The Problem With School History Class

THE PROBLEM WITH SCHOOL HISTORY CLASS

Problem with school history class: We never really learn anything. We learn dates and facts but history continues repeating itself because we never learn the lesson.Just the facts. And facts are worthless unless there’s a moral.

And the funny thing is- the world will tell us otherwise. Our teachers will tell us otherwise. They’ll tell us that all these facts are virtuous and are going to give us a better life out of high school. Lies. Unless we learn the lesson from the facts, the future will be a repetition of past mistakes and failed morals.

I think that’s why we like our Founding Fathers so much. Because they stood for something.

But now, no one in politics can stand for anything. They must be neutral ‘so as not to offend anyone’. Seriously? What’s up with that? The people who are supposed to be the greatest leaders are forced by the American public to have no backbone or stand for anything because, well, God forbid they might ‘offend’ someone. Or make things a bit ‘uncomfortable’.

So you see. Because we’ve forced our public schools and politicians to be neutral…unoffensive…comfortable…almost none of our politicians have a backbone of basic truth. They have been forces by some invisible, moral, worldly code to not offend anyone and therefore just stick to the facts instead of the lesson behind the facts.

It’s adult peer pressure at its finest. “Well, we can’t carry a Bible in school cause then everyone would have to be allowed to carry a Quaran in school. Or the Torah. And who knows what would happen if people were forced to cooperate.” “And no, we can’t have a Bible study cause then we’d have to allow other studies.” “And no, we can’t have a class where we look at morals because that’d we way too controversial.” “No it’d just be easier to call it ‘The Bible as Literature’. Cause if you look at it as literature- mere facts- then it can’t offend anyone. No parents will call in mad and force me to be uncomfortable. Or to question my own morals. No. It’s just easier this way.”

You see. We’re stuck on the facts. But facts don’t help unless they’re applied. Have you noticed how the greatest teachers are the ones who allow you to explore not only facts but also morals. And you remember those teachers for the rest of your life. So God forbid we make someone a bit ‘uncomfortable’. I’m not here to offend, but in my struggle, in Christ’s struggle for your soul, we might tangle. Cause the devil’s real. And he wants people to be comfortable. And factual. Rather than having a bold and nicely opinionated backbone.

So lets dare to pray for politicians and teachers who have a backbone of morality rather than fact. Who are free to learn from history rather than just memorize it. And we will do the same.

Grace and Peace and Truth from the Word.

And let’s dare to learn from our history classes more than just facts.