I think there is a bit of a cult here. I also think that the smaller the group is, the more extreme its attention getters can become. I think that's why we see this escalated competition for clicks and likes to one-up each another.
One of the reasons I think it's a cult is that it's gone completely off the rails vis-a-vis reality. Let's take, for example, critical race theory in our elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. They don't teach Critical Race Theory. And yet, there they are, the cultists, issuing death threats, shutting down school board meetings, and screaming about CRT all across the country. Surely, I have to wonder, someone is benefitting from this insanity. One thought is there's an entire industry of private schools, religious schools, homeschool groups (also mostly religious), etc.
Of course, we can try to reform our educations system. What's the proposal? Do away with non-public schools that don't conform to science and lack of religion and instead conform to the beliefs of a fairly large segment of the population and a few billionaires? Good luck with that. I'm not sure all this fuss over the particulars of an education is really the problem. When I was in elementary school, For instance, I was taught that people in the time of Columbus thought the earth was flat and his voyages taught everyone otherwise. Now I know this wasn't true at all. I realize this isn't the same as learning writing skills, math, science, and stuff like that but facts as we know them can change and we just need to be able to change with our new facts. I also have come to the opinion that, above all other factors, the teacher that's with your kids is more important than a school itself.
One reason why I say it's a cult is the outlier nature of white evangelical support for the big lie and anything Trump. No other religious group even comes close. If this one group was taken out of our equations, all of this nonsense would be gone. Completely gone. And we'd be free to get to whatever it is we want to argue about, like policies.
I agree with you, as I usually do, that there is a core "cult-like" support for Trump that withstands rational debate. In tomorrow's blog I try to get at this group, naming them "True Believers." But I don't see them as all, perhaps even as the majority of Trump voters. Education matters. And as we move closer to a world where hard thought as much as sharp claws is necessary for survival, we must prepare our children for such a world. I agree that the teacher is as important as the nature of the institution. Some teachers are not up to the challenge of today's classroom. Whose fault is that? Think about how much better our schools would be if we changed the way in which we reward teaching and created a better work environment? I wrote before about what I regard as healthy skepticism. Falibalism. The ability to commit to action without absolutizing the ideas that lie behind the commitment. This can become the backbone of instruction in all areas of thought. Any one of our beliefs can lead us down the path of idolatry. Liberal, conservative, neo this or neo that. Humility in the face of extremes without flagging in the cause of what we see with the best light available to us.
In the current Virginia gubernatorial race, the incumbent governor who by the way, sent his own kids to expensive private schools said: “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions, I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Although I agree with his words, his actions seem to be quite the opposite in his personal life. This election probably should have been an easy win. It's now a toss-up.
Parents, some of whom show up at school board meetings, pta meetings, intimidate teachers, intimidate principles. Over what? They rage that their children are being taught things like science, getting along with others who are different, history of things like slavery, the environment, wearing a mask, etc. Do schools just belong to these parents? I don't think so.
It's also less than encouraging that the NSBA has apologized for its letter equating “acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials,” with hate crimes or domestic terrorism.
I think there is a bit of a cult here. I also think that the smaller the group is, the more extreme its attention getters can become. I think that's why we see this escalated competition for clicks and likes to one-up each another.
One of the reasons I think it's a cult is that it's gone completely off the rails vis-a-vis reality. Let's take, for example, critical race theory in our elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. They don't teach Critical Race Theory. And yet, there they are, the cultists, issuing death threats, shutting down school board meetings, and screaming about CRT all across the country. Surely, I have to wonder, someone is benefitting from this insanity. One thought is there's an entire industry of private schools, religious schools, homeschool groups (also mostly religious), etc.
Of course, we can try to reform our educations system. What's the proposal? Do away with non-public schools that don't conform to science and lack of religion and instead conform to the beliefs of a fairly large segment of the population and a few billionaires? Good luck with that. I'm not sure all this fuss over the particulars of an education is really the problem. When I was in elementary school, For instance, I was taught that people in the time of Columbus thought the earth was flat and his voyages taught everyone otherwise. Now I know this wasn't true at all. I realize this isn't the same as learning writing skills, math, science, and stuff like that but facts as we know them can change and we just need to be able to change with our new facts. I also have come to the opinion that, above all other factors, the teacher that's with your kids is more important than a school itself.
One reason why I say it's a cult is the outlier nature of white evangelical support for the big lie and anything Trump. No other religious group even comes close. If this one group was taken out of our equations, all of this nonsense would be gone. Completely gone. And we'd be free to get to whatever it is we want to argue about, like policies.
Here's a poll:
https://www.prri.org/research/dramatic-partisan-differences-on-blame-for-january-6-riots/
I agree with you, as I usually do, that there is a core "cult-like" support for Trump that withstands rational debate. In tomorrow's blog I try to get at this group, naming them "True Believers." But I don't see them as all, perhaps even as the majority of Trump voters. Education matters. And as we move closer to a world where hard thought as much as sharp claws is necessary for survival, we must prepare our children for such a world. I agree that the teacher is as important as the nature of the institution. Some teachers are not up to the challenge of today's classroom. Whose fault is that? Think about how much better our schools would be if we changed the way in which we reward teaching and created a better work environment? I wrote before about what I regard as healthy skepticism. Falibalism. The ability to commit to action without absolutizing the ideas that lie behind the commitment. This can become the backbone of instruction in all areas of thought. Any one of our beliefs can lead us down the path of idolatry. Liberal, conservative, neo this or neo that. Humility in the face of extremes without flagging in the cause of what we see with the best light available to us.
In the current Virginia gubernatorial race, the incumbent governor who by the way, sent his own kids to expensive private schools said: “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions, I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Although I agree with his words, his actions seem to be quite the opposite in his personal life. This election probably should have been an easy win. It's now a toss-up.
Parents, some of whom show up at school board meetings, pta meetings, intimidate teachers, intimidate principles. Over what? They rage that their children are being taught things like science, getting along with others who are different, history of things like slavery, the environment, wearing a mask, etc. Do schools just belong to these parents? I don't think so.
It's also less than encouraging that the NSBA has apologized for its letter equating “acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials,” with hate crimes or domestic terrorism.
Correction: McAuliffe is a former governor, not the incumbent.