The Value of Failure

Some research has revealed that man’s two greatest fears are public speaking and death, in that order.  This means, of course, that most people at a funeral would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy. 
Man does his best to overcome these fears.  Schools have rhetoric and public speaking courses and teachers require [...]

What Happened to Man?

This link will take you to an interview with John Taylor Gatto about how schools became like they are now and how desperate things are. Gatto is a little angry, but who can blame him. If you love the human spirit, listen to this interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n67XJ9tppSw&feature=related

Good Versus Evil

The only way to overcome evil is to overcome temptation.

Books to Read

I’ve been reading in snatches of a page or two at a time a book that fell out of heaven into my lap at the conference this summer. If you are interested in a theological and philosophical understanding of the place of rhetoric in the Christian classical tradition, I don’t think you’ll find a book more [...]

Conference report and thanks

I’ve hardly had any time to blog on the conference because of trips and commitments, but I have to at least mention a few things. First, I’m profoundly grateful to the sponsors for their support and to the host school: Our Savior Lutheran.
Other sponsors included Memorial Lutheran, Covenant Academy, and Providence Classical School. The Center [...]

The Best Books On Education

I’m frequently asked what fits the title of this post. When I answer, people usually don’t believe I’m serious, but I’ll tell you my opinion anyway. The best books on education are The Bible, Plato’s Republic, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Dante’s Divine Comedy. Unquestionably the worst ever is Rousseau’s Emile.
For a book to be good if it [...]

What is your life worth?

Read this on ESPN’s Page 2 today:
The EPA reduced the value of a human life, used to determine the cost-effectiveness of regulations, from $8.04 million to $7.22 million. In the spirit of this absurd pseudo-precision, you are now worth 10.199004 percent less than a year ago.
This is how our government agencies make decisions.

Can we be free without grace?

One thing stood out for me at our conference this year: that education without grace – that human society without grace, cannot be free or healthy.
If education excludes religious discourse, then it cannot include the grace of God as an energizing factor. Yet American education is trying to build a perfect society. Consider what this means:
My goal [...]