September 3, In the Year of our Lord 2022 Battle for the American Mind originated when I read the following article, which led to countless more. The article follows a controversy in the city of New York c. 1916, where the city compensated private organizations to care for orphans, and then began to regulate them. Most went along. After all, at the beginning of the article, to our modern ears, the call for regulation seems reasonable. The pattern sets up as the article goes on. It seems that times may change, but the tactics of the progressives haven’t: Make a reasonable claim based on “facts,” criticize outliers who don’t accept the facts or the response as given, and then morph the argument into something else altogether– something that if carefully assessed, is very revealing. Note that some in the church did not have the clarity of principle shown by Father Blakely. Emphasis added…
Like an email we sent emotionally and wish we hadn't, this and several other articles from TNR at the time reveal so much truth, I'm sure it's too much truth upon further consideration. The reality of progressive thought is much worse than we think. I'd be interested in what other gems readers discovered when reading this article... what other progressive insights?
"It [progressivist "democracy"] believes that freedom and tolerance mean the development of independent powers of judgment in the young, not the freedom of older people to impose their dogmas on the young."
Two thoughts immediately emerge:
1) This is exactly how the Left thinks of "democracy" when they say things like "to save our democracy" or "a threat to our democracy." They don't mean voting, or following the will of the majority, they mean achieving their secularized aims. Amazing to see this language already being used a century ago.
2) This is so Marxist: true freedom can only occur by prohibiting the Olds from influencing and programming the young. Proving children with a stable basis of classical virtues and paradigms is "oppression" and "indoctrination," and must be replaced by some godless schema to "libertate" the minds of the youth.
Thanks M. Joseph. Good points.
Like an email we sent emotionally and wish we hadn't, this and several other articles from TNR at the time reveal so much truth, I'm sure it's too much truth upon further consideration. The reality of progressive thought is much worse than we think. I'd be interested in what other gems readers discovered when reading this article... what other progressive insights?
Perhaps the most striking portion:
"It [progressivist "democracy"] believes that freedom and tolerance mean the development of independent powers of judgment in the young, not the freedom of older people to impose their dogmas on the young."
Two thoughts immediately emerge:
1) This is exactly how the Left thinks of "democracy" when they say things like "to save our democracy" or "a threat to our democracy." They don't mean voting, or following the will of the majority, they mean achieving their secularized aims. Amazing to see this language already being used a century ago.
2) This is so Marxist: true freedom can only occur by prohibiting the Olds from influencing and programming the young. Proving children with a stable basis of classical virtues and paradigms is "oppression" and "indoctrination," and must be replaced by some godless schema to "libertate" the minds of the youth.
Great post.