We Have Been Lied To!
For the last 40 – 45 years our educational system has been influenced by a flawed and empty philosophy that has produced a present disaster in the learning process. It is not because we do not have dedicated teachers who work hard and care about their students. It is not because we have not supplied enough money to support that system either. Rather the empty philosophy, that has been purported to be true, is that there is not a series of absolutes that should influence the teaching that we receive of give to others.
This shift began when our teachers began to accent our feelings instead of what was factual and true. Instead of learning by certain rules, students were encouraged to explore all kinds of information and then make up their own rules. Children were seen as fully able to make their own rules, so they did. John Dewey, one of the early educational gurus of the past, did not believe that a child was a creature of God, but rather just a biological organism that teachers ought to shape for the evolving that would come. Again, the accepted idea was that children were so innocent and close to the divine, that they would choose to be loving, selfless and creative. The idea that a child could be selfish or self-willed was not considered at all. So, parents and teachers alike began to teach the children that they could construct their own rules instead of having regulations imposed on them by adults. The idea that there was some kind of transcendent truth and morality was out of the question. So then parents began to accent the “self-concept” that was positive and building up the child’s self esteem.
Well, my friends that has been very successful. We live in a society that has been intentionally taught to make up its own rules and to ignore anything that might be classified as truth. In this multicultural society, each person has been taught to be true to himself/herself. Folks have a strong self concept. There is a problem with it, however. This strong self-concept has produced a confidence that almost refuses to be open to learning. So our present world is mostly un-teachable. The irony is this sense of positive self-image with no morality.
From my standpoint as a preacher of God’s Word, the people that hear the message of Scripture reject it out of hand because they have been taught there are no absolutes. Not only have you been lied to about absolutes, but flawed in thinking because you may not consider what anyone else has to say. It sounds comfortable! It sounds unreasonable! It sounds good. But it doesn’t work.
I really need to consider what God has to say about something in a serious manner. The warning is that this process might lead me to change my mind and action. But, then, when I’ve been lied to for so long, it is hard to admit that.
By the way, if you do not think that there are any absolutes, then please come and fly with me. I am an instrument rated private pilot. Let’s go to 5000 feet and you can just get out- – - that is, if there are no absolutes.
I really am not happy when I get lied to.
