Why Young Americans Are Not Taught about Evil

[Kamaji]

Why Young Americans Are Not Taught about Evil

Dennis Prager
August 29, 2023

Most of our schools teach almost nothing of importance, and nothing is more important than the study of good and evil. In the United States today, nearly all schools, from elementary through graduate, concentrate on teaching about racism, sexism, preferred pronouns, homophobia, transphobia, LGBTQIA+, climate change, diversity, equity, inclusiveness and white guilt. In other words, most of our educational institutions, including the most prestigious, do not educate.

Here are a few proofs.

It is almost certain that the great majority of American high school and college students (with the obvious exceptions of Christian students) could not name the Four Gospels (presuming they even know what they are); five of the Ten Commandments (presuming they know what those are); or the names of two Shakespeare plays. Most American students know little about the American Revolution, let alone about the French or Russian Revolutions. The same holds true for the Constitution and every other American founding document. It is doubtful that, other than Washington and Jefferson having owned slaves, American students know anything about these men or could name two other Founders.

When it comes to evil, the ignorance is enormous, often almost total. For example, according to Pew, about half of Americans ages 18-39 cannot identify Auschwitz or any other Nazi death camp. And there is every reason to assume that much fewer than half could identify the Gulag Archipelago (20 million-plus murdered); the Ukrainian forced famine (5 to 6 million murdered in a little over a year); Mao's Great Leap Forward (about 60 million murdered); or Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge (about one in every four Cambodians murdered).

As noted, almost no one outside of Russia has ever heard of the Russian Civil War, let alone knows anything about it. One reason is that the winners, the communists, had no desire that people know about it. Yet, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, about 10 million people, the great majority noncombatants, were killed.

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Source:  https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2023/08/29/why-young-americans-are-not-taught-about-evil-n2627671

[roamer_1]

To be sure: The young people are being taught evil. Lightweight... a starter kit... but evil enough.

[Lando Lincoln]

A very sobering and correct article. Hell, the best we can hope for is the morality teaching of Mr. Rogers but even he is lost in time now.

[roamer_1]

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
That needs to be taken back.

I admire the faith of home schoolers - And I do mean faith. They are always (in my experience) devout Christians, intentionally sacrificing to bring their children up outside of the system... Which we have already declared, is teaching evil.

[PeteS in CA]

IMO, this plus an implication of it is key:

Another reason is the foolish notion that people are basically good. This has been a left-wing belief since the French Enlightenment leader Jean-Jacques Rousseau came up with the idea. As he wrote in his book, "On Philosophy, Morality, and Religion," "Man is a naturally good being, loving justice and order; there is no natural perversity in the human heart... All the vices imputed to the human heart are not natural to it."

This nonsense had been foreign to the Western mind. Its view of humanity was rooted in the Bible, and neither Bible-based religion -- Judaism or Christianity -- affirmed the goodness of the human heart. As Genesis states, "The will of man's heart is evil from his youth," and the rest of the Bible repeatedly warns us against following our hearts.

People want to believe that humans are naturally good and then corrupted by ______. In reality, the corruption is present from before birth, and good things only happen if that intrinsic corruption is restrained.

But beyond that, the concepts of "good" and "evil" raise the question of, according to whom. If humans decide, then "Your Evil" may properly be "My Good". If the standard is something above humans - The G-Word - humans tend to dislike higher authority. The concepts of "good" and "evil" point to God.

[roamer_1]

But beyond that, the concepts of "good" and "evil" raise the question of, according to whom. If humans decide, then "Your Evil" may properly be "My Good". If the standard is something above humans - The G-Word - humans tend to dislike higher authority. The concepts of "good" and "evil" point to God.

That's right enough... And points to something I have continually preached. Whether you believe in Yah or not, we all have been imbued with the Judeo-Christian moral sense... The Judeo-Christian Ethic as it were, since the very founding. The founding itself can be argued to have sprung from that very root.

The implications involved, and the consequences of cutting us off of that root are becoming readily apparent. And the difference can still be gauged exactly with crime diminishing in precise increment the further one goes from city centers into more rural environs...

It is a remarkable transformation. And not a good one.

