U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION’S SLIDE FROM “VERITAS” TO MY TRUTH

Posted on by

The US House of Representatives launched an inquiry into three of America’s top universities over “rampant anti-Semitism” after their presidents failed to condemn calls by pro-Palestine protesters for genocide against Jews.

The three top education bureaucrats, Claudine Gay (picture taken at the Congressional hearing), President of Harvard University, Liz Magill, President of the University of Pennsylvania, and Sally Kornbluth, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all said, that calls for genocide did not necessarily contravene university policy.

This prompted public outcry as it revealed America’s Ivy League universities are run by leaders who are models of the left-wing ideology that deems the rights of certain people less worthy of protection than others. You can call for the murder of all Jews, but say sex is biological and you will be punished.

Thank goodness for  Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik who said overnight on Thursday.

“It is unacceptable that presidents of esteemed institutions like Harvard, MIT, and Penn, have not firmly condemned this hatred. Their failure to do so warrants their immediate dismissal from their positions”.

In attempts to retain their jobs both Liz Magill and Claudine Gay, went into damage control:

“I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human ­beings can perpetrate,” Liz Magill said in her subsequent video.

President of Harvard University, Ms. Gay contradicted the words she had spoken at the Congressional hearing. First of all, she said: “I am sorry, Words matter.” she then explained what had gone wrong. “I got caught up in what had become at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures,” she said. “Substantively, I failed to convey what is my truth.”

Few phrases are as reliable as “my truth” for identifying seasoned purveyors of cant and doubletalk. Truth isn’t something that can be identified or modified by a possessive pronoun. If my truth is different from your truth and your truth is different from her truth, these aren’t truths. “My truth” is the device deployed to elevate the particular viewpoint of a member of a particular group or identity, by claiming the validation of the “truth” for a narrow ideological cause.

And this is what we saw last week at that hearing — the narrow, exclusive intolerance of the ideology that has our universities in its grip.

The university president’s response to Rep. Elise Stefanik’s question was a lie cloaked in “a truth”. They claimed to operate their approach to free speech on what we might call the Voltaire principle: I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

But that isn’t how these places work. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression puts Harvard dead last in its ranking of colleges by the climate of free speech. Penn is second to last. The principle that actually operates on these campuses is Lenin’s: I disagree with what you say, and I will do all I can to prevent you from saying it.

Adapted from an article in The Australian, Wednesday 13th Dec. 2023 by Gerard Baker “Higher Education’s slide from Veritas to My Truth”.

QUESTIONS WE ALL ASK

Posted on by

Why were you born? Why do you exist? Is there a reason, a purpose, for human life? These questions have baffled the greatest thinkers and philosophers down through the ages. We ponder the meaning of life. A child naturally wonders, “Where did I come from?” As adults we ask, especially in our twilight years:
“Is this physical life all there is? Does my life have a purpose?”

the vastness of the night sky

Three thousand years ago King David considered the apparent insignificance of human beings when compared to the vastness of the night sky. As a shepherd, he had spent many nights outdoors gazing at the star-studded expanse overhead. Notice the thoughts he recorded in Psalm 8:3-9:

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!“ Psalms 8:3-9

David was reflecting on the dominion God gave mankind at creation, using basically the same language as Genesis 1:26-27.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27

The author of Hebrews quotes David when he is talking about us and the author of our salvation, Jesus. How wonderful it is to know that the Creator of the universe is our Saviour and he calls us brothers and sisters. Every human being needs to know this transforming TRUTH about why God made us and our destiny and it is our job to tell them.

“What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? “You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” Hebrews 2:6-12

WHAT IS TRUTH?

Posted on by

TRUTH IS PRECIOUS BEYOND ALL MEASURE – THAT WHICH AGREES WITH FINAL REALITY.

Ultimately, only our Creator can know the TRUTH of His creation, the WHY, HOW, WHEN and WHERE. Fortunately, our Creator has revealed the TRUTH to us in His Word, The Bible. The proof of its authenticity is PROPHECY. Much of the Bible is prophecy. It reveals future events, e.g. there were more than 300 prophecies of Jesus first coming, many 700 years before the events took place. Moreover, there are far more prophecies about Jesus second coming and many are unfolding in our time.

When Jesus was brought before the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, prior to His crucifixion, Pilate asked Jesus “What is truth?” This question was prompted by a previous question to Jesus: “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I am come into the world, that I should bear witness to the TRUTH. Everyone who is of the TRUTH hears My voice.“ John 18:37   

Jesus said to Thomas, I am the way, the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees or knows Him; but you know Him for He dwells with you and be in you..” John 14:16

Jesus prayed to our heavenly Father, “Sanctify them by your TRUTH. Your word is TRUTH.” John 17:17

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you FREE.” John 8:31-32

Sadly, Paul tells us what the world has done: “exchanged the TRUTH of God for the LIE, and served and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator.” Romans 1:25

Originally, the purpose of education had the right foundation – main end of a person is to know God, so Theology was the basis for all other study. Biblical truth was the foundation on which all else: ideas , philosophy etc was built. True education was built on a Biblical foundation and Christian principles. Listen to this short video on Harvard, as to its origin and purpose.

That has all changed due to materialism/evolution, liberalism, secularism, humanism. Cultural elites have grown hostile to Biblical Christianity, accepting evolution as fact. One of Satan’s greatest lies is evolution, substituting it for creation, as the basis for the origin of God’s Cosmos. Check out http://www.creation.com for all you need to counter this lie.

Deception is far more common than truth today. This is why things reported in the media are now more likely to be false or at least distorted. You can also now count on the same from most of the pulpits in the American church. The message of the typical American church today would be unrecognisable to the apostles of the first century. The same is true in most of the western world.

The disconnect from truth has come the same way in the media that it has in the church. Of course, this is not true in every church or the entire media. It’s easy to see in the media how there is now a tendency to report what they want to be true rather than what is true. Is that not how we have changed the gospel, the church, and even our concept of God into what we want them to be rather than how they are?

As mentioned, there are many end times prophecies. Peter talks of the mockery in the Last Days.  “Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the “last days”, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming (Jesus Second Coming)?” For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they wilfully forget ; that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed  perished being flooded by water (Noah’s Flood). But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:3-7

Note: they wilfully forget God judged the entire earth with Noah’s Flood just 4,000 years ago, only eight people survived. Otherwise, the prophesied coming judgement with fire may also be true.