Appalled to watch belligerent mobs at The Evergreen State College and then read about the American Friends Service Committee sponsoring an anti-Israel forum in Washington, D.C., these issues have become personal. With chagrin I admit being a graduate of a well known Friends school as well as TESC because of the literal insanity that has infected what were once respected institutions. At one point in the 1970s Evergreen enjoyed high standing in the academic world as being a recipient of more funds in science grants than MIT.
Throwing the Friends school into the fray may seem a little unfair except for the fact that it has always been highly supportive of AFSC, and the turn that these liberal organizations have taken to assume the bigoted stance they claim to disdain is lunacy.
The absurdity and frank stupidity of the concept of this "Day of Absence" at TESC is encapsulated in this report: "The event, which is an annual tradition at Evergreen, asked white students, faculty and staff to leave campus for a day and participate in anti-racism workshops."
Squalling students menacing faculty and administration might like to consider this irony--how do you conduct anti-racism workshops by barring people of another race? Whether it's whites learning how to be anti-racist without the benefit of people of color in attendance, or it's people of color harping about evil white privilege among themselves (i.e. to no purpose other than deepen a self-perpetuating divide). Progress is frozen and reversed when dialogue is rejected in favor of shouting mindless chants. It provides no resolution to a problem (albeit a figment of the protesters' imagination) but then, that doesn't appear to be their intention.
Fake news is being driven by fake education, or what communist regimes called 're-education.' The only racists on campus these days are the liberally indulged students who have delusions of oppression to the point that they demand being coddled with a free lunch, free housing and tuition, which, unbelievably, some cowed school administrations are supplying.
What occurred on the Evergreen campus went to the hilt of folly by self-entitled students and incompetence on the part of administration for giving in to the baseless rantings. These student protesters who, because of their deficient education in history have no clue what they're protesting, are establishing a virulent form of racism that is bringing ignominy upon themselves and the schools.
And so-called journalists have abetted these misinformed misanthropes to the point that one former Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders supporter, who knifed and killed two men on a Portland, OR commuter train, was mischaracterized as an evil Trumpster. Anything to paint conservatism with the black eye that leftists have earned, even going so far as to report blatant lies.
This is not the full extent of purposefully misleading headlines slapped across blogs and standard newspapers alike. Wherever possible, press from the Washington Post to ersatz news organizations such as MediaMatters (just corrected a typo that said 'MudiaMatters;' perhaps it should have been left as is) will twist stories to paint evildoers as good because they profess to stand for the poor and disenfranchised, and truth-tellers as evil. Reality is blurred by fantasy that is taught as history. To most educators and social justice organizations the two are interchangeable creating a new discipline I will dub 'fantastory.' Among the curricula are these inventions of imagination: that there was ever a nation of Palestine; that Islam, Mexican, Asian-Pacific Islanders, etc. are races; that Christianity is based on hate and discrimination but Islam promotes women's and gay rights and peace; that a constitutional republic is oppressive but communism is tolerant.
The list could go on to incredibly boring length. The important point is that every premise noted is built on a lie and anyone instructed in the art of true critical thinking and logic would reject them without a second thought.
Instead, once admired peace organizations like AFSC now promote the Israel-hating Palestinian Authority, which has no basis in history other than Yassir Arafat's flight of fancy to create a personal power base and fortune. Colleges and self-aggrandizing politicians laud the erroneous benefits of communism which is nothing more than the relabeling of feudalism. Students cringe at the sight of a striped feline mascot as the epitome of white supremacy. (Should anyone understand how a multi-colored tiger fits that mold, let me know.) Mayors, such as Portland's, call for peaceful conservatives to cancel their rallies but encourage the antifa marauders to tear their cities to shreds.
A world of pointless contradictions, it's reminiscent of Alice's Wonderland where nonsense is the rule of the day. Confusing young minds to the point of accepting illogic does one thing--set them up to be controlled. It's all about power, but not power to the people. Despite what the roving mobs may think, they're just pawns in a much bigger game.
Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.
ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.
