wATCHING bRET AND hEATHER'S PODCAST FROM jULYO 5TH, ONLY A SHORT WAY INTO IT AND HAVE A COULLE OF COMMENTS i WANT TO MAKE. fIRST i'M THRILLED THAT THEY AREADVERTISING hILLSDALE cOLLEGE NOW. i HEAR ITR ADVERTISED ON A LOT OF CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOWS AND i'VE TRIED TO SIGN UP MYSELF BUT FOUND THAT MY BAD EYES MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE. mAYBE SOMEONE WILL COME ALONG WHO CAN HELP ME WITH THAT SOME TIME BUT FOR NOW i CAN' LISTEN TO THEM. bUT i CAN TELL THAT THEIR OFFERINGS ARE STELLAR AND WISH EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY WOULD TAKE THEIR COURSES, MANY OF WHICH ARE COMPLETELY FREE ONLINE.
mY SECOND COMMENT IS IN RESPONSE TO A QUOTATION hEATHER GAVE BY jUSTICE fRANKFURTER BACK IN 1957 AOUT THE PURPOSE OF THE UNIVERSITY IN WHICH HE GOES ON ABOUT HOW THE WHOLE POINT IS TO STIMULATE INQUIRITY INTO ABSOLUTELY VERYTHING, AND ONE OF THE LINES HE QUOTES IS "dOGMA AND hYPOTHESIS ARE INCOMPATIBLE. bRET PARTICULARLY PICKED UP ON THAT LINE.
lET ME START BY SAYING THAT ON MOST TOPICS i WOULD HAVE NO OBJECTION TO THAT IDEA. eVERYTHING MUST BE OPEN TO QUESTION TO STIMULATE CRITICIAL AND CREATIVE THINKING. with one exception.
wHAT bRET AND hEATHER MAY NOT KNOW, OR HAVE DISMISSED IF THEY DID EVER KNOW IT, IS THAT THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE UNIVERSITY WAS BROUGHT ABOUT BY cHRISTIANITY, AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO AVOID DOGMA WITH THAT SORT OF FOUNDATION, NOR COULD IT BE JUSTIFIED ON ANY GROUND WHATEVER THAT ITS DOGMA BE CRITICIZED OR OPEN TO QUESTION. aS LONG AS IT'S THE TRUE DOGMA OF COURSE. aLL DOGMA MEANS IS THAT THE TEACHINGS OF THE FAITH ARE CODIFIED INTO A SET OF PRINCIPLES. tHEY ARE TIMELESS TRUTHS THAT CANNOT BE ALTERED BECAUSE THEY ARE TRUTH, AND DOGMA IS SIMPLY THE CODIFIED FORM OF IT, THE COLLECTION AND CONDENSATION OF THOSE TRUTHS INTO EASILY DIGESTIBLE FORM. dOGMA IS NOT COMPATICBLE WITH HYPOTHESIS, BUT HYPOTHESIS IS NOT THE SUM TOTAL OF EDUCATION. oR THE PURPOSES OF THE UNIVERSITY.
hARVARD WAS FOUNDED ON THE TRUTHS OF SCRIPTURE FOR PURPOSE OF TRAINING PASTORS. sO WAS yALE, sO WAS pREINCETON, SO WERE A DOZEN OTHER UNIVERSITIES MORE OR LESS ON THE iVY lEAGUE PATTERN. iT WOULDN'T BE TOO HARD TO MAKE THE CASE THAT IT WAS THE SECULARIZATION AND PERVERSION OF THE ORIGINAL INTENTION OF THESE INSTITUTIONS THAT HAS ALLOWED THE CURRENT DEGENERATION OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY WE ARE NOW LIVING THROUGH. nONcHRISTIANS WILL OF COURSE BE INDIGNANT AT SUCH AN IDEA. tHIS IS A FALLEN WORLSL;D AND IT'S THE UNBELIEVERS WHO BEST REPRESENT WHAT THAT MEANS. tHE GROWTH OF THE cHRISTIAN cHURCH ALLOWED FORTH E CREATION OF wESTERN cIVILIZATIONS AND TO SOME EXTENT EVERN THE CIVILIZING OF LANDS FAR FROM THE wEST. bUT A STEADY STEP BY STEP ATTACK ON IT BY SATANIC FORCES WELCOMED BY THE FALLEN SIN NATURE OF HUMANITY HAS PRETTY MUCH BROUGHT ALL THAT TO RUIN. pERHAPS WE CAN PUSH BACK ON IT TO SOME SMALL EXTENT BUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT WE COULD EVER REGAIN ITS FORMER STRENGTH IS NOT EVEN TO BE CONTEMPLATED IN THIS WORLD. wE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE mILLENNIUM FOR A RETURN TO TRUTH. aLTHOUGH i STILL DO HAVE SOME HOPE THAT WE CAN MAKE SOME PROGRESS TOWARD A RETURN TO FORMER RATIONALITY, AND i HOPE eRIC mETASAS' BOOK lETTER TO THE aMERICNA cHURCH WILL HAVE A BIG IMPACT IN THAT DIRECTION.
wE HAVE SOME GOOD PRINCIPLES THAT COULD TAKE US BACK TO SOME OF THE ORMER GOODNESS WE'VE LOST IF THOSE PRINCIPLES GET RECOGNIZED AND REINTSTATED. bUT THE HUMAN RACE IS FALLEN, PEOP.E THEMSELVES ARE NOT REASONABLE AND IT'S ONLYH THE MERCY OF gOD THAT WE HAVE SUCH PRINCIPLES AVAILABLE TO US IF WE WOULD STICK TO THEM. fIRST OF ALL THE bIBLE OF COURSE, THE ROCK BOTTOM FOUNDATION OF ALL TRUTH. bURT THE aMERICAN DOCUMENTS OF OUR FOUNDING ARE A VERY GOOD BODY OF PRINCIPLES THAT COULD REINSTATE A LOT OF GOODNESS IN THIS WORLD IF WE COULD GET BACK TO THEM AFTER THE DESTRUCTIVE ATTACK ON THEM OVER THE LAST DENTURY OR SO BY mARXISM.
