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Training Students to Rethink
by Berit Kjos,
For background information, see
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“An interfaith group released
a new textbook yesterday aimed at teaching public high school students about
the Bible while avoiding legal and religious disputes. The nonprofit Bible
Literacy Project of Fairfax, Va., spent five years and $2 million developing
The
Bible and Its Influence.”[1]
Boston/AP“Do you think Adam and Eve received a
fair deal as described in Genesis?… Eve did not
know good from evil, how could God blame them for disobeying?”[2]
The Bible and Its Influence“From the Book of
Daniel, then, come images that are associated with the so-called ‘end
times’…. Try your hand at
doing some apocalyptic writing.”[2]
The Bible and Its Influence
Virtually banned from American schools in the early sixties, the Bible
has faced a rising onslaught of wrath, ridicule, and legal assaults. Its
most vocal antagonists include the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and
People for the American Way (PAW). So why would these and other
public opponents suddenly turn and approve a textbook titled, The Bible and
Its Influence?Why such enthusiastic support for a revolutionary
curriculum published by the Bible Literacy Project? The answer may lie in the word revolutionary. This new curriculum fits
into a set of social and political changes likely to affect every American
family.What is Communitarianism?
Communitarianism, wrote Joseph Farah (9-3-01), “places the
importance of society ahead of the unfettered rights of the individual…. Here’s what you will find
under ‘communitarian’ if you use Webster’s New World…. ‘a member or
advocate of a communistic or communalistic community.’… Both center on the
idea that the individual needs to be de-emphasized in favor of the
‘community’ or the ‘state.'”“I still believe in old-fashioned freedom,”
Farah concluded, “…in the inalienable rights of the individual and the
limited powers of the state. These are concepts at odds with
communitarianism.”[3]
General Ben Partin shares that concern. In a recent
conversation (11-2-05), he recalled that, The
1928 Program of the Third International
calls for disarming the citizenry as a final step in
the ‘preparatory phase’ of a Communist ‘War of National Liberation.'”
Not surprisingly, the 1991 “Communitarian Platform” calls for “domestic disarmament.”… What is the difference between
“disarming the citizenry” and
“domestic disarmament?”
Amitai Etzioni, founder of the Communitarian
Network, is a member of Mikhail Gorbachev’s
World Political Forum. The Forum website introduces Etzioni as
“Professor of Sociology at Columbia University for 20 years.” In
1980, he “was named the first
University Professor at The George Washington University, where he was the
Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies….. He was the editor of
The Responsive Community:
Rights and Responsibilities, the organizations quarterly journal” until 2004.[4]
In his book,
A Third Way to a Good Society, Etzioni described three parts of the
rising Communitarian framework:
1. SYSTEMS: “The good society is a
partnership of three sectors:
government, private sector, and community.”
[This sounds like Peter Drucker! Remember, in any partnership between these three sectors, the control will
flow with the funding from the top down to the community, since the standards are
established at the highest level.]2. STANDARDS and ASSESSMENTS:
“A balanced society approaches the tension
between individual rights and social responsibilities along these lines and
adjusts its policies accordingly.” [This continual policy “adjustment” requires
frequent surveys and assessments.] “To ensure that this core education principle will be heeded, an annual
assessment should be made in all schools…” [The standards
for “human resource development” include changed attitudes,
collective values, and social participation. The latter is assessed by the
UN in communities around the world as
“social capital.’]3. PROCESS: “This occurs through a process of
[5]
special importance to those seeking a good society: moral dialogue….
Moral dialogues lead them to
re-examine their beliefs, worldviews and prejudices and to recast
them.”
[The new “Bible” textbook with its unbiblical
suggestions, questions and
group sessions illustrates this process.]Etzioni’s Communitarian agenda fits Gorbachev’s
[6]
modernized Communism well. Dialogue (the dialectic process embraced by Marx and
Lenin) is essential to his quest.
Like Etzioni, Federico Mayor,[7]
former Director General of UNESCO, is a member of
Gorbachev’s Forum.
Both men spoke at
The World Political Forum
General Assembly 2005
conference in March
2005. I don’t know what the former head of UNESCO said at
that conference.
