In the 15th century, the scholarship of Lorenza Valla sent shockwaves through the papacy when he declared the Donation Of Constantine was a forgery. Valla, a priest and educator, had used precise logic and reasoning to denounce an imperial decree. In doing so, he’d undermined and attacked the very Roman decree used by the papacy to claim temporal power. Martin Luther penned his Ninety-Five Thesis years later and the Reformation was afoot. The courageous Valla wouldn’t fit in with the modern values and ethos of the 21st Century university.
Just as Nietzsche’s Zarathustra bemoaned the death of God, we must now wrestle with the tragic demise of Academia. Free thought and intellectual expression are anathema in these cult-like ideological dens where woke zealots have supplanted scientific rigor with imbecilic dogma using untested subpositions. The University has assassinated Truth. Instead of making arguments in the pursuit of knowledge, they stifle uncomfortable facts and quell debate. The problem isn’t simply their fairytale ideals, these institutions have been feminized, both in attitudes and demographics, to insane levels. Their paramount goal is no longer the attainment of knowledge; they only concern themselves with the psychological well-being of unsuspecting snowflakes. Third-rail topics like race and gender differences (or achievement gaps) cannot be broached for fear of offending delicate young egos. Instead of improving our society, they promulgate untruths and perpetuate the perversion of previously proven science.
It’s reminiscent of the 11th Century universities, when readers spoke texts to (mostly) illiterate students alongside a “professor” whose job it was to profess the “truth” whenever the texts came into conflict with the Faith. Once a scholar received their “bachelor’s degree”, they were allowed to read texts without supervision. Today’s universities shackle the minds of students in even more insidious ways – by filling their heads with meaningless platitudes and a worthless woke orthodoxy. They are spiraling towards insignificance and their utility is now in question.
Their atom smashers are searching everywhere (in futility) for systemic racism and micro-aggressions but the mendacity in their argument is plainly self-evident. They’re no longer interested in Truth.
Like Boethius (Consolation of Philosophy) in his lonely prison cell, some of us see Truth as an illuminated being that must be served. Academia now walks in darkness.
Kip Tucker
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Well stated, Mr. Tucker. And, welcome back. I always enjoy reading your opinions, even when I disagree.
In a time when critical thinking is being eschewed in favor of critical theory, missives such as yours are needed.
Kevin Hargis
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Kip Tucker, thank you for your timely opinion letter. I agree wholeheartedly with what you have written. There are some good college professors still, but the numbers are dwindling. It’s because of the pressure put on them by the administration, although some are just shallow and think their belief system should be the narrative for all of us. To heck with education, right?
The cost of a college education keeps increasing, yet more and more graduates are sent out without being prepared to face life. The secondary education level is just as bad, if not worse. After the tragedy in Nashville yesterday, central office administrators are calling for more dollars (which always solves the problem, not) so they can beef up security. All the while, you have an excellent principal at Brainerd High School, Dr. Crystal Sorrells, who was suspending for hiring a private security guard, in the name of school safety. She has been reinstated, but she should have never been suspended in the first place.
These and other societal problems will not be corrected until enough of us stand up and tell the wokes to shut up. They say a lot of much worse things to us and we just apologize for hurt feelings, all while Rome burns to the ground.
J. Pat Williams