Education

Men Without Chests, Men Without Honor, Threaten Civilization

Men Without Chests, Men Without Honor, Threaten Civilization by Chris Banescu –
Mid-twentieth century C.S. Lewis witnessed and wrote about the increasing moral breakdown and intellectual decay of Western civilization. He observed how secular and atheistic academics, philosophers, politicians, intellectuals, and cultural elites abandoned reason, denied universal truths, undermined Christian doctrines, and rejected moral principles that formed the foundation of civilized society.  “Lewis walked our cultural ground,” explained Chris R. Armstrong. “He lived, as we do, in a society that denied objective value; lacked a coherent social ethic; wallowed in instant gratification, sexual license, moral evasion, and blame-shifting; and failed to pass on a moral framework to its children.”

In his book, The Abolition of Man, Lewis warned that moral relativism (the denial of universal and objective moral truths and principles), foolish emotionalism, and the rejection of reason would bring about cultural decay and growing depravity. [Read more…]

Put Away Your Racist Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

Racist Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwichby Chris Banescu –
My fellow Americans, the “subtle language of racism” you’ve been hiding inside your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches has been exposed. Your biased and ethnocentric eating habits are oppressing minorities. The very mention of the words “peanut butter and jelly sandwich” connote “white privilege.” Such intolerant and racist behavior will not be tolerated. Shame on you!

The Portland Tribune reports that Verenice Gutierrez, principal of Harvey Scott K-8 School in Portland, has discovered this racist travesty destroying the very fabric of our society. The “seemingly innocent” peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a cleverly disguised capitalist tool used to promote racism.

Verenice Gutierrez picks up on the subtle language of racism every day.

Take the peanut butter sandwich, a seemingly innocent example a teacher used in a lesson last school year.

“What about Somali or Hispanic students, who might not eat sandwiches?” says Gutierrez, principal at Harvey Scott K-8 School, a diverse school of 500 students in Northeast Portland’s Cully neighborhood. [Read more…]

We Lost America in the Classroom, Before We Lost Her in the Voting Booth

Communist Leftist Indoctrination in Classroom Centerby Chris Banescu –
As conservatives try to make sense of the disastrous results of the 2012 presidential elections, many pundits have begun to reflect on the reasons why the voters rejected Mitt Romney and re-elected Barack Obama instead. Despite Obama’s destructive socialist policies, abysmal economic record, failure to keep many of his promises, and brazen assault on our Constitutionally-protected rights, the majority of the electorate still supported him. How did this happen?

Some point to the impact of hurricane Sandy, America’s changing demographics, Romney’s message and campaign strategy, the biased mainstream media, or the voting irregularities and fraud seen in many areas of the country. While each of these factors may have contributed to the problem, I believe something else played a much bigger part in this catastrophe. It is America’s public education system that is largely to blame. Besides the reality that America has turned away from God and has progressively embraced immorality, our corrupt educational machine has been working overtime to insure the decline and radicalization of our republic.

The socialist teachers’ unions now dominate all aspects of public education and have transformed our schools and universities into virtual leftist indoctrination centers for America’s children and college students. [Read more…]

French Socialists: Unfair That Some Children Have Good Parents

Hollande French Socialists Communists Education France by Chris Banescu –
Socialist French President François Hollande is unhappy with the “inequality” of education in his country. He thinks it’s unfair that some children get schoolwork help from their parents at home while others don’t. To address this perceived injustice Hollande plans to ban all homework in French schools and force all students to complete their work at school. In typical socialist fashion he wants to “foster educational equality” not by raising performance standards and increasing educational opportunities for everyone, but by punishing those children whose parents take an interest in their education and dare support them at home.

As reported by France 24, President François Hollande of France pledged last week “to ditch homework” for all French children as part of his latest socialist reforms. His wide-ranging changes are “aimed at improving standards for over-worked French pupils, especially those in disadvantaged areas.” Hollande justified his actions by claiming that an “education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school, rather than at home, in order to foster educational equality for those students who do not have support at home.” [Read more…]

Homeschooling and Parental Rights Under Attack in California

Homeschooling and Parental Rights Under Attack in Californiaby Chris Banescu –

Declaring that “parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,” the Second District Court of Appeal for the state of California recently issued a ruling that effectively bans families from homeschooling their children and threatens parents with criminal penalties for daring to do so. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) this court decision has made “almost all forms of homeschooling in California” a violation of state law. Once again our judicial system moves to restrict religious and personal liberties, severely limit parental rights, and significantly increase the power, scope, and control of the state over our lives.

There are approximately 166,000 homeschooled children in California. With the stroke of a pen the appellate court criminalized the lawful educational choices of tens of thousands of innocent families across the state, subjected them to possible fines, and labeled their children as potential truants. This activist court chose to bypass the will of the people and legislated from the bench based on anecdotal evidence and its own clearly biased and subjective opinions about the constitutionality of parental rights and the quality of a homeschooled education. [Read more…]

A Hard Lesson on Home Schools

Homeschool your children, better education for themby Chris Banescu
This June, my wife and I had the privilege of attending the high school graduation ceremonies of several home-schooled youngsters. These events not only impressed us with references to Christian traditions, family values, and heavenly music; they opened our eyes and hearts to the possibility of home schooling. Student after student spoke with such eloquence, maturity, and depth of spirit, that many times tears flowed freely both on stage and in the audience.

Like most parents, my wife and I want to provide our daughter with the best possible education. So despite the fact that she is still too young for elementary school, we have given considerable thought to the various choices. While originally home schooling was not our favored option, the graduation ceremonies piqued our interest. [Read more…]