Indoctrination in the Name of Tolerance
Institutions and individuals never drift anywhere worthwhile.
—adapted from Michael Hyatt—
Key point: Even nearly fifty years ago, astute observers realized the claim of open-mindedness on the part of liberals was a sham. This truth is even more apparent today—but we still need to expose it so others won’t be taken in by leftist rhetoric and misinformation.
This article is one of several Word Foundations articles highlighting elements in the social justice movement. To access additional articles on social justice, go here.
In the March 21, 1973 issue of The Weekly Visitor, the newsletter for Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Pastor Mark Corts wrote,1
The most condemning thing about liberalism that it is not liberal.
Liberal is a word derived from the Latin, libertatis, meaning free. It implies that a liberal education is free to explore all views and all sides to an issue. Why is it then, that a liberal university such as say, Wake Forest, does not provide a truly liberal or free presentation of all sides of a critical issue such as the documentary hypothesis? If we are going to be truly liberal, does it not make sense that at least one Old Testament professor should subscribe to the idea that the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, were written by Moses, and not by a group of redactors after Josiah’s time? But, lo and behold, the liberal institution is not very liberal….
Dr. Corts went on to lament as well news about a conference that was being organized and held under the umbrella the Southern Baptist Convention’s Christian Life Commission (CLC).2 The name of the conference was “A Future for the Family,” but not one of the speakers was known for upholding an unapologetically biblical viewpoint on family life, despite the fact that many conservative churches and individuals were involved in the SBC, as still is the case today. Someone like Dr. Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote Dr. Corts, or Dr. Henry Brandt, a Christian psychologist and counselor with a strong biblical perspective, would have provided much needed balance at the conference—but again, no such person had been invited.
Dr. Corts asked rhetorically,
Have our leaders lived in such caves that they do not know that men like this exist? Or do they willfully choose not to expose themselves to the conservative, evangelical viewpoint on family life? If so, it is the worst kind of intellectual and spiritual provincialism. It is time institutional, denominational leaders come out of the 19th century and accept the fact that many churches insist and demand that the biblical point of view be recognized. Our modern 20th century revival movement is a biblical one that is still not recognized by many denominational leaders. It also is time that we recognize much of modern liberalism for precisely what it is—the worst kind of narrow-mindedness. It has become the very thing it fought.
It is time that we recognize much of modern liberalism for precisely what it is—the worst kind of narrow-mindedness. It has become the very thing it fought.
—Dr. Mark Corts—
Higher Education in 2018
Fast forward forty-five years, to 2018. With regard to higher education, the situation has grown worse—much worse. Dr. Corts rightly objected to a lack of theological diversity at school with a Baptist heritage but no willingness to acknowledge it. This narrow-mindedness foreshadowed the lack of diversity that now essentially exists in colleges and universities nationwide—especially at secular institutions, but also at many church-affiliated ones. Watch this Prager University video featuring Charlie Kirk, president and founder of Turning Point USA:
A transcript of Mr. Kirk’s presentation is available here.
In light of Mr. Kirk’s presentation (a transcript of which is available here) we see that the following would make a great motto for higher education today, if “educators” truly were honest:
In the name of diversity, uniform political correctness.
In the name of tolerance, indoctrination.
In all things, hatred for those with whom we disagree.
The best remedy for this problem, of course, is exposing the left’s agenda and contending for true tolerance, just as Dr. Corts did many years ago. It’s an uphill battle, but the cause is right and the goal a critical one.
Why is this so important?
Because the future of liberty in America is at stake.
Next time we will consider the situation that now prevails at the Southern Baptist Convention’s ERLC, the organization that replaced the Christian Life Commission. This also presents an uphill battle for Christians, but one we’d better be able to fight effectively—and win!
See you next time!
Part 2 is available here.
Copyright © 2018 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
top image: Benson University Center on the Campus of Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina
Notes:
1Extremely slight changes have been made in quotations from The Weekly Visitor for clarity and smoothness.
2now the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
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