Josh
Rescue Haiti's Children: Trailer from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Rescue Haiti's Children
I wanted to post this trailer for Rescue Haiti's Children (a project of Vision Forum Ministries) for those of you who may not have been following Mr. Phillips and his team on their recent journey to Haiti. What is this all about? Watch the video below to find out, and then check here, here, and here!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Final Thoughts About College Critiqued
Below are some final comments that my family and I have been discussing and I would like to share with you concerning College Critiqued.
I've received a lot of feedback about College Critiqued throughout the past week and I'd like to thank each of you who took the time to comment, both positive and negative. My brother, Jonathan, and I really enjoyed making this short film; the entire project has been a great learning experience :) Education is definitely a “hot button” topic that hits close to our worldview (something I was not ignorant of when I embarked on this project), so I’m not at all surprised by the varied responses and some of the passion expressed. I would like to close this topic with some final thoughts.
My desire was to point out the crisis in higher education and that from a Biblical perspective revolution must start with the Fear of the LORD (Proverbs 1:7), which has completely been removed from the teaching in secular universities. In the wake of removing God and the fear of Him, we clearly see significantly lower standards and results (by the way one commenter validated the statistics: if only 31 percent can read a complex book and extrapolate from it, this means that a MAJORITY of 69 percent cannot), skyrocketing costs, out of control immorality, and much more. Therefore, we must seriously consider revolutionary alternatives like CollegePlus!, distance learning, and Christian colleges and universities.
Some argued that if Christians are to stay away from secular colleges and universities, then we should also, as one responder stated, “stay away from sports games, Kroger, amusement parks, museums, and doctors’ offices.” This logic implies that we should not choose to avoid cultural settings, activities, business ventures, education, or employment opportunities because of anti-Christian views or immoral activities. This is clearly an unbiblical position. How many of us would use this position to argue in favor of attending or sending our children to an Islamic school, working for Planned Parenthood, or going to an adult bookstore? Why, then, do we use this flawed argument when it comes to education?
In part, I believe we lean on this flawed logic because we’ve bought the lie that education can somehow be religion neutral. This is not possible. As Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters” (Luke 11:23, NIV). Knowledge is not taught in a vacuum. All education propagates and makes disciples of some belief system, so why would it not be especially critical to take extreme care when selecting our “disciplers?” As Jesus also said, “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Wow! Today’s secular colleges and universities are indeed great mission fields (our church hosted two different mission organizations that focus on our local university campus at our missions conference this weekend), but they are NOT training camps for disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, they are about the business of scattering. Recall that we are commanded to live in the world, not be of the world.
Just as a footnote, I was accused of being unaware of the state of government education and college campuses because I've supposedly never been in them. Thus, I am automatically unqualified to state my opinions. While I do not agree with such a claim, these were, in fact, false assumptions. My claims come not only from research and what others have told me, but from my own experience.
Revolution is serious business; revolution involves revolt, throwing off the existing system and replacing it. Many have argued that I did not answer the question (How would you revolutionize higher education?), because my views were to essentially be rid of the current secular system. However, this argument, in and of itself, proves that I did argue for revolution. Merriam Webster’s online dictionary defines revolution as “a sudden, radical, or complete change … a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm.” Secular colleges and universities are focal points of openly anti-Christian and anti-Biblical teaching, openly promoting the religion of secular humanism and Darwinian evolutionary thinking. They are propagators of Marxist/socialist philosophies in America and are supporters of rampant immorality. The results are evident and increasing in every sphere of American and global culture. When is it time for Christians to take radical action to make “a change of paradigm” if not now? When is it time to stop providing financial support to the tune of $15,000 to $30,000 per year for institutions that are so openly anti-Christ if not now? When does revolution become necessary if not now? Revolution is not a comfortable topic. In fact, it invades our comfort zones, calling into question our very belief systems and forcing us to consider difficult choices. I believe that NOW is the time to seriously consider revolutionizing higher education.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
A Response to a Comment...
I received this comment about College Critiqued:
"'They have dumbed down academics grotesquely so as to accept the foolish.' That is simply not true. I am no fool. People come from all over the world to attend one what you call “second rate” institutions. How do you think we were able to land on the moon, shoot down enemy missiles, perform neurosurgery, and discover new sources of energy? Answer? Universities. The research and education opportunities that can be found at public AND private colleges and universities all over the U.S. have enabled us to improve and save countless lives. Your claims are unfounded."
I figured everyone could benefit from the response.
In Christ, Josh
First of all, before you state that an individual’s claims are unfounded, it’s generally a good idea to ask the person his reason for a particular claim. Please note that my video was only 7 minutes and 21 seconds; there isn’t exactly enough time to address every issue. Secondly, I just knew this line: “They have dumbed down academics grotesquely so as to accept the foolish,” would more than likely spark some debate. Let me begin by clarifying. I’m not saying that everyone who attends a university is a fool. Not in the least. I personally know brilliant young men and women who are attending both public and private universities and are studying very complex material. But let’s take a look at some history.
