Our public school system has systematically and consistently crumbled since 1980 when the Department of Education was formed in the United States under the Jimmy Carter administration. I remember when George W. Bush pushed his “No Child Left Behind” mantra, which sounded nice but had no teeth.
According to World Population Review:
Ironically, despite the United States having the best-surveyed education system on the globe, U.S students consistently score lower in math and science than students from many other countries. According to a Business Insider report in 2018, the U.S. ranked 38th in math scores and 24th in science. Discussions about why the United States’ education rankings have fallen by international standards over the past three decades frequently point out that government spending on education has failed to keep up with inflation.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education-rankings-by-country
This is not a government spending problem. The DOE has utterly failed the children of the United States. It replaced the foundation of God and spiritual formation with the anti-biblical dogma of evolution, resulting in a breakdown of right thinking.
“Trust the science” is a well-worn phrase these days, but no one knows what that even means. I’ll tell you—it means trust the people who claim to be experts. Science is the exploration of the physical, testable, repeatable universe. Science cannot answer questions like “what is love?” and “why did my wife cry?” and “should I care?”
If kids in the United States are weak in the areas of math and science, it means we are weak in the understanding and application of LOGIC, because those disciplines are built upon logic. Not long ago, there was a push in our public schools to praise and affirm the student in whatever nonsensical answer he gave. If he wants to say 2 + 4 is 24, we should let him enjoy his truth. If he wants to say Mussolini was a lovely individual who just wanted the best for his home country of Bolivia, we should revel in his ability to think outside the box.
As Pilate once asked Jesus, “What is truth?”
Our children need the tools to evaluate reality in a way that makes sense. When Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” and “no man can come to the Father except by Me,” is He excluding all other possibilities? When the apostles assert, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4.12), do they mean we cannot be saved through any other Person or any other Way?
Logic is built upon three foundational presuppositions:
The law of identity: P is P.
It almost seems ridiculous to have to point this out. A rock is a rock. A jar of honey is a jar of honey. But our society attacks this root of logic by claiming a girl can be a boy.
Logic must start with an agreement that a thing IS what it IS. Can a thing be changed into something else? Sure, but a boy cannot be a girl while he is a boy, because a boy has a precise definition which involves physical attributes. Cut off parts of his body, and he remains a boy. First you must prove that you can change a boy into a girl, and that has not been (and cannot be) done.
The law of noncontradiction: P is not non-P.
A thing cannot BE something and NOT BE that thing at the same time and in the same way. Marriage is a covenant relationship between a man and a woman. If that is the definition of marriage (given by God in the second chapter of the Bible and affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19), then it cannot be something else at the same time. We might use the word “marriage” in other ways (“I’m not married to that idea”), but we are not using the word in the same definitional way as at first. Marriage cannot be defined as between a man and a woman AND ALSO defined as between a man and a turtle.
By the way, our legal system would disintegrate if we could not define these terms. In order to make a proper argument for anything, you must first clearly define your terms so everyone knows what you’re talking about.
The law of the excluded middle: Either P or non-P.
Something is either a thing or it’s not that thing, right? Is it a monkey? It’s either a monkey or it’s not. Monkeys have tails, and apes have no tails. Is it a monkey or an ape? Well kangaroos have tails, so they must be monkeys. Oh—there’s more to the definition of a monkey than just having a tail? Gotcha.
The laws of logic have been recognized for centuries, and the study of logic is the application of these laws in deeper and more sophisticated ways. We should learn these principles, apply them, and teach them to our kids and grandkids! Societies fall apart when they lose the ability to reason, and we are rapidly approaching this empty state. Can we turn things around?
Preaching the gospel depends upon understanding what is true and right.
Those who deny solid truth gravitate towards “Situational Ethics,” which is the belief that they can make up their ethical response to any given situation based on how they (want to) interpret things. They think lying to their boss about something is okay if the situation warrants it (like when it will get me out of trouble). Cheating on a test might be okay in some circumstances (like when I forgot to study).
Those who reject THE Truth gravitate towards pluralism, sometimes phrased as “there are many roads which lead to heaven.” Jesus claims to be THE Way and THE Truth.
One popular ethical framework starts with “If it doesn’t hurt anybody…” But who are you to decide if you are hurting someone with your lies and cheating? “As long as my wife doesn’t find out, my porn habit won’t hurt anything.” “As long as my family doesn’t know, cheating on my husband is not a big deal.” “As long as I don’t kill anyone, driving drunk isn’t a big deal.”
We must return to reality—truth exists and truth matters. Spiritual truth exists and spiritual truth matters. Sinful actions and attitudes are wrong and sinful BECAUSE they are wrong and sinful actions and attitudes—by definition.
By whose definition?
The Great Author and Definer of all things said so.