now on at least three fronts. Israel is fighting with the courage that, quite honestly, most of the nations we know in the West have not yet demonstrated. And quite honestly, to our own embarrassment, our national leadership has been giving lip service and also, we should say, a lot of money and a lot of military support. But it has been undercutting, with other comments, the credibility of Israel in carrying out this defense of Western civilization, which is not only for the survival of Israel, but for the rest of us as well. I think Gerard Baker is absolutely right.

It’s also important to recognize that Walter Russell Meade, who is one of the most informed analysts in terms of the military and political situation around the world, writes that “By ignoring Western delusions and attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel’s leader has served Western interests.” That means our own interest. His headline is “Benjamin Netanyahu’s Triumphal Week.”

By the way, other major pieces have emerged, including some coming from Israel’s political Left. Those are the traditional enemies of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, coming out and lauding him for having the audacity to defend Israel and to lead Israel in these directions at this time. Leadership matters, something good for the United States to consider, as a presidential election looms before us.

Part IV

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Confession, Forgiveness, and Baseball: The Parable of Pete Rose Raises Big Theological Questions

But next, we have to shift to Pete Rose, who died on Monday at age 83, just a matter of a couple of days, by the way, after appearing and making money signing autographs, something rather demeaning for a sports star of his stature. After all, he is known not only as a famous Major League baseball player, but also as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, the team for which he was playing when he broke one of the biggest records in Major League Baseball, which is the all-time hits record. It had stood for decades, held by Ty Cobb, and along came Pete Rose, and he then became the biggest all-time hitter in Major League Baseball history, and most baseball historians and analysts say it is a record that is likely to stand, if not just for a long time, then maybe as a permanent record because there are very few players who have the longevity of Pete Rose in the game. The average hitter right now is, in Major League Baseball, playing for a team, only about six years. That’s a fraction of Pete Rose’s career.

But as most people know, Pete Rose ended his career in ignominy. He ended his career in disgrace. He ended his career when, in 1989, he was banned from Major League Baseball for life, and that subsequently, also meant he was banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame. That is a standing that remains even now. So how can you have someone who’s both a player and is a manager achieve so much three World Series titles, breaking the all-time hit record, why did he end in such disgrace? It is because he threw it all away with gambling.

By the time Pete Rose became the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, he was already believed to be deep in debt to gambling sources. And he was under threat. And even as he was looking at that challenge, he began to gamble even more recklessly, eventually gambling in his own sport, Major League Baseball, and eventually gambling, in relation to his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. That is felony territory when it comes to the ethics of Major League Baseball, that will take us back to one of the biggest scandals that almost brought Major League Baseball to an end.

That has to do with the 1919 World Series when no less than eight members of the Chicago White Sox were discovered to have accepted bribes to throw the World Series. Well, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was the first commissioner of baseball, brought in to clean up the sport, did what he had to do, and he threw those players out for life, banned for life from Major League Baseball. And it had been decades since that kind of verdict had been handed down. But when you had Pete Rose, all-time record holder when it came to hits, such an influential figure, when he was discovered to have gambled not only on Major League Baseball, which is already a felony when it comes to this particular moral world, but he had gambled with his own team.

And even today, it’s debated whether he gambled for them or against them. He said he never gambled against them because that’s when, of course, he could throw a game. But it was confirmed, even as later in life, he admitted what he had denied for so many years, he admitted that there was a source behind home plate, sending him hand signals about his bets even during the game. Major League Baseball launched an investigation, then Commissioner Bart Giamatti handed down the verdict against Pete Rose, a lifetime ban from baseball.

But as it turns out, as it almost always turns out in such a case, this was not the only problem with Pete Rose. There were other allegations including sex with underaged females. It’s a long and tawdry list of accusations, and frankly, investigations. But Pete Rose lied about what he did. He broke the most fundamental ethical rules of the sport at which he was such a hero. He basically threw it all away, and then he lied about it. When he was confronted with the evidence, we now believe that if he had confessed, Major League Baseball would’ve found some way to basically punish him and keep him away from the ball field, but not to expel him forever, even from recognition in something like the Baseball Hall of Fame. But he lied. And he lied until he stopped lying by making money with a book in which he told what he had done.

And then he was reduced to the tawdry life of making money, simply by going to places, and those places would include Las Vegas, where he would sign baseballs for $100, and baseball bats for $150. And that’s a very sad way for a baseball great to end. But his life ended just this past Monday at age 83, and at that point, there was no reinstatement. The question is, now will this happen?

It’s very interesting, even in the major media, interesting theological questions were asked with relation to Pete Rose. One major newspaper asked the question, is confession necessary for forgiveness? That is to say, when it comes to Pete Rose, he never really confessed to baseball authorities what he had done. For instance, even right now, it’s not certain whether he ever bet, not only for his team, but against his team.

Now honestly, it’s not often I talk about sports in this kind of setting, but this is absolutely inescapable. The worldview issues are so huge, and by the way, the Christian worldview, theologically, biblically answers the question, very clearly, yes, it is necessary to confess our sins, in order to receive God’s forgiveness. To believers, it is promised that if we confess our sins, he, meaning our sovereign father, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and that, by his redeeming work, through his Son. The parable of Pete Rose is a very sad tale, and he died, and honestly, it’s interesting to see where you have major sports authorities say, his only hope for redemption is that, after his death, baseball will reverse its verdict. But you know, that’s a very empty hope.

And we as Christians understand that when we think about what’s at stake in our salvation, death, well, that’s a borderline beyond which no forgiveness is possible. That’s why we have the urgency of coming to faith in the word Jesus Christ, the urgency of confessing our sins, the urgency of following Christ in faithfulness, and the urgency of taking the gospel to the end of the world. Because, even as Major League Baseball may reverse its verdict, and maybe even after death, Pete Rose may find his way to the baseball Hall of Fame, that’s not the way the gospel works. That doesn’t make the gospel less good news. It makes it infinitely more good news, because, I simply repeat, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That’s the power of the Gospel, which oddly enough, comes into even sharper focus when we think about the parable of Pete Rose.