Since I mentioned Harvard in my video, why don’t we investigate the “Laws and Statutes for Students of Harvard College (1642).” Here’s just the first requirement for admission (if you wish to read the document in its entirety, you can find it here):
"1. When any Schollar is able to Read Tully or such like classicall Latine Author ex tempore, and make and speake true Latin in verse and prose suo (ut aiunt) Marte, and decline perfectly the paradigmes of Nounes and verbes in the Greeke tongue, then may hee bee admitted into the College, nor shall any claime admission before such qualifications."
Yes, these men were brilliant :)
Harvard’s current requirements?
-3 SAT subject tests
-Secondary School Report and Mid-Year School Report
-Two Teacher Evaluations
-SAT or ACT
I’d say that’s a significant dumbing down from reading Tully, reading classic Latin, speaking Latin in verse and prose, and declining PERFECTLY the paradigms of nouns and verbs of the Greek language. Keep in mind that this is only one university, and these are merely the entrance requirements!
Jumping back into the present; look at your average college athlete. According to the NCAA, a college athlete need only possess a GPA of 2.0 – 2.5 to retain his eligibility for collegiate sports. But this doesn’t just apply to athletes. Many degrees available at universities and colleges today are “non-degrees” (i.e. Women’s Studies. What is that?? Anyway, who majors in Women’s Studies? Women or men?). Such degrees require very little academic responsibility and are made available so that universities have an excuse for accepting athletes and other students that want to waste 4 years or more of their life on a college campus engaging in wicked acts, hanging out with foolish friends, and accumulating debt on degrees that most of them won’t even use.
Furthermore, how long has it been since you turned on the TV and listened to a reporter interview a college student only to hear the student’s most frequent words are “like” and “you know.” Do you call that academic excellence? If you still don’t believe me, read this quote from the Washington Post:
"Literacy experts and educators say they are stunned by the results of a recent adult literacy assessment, which shows that the reading proficiency of college graduates has declined in the past decade, with no obvious explanation.
'It's appalling -- it's really astounding,' said Michael Gorman, president of the American Library Association and a librarian at California State University at Fresno. 'Only 31 percent of college graduates can read a complex book and extrapolate from it. That's not saying much for the remainder.'" – Sunday, December 25, 2005
DID YOU SEE THAT?! Only a whopping 31 percent of college graduates can even read a complex text book and extrapolate from it (Contrast that with Harvard’s entrance requirements)! If 31 percent of our college students, who can barely read, can still manage to earn a degree at a university, then there is some SERIOUS dumbing down of academics going on!
Look at your average college; they lower their entrance requirements because students can’t do things they should have learned in government school:
"[O]f the 12 California state university colleges, 60% of students need remediation; a Florida study showed at least 70% of recent high school graduates need remedial courses when they enter community college - - in other words, they need to learn material they should have mastered in public high school - but did not - - costing an extra $59 million per year." - USA Today, November 24, 1997
Every year, the value of a BA drops, and many companies are realizing this. But a degree is not essential to getting a good job. For example, my aunt never earned a college degree, yet she has a very respectable job as a manager in a major communications company! Bill Gates never graduated from college, yet he created some of the world’s greatest computer software.
Despite the many achievements and advancements that are directly and indirectly the result of the work of our universities (people in every era make new discoveries; some due to universities, others due to their own research), it is clear that there indeed has been a SIGNIFICANT dumbing down of higher education in our country. This is why I called the EDUCATION, not the universities (as you said) second-rate. I’ve given only a few evidences of the dumbing down of our colleges and universities. In addition to these, and most importantly, campuses are filled with unfathomable immorality, false history, false science driven by the religion of Darwinian evolution, and political correctness that plagues and degrades campus life and replaces true education with outright lies.
"'They have dumbed down academics grotesquely so as to accept the foolish.' That is simply not true. I am no fool. People come from all over the world to attend one what you call “second rate” institutions. How do you think we were able to land on the moon, shoot down enemy missiles, perform neurosurgery, and discover new sources of energy? Answer? Universities. The research and education opportunities that can be found at public AND private colleges and universities all over the U.S. have enabled us to improve and save countless lives. Your claims are unfounded."
I figured everyone could benefit from the response.
In Christ, Josh
First of all, before you state that an individual’s claims are unfounded, it’s generally a good idea to ask the person his reason for a particular claim. Please note that my video was only 7 minutes and 21 seconds; there isn’t exactly enough time to address every issue. Secondly, I just knew this line: “They have dumbed down academics grotesquely so as to accept the foolish,” would more than likely spark some debate. Let me begin by clarifying. I’m not saying that everyone who attends a university is a fool. Not in the least. I personally know brilliant young men and women who are attending both public and private universities and are studying very complex material. But let’s take a look at some history.
Since I mentioned Harvard in my video, why don’t we investigate the “Laws and Statutes for Students of Harvard College (1642).” Here’s just the first requirement for admission (if you wish to read the document in its entirety, you can find it here):
"1. When any Schollar is able to Read Tully or such like classicall Latine Author ex tempore, and make and speake true Latin in verse and prose suo (ut aiunt) Marte, and decline perfectly the paradigmes of Nounes and verbes in the Greeke tongue, then may hee bee admitted into the College, nor shall any claime admission before such qualifications."
