Education: Incomplete

I am slowly making my way through an abridged version of The Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire. The complete version costs seventy bucks and boasts one million and a half words. Some day...

I must confess a relative ignorance of history specifically in respect to events which did not directly affect the United States, save for certain tidbits I have picked up here and there along my "educational” journey. The purchase of Gibbon's classic was aimed at lessening this ignorance.

It is rare that in regards to any one issue, one's experience is a genuinely tabula rossa, and though my slate was peppered by a few well known facts—the Romans lived in Rome, which is in Italy, etc.—the undertaking promised the chance to surprise as well as enlighten. Thus, it was intriguing—to me—that the early church factored so prominently in Gibbon's survey. This shouldn't actually be surprising. It is impossible to understand the history of the western world without being at least nominally aware of the basics of Christianity. The most obvious evidence seems to be the calendar, which is marked from the birth of Christ.

As an aside, my "Catholic" high school divided time into the epochs, not of B.C. and A.D. as every westerner, Christian or not, has for—if I recall Gibbon correctly—the past fifteen centuries. Instead, in their zeal for the Gospel, the time before Christ's birth was referred to as B.C.E., Before Common Era, and the period after, naturally enough, as C.E., or Common Era. You get two guesses as to my answer when they start calling to request that I make a donation—and the first one doesn't count.

Yet while my "Catholic" education ignored Christ, Gibbon's masterpiece did not. Though he converted to Catholicism at a young age, he later reverted to Protestantism, and it is fair to say that he possessed the skepticism of organized religion which typified the Age of Reason which was to follow shortly. Yet Gibbon was a legitimate historian, and he didn't simply ignore the rock of Rome because it didn't mesh with his personal beliefs. Indeed, some years later, Cardinal Newman would note, "It is melancholy to say it, but the chief, perhaps the only English writer who has any claim to be considered an ecclesiastical historian, is the unbeliever Gibbon."

My one complaint thus far with Gibbon is his negative view of the Church which he rejected and I follow. Yet minds should be free to disagree, even when the minds in question differ so greatly in greatness. I have much less of a problem with Gibbon's interpretation of the Church and Christianity than I do with my alma mater's attempt to ignore the impact Christ had on human history and, worse still, the treatment the topic receives within the American public educational system.

The phrase, "separation of church and state" does not appear in the constitution, but even if it did, that is no reason to avoid discussing Christianity within the schools. A high school education should equip one with the ability to read, write, do basic arithmetic, as well as provide a fairly extensive knowledge of a general survey of important topics. Ignoring Christianity provides an immense disservice to the pupils, and even supposing that the students could in fact read, write and perform basic calculations upon graduation from high school, this oversight alone gives impetus for Christian parents to instruct, at least partially, from the home. The inability of educators to, in fact, educate, leads further credibility to the notion of home-schooling, and the less than surprising lack of morals one finds among one's peers should suffice to tip the scales.

The typical school administrator will excuse this obvious error by pointing out that they are refusing to take a side on such a contentious issue. This is a non sequitur. By pleading no contest they are in fact taking a side, and while their pusillanimous behavior can be forgiven since a genuine stand would draw the ire of the ACLU and the courts, forgiveness does not apply toleration for a wrong that will continue in perpetuity. If Christian parents wish their child to share the Faith, they are foolish to hide the proverbial candle under a bushel basket and hope for the best.

A mature and convicted Christian can and should spend some time with the pagans. Where would Dante be without Virgil? There is much truth contained in pagan literature, and it is unwise to toss aside Gibbon's monumental achievement merely because he didn't have a personal relationship in Christ. Yet we must know Truth before we can recognize it in other sources. An education which precludes the Way, the Truth, and the Life will render the detection of truth difficult, if not impossible.

Thus sounds the last nail in the coffin of the public school system.