This Fleeting Reality
Dearest Freshmen,
What do you think of Wabash thus far? Do you have enough experience to form an opinion, or is it too soon? And what of your new proud paperweight, “These Fleeting Years”? Have you read it yet? Let’s expand our scope.
What do you think of Global Warming—epic hoax or dire emergency? How about gay marriage—do only bigots oppose? What of immigration—hasn’t Arizona merely enforced federal law? But most importantly, have you walked under the Arch?
As you already know, college bombards you with a new world of facts and opinions. Blazing the trail are your professors by day, fellow students at night, and your own conscience in the meantime. So how does one handle having their eyes opened for the first time?
The answer is strikingly simple: Do your own homework on other people’s claims, and form your own opinion. Seek Truth. Never be afraid to question, and when thing appear fuzzy, pray to God for guidance. But before we venture too far, let’s muse on the notion of “opinions”.
1. Look around you. You are surrounded by a little thing called objective reality, where objects exist and events actually happen. Snap your fingers three times. Hear the sound? Since you know for a fact you caused it, the next issue is the quality of your sense perception, which determines the loudness of said sound. What if you are talking to a friend? In order to carry on a conversation, you must filter their words through your biases, which are constantly changing through time both a priori (through reason alone) and a posteriori (through experience). Yes, like our opinions, biases change. Now for two implications.
First, events around us actually happen, but we all interpret them differently. However, do not think that because we all cannot agree, objective reality does not exist: Consensus has never made the sun blue or stopped a bullet. All the same, no human is completely “unbiased”. Rather, think of it this way: Some biases are merely closer to reality than others; hence, they are more highly valued.
Second, everyone necessarily has a bias—and this is not a bad thing. It gives the world a certain richness in that by examining other’s biases, we experiences new ideas through dialogue. If this helps, imagine biases as the lens in which we view the world, best revealed when encountering an opposing viewpoint. After all, there must be a reason why two people can look at the same thing and reach two different conclusions.
2. Keeping in mind this notion of objective reality being expressed through dialogues and biases, it goes without saying that this is accomplished via arguments. But what are arguments? Arguments are a way of convincing others of one’s bias. They are comprised of logically ordered thoughts, constructed from words that best reflect reality, much like using the appropriate building blocks to construct a frame over a given foundation.
Also like a building, when one changes the blocks (i.e., words), they change the integrity and look of the structure. When one unknowingly expresses a word or thought contrary to reality, we call it being wrong; when one does it purposely, we call it lying. Next, seeing something completely contrary to reality is called insanity. But beware: The line between wrongness and insanity is easily blurred.
Still with me? Good. Now let us return to your view of Wabash.
What do you think? Presently, your view has been shaped by your limited experiences on campus. Looking back, I remember that after my first few days, I felt slightly overwhelmed. The same view held weeks later. My eyes were so entranced by the constant barrage of firsts, it honestly took until second semester to say I liked Wabash. As time gave way to years two and three, I thought my opinion of Wabash was well formed. That is, until a certain book—or paperweight rather—somehow found it’s way on to my summer reading list.
What do you call a people ignorant of their own history? Not understanding the past, they are easily swayed in the present by other’s interpretations of the past. “Sheeple”, as the term goes on both sides of the political spectrum. Luckily for me, Wabash has not undergone an existential crisis in my three years here. But what if it had? At the end of my junior year, this thought somehow made its way into the back of my mind and haunted me. What did I really know of my own college’s history?
What follows in this section will be a few highlights in my journey through Wabash’s past. But don’t let what I say supplant your own reading. I repeat, do not take my word. Research your own opinion.
1. Without a doubt, my favorite part of the book was the inaugural address given by Wabash’s first president, Rev. Elihu Baldwin, given on July 13, 1836. An amazing orator, I must say that due to a) thin-skinned, God-fearing atheists, and b) the malignant tumor of political correctness which is currently assailing our society, there are many sections of this speech that simply would not fly today. Here are a few examples (emphasis mine):
“What but a correct understanding of our moral relations to God and our fellow creatures, and to eternity as well as time, are observed to secure the sensibility and wakefulness of conscience? Nor can the tenderest and most elevated emotions of the heart exist in the absence of religious truth. The study of mental and moral philosophy and the Christian system, as presented in the sacred oracles, is doubtless indispensable to the highest cultivation of the heart” (p. 18, emphasis mine).
