I was recently watching the movie Polar Express with my family and several friends. As you likely know, this movie is a digitally animated 3D production that stars Tom Hanks as the conductor of a train (the Polar Express) on a magical Christmas Eve journey to the North Pole. As the locomotive chugs its way over mountains, through valleys and over the frozen tundra its young passengers must decide if they “believe” in Christmas. One boy in particular has his doubts. The train ride represents his struggle. Is Christmas real? Is it a fantasy or is it a fact?
At the end of the movie, as the Polar Express is quietly returning each of the children to their respective homes, this specific little boy is trying desperately to determine what to think of the adventure he has just experienced. What should he believe? What is true and what is false? What is good and what is bad? What is real? With all this as context, the train, scattering snow to the left and the right, groans to a stop in from of the little boys house on Christmas morning. The conductor (Tom Hanks) then ushers the little boy down the steps, stops and turns to him and quietly says, you know … “the one thing about trains: It doesn’t matter where you are going. What matters is deciding to get on.”
As I watched this movie, I thought of the debate raging in our own town square. More specifically, I thought of the dominance of the paradigm held by so many of today’s leaders who proudly fancy themselves as “ liberal progressives” – a worldview that asserts that reality is merely something we construct and beliefs are nothing more the sum total of what we make of them. This model is called constructivism and its adherents declare that truth is simply determined by individuals in dialogue with one another.
It really doesn’t matter what worldview you choose for all are equal. Constructivists (at least those who are ideologically consistent) hold that there is no Truth with a capital “T” but only personal “truths” that are created uniquely by each individual as the culminating synthesis of tolerance, inclusion and diversity. For these folks, it is the journey that matters, not the destination. The goal is to build a personal belief system not to seek and discover immutable facts. Constructivism asserts that there is no such thing as a final answer. To travel is better than to arrive. It doesn’t matter where you are going. What does matter is that you just get in line with the masses and get on a train – any train, (i.e. any religion and/or any personal moral construct) and enjoy the ride!
At Oklahoma Wesleyan University we believe there is a better way to pursue knowledge and learning and to find out what is right and true. No, let me restate this: We believe there is a right way. Yes, education does involve dialogue and a discussion and, of course, we do build upon our experiences with nature, with each other, with the teacher and with the coach as we come to conclusions. But a classical liberal arts education – one that is validated by nearly 1,500 years of history – is more than just the process of choosing from a smorgasbord of personal values and various worldviews. A truly liberal education is one that indeed liberates. It liberates mankind from the consequences of those things that are wrong and frees us to live within the beauty of those things that are right. Education that is grounded in the pursuit of Truth as opposed to the constructions of man will ultimately free you and me from the selfishness of sin and the oppression of lies.
Education at its best serves as a light to those who are in the dark. It is a map to those who are lost. It is a law to those who want order. It gives answers (not just opinions) to those who have questions. Education that is built on the rock of God’s revelation is not afraid to put all ideas on the table because it has confidence that in the end we can embrace what is true and right and discard what is false and wrong. Confident in the existence of Truth we recognize that we should find the right “train” and follow the right “path” for it does in fact matter which direction we are going. For some trains may indeed crash and some paths may lead us over a cliff.
In the 1990s there was another movie: A historical drama and it also featured a train ride. This train, however, was not leading to the magical snow filled skies of the North Pole but, instead, to the mysterious and ash laden winter of places such as Auschwitz and Dachau. The movie was Stephen Spielberg’s Schindler’s List and in this film we see it does, indeed, matter which train one chooses to get on. The obvious fallacy of post-modern constructivism comes alive before our eyes and hearts. Who can watch fellow human beings herded as cattle into boxcars bound for the furnaces of the Nazi prison camps and argue that it doesn’t matter where the train is going? Who would dare tell the Jews that the joy is in the journey and that the destination doesn’t matter? It is apparent that some “trains” lead to good and some “trains” lead to evil. It is painfully obvious that we all want to avoid getting on the wrong trains. Hopefully our hearts cry out with Oskar Schindler to rescue those who have been forced to get on the wrong train headed to the wrong place.
As an educator I am passionate about learning and I am passionate about ideas. Our ideas have tremendous potential and power. Ideas are like trains and paths. They are always directional: They always have consequences and a predictable end. Education, thus, is not stagnant and it definitely does represent a journey that will take us somewhere. With our ideas we are going in one of two directions: Either toward the forgiveness and freedom that only God’s revelation can offer or toward the bondage that always and inevitably results from man’s “constructions.” In this context, education represents the path and train we have chosen for eternity.
Thousands of years ago a Jewish Psalmist sang out, “Teaching me your ways O Lord and I will learn . . . to walk in your Truth!” Later, Jesus Christ himself proclaimed, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Perhaps there is some wisdom in these ancient words. Perhaps we would do well to remember that God’s path always lead to liberation and freedom and man’s path always leads to bondage and slavery with the crowd silencing the dissenting voice as the emperor proudly march wearing no clothes.
Maybe, just maybe, the blessings of Christmas – of peace on earth and good will toward men – can only be had by choosing the right train and the right path after all?
Editor’s No
te:
Dr. Everett Piper, President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University is the university’s fifth President. He holds a
B.A. in Psychology from Spring Arbor University, an M.A. in College
Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University, and a Ph.D. in
Higher Education from Michigan State University.
Oklahoma Wesleyan University is the premier sponsor of the upcoming Tulsa Christmas Parade December 10, 2011 at the Tulsa Hills shopping center and Dr. Piper will serve as the Parade Grand Marshal.
