A Lament on Politics

Awhile back I wrote an article on a controversial topic and linked it to my Facebook page. I've done this from time to time, and often the dialogue produced by it is enriching. Of late, I've noticed that it has devolved. It is at a point that I think I'll follow the pattern of some of my favorite blog writers and not comment on comments.

A few years ago, I wrote an article detailing a Christian position on the question of gay marriage. I was told I'm xenophobic, homophobic, unchristian, etc. I wrote an article on feminism a few years back and was told that I should be shipped off to a gulag. Once I was lectured smugly that what I had written was "below me." My most recent article was on the issue of "white privilege," and I was told I wasn't compassionate, again, and that I only wrote it because of my white privilege. It went something like this:

Me: "I don't think the concept of white privilege is meaningful."

Commenter: "Well, you only think that way because of your privilege."

Me: "Oh, thank you."

One comment suggested that it was a waste of time trying to argue with a middle aged white man like me, because I could never understand. All entirely helpful and bridge building kinds of comments.

In fairness, there are those who thoughtfully interact, which is interesting and fun, and part of the reason I even write a blog.

Dealing with this is easy enough. I can just refrain from responding to those who are leveling personal attacks. But the deeper concern for me is that thoughtful dialogue has become impossible with certain types of people. It is all emotional eruptions and virtue signaling and zero engagement with the argument.

The problem here, especially as I have studied history of late, is a deep lack of moral unity. Our culture is infatuated with diversity, and the pendulum swing in that direction is destroying any meaningful dialogue over issues of an ethical nature.

Recently I read the fascinating biography of John Adams by David McCullough, in which he details the correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams towards the end of their lives. The two men were great friends, even though there were significant disagreements, and even animosity in prior days, between the two men. What will become readily apparent is that what united the two men was far more substantial than what divided them. At the heart of this unity was a deep appreciation for truth and lives shaped by classical and Christian literature, which also meant lives shaped by classical virtues. In short, these men were bound by a similar worldview, even though Jefferson did much to tinker with the Christian worldview. But I think much of the revisionism that seeks to put Jefferson in the camp of deism is perhaps overblown. Towards the end of his life, Jefferson, in writing on the problem of slavery, made one of his most remarkable claims. He said, "I tremble for my nation when I think that God is just, and His justice cannot sleep forever." That is not the sentiment of a deist.

The deeper point here is that Jefferson and Adams operated in their linguistic brilliance with a whole substructure of language and references and truths that were grounded in the same worldview. It seems to me obvious that this is the reason the two men could put aside their differences in the end and be truly unified. In fact, it is this unifying worldview that made it possible for them to put into perspective the relative position of their differences.

What is it that unifies political adversaries today? The only thing that seems to unify them is disunity itself, and demand to be heard. We live in an ever developing postmodern hell where intensity and passion are the only tools in winning political debates. What we lack is any unifying substructure of value, grounded in deep philosophical truths, that both sides share. If you doubt this, simply ask each side what they mean by a definition of human life, or gender, or freedom, or authority, or rights. You will be dazzled by how nothing in the conversation will stand still.

Retirement

I am retiring from teaching after 21ish years in Christian schooling. In this small piece, I want to express my gratitude and say a bit about burn-out.

Christian schools are special places, or can be, and God has multiplied my joy by giving me the great honor of serving in several great schools. I want to list them here as part of my good-bye:

1. Pantego Christian Academy, Arlington, Texas: My first year of teaching and coaching in a Christian school. I was paid a whopping 16,000 a year in 1995. I think you can probably tell that this salary was still a bit low, even for 1995. We lived well in a cockroach infested apartment (Texas sized cockroaches!).
2. First Baptist Academy, Dallas, Texas: Gave me a massive raise (sarcasm font) to teach Bible on the 13th floor of a high-rise building in downtown Dallas. Coached with a great man named Andy Griffin, who taught me much about Texas football and I loved it! I also learned from the parents that Texas football is more important than most of the petty things in peoples lives, like Church.
3. Valley Christian High School, San Jose, California: God gave me seven great years teaching Church history, Christian Apologetics, and Old Testament History in this impressively affluent school. God has given me many good and gracious friends from this fulfilling period in my career, and the chance to see how so many Christians move from faith in God to faith in liberal politics as savior.
4. Bakersfield Christian High School, Bakersfield, California: The best place I've ever worked! Never in my life have I experienced such a beautiful confluence and deep compatibility of the environment, the people, the work, and my gifting being fitted to the work and the culture. This place was home for eleven years and will always be home in my heart! I will probably miss the place, the people, the experience, always!
5. Veritas Academy, Austin, Texas: A marvelous Christian classical school dedicated to producing young people of wisdom and virtue, and the place where God has shown me that He has called me out of the profession.

To any with whom I've had the honor of working I thank you! To any students I've been privileged to teach I say thank you as well! It is the dynamic interaction outside the classroom with colleagues and inside the classroom with students that I always cherished, and will remember with utmost fondness for the balance of my life.

The teaching profession is one in which burn-out can occur unexpectedly. I never thought it would happen to me, especially after a year long sabbatical from the arduous work of everyday teaching.

It is perplexing to me that all I felt in my last days was stress! It came from multiple angles, including parents, administration, students, and from my own personal struggles. I just stopped feeling joy in the profession, which sounds rather touchy-feely, but when the pay is so low one must find motivation in other directions. I also felt insignificant in the work I was doing. The school and parents made it fairly clear that I was lucky to have the position and I could be easily replaced. No doubt that is true, but as it turns out I was able to replace Christian schooling as a source of employment as well.

I am also weary of what I call the "stress to pay" ratio in Christian schooling. Schools have this tendency to expect miracles from their teachers because the parents are paying so much money. And parents expect teachers to teach and parent with their constant coaching. And why is it that every child now has some form of learning "difficulty" or "challenge" requiring various accommodations? The end result is that parents and administrators are freed to provide an endless stream of "feedback" on the teacher's effectiveness, but the teacher is afforded the opportunity to give zero feedback of either the administration or the parents. Even students are often provided with opportunities to "evaluate" the teacher while the teacher's evaluations of the students are diminished or "re-evaluated" through the retesting and "PLC" process, which is the newest fad in education (and involves affording time to students to revisit lessons and retest until they pass). Failing a student is now a statement only of the teacher's failure, and is costly when paying parents decide to leave the "failing" private school.

Remember that all of these complications and changes and heightened expectations for teachers have come with obvious commensurate massive increases in salary.

I'm clearly having trouble with the sarcasm font I uploaded to my computer, but the truth is that most Christian school teachers are paid far below their public school counterparts. Ah, but they are assured that it is a "ministry," and they will be paid in heaven. I only want to point out that there comes a time when the stress demands cause the teacher to reach a breaking point. I have reached just such a breaking point. The "stress to pay" ratio is not in the favor of Christian schools anymore.

I know it looks as though I feel some bitterness as I leave the profession, but I promise I don't. It is simply time to exit. The work has been another of God's extravagant acts of mercy towards me, and I will always cherish it as such. But I also wanted to toss a few rather blunt, and hopefully humorous, comments about the difficulties of the profession that can build to burn-out in it.

I would love to think that this is a great loss to Christian schools, but my experience has shown that it most assuredly is not! Schools are quite capable of finding the wonderful Christian people they need, particularly among the young, whose life stresses are minimal and whose energy and optimism are high. I hope many of them, incredible young people that I know, will last longer in the work than I did.