Rick Santorum and colleges as “indoctrination mills”

Last updated on: August 10, 2012 at 12:44 am by Libby Anne

Rick Santorum and colleges as “indoctrination mills” 2012-08-10T00:44:32-04:00 Libby Anne

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The more I listen to Rick Santorum, the more it seems like he stepped out of my childhood. It’s kind of uncanny, actually. From a news article:

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Thursday that President Obama wants more young adults to go to college so they can undergo “indoctrination” to a secular world view.

On the president’s efforts to boost college attendance, Santorum said, “I understand why Barack Obama wants to send every kid to college, because of their indoctrination mills, absolutely … The indoctrination that is going on at the university level is a harm to our country.”

He claimed that “62 percent of kids who go into college with a faith commitment leave without it,” but declined to cite a source for the figure. And he floated the idea of requiring that universities that receive public funds have “intellectual diversity” on campus.

I grew up hearing that colleges were “indoctrination mills.” It was a staple of the rhetoric. It was a given. In college, I was taught, unwitting young Christians are indoctrinated by liberal atheist nihilistic college professors. Oh, and colleges are immoral dens of hedonism.

This is part of why the Stay At Home Daughter movement is growing, and why many fundamentalist families either send their children to Christian colleges, or are ceasing to send their children to college at all, picking apprenticeships and such. For those who DO go to public universities, there are how-to books to help them survive the indoctrination. There are numerous summer worldview programs promising to make sure college students will be able to withstand the atheistic indoctrination they will receive.

The funny thing is, I went to a state university, and the biggest student group on campus was Campus Crusade for Christ, religious services were frequently held in university buildings (seriously, they even held mass), and there wasn’t even a Secular Student Alliance chapter. Maybe I just went to the wrong one. :-/

I would write more on this subject, but I don’t have the time at the moment.

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