“You cannot own a child of God.” These are the words I read in most of the term papers for a community college course on American Government that I taught during the Spring 2020 COVID-19 semester. , were words I read again and again. This was most impressive considering America is divided and in crisis during a pandemic. A common answer to a prompt asking what the central idea behind the 2016 Civil War epic is. Jones Free State. The film is about the historical figure of Newton Knight, played by Matthew McConaughey, a Confederate soldier turned abolitionist who led an uprising against Democratic Party rule in Mississippi during the Civil War. A person. The responses from my students not only provide a glimpse into the civic and spiritual insights that have virtually disappeared in higher education and are rarely heard among today's college students, but they also get to the heart of what is plaguing higher education. It's coming.
The Jewish holiday Passover and the Christian holiday Pasha (“Resurrection Day” but better known by its pagan name “Easter”) celebrate human oppression and death. Not only is it an intertwined story of freedom from itself, but it lies at the very foundation of Western civilization.
God's freeing of the Israelites from Pharaoh is a reminder of the dark side of human nature and unlimited government. Without revelation, there is no objective truth or goodness, as exemplified by the experience of the Israelites at Sinai. The fickle goals of social justice and identity politics are precisely the result of removing these notions of objective truth and allowing “lived experience” and subjective truth to fill the void.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which occurs on Passover, not only reminds us of the dangers of corrupt governments and mob rule, but that the same liberating God even corrects the effects of evil to the point of erasing death itself. It also reminds me. Unlike the collective deliverance and revelation at Sinai, the resurrection and empty tomb are very intimate, personal, and personal events. The story of Christ is the story of Almighty God becoming human so that all people can commune with divinity and reconnect with eternity.
Are rights given by the government or elsewhere? This is a question I posed to my American government students before I covered anything else. Without a doubt, almost half of my students claimed that rights come from the government, and the other half declared that rights are granted by something else. This is as much a theological issue as it is a civic one, and perhaps the most fundamental to the American experience and purpose of education. How Americans collectively answer this question will ultimately determine whether this country will be a free nation.
inside jones free state, Newton Knight escapes from the Confederate army and flees into the woods, where he meets and befriends a group of fugitive slaves. Knight's friendship with one of the aptly named fugitive slaves, Moses Washington, is not only of vital importance to the film, but also has important theological implications for the nature of America. After meeting and discussing the immorality of slavery, Moses responds to Knight's question why he is free that, as a child of God, he cannot be owned. The question is rhetorical, as Mr. Knight agrees and says, “You can own a mule, an ox, a bull, but you can't own a son of God.”
The idea that humans are spiritual beings is not only rooted in the Biblical story of humans being created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), but also in what American education currently offers. It is also against moral values.
Critical race theory (CRT), gender studies, and Marxist economic thought are rooted in materialism. Material conditions are circumstantial and finite, and it is precisely for these same reasons that they are ultimately nihilistic and based on subjective morality and subjective truth. Marxism, in both its cultural and economic forms, can only be enacted by a government or political authority that has appointed itself the arbiter of what it deems to be impartial. The end result is not the fairness promised by social justice advocates, but a new pharaoh and Pontius Pilate in bureaucratic form. Thanks to near-total secularization, today's educators share a view closer to that of the Marxist vanguard of Mao Zedong, Vladimir Lenin, and Fidel Castro than to the foundations of American Judaism and Christianity. ing.
But without the inherent human value of the individual, which the Empty Tomb provides, and the universal, objective moral truths, which the Sinai Peninsula provides, students become rational citizens endowed with self-government. will be impossible to educate.
Accumulating wisdom is possible only if objective good and truth exist. Similarly, without inherent human values and universal morality, human life becomes cheap and all sorts of actions are permissible. Without Passover and the lessons of Passover, moral debates turn into contests of power and violence. Just watch the news to see the effects of complete secularization on education and culture.
In his “If I Was the Devil,” which aired a few weeks before Easter 1965, he said: ABC radio Host Paul Harvey foresaw the impact of secularization on education and civic life. Harvey spoke as the devil and said the Bible was a myth and would convince people that humans created God. As a devil, he would “encourage schools to develop young minds, but ignore the discipline of emotions.” “Get God out of the courts and out of the schools,” and sue atheists to “the highest court in the land.” Harvey, whose father, a Tulsa police officer, was tragically killed in the line of duty in 1921 will perhaps come to understand the spiritual roots behind the growing injustices in America today.
Long ago, American universities recognized the importance of incorporating theological values into education to foster excellence. The University of California's motto is “Fiat Lux” Quoted from Genesis 1:3 in the Latin Vulgate. Yale University's Hebrew Motto, Urim Vutummim, This is from an oracle in the Hebrew Bible worn by Aaron the high priest (Leviticus 8:8). Harvard University's Latin motto is “veritas“in 1636'' began as “in 1636''.Veritas Pro Cristo Ecclesia”, which was translated as “not just the truth, but the truth for Christ and the church.” Education and faith are closely related.
A people with a Biblical mindset who defends their natural rights and defends the common good against government overreach has been and has been the backbone of America's greatest moments. Historical figures like Newton Knight knew the lessons of the Sinai Peninsula and the empty tomb. Knight's relatives disavow his slave-holding past based on his Primitive Baptist beliefs, and he worked as a U.S. marshal during Reconstruction against radical Democrats and the Ku Klux Klan. . During World War II, the U.S. military sought to build a foundation for American Judeo-Christianity by using policies that created solidarity among Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish GIs. If it weren't for the Sinai Peninsula and the empty tomb, Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. could be accompanied by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos, or 900 Catholics. There probably wasn't. This is what Sinai and the Empty Tomb actually does, not critical race theory. When America reached heaven in the 1969 Space Race, astronaut and Presbyterian elder Buzz Aldrin received Holy Communion on the moon.
The stories of brave Americans of faith are truly remarkable, not only for their unwavering faith and resolute action, but also for the perseverance, courage, and loyalty they demonstrated in the face of danger and adversity. To do. Education aims to empower individuals and cultivate virtues that lead to meaningful results. Citizens who identify themselves as children of God understand the inestimable value of their own worth and recognize that the impact of their decisions extends beyond mere material considerations. , are inherently resistant to conquest. Reforming America's education system requires restoring autonomy to students and reinforcing their belief that they are truly children of God.
Chag Sameach Pesach And Happy Easter.
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