The Dawn Treader

This year's Society of Classical Learning Conference in Charleston, SC, will feature two lectures that are sure to attract some attention!

The discussion was spirited and the propositions were thought provoking.  Last night's Pigfest really has me thinking.

What is the purpose of grades anyway (i.e. an "A", a "B" etc.)?  What is the goal of education?  Do grades advance or hinder that goal?

"Grades do not advance the goal of education which is to gain knowledge and grow in wisdom.  In fact, grades often hinder learning.  Therefore, we ought to do away with grades and class rankings and go a pass fail system."

Grades are stupid when you think about it.  They promote pride in some kids, and depression in others.  They encourage cheating.  They distract students away from learning towards figuring out how to master the art of getting a high grade from a particular teacher.  Grades tend to be subjective and often do not reflect true intelligence ... they simply reward those who are good at taking tests.

The most compelling argument I have heard for grades are that they keep a student from being lazy.  Without grades to work for, a student is likely to totally slack off.  A second weaker argument is that grades offer a reward for hard work.

Both of these arguments fail.  If grades are simply a carrot on a stick to get a lazy kid to do something, then the question still remains ... does the behavior you are motivating really align with the goal of education?  The obvious answer is no.  The goal is knowledge and wisdom ... not mastering the art of acing a class.

As far as rewards go, it should not take too much effort to figure out how to reward kids that put out good effort besides resorting to grades.  Give out awards, for example.

I don't know who invented grades, but in my opinion, all they do is promote pride and cause kids to hone their skills at figuring out how to get high marks from a given teacher.  Grades promote an unhealthy competitiveness.  Grades promote cheating.  Grades hinder learning.  We need to rethink the entire philosophy of grading and come up with something better.

Our nation is in the midst of an epidemic of cheating.  We discussed one way to possibly turn the tide in the battle against cheaters.

"Given that academic cheating is viewed as helping by some and necessary by others, we should document a student's cheating history and put it on their transcript.  Further, repeat cheaters ought to be made ineligible for government financial aid of any kind."

Cheating simply is not taken seriously in the schools any more.  Part of the problem is that the penalties for cheating amount to a slap on the wrist.  Consequently, many resort to cheating including the honor roll students.  They view it as necessary if they are to get into the good schools and get those good jobs, right?  Everyone else is doing it, right?  Gotta keep up ...

One way to curb cheating would be to put some teeth into getting caught.  If your motive for cheating is to get into the best schools and get the best jobs, you might think twice if getting caught means you forfeit your chance for school loans, scholarships, and financial aid.  Plus, imagine having to present your school transcript to the college admissions department with your cheating history displayed front and center.

Now, would kids still cheat?  Sure.  There will always be cheaters.  But often the role of rules and laws is to clearly mark what behavior is morally acceptable and what behavior is not.  Right now, cheating is morally acceptable in school.  This is wrong, and measures are needed to correct it.

Cloning is in the news again.  A California scientist cloned himself.

"All kinds of human cloning are immoral and ought to be banned."

When it comes to cloning, most agree that there is something wrong about it.  Very few humans outside of the Raelians immediately warm up to the idea of cloning.  Why is there an icky factor to it?

I would argue that it is part of our natural law to know that the power to create life is not something that is ours to possess and wield.  The power over the creation of life is in God's domain.  Once we try to conquer Nature, Nature conquers us.  C.S. Lewis makes a brilliant argument to this effect in the Abolition of Man.

"Man's conquest of Nature turns out, in the moment of its consummation, to be Nature's conquest of Man."
~ C.S. Lewis, Abolition of Man

Cloning is a fool's errand.  Christians ought to wake up and get in the game now and influence the public debate before it is too late.  Things are advancing at a break neck pace, and those who seek to make a name for themselves in this area will soon succeed in their ghoulish adventures.

The first proposition of last night's Pigfest was timely.

"Those who claim that it is wrong for a Christian to vote for a Mormon are wrong."

I agreed with this proposition.  The God-ordained role of government is to preserve order and promote justice (Rom 13).  We ought to elect leaders who have integrity and strong morals who will carry out that task faithfully and capably.  Whether they are Christians or not is irrelevant.  Besides, all of them claim to be Christians anyway (including the Dems) ... except Romney.  A person's religion, therefore, is not terribly helpful or relevant to our voting decision.

Would a Romney presidency help the Mormon church grow?  Undoubtedly.  Still, that should be low consideration when it comes to choosing our next leader.  Whether Romney is your man or not, your focus should be on the candidate's integrity, his commitment to justice, his moral values, and his view of the proper role of government in society.

Recapping last night's riveting Pigfest ...

The Pigfest movement is growing.  The Pigfest pictured here was held in a neighboring state.   I was not there, but I spoke with the moderator.  He tells me there was an equal blend of Christian and secular world views represented at the table.   The wine and stogies after dinner are a nice touch.

Here were the propositions discussed.

“The Don Imus debacle will serve as a watershed event to help re-establish the line between respectable news and journalism versus comedy and base entertainment.”

“In light of the devastating massacre at Virginia Tech, we’re faced with the sad truth that evil exists at a profound level in our world. That being the case, God can’t possibly be both all loving and all powerful. He is either loving but not powerful enough to stop evil or powerful but not loving enough to stop evil.”

“We (the U.S.) have Military bases all over the world.  Since the cold war is over, I believe we need to close the bases and send our troops either to Afghanistan or home.”

“It is up to the wealthiest people of a society to insure that those who are disadvantaged are taken care of.”

“Second Hand Smoke (E.T.S. Environmental Tobacco Smoke): It has been claimed that from 37,000 to 40,000 people die from smoking related disease caused by other people's smoke each year.  Sounds terrible, doesn't it?  Problem is ... It's Not True!  Doesn't make sense, does it? Why would the government, knowing there is no association between lung cancer and ETS exposure, continue to scare the public into believing there is? The answer is simple: Money. If you knew the truth about ETS exposure, you would not voluntarily contribute your money to the government to continue funding their bogus studies. So, why do the government and the insurance industry make such a big deal about ETS when the research doesn't even support their claims? At the risk of repeating myself...it's because of money, control, and jurisdiction.”

We had seventeen guests to the Pigfest.  It was a lively group.  We indulged in food, fellowship and conversation.  Numerous thought provoking propositions were presented.

Yes, Mr. Pig.  You heard right!

The long wait is over.  The Pigfest is back!

The tables have been set in Mr. Dawntreader's living room.  The food has been purchased and prepared.  The guests have been busy preparing their propositions.  I have gotten an early preview of some of the propositions.  All I have to say is wow!  This is gonna be good.

PIGFEST!