An Ivy League Firestorm, "My Truth" and Our Students
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The presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Harvard ignited a firestorm after dodging a simple question by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who asked whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" would violate each school's code of conduct. Liz Magill, President of the University of Pennsylvania, responded, "It is a context-dependent decision." Harvard's president responded similarly. Liz Magill resigned after harsh bipartisan condemnation, blowback from alumni, and the loss of tens of millions of dollars in donations. Subsequently, NBC News reported1 that in a December 6, 2023, video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Magill sought to apologize and explain her answer:
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 … I got caught up in what had become, at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures … I failed to convey what is my truth [emphasis added].
"My Truth"
There is much to condemn in the testimony of the Ivy League presidents, not the least of which is their spineless moral equivocation. But, I want to focus on just two words in Liz Magill's video, "my truth." These two words reveal her worldview, one deeply rooted in relativism. Decades ago, Allen Bloom told us that relativism was deeply rooted in our universities. In The Closing of the American Mind, he writes: "There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative.”2
A Broken Compass
There is no True North to orient one's life in a relativistic worldview. There are only "norths." An individual's intellectual and moral compass can point in any direction, as "north" and "north" can move at will. Like a broken compass, the relativist's intellectual and moral needle spins erratically, pulled in any direction by the magnetic fields of fashionable ideologies and ever-devolving morals. The result is confusion and anarchy. As the book of Judges describes, everyone does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25); everyone has "my truth," not The truth.
The results are devastating. Like a tsunami crashing into the coast and destroying everything in its path, relativism, flowing from the headwaters of secularism, has crashed onto our cultural shores, submerging everything under a toxic mix of intellectual and moral anarchy. In the Garden of Eden, Satan promised knowledge but delivered death. Today, relativists and secularists promise freedom from the shackles of religion but produce slavery and chaos. The late Cardinal George Pell 3 pulled no punches in describing the devastating impact: "The secularists are wreckers, and they are busy at work … chaos is the main characteristic of the way of life the secularist wreckers are imposing upon us, not liberation."
We have raised our national fist to the face of God and declared that we want nothing to do with him or his word. We call evil good and good evil and substitute darkness for light and light for darkness (Isaiah 5:20-21). We declare ourselves wise while becoming fools (Romans 1:21-22).
God was not joking when he warned that we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7ff). We are reaping the whirlwind.
5 Steps for Giving our Students a Reliable Compass
Our students need an accurate compass for life. They require a compass that points them reliably to True North, that points them to Truth. Our mission, our sacred calling, is to give them that compass. With this compass, they will be equipped to navigate life, avoid being conformed to this world, and discern God's will, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect (Romans 12:2).
Make Sure that Teachers Have a Good Compass
Teachers cannot give what they do not possess. As school leaders, it is vital to recognize that no one is immune to the virus of relativism. We breathe the air filled with the relativism virus. Entertainment is a powerful and dominant conduit for the widespread transmission of this virus. Regarding the influence of entertainment on reshaping a culture's worldview and values, Whitney Bauck writes:
While the impact of entertainment on people’s beliefs and behaviors is difficult to precisely measure, some evidence seems to support the idea that queer representation in popular culture helped pave the way for marriage equality and that a coordinated effort among entertainment studios in the ‘80s and ‘90s to popularize “designated drivers” contributed to a decrease in drunk driving. And according to Stanford researcher Emily Coren, the positive impact of “education entertainment” on public health outcomes, like teen pregnancy and safe sex, is well-documented … John Rego … acknowledges the importance of the messages embedded in the content itself. “The visuals of today help create the reality of tomorrow [emphasis added].”4
Assuming that our teachers have a substantial, consistent understanding of biblical teaching is a serious error, as is believing long-time employees will always adhere to it. With American culture moving away from its Judeo-Christian roots and churches adopting lowest-common-denominator theology, we must provide substantive, scaffolded, multi-year training in fundamental biblical theology and how that theology integrates with each subject.
As school leaders, we must ensure that our staff have good compasses.
2. Teach Media and Social Media Literacy
We live in a media-saturated world, and, like us, our students' lives are filled with screens propagandizing a worldview hostile to biblical truth. At an age-appropriate level, the only antidote is to confront the propaganda head-on in the classroom. Whether as separate classes or intelligently embedded in existing courses, we must be intentional in helping our students "see" the worldview propagated through media of all sorts. Doing this effectively requires that the teachers so engaged are current and biblically literate, which again argues for deep, consistent professional development focused on sound biblical theology.
3. Avoid Polemics
The last thing our students need is a preachy polemic. The word "polemic" refers to a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something, often in a contentious debate. Our students will respond better to persuasion than "preaching." There is a place for preaching, but the classroom is not that place. A more effective approach is to discuss an idea winsomely, help our students understand the underlying premise and worldview, and then contrast it with biblical teaching. We must also avoid creating straw men arguments. Over the long term, using straw men arguments will diminish our credibility when students later realize that far more articulate and persuasive arguments are offered for the unbiblical idea than we acknowledged. Relying on polemics or straw men arguments is dishonest, diminishes our credibility, and makes our students doubt most everything we have told them.
Don't "sell" students. Instead, explain, discuss, listen, and persuade.
4. Be Humble
We don't know everything; the Bible doesn't tell us everything, and our interpretations can be wrong. God's word is infallible; we are not. Moreover, there is room for Christian liberty without falling into relativism.
Generally, the most effective approach in the classroom, and life for that matter, is to follow James's admonition to be "quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1:19)," or as Steven Covey once said, "seek first to understand and then to be understood."
Be humble enough to give students space to challenge, question, and disagree. Engage them, "walk with them," and be humble enough to admit you don't have all the answers and even to learn from them, for "out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength (Psalm 8:2).
5. Don't Politicize
While the truth of God's word has far-reaching implications for public policy, the scriptures do not endorse a political party or person and seldom set forth definitive public policy. Biblical principles, not politics, should dominate classroom discussions. We dishonor the scriptures and do our students a grave disservice when we intentionally or unintentionally equate a political ideology, political party, or politician with God's word. We must be vigilant to use the Bible to inform our politics but never allow politics to inform our theology.
A Life Well Lived
A life well lived is a life lived as intended by its Creator. He loves us. He is omniscient and all-wise. He is good, and he knows what is good for us. He has given us a reliable compass pointing to True North, to Truth, so we don’t lose our way. That compass is the Bible. It is a precious gift. Know, obey, and share it with staff, students, and parents.
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2 Bloom, Allen. 1987. The closing of the American mind. NY: Simon and Schuster.
3 Lopez, Kathryn Jean. 2023. Cardinal George Pell and the Need for Christianity in the World Today. National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/cardinal-george-pell-and-the-need-for-christianity-in-the-world-today/
4 Whitney Bauck. 2023. ‘The visuals of today help create the reality of tomorrow:’ Why Hollywood is finally tackling climate change onscreen. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90856208/the-visuals-of-today-help-create-the-reality-of-tomorrow-why-hollywood-is-finally-tackling-climate-change-onscreen