But I remember well his message on “Solidarity”
at the 1996 UN Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul. I taped his
words, which echo the Communitarian agenda:Citizenship for the next
century is learning to live together. The 21st Century city will be a
city of social solidarity…. We have to redefine the words… [and
write a new] social contract.That social contract will require a
new way
of thinking everywhere. Aware of that fact back in 1945, UNESCO’s first
Director-General,
Julian Huxley had little tolerance
for Biblical absolutes. A Fabian Socialist like his brother Aldous, he
wrote:“We must eschew [shun] dogma – whether it be
theological dogma or Marxist dogma…. East and West will not agree on a
basis of the future if they merely hurl at each other the fixed ideas of
the past. For that is what dogma’s are — the crystallizations of some
dominant system of thought…. If we are to
achieve progress, we must learn to uncrystalize our dogmas.”[8]
“Uncrystalize our dogmas!”
Deconstruct the Bible!
Unfreeze
minds from the old convictions that hinder change — that’s a major purpose
and outcome of
the dialectic process! So how can the new revolutionaries change the minds
of the old-time resisters? They
befriend them through
Hegelian dialogues. Here’s the formula:
- Bring opposing sides together to seek
“common ground.”- Hold everyone accountable to nice-sounding ground-rules about
tolerance, respect, dialogue
and compromise.- Train everyone to share their feelings,
listen
empathetically, and identify with opposing views, then
blissfully
flow with the group consensus.- Offer glimpses of the Bible that seem to support
the ideal social agenda.- Make this mind-changing process (embraced by Marx and
Lenin) the heart of all learning.It works! This process transforms
individual thinkers into group thinkers. Since the sense of
belonging feels good, the threat of group disapproval inhibits
members from voicing “offensive” views.
Using “Biblical literacy” to undermine
Biblical truth
The
Bible Literacy Project’s textbook,
The Bible and Its Influence, illustrates the process well. Presenting the Bible as myth and stories rather than as truth and revelation,
it outlines the Bible but undermines its authority. It quotes Scriptures,
but adds mind-changing illustrations. Inviting human interpretations
and speculations, it instills new meanings in “open” minds.
For example, it —1. Prompts students to
doubt God’s sovereignty, wisdom and justice:
“… if God allows evil things to happen, can
God honestly be described as good? This puzzle remains essentially
unsolved.”[156]
2. Suggests a more
universal view of the Bible: “Muslims
honor Abraham as the first monotheist, worshipper of the one true God they
call Allah…. Draft a resolution in covenant language that you think would
resolve the conflict.”[53]
3. Undermines the heart of
Christianity:
“Jesus was also seen as an
example of self sacrifice that can be imitated.” … “On your own, try
to find examples of such Christ figures in literature, film or even
music.”
[276]
4. Ridicules Biblical
warnings and prophecy:
“Youve probably seen
cartoon or movie depictions of the prophet of doom, a shaggy bearded
individual in ragged robes, ranting from a soapbox or wearing a sandwich
board sign that reads, ‘The end is near.’ ”Try your hand at doing
some apocalyptic writing.”
[181]
5
. Redefines Biblical
terms:
“Do absolute good
and evil exist?”
[163]6.
Blends pagan images with Biblical references: “Look up some examples of
other ancient literature and mythology of the origins of the world (such as
Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh, or Praise of the Pickax). Compare what you read
there with the first two chapters of Genesis. Share your comparisons.”Much of the Bible is reduced to
notions (a much-repeated
word in The Bible and Its Influence)
subject to subjective preferences, which can be manipulated by trained
facilitators.
Communitarian values on BLP Boards
Many
people closely involved with the Bible Literacy Project are members of the
Communitarian Network and share its mission. They serve on the Bible
Literacy Project Advisory Board and its Board of Directors, and
contributed to its textbook:
Charles Haynes, a
key contributor, seems to be the
main spokesman both for the Bible Literacy Project and for the Freedom
Forum, formerly known as the Gannett Foundation
(the liberal Gannett media). Not only is he involved with the
Communitarian Network, he also serves on the
Advisory
Board of The Pluralism Project‘, which
includes Margot Adler, a
Wiccan priestess who authored “Drawing Down Moon” and speaks to
America as a National Public Radio correspondent.[9]
As senior scholar at the
Freedom Forum‘s
First Amendment Center, Haynes works
closely with its lawyer
Oliver Thomas, who co-authored The
Right to Religious Liberty, an
ACLU handbook.”(The
main link to Thomas’ ACLU handbook has been deleted. See
alternative link)
Whose right would the
ACLU promote?[10]
One answer can be seen
in Haynes disapproval of the National Day of
Prayer, which he voiced in an article titled, “When Government Prays, No One Wins”
(5-15-05).David Blankenhorn,
President of the
Institute for American Values, endorsed
The Responsive Communitarian Platform. In April 2002, he
participated with Amitai Etzioni in a debate hosted by
The Aspen Institute in Berlin. He is a signatory of the
Communitarian Platform.[11]
Both Mary Ann
Glendon and Jean Bethke Elstain are members
of the Editorial Board of The Responsive Communitarian and helped
prepare
The Responsive Communitarian Platform.[12]
Os Guinness has
worked with Charles Haynes for over 15 years. He has been quoted by
Amitai Etzioni in various documents and is included as signatory in two
Communitarian papers.”[13]
Two years ago, Dr. Guinness spoke at a public forum held at the
Woodstock
Theological Center, an influential Jesuit institute at Georgetown University.