[goatprairie]

There's a whole lot of important things I don't think public school children are taught. Maybe even in many private/religious schools.
The same things I wasn't taught fifty-sixty years ago while attending Catholic schools 1-12.
The American constitution should definitely be a high school subject. And the basics of the free enterprise system.
Of course, the whole history of rival economic systems (including Marxist economics) should be covered. Adam Smith, Milton Friedman books would be good primers.
I went to Catholic schools grades 1-12 so there was no end of teaching about right and wrong. I had a Lutheran friend who went to Lutheran schools grades 1-12. He eventually ditched Lutheranism and is now a fundamentalist Christian.
My other Protestant friends went to Sunday School.
I don't know about teaching good and evil in a public school. Parents should be involved with that.

[roamer_1]

The thing that's funny that homeschoolers are finding out...

Home schooled kids routinely maintain very high grades with about 3 hrs of schooling a day.

[mountaineer]

People want to believe that humans are naturally good and then corrupted by ______. In reality, the corruption is present from before birth, and good things only happen if that intrinsic corruption is restrained.

Exactly.

[goatprairie]

The thing that's funny that homeschoolers are finding out...

Home schooled kids routinely maintain very high grades with about 3 hrs of schooling a day.

In my state of Wisconsin for a number of years home-schooled kids were regularly winning spelling bee competitions.
I remember a news story about the competition where the scribbler of the story interviewed a public school teacher who naturally trashed home-schooling.
The question to be asked: why weren't public schools churning out spelling bee champions given that home-schoolers are only a tiny percent of children being schooled by whatever system?
The scribbler of the article didn't bother to ask the idiot public school teacher that question.

[roamer_1]

In my state of Wisconsin for a number of years home-schooled kids were regularly winning spelling bee competitions.
I remember a news story about the competition where the scribbler of the story interviewed a public school teacher who naturally trashed home-schooling.
The question to be asked: why weren't public schools churning out spelling bee champions given that home-schoolers are only a tiny percent of children being schooled by whatever system?
The scribbler of the article didn't bother to ask the idiot public school teacher that question.

But it is a bare fact... The tiny percentage excel beyond all averages... taught mainly by mamma for less than half a day.

Tell me, which system should be encouraged?

[Bigun]

There's a whole lot of important things I don't think public school children are taught.

  and ALL of what they are not taught is by design! Which is why we made a great mistake in allowing goobernment anywhere near our schools WRT what gets taught in them!.

Maybe even in many private/religious schools.

That is likely true as well but nowhere near as bad as public schooling has become. The BIG problem there is that neither parents nor teachers are aware of how much they themselves don't know.

The same things I wasn't taught fifty-sixty years ago while attending Catholic schools 1-12.
The American constitution should definitely be a high school subject. And the basics of the free enterprise system.
Of course, the whole history of rival economic systems (including Marxist economics) should be covered. Adam Smith, Milton Friedman books would be good primers.
I went to Catholic schools grades 1-12 so there was no end of teaching about right and wrong. I had a Lutheran friend who went to Lutheran schools grades 1-12. He eventually ditched Lutheranism and is now a fundamentalist Christian.
My other Protestant friends went to Sunday School.
I don't know about teaching good and evil in a public school. Parents should be involved with that.

  I graduated HS at roughly the same time you did @goatprairie but I was fortunate enough to have a South Pacific WWII Marine for my American history class who took it upon himself to teach his classes the constitution for which I am eternally grateful.

[unite for individuality]

But it is a bare fact... The tiny percentage excel beyond all averages... taught mainly by mamma for less than half a day.

About forty years ago,
I was acquainted with a family from the Philippines with four children.
They attended public school, but received good attention at home.
The youngsters were involved in spelling bees.

One time, the ten year old asked me to give him a word to spell.
So I said, "polytetrafluoroethylene."
How would you guess that went?
He got it right!

[roamer_1]

One time, the ten year old asked me to give him a word to spell.
So I said, "polytetrafluoroethylene."
How would you guess that went?
He got it right! [/size]

I would have come close, not having heard the word before.Once one knows and understands the attending parameters of word structure, you can throw an accurate guess.

Which brings up the inherent difference:

Children should be taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think.

[Bigun]

I would have come close, not having heard the word before.Once one knows and understands the attending parameters of word structure, you can throw an accurate guess.

Which brings up the inherent difference:

Children should be taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think.

 

Children should be taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think.

[DefiantMassRINO]

My Catholic schooling, grades 1 - 12, was focused on teaching us how to learn, not necessarily what to learn (with the exception of religion classes).

In Religion class, Catechism class, etc., we studied the New and Old Testaments, Church Doctrine, Beatitudes, etc.  The teachers never told us what "evil" and "wickedness" were; they had us read about them in the Bible.  So we learned about Evil from the Old Testament and the Gospels.

In the Old Testament, God seemed most pissed when people turned their backs on Him.

[DefiantMassRINO]

To teach about Evil, one also needs to learn about God.  God is absent from Public Education, and Religion is absent from many homes.

[Lando Lincoln]

Today’s public schools, K-12, and most universities instruct/indoctrinate what to think. Not how.

[roamer_1]

To teach about Evil, one also needs to learn about God.  God is absent from Public Education, and Religion is absent from many homes.

Evil IS the absence of Yah.

[mountaineer]

Saturday, March 07, 2020
Does evil prove the existence of God? Apologist Frank Turek answers
By Michael Gryboski

The existence of evil, while sometimes put forth as evidence against the existence of God, is actually evidence for the existence of God, said Christian apologist Frank Turek.

Turek, author and president of the apologetics website Cross Examined, gave a speech last Saturday at the reTHINK Apologetics Student Conference, held at Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas.

Turek focused on the existence of evil and suffering, putting forth an argument that some atheist intellectuals have made, which is that evil proves there is no God, for “if there is a good God, why is there evil?”

He replied to his own question by declaring that “evil actually shows God does exist,” because to believe in evil “pre-supposes an objective good and objective good requires God.” ...
Rest of article at Christian Post

[goatprairie]

I would have come close, not having heard the word before.Once one knows and understands the attending parameters of word structure, you can throw an accurate guess.

Which brings up the inherent difference:

Children should be taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think.

Among the important things children that should be taught, American history, warts and all, should be taught doing it the right way.
I remember reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in grade school. No schoolchild didn't know about slavery.
The interesting thing is through tv and movies many children grew up learning that American Indians did not always get the best treatment by American authorities.
Unlike slavery, nothing about the treatment of American Indians was taught in any of my grades 1-12.
 Like I said warts and all.

[roamer_1]

Among the important things children that should be taught, American history, warts and all, should be taught doing it the right way.
I remember reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in grade school. No schoolchild didn't know about slavery.
The interesting thing is through tv and movies many children grew up learning that American Indians did not always get the best treatment by American authorities.
Unlike slavery, nothing about the treatment of American Indians was taught in any of my grades 1-12.
 Like I said warts and all.

I remember American History and American Civics classes fondly. I was astonished that my children were taught neither. But they still were taught to act out Native American and Muslim religious rites, with nothing Christian taught at all...

Boy, did I go off on that one. 

[goatprairie]

My Catholic schooling, grades 1 - 12, was focused on teaching us how to learn, not necessarily what to learn (with the exception of religion classes).

In Religion class, Catechism class, etc., we studied the New and Old Testaments, Church Doctrine, Beatitudes, etc.  The teachers never told us what "evil" and "wickedness" were; they had us read about them in the Bible.  So we learned about Evil from the Old Testament and the Gospels.

In the Old Testament, God seemed most pissed when people turned their backs on Him.

Must have been different ideas than my religion classes. A priest always taught the class once a week but rarely if ever referred to the Bible. The emphasis was mostly on what were sins and why you shouldn't commit them.

[roamer_1]

In the Old Testament, God seemed most pissed when people turned their backs on Him.

No.... It's the message... Always the message. And mixing things into the message. And keeping set apart (holy) things set apart (holy). Not mixing in the mundane and arcane.

It is all too easy to get caught up in the traditions of men.

[Smokin Joe]

A very sobering and correct article. Hell, the best we can hope for is the morality teaching of Mr. Rogers but even he is lost in time now.

There was a time when kids learned most of what they actually needed for a basic moral foundation playing in a sandbox with their kin or friends.

Yeah, I know. "What's a sandbox?"