InfoTeacher

Last night President Obama gave his first major presidential speech. With our nation’s current economic situation, it really is a big speech. He spoke one easy-to-miss line about public school about which I want to comment.  But, first, an aside (forgive the rant). . . .

I am an Evangelical Christian (in the classic sense of Evangelicalism – really I hate the term as it is used today). In 2009, Evangelicals are almost synonymous in the public mind with Fundamentalists. I went through a Fundamentalist war in my denomination a few years back (one of the reasons I changed careers), and the Fundamentalists won (which means the denomination [and the cause of Christ] lost. In the classic sense, Evangelicals emphasize the Gospel. Today’s Evangelical emphasizes Politics (Pat Buchanan’s term is “The Culture War”). I grew up in church where Gospel was everything, and Gospel was how we were to change our world. When we emphasized Gospel, our manipulative invitations (and other peculiarities) were an exception to the way things were done, and they didn’t do as much damage to the cause of Christ. But in the late 1970s, everything began to change. Evangelicals discovered political activity, and they have done great damage to the cause of Christ (some time later they discovered Rush Limbaugh and even though politically I am in agreement with much of conservative philosophy, Limbaugh and his ilk have done much more damage as the GOP and Evangelicalism have become fused (see this book and this one). I feel I must lead with this rant because in some circles anyone reading this post will equate my reference to any speech by Obama as the thoughts of a “liberal public school teacher.”  I am anything but. I am a conservative, though I am a conservative who laments the death of thinking conservatives now that Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are our de facto leaders (what a vacuum of leadership we must have!).  Please read this post from the Internet Monk about how Christians should be careful about how we speak about our president even when we disagree – note, we (Christians/Evangelicals) did damage to our reputation by violating these principles during the Clinton administation. We accelerated the downward slide of our ability to speak Gospel to our world and be heard (see this link and this one on why conservatism is “dead,” though I choose to think it’s not dead but in dire straights until we can find another leader to pull our diverse elements together into a positive whole as Reagan did — NOT that Reagan was an Evangelical or even a Classic Christian [many forget history], but he was a great conservative). OK, this Rant is finished, so I can now post the comments I received from another teacher  who, in turn, just passed along what she reveived from another teacher.  I have taken the liberty of highlighting some sentences.  Along with the original writer of the post, I have MUCH that I disagree with from our president and his politics, but he is our president (and the republic will not come to an end just because the GOP does not win every time). 

Last night, during President Obama’s speech before congress, I was inspired by something he said. “Dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country — and this country needs and values the talents of every American.”  Though I may not have agreed with most of the President’s solutions, I feel that the sentiment of this line needs to become a clarion call to our students. Education is not just about them. It is a call to the very heart of this country. It is every student’s patriotic duty to become educated.  We as teachers assume a patriotic duty to teach our students. It is this attitude that can rejuvenate our hearts and maybe rise up the next “greatest generation.”  

President Obama committed last night to a goal of making our nation the most educated nation in the world by the year 2020.  Today, as you teach your students, realize that your job is equipping these students to make our nation stronger. Communicate to your students that their responsibility to their country, to the freedoms they have, is to learn. Whether it is to write, to do math, to use a computer, to understand economics, to contribute through the arts, to become civically minded, or whatever educational endeavor they are participating, all will contribute to the milieu that will make America the greatest nation in world.  

I hope you don’t mind my sending these thoughts to you, but as one who has served in the military and loves his country I am inspired this morning. We as educators have a great calling and responsibility. Hold your head up with honor and pride, for you too are defending and strengthening your country.

The point is well made. I have very little to add. As a Christian (Evangelical Christian) who is proud to teach in a public school (a giant contradiction in many Fundagelical’s minds), I find these words encouraging, and they serve to call me to renw my committment to the heart of my calling as a teacher.  May all teachers view their career as a calling — we don’t just have a job, we serve in a vocation. 

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