[image: A Shell of Its Former Self, 2013, JA Van Devender]
Location: Intersection of Continental Divide and Interstate 10, New Mexico.
Proverbs 14:6–7 (NKJV)
6 A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, But knowledge is easy to him who understands.
7 Go from the presence of a foolish man, When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.
From NYT, today, 12/16/13 [HERE]
A growing campaign among American professors to isolate Israel reaches a milestone on Monday when a large group of scholars is expected to reveal whether its members endorsed an academic boycott of Israel to protest Israeli treatment of Palestinians.
It is increasingly apparent to me that American institutions of higher education are wastelands of knowledge and only a shell of their former self in liberal analysis and insight. Parents must recognize that within the walls of these class rooms the primary objective is not to equip a student's mind with the skills to form coherent and comprehensive critiques of diverse and often contrary propositions, but rather to indoctrinate them in a narrow dogma of particular emphasis. The only "life" available in this wasteland is that of the technical studies. It's hard to warp quantum physics into a critique of Arizona's stand on illegal immigration... which is not to say that aren't some who are willing to attempt it. As far as the liberal arts though, the present system with its peer judged tenure system and black-ball faculty voting standards, the possibility of a scholarly review across a philosophical and ethical spectrum of views, is virtually non-existent.
In this particular instance, I have no particular brief for Israel as a nation. It is one more in God's providential ordering of history and the advancement of His agenda. I do not see present day, mostly atheist, Israel as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in virtually any sense and I emphatically do not search the newspapers for news about a "red heifer" or about plans to lay a foundation for a new temple and the resumption of Levitical sacrifices. However I do see Israel as having as much right to exist in the land of Palestine as any other national entity, all of which fixed their present day boundaries through warfare. Egypt, Syrian, Lebanon, Iraq, etc. etc. all are what they are through a bloody history where the winner of the conflict determined the distribution of land and the constitution of citizen perogatives within its boundaries.
If there is any question about this general principle I simply invite our attention to the Native American "nations" and their geographical boundaries within the geographic lower 48 states. These "nations" are not sovereign... they are subject to federal law. It is pure hypocrisy to say that this is to be tolerated and that of the relation between Israel and the Palestinian 'nation' should be rejected. Further the idea of a historic Palestinian "right" to the land is just as fatuous as the notion that Israel, as a nation, has a Biblical "right" to its borders. The Lord Jesus Christ made it very clear that the national boundaries of the true Israel is the entire world, with every nation calling Him Lord, and therefore it is sheer nonsense to think that national Israel should lay a Biblical claim to a segment of our Lord's world while denying Him His royal claim.
That being said, the main point is that in our academies, everything I just said would be categorically rejected, not because it is logically incoherent, it is, whether you agree with its conclusions or not. Within our academies I would not have even been allowed to state such a position if I had designs upon teaching there and quite possibly would not be even allowed to state them in a special setting such as a seminar. It violates the core totalitarian ethics of intellectual snobbery and hence does not, in their mind, warrant a coherent answer nor even a hearing.
This is only one aspect of the problem. Across the board, from views of anthropology (e.g. abortion), ethics (e.g. normative external authority), cosmology (presupposition of the supernatural), etc. etc. this same prevailing mind-set is encountered. These institutions are deserts in many respects and while I agree that they need a voice crying out in them, we must also remember that sending a sheep out into the desert without support is pretty certain to get it killed. Our young people are, most often, not equipped to be a voice in the desert. If they are not, regardless of the worldly advantage that a highly prized diploma from a prestigious institution may offer, it is most wise to simply not throw them into this morass. There are plenty of options available where a young person can be exposed to those doctrines so as to be able to think through them and be challenged by them yet with the opposing doctrines given a full hearing. As far as I am concerned, Christians have the upper hand... we control our own pocketbooks... and the current situation in the field of higher education is that these institutions are fighting for students and the tuition they bring so as to be able to pay these guys their exorbitant salaries.
On the other side, we Christians must not fall into the same, dogmatic, narrowness that prevails in these circles. We must trust our doctrine. It is defensible and coherent at every stage and our young people must be brought to see the truth of that statement. This means that they must be exposed to false doctrines and true. They must learn to distinguish between rhetoric and substance. They must be encouraged to think and to think clearly rather than embrace bumper sticker principles. They must pursue a life of the mind even as they are being guided and encouraged down that path. Apart from that there really isn't much hope... for our country or our gospel.
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