Yes, these men were brilliant :)
Harvard’s current requirements?
-3 SAT subject tests
-Secondary School Report and Mid-Year School Report
-Two Teacher Evaluations
-SAT or ACT
I’d say that’s a significant dumbing down from reading Tully, reading classic Latin, speaking Latin in verse and prose, and declining PERFECTLY the paradigms of nouns and verbs of the Greek language. Keep in mind that this is only one university, and these are merely the entrance requirements!
Jumping back into the present; look at your average college athlete. According to the NCAA, a college athlete need only possess a GPA of 2.0 – 2.5 to retain his eligibility for collegiate sports. But this doesn’t just apply to athletes. Many degrees available at universities and colleges today are “non-degrees” (i.e. Women’s Studies. What is that?? Anyway, who majors in Women’s Studies? Women or men?). Such degrees require very little academic responsibility and are made available so that universities have an excuse for accepting athletes and other students that want to waste 4 years or more of their life on a college campus engaging in wicked acts, hanging out with foolish friends, and accumulating debt on degrees that most of them won’t even use.
Furthermore, how long has it been since you turned on the TV and listened to a reporter interview a college student only to hear the student’s most frequent words are “like” and “you know.” Do you call that academic excellence? If you still don’t believe me, read this quote from the Washington Post:
"Literacy experts and educators say they are stunned by the results of a recent adult literacy assessment, which shows that the reading proficiency of college graduates has declined in the past decade, with no obvious explanation.
'It's appalling -- it's really astounding,' said Michael Gorman, president of the American Library Association and a librarian at California State University at Fresno. 'Only 31 percent of college graduates can read a complex book and extrapolate from it. That's not saying much for the remainder.'" – Sunday, December 25, 2005
DID YOU SEE THAT?! Only a whopping 31 percent of college graduates can even read a complex text book and extrapolate from it (Contrast that with Harvard’s entrance requirements)! If 31 percent of our college students, who can barely read, can still manage to earn a degree at a university, then there is some SERIOUS dumbing down of academics going on!
Look at your average college; they lower their entrance requirements because students can’t do things they should have learned in government school:
"[O]f the 12 California state university colleges, 60% of students need remediation; a Florida study showed at least 70% of recent high school graduates need remedial courses when they enter community college - - in other words, they need to learn material they should have mastered in public high school - but did not - - costing an extra $59 million per year." - USA Today, November 24, 1997
Every year, the value of a BA drops, and many companies are realizing this. But a degree is not essential to getting a good job. For example, my aunt never earned a college degree, yet she has a very respectable job as a manager in a major communications company! Bill Gates never graduated from college, yet he created some of the world’s greatest computer software.
Despite the many achievements and advancements that are directly and indirectly the result of the work of our universities (people in every era make new discoveries; some due to universities, others due to their own research), it is clear that there indeed has been a SIGNIFICANT dumbing down of higher education in our country. This is why I called the EDUCATION, not the universities (as you said) second-rate. I’ve given only a few evidences of the dumbing down of our colleges and universities. In addition to these, and most importantly, campuses are filled with unfathomable immorality, false history, false science driven by the religion of Darwinian evolution, and political correctness that plagues and degrades campus life and replaces true education with outright lies.
Monday, February 22, 2010
College Critiqued
HERE IT IS! It was a long week, but by God's grace we got it done. Here is my video essay!
Friday, February 19, 2010
A few pictures from the set
Me and my lovely sister after her interview
Editing video
Mess ups always happen...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
How Would You Revolutionize Higher Education?
That’s the question I’m attempting to answer right now. Jonathan and I are back on set (feels great!) shooting a 7-8 minute video for a contest with College Plus! which strives to answer the question, “How would you revolutionize higher education?” Although it’s only an 8 minute video, we’re trying to squeeze as much content in as possible without making it crazy for the viewer. There are several interviews we’ll be filming (one of which we did a few nights ago).
Yesterday, Jonathan and I went over to the Virginia Tech campus, where most of the film takes place, and shot for the better part of the afternoon and came back after dark to shoot one crucial shot in downtown Blacksburg. What can you expect this to look like? For those of you who have seen “Drive Thru History,” I would say that’s a pretty good comparison. The video has interviews, voice over mixed with scenery shots, quotes, and segments of speaking right on the tech campus. I’m in a mad rush to complete it due to the fact that the deadline is February 22 (next Monday). It will be posted, here, on my blog for everyone to see. However, part of the goal is to get as many views as possible, so spread the word!
In Christ,
Josh
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The "Snow Fort"
My older brother Jonathan and I have really been enjoying the snowy winter we've had here in Virginia. I've posted a video below which gives you a tour of our "snow fort." It's not the most elaborate in the world, but we had a fun time building it, and a fun time making this comedic clip as you will see ;)
Enjoy!
Josh
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