Ignorance is a terrible thing. And it is even more terrible when a state legislature is so afraid of an idea that it prohibits even its mention in a public school system, including at the university level. The State of Idaho has passed a bill prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory, even mentioning it. Two months ago Idaho forbade the teaching of “social justice ideology,” whatever that means.
Called a “nondiscrimination” bill, this act, signed into law by Governor Brad Little, the law showed its true colors in a statement by one of its sponsors, Lance Clow, calling himself a “white Anglo-Saxon,” as he decried “such teaching” when he was growing up in the Civil Rights era, “to make sure these types of issues weren’t in the schools, which I’m sure they were.”
Other attacked social justice initiatives at Boise State declaring that Black Lives Matter is part of a Marxist conspiracy. In 2020 Boise “community leaders” opposed protests calling them influenced by “outside malicious forces.” There is nothing about what the churches had to say on these bills. And I thought Alabama was bad.
Prayer for the Day
Merciful Creator, you anoint our afflictions and cleanse our wounds,
May the wounds we have caused others be forgiven;
Redeeming God, you bind up the broken hearted and despairing,
May our despair be turned into hope.
Be the pearls of wisdom in our lives, transforming us
Into living models of the One who opened us to your life
In the name of him who is your life in the world,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Nothing is more dangerous in the world than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King (1929-1968)
The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There would only be what is.
Susan Sontag, American writer, social critic (1933-2004)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me;
And because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget your children.
Hosea 4:6