Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Breakpoint: Political Correctness Is Killing Colleges

Breakpoint: Political Correctness Is Killing Colleges

Last updated on: January 25, 2017 at 7:00 am by Christian Podcast Central

Breakpoint: Political Correctness Is Killing Colleges 2017-01-23T13:26:56-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We’ve heard a lot about the flurry of “snowflakes” on college campuses. But it’s more like a blizzard.

Breakpoint: Political Correctness Is Killing Colleges Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fragile freshmen took to the streets following the presidential election. But at many schools, the politically-correct are upset about more than who’s moving into the White House. They’re demanding professors rewrite history itself to suit their feelings.

Take the University of Pennsylvania, where NBC reports that students removed a portrait of William Shakespeare and replaced it with a photo of Audre Lorde, a “self-described black lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” They did so to affirm “their commitment to a more inclusive mission for the English department.”

Evidently this mission doesn’t include the single most important figure in the formation of the modern English language.

But it’s not just colleges. Public schools in Accomack County, Virginia, removed a pair of titles from its libraries and classrooms after one mother complained that they contained racial slurs. The offending books? Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The irony here, of course, is that these books were written to confront and expose racism, not promote it!

But the prize for most jaw-dropping politically-correct purge has to go to students at London University. Apparently, enrollees in the School of Oriental and African Studies are demanding that figures such as Plato, Immanuel Kant, and Rene Descartes be removed from their philosophy curriculum, since they’re white and represent—stay with me now—“the structural and epistemological legacy of colonialism.”

Political Correctness Is Killing Colleges Their demand comes on the heels of a nationwide proposal which, if approved, would place student satisfaction in Britain “at the heart of the new ranking system.” In other words, the snowflakes would have more power than ever over schools that dare to challenge or offend them.

On hearing of these politically-correct efforts to rewrite history, Sir Anthony Seldon, the vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, said there’s a “real danger political correctness is getting out of control.”

That may be the understatement of the decade.

Look, there are so many problems with this trend, I hardly know where to begin. But the first thing that comes to mind is a message for every student tempted to engage in snowflakery: Your emotions do not trump reality.

That sentence probably requires more than one trigger warning, but it’s true. The facts of history don’t change because they hurt your feelings. And here are some irrefutable facts of history: Plato is essential to an education in philosophy, Harper Lee was not a racist, and if you want an English degree without studying and learning to appreciate Shakespeare, it will not be worth the paper on which it’s printed.

That’s not racist, sexist, homophobic, or colonial. It’s reality.

It’s great to study figures outside the traditional Western canon. But we don’t study philosophers, explorers, or inventors because they agreed with our politics. We study them because they shaped our world, and to understand that world, we need to understand them. That’s what education is all about.

The idea that learning should never offend us, or that college should be a “safe space” free of uncomfortable ideas is destroying modern education. And the institutions and governments that cave to these demands are just as guilty as the students making them. As Christians, we can lead the way by being the first to engage opposing ideas, rather than silencing them.

Failing that, a snow shovel may be in order.

Visit Breakpoint.org to get further information about the many great books and other resources available there and you can link up to our social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

By Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Discovered by e2 media network and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not e2 media network, and audio is streamed directly from their servers.

Political Correctness

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

To Kill a Mockingbird

University of Pennsylvania

Worldview

youth issues

Previous Post

January 25, 2017

First Liberty Briefing: The Tradition Behind the Words “So Help Me God” in our Inaugural Address

Next Post

January 26, 2017 White Horse Inn: How Our Beliefs Shape Us

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz