Consequences of a Failure of Ideas

The grievous breach of the Capitol yesterday has several causes. We believe a major cause, perhaps the most important, is a failure of ideas.

Mainstream education does not teach students to respect the dignity of the human person. In fact, that education has no philosophical or religious framework to teach students what our founders called the “inalienable rights of man.” Without this shared belief in the dignity of every person, America will crumble. 

Some educators will object to this argument, pointing out the hypocrisy of the Founding Fathers. But this is exactly why classic education is so desperately needed. Ideas can have weight and truth regardless of where, or whom, they come from. Thomas Jefferson kept hundreds in the degradation of slavery, yes. But it is no less true that his words in the Declaration of Independence gave birth to unprecedented human freedom, nor is it an accident that his good ideas prevailed over his bad example. This is why Dr. Martin Luther King revered America’s founding documents, and called us to live up to “the true meaning of its creed.”

To continue this conversation and embody the free and open exchange of ideas, please join us for our latest episode of Anchored with Dr. Greg Thompson.

Published on 7th January, 2021.