Posted on 10/03/2015 12:10:20 PM PDT by MarvinStinson
Western culture is not transmitted through the genes. It has to be taught to each succeeding generation.
To transmit this heritage, we depend on our schools and colleges.
Never has a public trust been more misplaced.
We are reminded of the rupturing of our cultural pipeline by the current debate over curricular changes at Stanford University.
In a speech at Stanford on April 18, Secretary of Education William J. Bennett blasted that University for scrapping its basic course, "Western Thought," which has been required for all freshmen.
The "Western Thought" course was introduced in 1980. It was a step toward rebuilding the worthy curriculum that was trashed in the 1960s and '70s at the hands of nihilistic students and deranged faculty.
The course consisted of the study of great books that are the landmarks in the long development of Western culture.
"Western Thought" from its inception became the target of a small but loud gang of protesters.
Their chant in a demonstration last year, led by Rev. Jesse Jackson--"Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western culture's got to go!"--
tells us what they are and what they want.
Their ostensible objection to the course is that white males are overrepresented in the reading list while women, blacks, American Indians, Hispanics etc. are omitted.
The Stanford Faculty Senate voted 39-4 with 5 abstentions to gut "Western Thought."
Nine of the 15 required books and all 18 "highly recommended" books are dropped, to be replaced by "works by women, minorities and persons of color."
Whatever may be the proper role of such books in education, they are no substitute for the great classics that are the foundation stones of our culture.
Choosing books by authors' gender or ethnic category rather than by the books' quality ought to embarrass all educators.
Yep
‘advancing’ from Michelangelo, Leonardo daVinci, Raphael and Rembrant
to p,,s Christ ...
ONLY in the west is there even an intellectual attempt to describe all humans as created free and equal.
The Obama doctrine is “Other people have it harder than you so you are less worthy than other people.”
Brilliant point.
Almost all left learners don’t understand constitutional conservative thought, Western thought. In their haste to call us judgmental racists, they forget that the freedoms we believe in for the individuals are good for hippies, punks, druggies, wiccans, everyone. We want everyone to have freedom and to conduct themselves according to decency and their own lifestyles. Explore and share their own ideas. EVERYONE. Not just us. We actually don’t want everyone to be white and Christian. They are very feeble minded.
A friend told me, “It’s the paper equivalent of the Invasion of Europe currently in progress.”
True. In both cases, the barbarians are inside, and the civilization is threatened.
>>Almost all left learners don’t understand constitutional conservative thought, Western thought. In their haste to call us judgmental racists, they forget that the freedoms we believe in for the individuals are good for hippies, punks, druggies, wiccans, everyone. We want everyone to have freedom and to conduct themselves according to decency and their own lifestyles. Explore and share their own ideas. EVERYONE. Not just us. We actually don’t want everyone to be white and Christian. They are very feeble minded.
They aren’t the only ones who have forgotten how freedom frees everyone. Come out in favor of something that is considered “liberal” right here and you’ll be called a Communist and told to “go back to DU where you belong.” Just this week, I mentioned that water should not be wasted on lawns and was attacked by a half dozen people in 30 minutes. The attacks weren’t disagreements, but name-calling and bad science (”you can’t waste water because it is still on Earth” was my favorite) and demands that I go back to DU.
I’m sorry you were attacked. I get it All The Time from FReepers too. So many people forget that freedom is especially important for people you don’t agree with. I fight for innocent children who want to play with whatever toys they wish no matter what gender the kid is. There are still people here who fight me on this and call me a sodomite lover because I think kids should play how they want, as long as they are kind to others.
““What do you think we should do about the white people?” asked a student during a particularly virulent attack by the professor on the “white value system.”
“If I had my way,” said the professor, “I’d wipe them off the face of the earth.””
Sadly, this is the rule, rather than the exception at liberal arts colleges these days.
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