More on Dr. Piper’s views may be found online. Click on the following links for entries on Christmas and Holiday.
Tulsa Today stories on the Tulsa Christmas Parade are linked below:
I remember during high school sitting at the kitchen table with my mom, looking at a checkbook with my name on the upper left. It was a moment when I felt like an adult; I could write a check. My mom taught me how to write and endorse the check and how to keep track of checks in the register. While this process seems arcane in the current world of check cards and online banking, it was a valuable process for me. In the earliest days, my mom was also connected to my checking account, so she had a very personal stake in my future fiscal responsibility. If I had an overdraft, she would have an overdraft. Mom made sure I kept my checkbook balanced, under penalty of long protracted painful grounding.
Congress has gone on a spending binge and failed to plan for the future. After three straight years of trillion dollar-plus budget deficits, our debt has skyrocketed to $14.5 trillion, and it has been 905 days since the Senate even passed a budget. Twelve years ago, we could have made a few difficult choices to balance our budget within a couple years. Now our financial situation is so dire that it will take at least a decade to bring our national books into balance. Each year that we postpone the difficult choices, the options for solutions shrink. The last time Congress voted on a balanced budget amendment was 1995, when it failed by a single vote. Imagine how different 2008 would have been if our nation had balanced it’s budget since 1996.
Job retention and creation in Oklahoma is essential for our success. Economic development is a driving factor in moving our state forward. Traveling the state as Oklahoma’s Small Business Advocate has afforded me ample opportunity to visit with those creating good jobs right here in Oklahoma. The discussion often focuses on ideas to boost our job creation and economic development numbers.
The manufacturing industry serves as an economic indicator and stimulus for Oklahoma’s economy. Other additional industries contribute to the overall success of the economy, but manufacturing companies create goods that in turn generate the demand for energy and raw materials used to manufacture those goods. As a result, the demand created then stimulates and supports other businesses in the economy. 
With every 100 new jobs this industry creates, Oklahoma benefits with an additional 240 jobs created throughout the state. Much of the industry’s success at preventing dismal job losses is the diverse relationships built between the manufacturing industry and other industries such as Oklahoma’s agriculture, energy and construction industries. This allows Oklahoma to grow internally from jobs already here at home. 
Opinion: Rodrigo is the building superintendent of my apartment building. He is a Mexican-American and could not be more diligent and nice – a fine person and a real credit to our nation. He has done many favors for me and never asked for anything in return. There are many Rodrigos among us, and in particular Mexicans who have immigrated legally to this country are a great asset. They are generally hard working, friendly and warm people. They are happy to be Americans, and, like in Rodrigo’s case, it shows.
In the last decade, the United States has invaded Iraq and waged a long war there, Afghanistan and, most recently, in other places such as Libya. The cost in human life and suffering, and American tax dollars, has been enormous – even if there was at first a rationale to join the war on terror following Sept. 11, 2001.
Of course, and unfortunately, the United States under both the administrations of Bush-Cheney and now Obama-Biden has never acquired Iraq’s oil as a quid pro quo to help pay for our so-called war of liberation. Ironically, this amounts to yet another foreign-policy failure if not outrage, as American citizens have been forced during hard economic times in particular to pay for this now counterproductive war. Iraq, once we leave, is nearly certain to revert to another Vietnam – only this time it won’t be the North Vietnamese who take control, but the radical Islamic mullahs in neighboring Iran. In effect, given Shiite political domination in Iraq, it is nearly certain that Iraq and Iran will merge as one great radical and dangerous Islamic state, replete with nuclear missiles to deliver atomic bombs threatening not only Israel but the entire Judeo-Christian Western world.
Last week a news report caught my attention, as the state of Mexico is going from bad to worse. It seems that Mexican drug dealers, such as the Sinaloa drug cartel, are terrorizing school teachers in the formerly desirable enclave of Acapulco and other cities around Mexico. Four teachers alone in Acapulco were kidnapped; there have been murders; and the drug cartels are now demanding that teachers turn over 50 percent of their salaries to them. All around Mexico, thousands of schools have been affected, and many are now shut down. Students as well are in harm’s way. The situation is out of control and frightening, as the people have nowhere to turn, since their government – even by the admission of the Acapulco chief of police – is untrustworthy and lacks any credibility or respect among the masses.
This "situation" in Mexico is just one of many causes for the flood of illegal immigration that has occurred across out southern border. And, in reality, who can blame a family in Mexico for taking matters into their own hands, risking their lives and violating American sovereignty to save themselves? Wouldn’t you be forced to do the same thing under these circumstances?
The political and social establishment in Mexico – and its disgusting cesspool of a government – has in effect been waging war on our nation. The corruption there is so great that its populace has invaded our nation. And, these Mexican politicians couldn’t, in reality, care less. The exodus of Mexicans from Mexico serves a valuable purpose for them; it relieves the pressure for wide-scale revolution that would remove if not result in executions of the political and social elite.
It’s time that we as Americans start to seriously pay attention to international affairs and demand that our government represent our interests. Our president-elect in 2012 must have these credentials. Wars that advance these interests are "in our national interest," not continuing debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan. For if we cannot solve the immigration problem from Mexico and protect our borders, the threat of terrorism here at home looms even larger. And, what about the good Mexican people, who as largely devout Christians are more likely to be our friends and allies than radical Muslims now in control of our "assets" in the Arab world?