Civics and the Bible

During the years I have presented these Pages, I developed an improving orientation for my life that I prefer to call context.  It is an attempt to flesh out a holistic life, which is to say that it is fitting to self in all matters and, as I believe, to God when followed consistently.  I find that it is fitting in my relationships with others, especially seen with my family members and friends.  In a minor way I also measure legitimacy to my life by the affirmative views of others, especially in my extended family, who may not, by my evaluation, relate to me or my context on a daily basis.  This last does not mean they are enemy or violation to me or my orientation, but that they have decided on another direction for themselves so do not relate seriously to  comparisons or contrasts between us.  In some instances they are simply too busy with their own contexts so to have little time left for added relationships.  Persons are wise to learn the capacity of the baskets of their lives, and, when full, they do not dilute quality for quantity.  On one occasion, I surprised myself in turning down a man who wanted to enter into a closer friendship, when I told him that my basket was so full at the time that I could not add another factor to it.   A life ought to be full of the magnificent features of life, but not to be extended beyond the self-imposed parameters of that life in the factors that make it up.

All persons ought to seek a context for life, so not to oversimplify or overcomplicate human experience.  They need to carry that orientation through in the belief that responsible persons try to contribute to worthy objectives that include rightness and service to and for others.  To accomplish this orientation most fully, one needs to be attentive to a basketful of issues related to: faith and devotion (God and righteousness); health and energy (physical competency and natural balance); education and growth (improvement in use of knowledge and thoughtful life activity), family and relationships (love and identity with other persons); and, professional and public interests/duties (civic/work/privilege/responsibility).

In my lifelong interest in the education of the Christian citizen, I have expressed my disappointment in the loss of values at nearly every level of education, including the informal education (nurture) of children by their parents.  The accusation can be rather easily defended from the history of higher education, usually related to the decline in the emphasis on ethics from classical education, an important feature in public education, extended even further to morality in the Christian context.  The loss is significant in the shift of the educational purpose from liberal arts, which focused on the development of the student person, to the present accent on professional preparation of individuals to achieve status for better material wealth and social advancement.  The ideal has been shifted from that of cultivating improved persons, to training for materialistic goals.  Institutions know that this shift has largely taken hold in the majority of parents who expect colleges to provide skills to their children that, if gained, will reward them with higher salaries.

As once classes in Civics were important in education, the subject has been reduced.  It was one of the best courses I had in high school.  In it I learned to respect government, the balance of freedom and law.  I was sent to listen to a court case, and report it to classmates.  I learned something of the base of the family as vital to civics, what ought to be done in public, the concept of the unity of the citizenry, the value of learning, application in community interests.  I fumbled about for the best critique from authorities on what I felt to be a monumental loss for modern students and the ideals of citizenship.  The Wall Street Journal (12/09/11) printed the review of: The Case for Civic Education, by David Feith.  If faithful to the evidence, it addresses the point here.  Feith goes to the themes of Civics, which identify with the discussion of this Page.   Christian higher education, in my experience served me well in the accent on values and truth in all things.  That my assimilation could have been even better, I have no doubt.   The rich literature in nearly every issue of import to life, peace, freedom, equity, including institutional orientation (especially related to the state and religion), provides fodder for Christian scholars, armed with the practical insights of Scripture, to offer well-formed theory on civic life and government.  Nations of the world are distracted with civic problems not likely solved until society addresses the issues to the education of the electorate.