“For the last 12 years,” he said,“we have seen the
ugliness of
members of the religious right who have what we might call a
‘re-imposer mentality.’ They would like to re-impose their vision of an earlier
state of things on everyone else…. On the other extreme and partly as a reaction to the religious right, there are the
‘removers.’ … I, personally, owe a great debt to… John Courtney
Murray for helping me think through the first principles of religious liberty….”Dr. Guiness was preceded by
J. Leon Hooper, S.J.,
a senior fellow at Woodstock, who co-directs a
Lilly Endowment project, ‘Ethics
in the Murray Tradition.’ He made some timely comments:“In the 1950s
Murray declared that ‘modernity is dead’ and that his generation was
entering ‘a new world order.’ He went on to say that a ‘post-modern’ America finally was
escaping the individualism, materialism, and ‘technologism’ that had been so much part of our social history. Now, he said, the nation was
entering into a
communitarian
age in which religions would deeply inform our public life.
…though he insisted that they speak out only in the languages of natural law,
not in the religious languages through which each individual community separately expressed its deepest loves, hopes, fears, and commitments.”[14]Communitarian ideals sound noble to
those who don’t remember the terrors of last century’s experiments with
collectivism. The Bible Literacy Project will surely spread those ideals,
which will cloud rather than clarify God’s Word. As
Steve Crampton, Chief Counsel with the American Family Association,
said, Refusal to allow students to use their own Bibles as the textbook
in a Bible class is the ultimate in arrogance and arbitrary
censorship. To infer that a scholarly Bible text is superior to the
Bible itself is like claiming Cliff Notes are superior to Shakespeare.
Yet, in the Communitarian context it makes sense. As trained teacher-facilitators lead
students toward a politically correct consensus through small group
dialogues, home-taught dogmas will be “uncrystallized” and adapted to the
new standards for unity and community. Unlike the
National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools
— which uses the
Bible as textbook and has never been legally challenged — the Bible
Literacy Project makes a mockery of true Biblical literacy.“…there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies….
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way
of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you
with deceptive words…” 2 Peter 2:1-3“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles
of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:6-9
See also
See
Three
kinds of Group Relationships
and A More Adaptable Bible
Twisting
Truth Through Classroom
Consensus
and
Charles Haynes & Communitarianism
Endnotes:
1. The Boston Globe/AP, 9-23-05,
at
www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/23/bible_course_for_public_schools_unveiled/2. The
Bible and Its Influence,
Bible
Literacy Project, 2005, pages
38 and 181.
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=243194.
Members
and Biographies at
www.theworldpoliticalforum.org/a2.php?id=2455.
http://www.demos.co.uk/catalogue/thethirdwaytoagoodsociety,
pages
19-24.
6.
http://www.theworldpoliticalforum.org/a1.htmlFederico Mayor has added
“Zaragoza” to his last name since his term as Director-General of
UNESCO ended.
8.
Julian Huxley, UNESCO: Its purpose and Its Philosophy (Washington DC: Public
Affairs Press, 1947), page 61.9.
www.pluralism.org/about/advisors.php
and www.beliefnet.com/author/author_28.html10.
www.firstamendmentcenter.org//biography.aspx?name=o_thomas&SearchString=oliver_thomas
and
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Ecommerce/1476490844?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1063&store_id=152111.
www.gwu.edu/~ccps/pop_disarm.html12.
www.gwu.edu/~ccps/pop_fam.html13.
http://www.ttf.org/index/findings/detail/a-world-safe-for-diversity14.
John Courtney Murray, S.J., and Religious Pluralism
at
www.georgetown.edu/centers/woodstock/report/r-fea33.htm
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