Conservative Conundrum

By: Steve Huston

While Florida’s Governor DeSantis spoke grand and inspiring words of common sense and conservatism during his 2023 inauguration, it’s obvious that many of the Universities in Florida don’t agree as their professors, at least some of them, continue to push and promote their woke agenda while they “pummel” their conservative students for ideals which differ from their own. Hopefully his most recent attempt at bringing sanity to the college scene by overhauling “the ideological education system at New College of Florida (NCF) and restore its original mission,” will better protect conservative students.

During his speech the re-elected governor called Florida “a Promised Land of sanity,” yet many conservative college students feel like they are wandering in the wilderness. Amid thunderous applause and cheers, Governor DeSantis proclaimed, “We must ensure that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth.” Also stating, “We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy. We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional. We will never surrender to the woke mob; Florida is where woke goes to die!” In reality, there are conservative students attending major Florida universities who fear that their college careers and the professions they hope to procure are going to flatline unless they regurgitate back the beliefs and ideals forced down their throats, even though they may adamantly disagree with them. One can be fairly certain that if this is happening in Florida, where Governor DeSantis signed the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act (aka Stop WOKE Act), that it’s happening at a college/university near you. If students in Florida are dealing with such institutional abuses, it’s likely that your student of higher education is facing the same challenges that this article will touch on. Some of these conservative students are frustrated “with the anti-white, anti-Christian, and anti-American environment on campus and in classrooms that makes them feel uncomfortable at best and threatened at worst.” (Epoch Times)

What is the Stop WOKE Act? According to the article linked to above, it’s a law that “prohibits discriminatory classroom instruction such as CRT (Critical Race Theory) and prohibits employers from forcing workers to attend anti-racism and CRT training.”

The Marxist “theme song” in this cultural revolution is “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” (DEI), with its chorus a resounding, “These values for me but not for thee!” Diversity is allowed as long as one doesn’t stray outside the Marxist line of thought being promoted. Equity is for everyone except those who hold to Christian and conservative values. Inclusion is only for those who refuse to disagree with the establishment line of Marxist, anti-American, anti-Christian thought that is promoted as being acceptable. Whereas institutions of higher learning were at one time places where differing ideas were acceptably bandied about to see which ones were able to stand on their own merits. Free speech and free thought were allowed and encouraged and healthy growth was the outcome of such interactions. Now, students are taught what to think rather than how to think. Those conservative students who enter these factories of social engineering and recruitment centers for the Marxist revolution are made to feel like the stereotypical “country bumpkin.”

Carol Swain, “a retired political science and law professor at Vanderbilt University and a frequent television analyst on race relations,” told the Epoch Times, “It starts with freshman orientation, the first day on campus, that’s when established students and administrators let new students know that their past beliefs—based on their religion or family values—are unsophisticated.”

I urge you to read the first-hand accounts of six conservative and Christian university students. Sympathize with the pressures of being reported as “an extremist” for supporting the NRA (National Rifle Association) and being questioned by the FBI for over an hour; for students who can’t write their true beliefs unless they want a failing mark; for those who are threatened by professors who will report “hate speech” to the dean, leaving “hate speech” undefined; for those who are forced to learn that globalization is a good thing; “pervasive LGBT ideology woven into classes” (even regarding bankruptcy); or to feel like you’re “being brainwashed when they reward you for repeating their ideas and punish you for saying things that go against their beliefs.” One student voiced this concern: “I feel like I’m throwing away my integrity, which is a big deal for me; I worry that I may soften to the other side’s viewpoint, the more I hear it, repeat it, and pretend that it’s my own.” Then be horrified at the fact that there are law students who argue that “the U.S. Constitution was illegitimate from the start and was written by racist, old white men” and “how we should tear up the Constitution.” Unless there is a revival in the land, these will be the leaders and the prevailing thought of our future. Pray; pray hard!

Carol Swain encourages conservative students to familiarize themselves with Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals to better understand the opposition. “It’s a guide to progressive beliefs. The book advocates for deception, infiltration, and manipulation to win political power.” Recognizing that there are times for subterfuge during a war (this is a cultural war), she states, “But it’s essential for some – those who are strong and prepared – to take a stand.”

Though we must be careful to not paint with too broad a brush, recognizing that not all colleges and universities are infiltrated to the same extent, we know that the stories of these young people are a sampling of what is happening across America, and sadly, is trending along these lines. Bullied by professors and facing immense peer pressure, it’s vital that parents and grandparents speak strongly and frequently about the importance of a real Christian walk, the blessings of our Constitutional Republic, the dangers and shackles that come with communism, and the fact that this is spiritual warfare. We must make known that this world is not our home but that if we are to love God with all that we are and our neighbors as ourself, then we must stand strong for our God-given freedoms (inalienable rights) and the Biblical values that truly protect and perpetuate those said freedoms. The strength to stand, in college or our community, comes from the Lord. I urge you to stand as Paul exhorts us to stand: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage…for, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” (Gal. 5:1, 13)

 

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