Most people want “a seat at the table” and many people feel excluded. In particular, Christians generally feel unwelcome at the table of the education establishment. Not terribly long ago, I heard a Christian education leader say that he “just wanted a seat at the table.”
I’m not sure what he meant, because the metaphor seems far removed from our American egalitarian mindset. But I think what he had in mind was that he wanted the Christian view to get a fair hearing. There was an undertone of feeling disrespected.
Here’s the thing: the table of American education has been bought, paid for, set, and eaten by people who have a set of dogmatic convictions. These convictions are rarely closely evaluated, because to not believe them is just stupid. If you want a place at this table, then you have to celebrate the food they serve, have the good manners to thank the host, and call out the staff for an encore.
Let me do you a favor. Here is what you have to do if you want your voice to be heard by the education establishment:
- Set aside moral absolutes
- Be ethically neutral unless you favor the favored ethical issue of the day
- Accept naturalistic materialism as your metaphysical foundation. This is the non-negotiable of everything else and explains their commitment to dogmatic Darwinism, their antipathy to religion, and their gullibility on political and ethical issues.
- Submit to their assessment standards, which arise within their metaphysical commitments.
- Accept without reflection their constructivist and developmentalist theories.
- Endure their training without allowing your conscience or convictions a voice.
- Master and use their buzzwords.
Do this, and you shall find a welcome at their table. You may, however, be disappointed by the food. That is, if you have any taste left.
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Related articles
- Who’s teaching the ethics teachers getting their ethics? (thepunch.com.au)
- Theodicy of naturalists (khanya.wordpress.com)