“Most highly do we approve the adoption of the Holy Scriptures as a textbook in our Colleges and Universities. Their regular and appropriate use cannot fail of exerting a happy intellectual and moral influence. We are not so well persuaded that it comports with their character and high design to use them merely as a classic; and still no less as a substitute for the elegant compositions of Greek and Roman authors” (pp. 23-24, emphasis mine).
“Let the revelation which God has given to unfold them, be made his constant study and supply a part of his early training. It constitutes the only sufficient religious and moral guide” (p. 24, emphasis mine).
“No student surely should consider his education complete while he remains comparatively ignorant of the Sacred Writings” (p. 24, emphasis mine).
Perhaps one day I will return to give this speech the full-blown praise it deserves. But for now, let me address a red flag raised by the ever-judgmental, relativistic multiculturalists: “But he was a pastor and this was pre-1859. Before Darwin we didn’t know religion was a disease! And was Wabash not, from the beginning, a school free from church and state? You know, no Christianity allowed?”
To my well esteemed critics, I say this: Like our very government, Wabash was founded so no ecclesiastical entity could tell it what to believe; however, that does not mean religion did not have a place within its borders. Though our founders could not secure it as a specifically Christian institution, they nonetheless recognized the value of an independent institution immersed in the Christian tradition. And note this is not so the Holy Scriptures could be mocked in C&T discussions.
2. The inaugural address by Wabash’s Third President, Rev. Joseph Farrand Tuttle, given on July 24, 1862. Here’s the passage (as it appears) that stood out:
“If I have not misinterpreted the signs of the times, the pendulum of popular opinion is swinging towards skepticism. . . . This conviction has grown stronger with years, that the real dangers to faith are found in the insidious processes by which these brilliant thinkers in Europe and this country are striving to undermine a simple faith in God’s Word, and to beget the belief that there are better books, greater philosophers, more reasonable hopes than The Book, its sages and its Heaven” (pp. 46).
And to think we read Marx in C&T not for his hideous opposition to American principles, but for his quaint historical value! Let it be duly noted that despite this minor opposition, I proceeded to read “The Communist Manifesto” on my own time. At least now when I accuse the Left of being dirty Marxists for trying to divide our society into distinct, class-based groups—or rather, their utter disdain for the rich and subsequent need to tax/punish them accordingly—I simply refer to Marx. Ex malo bonum.
3. The athletic philosophies of Coach Francis Cayou should be taught in order to instill deep, enduring school spirit, and all-around swagger. Though our school spirit is already intense, who doesn’t like romanticizing? See Dean (and future ninth college president) Bryon K. Trippet’s Chapel Speech from 1953 for more information regarding this Golden Age (pp. 175-180).
4. Operation Frijoles. Freshman, learn this by heart. The professor’s reactions ice the cake (pp. 148-151)!
5. Although C&T is on it’s way out, the opinions expressed in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s are in no way different than the great debates of 2009-2010. Historical irony? You decide (pp. 183-186).
So that I might not be accused of hypocrisy, I will close this micro-treatise by mentioning a few books and people that have molded my opinions since Freshman Saturday, August 18, 2007.
* The books “Generations” (1991) and “The Fourth Turning” (1997) by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe. Challenge the very foundations of how you perceive history and view our present “Crisis Period” not as an isolated incident, but another in a string of ‘Turnings.’ Trust me: These books are sweet Academic Heresy.
* Think the Gospels are dry and alien? Read “The Circle Trilogy” and “Green” from my favorite author, Ted Dekker, and watch them come alive! From here, you will likely dive into “Showdown,” “Sinner,” and “Saint” and leave with a newfangled fascination and respect for a supposedly outdated tradition.
* Ever scratch your head after reading the Huffington Post? Read “The Communist Manifesto”. No, seriously—it explains a lot.
* Immanuel Kant’s “What is Enlightenment?” If you apply his logic to modern-day Academia, you might be a redneck for going against Boomer Orthodoxy.
* Adam Brasich ’11, dear friend and leader of the Wabash Conservative Union. As Providence would have it, I wound up his roommate during October of 2007, thereafter spending the rest of freshman year questioning the core of my beliefs on a daily basis. Our late night philosophical and theological discussions gave me a new lease on politics and Christianity, waking me from my intellectually drunken stupor. When sophomore year rolled around, I joined the Wabash Conservative Union and life took a turn for the better. (At least until the election.) Now for the plug:
Freshman, join the Wabash Conservative Union: We’re the friendliest bunch of guys you will ever meet.
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