Torch, Fall 2003

the future of our country. Because of the fragmentation and disunity in culture and education, we are, in his words, muddling through. How are our ships, morally and intellectually? How are we sailing together? Conditions have worsened since John Steinbeck in his book Of Mice and Men complained, “There’s nothing wrong anymore.” The Chronicle of Higher Education noted that a growing number of college students are unwilling to oppose large moral horrors, including human sacrifice, ethnic cleansing, and slavery, because they think that no one has the right to criticize the moral views of another group or culture. 2 Steven Mueller, the former president of Johns Hopkins University, once complained, “Universities are turning out highly skilled barbarians because we don’t provide a framework of values to young people who more and more are searching for it.” 3 Celebrity trumps character, depth, virtue, and courage. In most countries, heroes make history; in our country they make movies, CDs, touchdowns, or slam dunks. We have degenerated into pettiness. There is this nagging thought that we are missing something, something really big. As we become more self-absorbed, we find little satisfaction in our lives. The result is ennui (a boredom and weariness) about life. We see it in our children, who know the price of everything but the value of little. The story is told of a woman driving her car who was pulled over by a policeman. “I clocked you at 68 miles an hour,” he told her. She looked perplexed. “Well, there’s a sign back there with ‘68’ on it,” she responded. “Lady,” he replied, “This is Highway 68.” “Oh,” she said. “Then I’m glad you didn’t see me on 127!” We are going so fast through life, but are we looking at the right signs? I think we have been teaching our kids to look at the wrong signs. Our generation has taught the youth of today to value influence over integrity, riches over righteousness, style over substance, a Mercedes over morality. Our ships need a great deal of work. Our sailing needs more skill and more awareness. The past decade has brought us little but internal finger-pointing and hand-wringing. We find ourselves fearful of terrorism, impatient with the economy, and bored with entertainment. We are still living with the secular hopes of the American dream. “Work is the salvation of the human race morally, physically, and socially,” said Henry Ford. President Calvin Coolidge declared, “The man who builds a factory builds a temple.” These destinations have grown old and irrelevant. Closer to our own time is hip hop music artist Curtis Jackson, known as “50 Cent.” He raps that salvation is found in sex, drugs, and fame. He sounds practically Nietzschean when he gloats about his power over others and even claims that his songs belong in the Bible with King David. We walk in great darkness. But instead of searching for the light (or even making some light ourselves) we have adjusted our eyes to the darkness. We are satisfied with seeing so little and knowing so little. We don’t know what we cannot see and, tragically, we don’t care. We are thin in our thinking, shallow in our views, and whiny in our speaking. Our ships are in disorder, we constantly self-destruct, and we have no great destination. You are probably thinking, “You sound pretty whiny yourself, Brown.” I am really far more hopeful. I believe that higher education must play a major role in setting the proper course. However, if there ever was a time when colleges and universities were unprepared for the task, it is now. Recently I was speaking with an administrator of an institution in another state. We both agreed that the college life is a great life and that being around students who ask questions and want answers is exciting. I said, “Isn’t it a privilege for all of us to join in the search for truth?” His face fell. “Oh,” he said. “We can’t use that word ‘truth.’ It is too divisive.” Divisive? I thought truth was supposed to unite. Isn’t that the idea behind the word “uni-versity,” which means “one-truth”? Exploring ideas is important, but if the goal is merely to discuss, then we are of all people most miserable. Ultimate issues have answers; they are not merely beliefs or opinions. Origins, meaning, morality, and destiny are issues that we explore, and that exploration is the result of our creation by God. How we respond to these issues defines the quality of our ships, our interaction with others, and what our destination is. Truth must be discovered, and when it is found, it makes us free. Freedom untethered to truth is not freedom; it is chaotic and destructive. Our ships are constrained by the laws, rules that govern ocean travel. Fall 2003 / TORCH 7 fxàà|Çz à{x cÜÉÑxÜ VÉâÜáx WtÜ~ Wxáà|Çtà|ÉÇá