Saturday, February 3, 2018

Not so human humanities. . .

Of course we have all heard of the foolishness which passes for university classwork -- everything from a semester surfing the internet to reading things that should have never been published and have nothing to do with the subject at hand.  It would be funny if it were not so sad.  Yet the worst of it all is how anti-human the humanities have become.  In too many progressive and liberal institutions said to be focused on higher education, man itself is treated with obvious and distinct contempt.  He is treated as an alien to a world which would live in pristine harmony except for the intrusion of humans.  His life is treated as an expendable quantity, without anything to distinguish it or qualify it for protection in the womb and without any nobility to justify any protection of it in old age.

The arts have become brutal and hard.  Spatters of paint and sharp metal edges compete with the likes of Botticelli and Rafael and Michelangelo and da Vinci.  Self expression is promoted over the image and its fruit has been remarkable vulgar and harsh.  Where once the canvas, the musical staff, and stone were employed to ennoble mankind and promote the cause of virtue, it is now employed to display our baser desires and to laud ugliness.  The great wordsmiths of old were lauded for their ability to put a whole conversation in a few rich words, for their ability to flesh out characters and make them at least as interesting as the plot, and for their ability to make us want to be better than we are.  Now it seems that authors delight in the exposé --finding and informing the general public of the worst we can think or know about a people or a time.

John Milton once said that education existed for the most part “to repair the ruins of our first parents.” Certainly that is the focus of the Biblical story.  "The truth shall set you free," said Jesus.  Not generic truth but the truth that does not change and the truth that endures forever -- the saving truth of the Word of the Lord.  So once the humanities were built upon one unending divine revelation to which were added the best endeavors of the arts to know our broken condition and discover its repair.  Perhaps the decline of the humanities is parallel to the disdain with which our world looks upon unchanging divine revelation and, specifically, the revelation of the Son of God (this is Epiphany, after all).  I am not sure that the decline of those choosing the humanities is due to the lack of humanity found there, the difficulty in translating such a major into a decent job and income, or the despair that seems to have framed our whole educational endeavor when it comes to humanity and the future.

As a proud liberal arts graduate, it is to my great sorrow that the humanities have become not so human and the arts are seen as non-essential luxuries in a world more focused on practical progress and more enamored with technology.  Literature, history, philosophy, the arts, rhetoric, religion, and languages may not be easily marketable as a major or as a high income producing vocation but once they formed us as a more noble people by teaching us to pursue something better, something bigger than self, and something that honored our Creator.  The day may never come when we recapture this but I live in hope that the light will not be totally extinguished and will still shine through the winds of change that dominate the times.  It will have to begin by remembering that the word human is what informs humanities.  I am not so much looking for a softer, kinder, gentler approach as one that is, at least to my mind, more honest.  The truth continues to set us free. . . if we let it. . .

4 comments:

Frank Luppe said...

Unfortunately, the students pursuing a liberal arts degree today have become fertile ground for progressive instructors to spread their political beliefs and values.
I have witnessed firsthand the attempt to undermine the Christian values instilled by parents in a young adult, and replaced by subversive ideas and beliefs in the name of diversity.
The institutes of higher learning that you and I aspired to graduate from have degraded into recruiting centers for progressives and ultra-liberals.
It is truly a sad situation.

Mabel said...

I have always found that people with liberal arts degrees are the most interesting people with whom to have a good conversation. They are not just interested in chattering about what recent purchases they have made or what TV series they are bingeing on. They are also more likely to think for themselves when it comes to political discussions and not just parroting the talking heads on TV news channels, indeed, they may not even own a TV set or if they do, there is no cable TV. For students considering a liberal arts degree but worrying about finding a job after college, I would recommend they include some computer or business courses so they can support themselves later.

Anonymous said...

Technology is the servant of content. Those who graduate with a degree in computer science only know how to deliver content for good or for evil and may not know the difference. Technology only asks, “Can it be done?” not “Should it be done?”.

Ted Badje said...

Facebook and Google are seeing the need for human sysops to monitor posts and news feeds. I hope this would prevent deraughatory and offensive remarks, such as name-calling. There should be safeguards on promoting free speech and the free expressions of ideas, but I am not going to hold my breath given the current political environment in the U.S.