“The Lion and Ox” was very pleased to be quoted by Ken Connor who is a co-author of “Sinful Silence: When Christians Neglect Their Civic Duty.”  He is also Chairman of the Center for a Just Society.

Mr. Connor apparently enjoyed our post “Liberal Education… Why bother?” and quoted our description of liberal education when we said…

Liberal education is about reading and discussing the canon of authors to whom Western Civilization owes its origins. It is about immersing oneself in the very sources of civilization holding fast to its elements and principles, to time honored truths and traditions; to the vision of all those who contributed to civilization. . . .

The end of liberal education is not first ‘to think for oneself,’ but to know the truth. To know the truth that makes one free, this is the end of liberal education. Liber and libertas, in Latin, denote freedom, as opposed to servility and the servile. Liberal education is the education appropriate to free men and is a source of that freedom. Liberal education, this encounter with and conformity to the truth, frees man from enslavement to unruly passions, ignorance, current intellectual trends and public opinion. Once freed from these bonds, a man may choose to live a good life, hold to the truth, and delight in beauty – not to please others or gain some practical reward, but simply because these things are good, or true, or beautiful.

Mr. Connor then writes:

In rejecting the objective truth of the classical model in favor of a subjectively defined, instrumentally-oriented model, we’re undercutting our ability to flourish as a society. We no longer care for the answers to the big questions, heck, we no longer feel compelled to ask the big questions!

and further

Education is seen as merely a means to individual ends, whether those ends are monetary, ideological, political or otherwise. The idea that education should be more than a tool for individualistic self-actualization may sound blasphemous to the modern ear, but it’s an idea we’d better reacquaint ourselves with if we care about the future of our nation and the souls of our children and grandchildren.

A nation of pragmatic narcissists will not long endure, for when there is no thirst for truth and no one to guard and transmit the things that make us human, we’ll quickly give ourselves over to our baser impulses, social cohesion will unravel, and culture will crumble.

We are amazed at the power of internet propagation. Mr. Connor’s article-and therefore A link to The Lion and Ox may be found at the following websites.

• http://townhall.com/columnists/kenconnor/2013/06/19/the-lost-art-of-education-n1622288/page/full
• http://www.centerforajustsociety.org/2013/06/18/37100/ideas-in-action/the-lost-art-of-education/
• http://catholiclane.com/the-lost-art-of-education/
• http://www.americanclarion.com
• http://news.silobreaker.com/the-lost-art-of-education-5_2266899720670543872
• http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-lost-art-of-education-98302/
• and others

Thanks Mr. Connor!

Anyone who enjoyed “The Lost Art of Education” will also enjoy perusing the website for The Lyceum. The art of education has been found! And I think it should be franchised immediately!!