Basic HTML Version
ty-the University of Virginia–
in 1819. His motive was to
divorce education from religion.
This started the present material–
istic trend in American educa–
tion. There was great public pro–
test at the time. His new state
university was termed "shocking"
and "irreligious."
Two Dangerous Drifts
Two other factors added ímpetus
to the materialistic drift. "Ra–
tionalism" spread its leaven
through every phase of the educa–
tional structure.
And, in the present century,
big business has made sizable
financia! contributions, condition–
al on establishment of technical,
scientific and professional courses
to train needed personnel for
these huge corporations. This has
resulted in education becoming
more and more a system of train–
ing young people in the art of
earning a living, at the expense of
teaching them
how to live!
They
need
to know
both!
As institutions of higher learn–
ing continued through the 20th
century, enrollments multiplied.
Today we have virtual assembly–
line education production. The
student loses his identity, be–
comes a virtual nonentity, blend–
ing into the uniform collectiv–
ism.
Prominent educators have
voiced their alarm at this state of
educational affairs. Many recog–
nize the evils and ,the dangers–
yet confess their utter helpless–
ness to brake the dri ft or change
the direction.
The Encyc/opaedia Britannica
has given this definition of educa–
tion: "Many definitions have been
given of the word
education,
but
underlying them all is tbe concep–
tion that it denotes an attempt on
the part of the adult members of
a human society to shape the
development of the coming gen–
eration in accordance with its own
ideals of life.... Education may
be said to be the etforts made by
the community
to impose
its cul–
ture upon the growing genera–
tion.... Schools and universities
which are the ordinary channels
through which adult culture
May 1981
reaches the young are naturally
conservative and
bound by tradi–
tion.
They are slow to leave the
old paths" (emphasis added).
In briefest summary: Educa–
tion from earliest antiquity was a
means of pagan religious instruc–
tion that became a vehicle for dis–
seminating pagan culture, reli–
gious doctrines and customs
under the Platonic curricular sys–
tem. It evolved in our modern era
into a system of insti lling the
teachings of what the author-phi–
Iosopher Dr. C.E. Ayers terms
"Science, the False Messiah"-or
the " new religion" of rationalism
and material ism, which, of
course, masquerades under names
and terminology other than "reli–
gion."
Now-Ambassador College!
During the planning stage of the
founding of Ambassador College,
certain educators, held by cir–
cumstances in the clutch of this
system, expressed sincere congra–
tulations on the opportunity that
was Ambassador's.
We were privileged to be freed
from the evils inherent in today's
materialism. Ours was the glo–
rious opportunity to recapture the
true values; to teach tlre basic
most-needed knowledge almost
universally ignored; to teach
young people not merely how to
earn a living, but
how to /ive;
to
avoid mass-production education
by limiting enrollment; to put due
emphasis on true character build–
ing; and at the same time having
the advantage of being able to
retain all that has proved good
and sound in educational experi–
ence.
Ambassador College has been
built upon this educational
FOUN–
DATION:
Recognition of funda–
mental truths regarding the pur–
pose and meaning of life, and the
laws that make possible peace,
happiness, and the truly success–
ful life.
Students are not only free, but
encouraged, to question any or all
ideas, postulates, or supposed
truths, whether enjoying society's
acceptance or not-and to
prove
all things befare accepting them
as fact. Students here are guided
in ability to make right and sound
decisions.
Emphasis here is on character
building, development of person–
ality, poise and leadership.
Ambassador College is the
PIO–
NEER
for the
WORLD TOMORROW–
the college of the fu tu re! o
FREEPRESS
(Continued from page 13)
safest course open to humans is
the
greatest possible circulation
of ideas.
The Bible supports this
idea when it declares: "Where no
counsel is, the people fall: but in
the
MULTITUDE
of counsellors
there is safety" (Proverbs
11: 14).
Even if false ideas circu late
under freedom of the press, at
least God's Word will also be able
to go out unhindered.
Free societies pay a very high
price for freedom of the press–
pornography circulates freely be–
cause human courts say they can't
really tell the ditference between
pornography and other kinds of
writing or expression. This is a
very high price-but at least it
does insure the free circulation of
God's truth, as well as other reli–
gious ideas.
If you grant human govern–
ment the authority to censor what
is printed or spoken, you allow
the government to stop any mes–
sage
it
doesn't approve of.
Government tried to suppress
Elijah, Amos and Jeremiah ; it is
prophesied to suppress God's true
Gospel again in the future. The
power to
censor
bad writing eas–
ily becomes the power to suppress
good writing.
There is a reason why God
began, and based, his end-time
work in the country on earth
where freedom of the press is
greatest- and why God's Church
has grown the most, as a rule, in
countries where press freedom is
substantial. Since the spreading
of God's Word is the most impor–
tant act ivity on earth- the pres–
ervation of freedom of the press is
one of the most awesome respon–
sibi lities God lays on human gov–
ernment. o
37