BU President John Silber Takes Aim at America
By Gavin Quill
Published April 2008
Book Review
Straight Shooting by John Silber, Harper Perennial: Division of Harper-Collins Publishers. Paperback: $10.95
John Silber’s national bestseller Straight Shooting proves that not all philosophers have forgotten how to speak in layman’s terms about the real challenges confronting our nation in the 1990s. In fact, if he didn’t tell you he was a philosopher, you might have thought he was an ordinary academic like you, struggling to discover effective solutions to the myriad problems facing society today. If you’re worried that Dean Silber might shoot straight over your head with a lofty treatise intended to instruct doctoral candidates in the ethereal ways of abstract philosophy, you can relax.
Silber speaks in a practical, relevant, and no-holds-barred manner to most of the key problems plaguing 20th century America. While many of his shots only hit the edge of the target, he offers sobering diagnoses and often radical prescriptions well worth considering. Even where he misses completely, his arguments are compelling and are not easily dismissed. Though often wide of the mark, his solutions reveal substantially correct principles which only lack proper application. And with so many of our academic and public policy marksmen shooting with ideological blindfolds on, even Silber’s most errant efforts seem relatively accurate by comparison.
Crime, drugs, alienation, promiscuity and poverty at home, coupled with a declining ability to effectively compete abroad; these are the well-known symptoms of the deterioration of our society. As President of Boston University, Silber not surprisingly believes that education is the primary cure for what ails us.
Loud cries of opposition are soon heard, however, when the content of Dr. Silber’s proposed curriculum is detailed. In addition to the 3 R’s, it seems our maverick metaphysician believes that such antiquated concepts such as morality, integrity, humility, character and self-discipline are desperately needed in our classrooms from nursery to post-doc. The immoral, the untrustworthy, the arrogant, the weak-willed and the libertine are all outraged.
Silber posits that “on many moral and social issues we can observe laws of natural sequence as predictable and as certain as any to be found in the natural sciences.” In other words, we are all bound by the reality of moral cause and effect, just as we are bound by gravity. What a man sows, he will also reap. Obey and be blessed; or assert your “autonomy” and deal with the predictable consequences. Effective education must clearly illustrate “the essential role of virtue in the attainment of happiness,” as well as the stark truth that “the degenerate society consumed in pleasure-seeking will not survive.” The wages of sin is death.
Education, of course, is not wholly or even principally the jurisdiction of the public schools, but at least equally the responsibility of families and churches. Unfortunately, many parents have abandoned their educational duties. Schools have attempted to fill in for delinquent parents, but this can have dangerous repercussions if leftist pedagogues are allowed to reprogram children with their vision of the new socialist/humanist morality so prevalent among the educational ‘elite’ who write textbooks and run teacher’s colleges.
Silber declares: “It is essential that (schools) not undermine the serious moral teaching that takes place in sound families. Along with the rejection of false values, it is the task of the school system to support the principles we learn from sound families, and from religion …” Dr. Silber is obviously not trying to get himself nominated as man of the year by the ACLU.
Silber’s support of traditional moral values and his numerous recognitions of religion’s vital role in the betterment of our lives, place him on the radical fringe of society’s educational, political, and media elites. However, given the placement of these elites on the distant leftward fringes of the social/moral/political spectrum of our nation, this probably means that John Silber is safely situated somewhere in the center, next to Joe and Jane average-American. That’s a long way from Jesse Jackson, Mike Dukakis, Mario Cuomo and most of the rest of Silber’s compatriots at the top of the Democratic Party, but it is not too far away from the average voter, whether Democratic, Independent, or Republican.
Straight Shooting has taken aim at a lot of cherished preconceptions concerning the priorities that a free people must pursue if they wish to maintain their freedom. This is a watershed book full of specific, practical solutions to the most daunting social ills confronting our nation. It will challenge any individual who dares to pick it up, and any institution that is willing to consider creative new applications of timeless principles and proven policies.
I would suspect that both major political parties will be carefully scrutinizing John Silber’s platform for national renewal, and that sizeable portions of his thinking will be incorporated into their party platforms for the 1992 presidential elections. If so, the political process and the nation as a whole stand to benefit handsomely. Nice shot, John!
Forerunner - Home » The Forerunner Newspaper » Literature
Your comments are welcome!
Dr. Francis Schaeffer - How Should We Then Live? (DVD)
Special Two-Disc Set!
After 40 years of intense study and world-wide ministry, Dr. Francis Schaeffer completed his crowning work of scholarship – to present profound truths in simple film language. Dr. Schaeffer’s brilliant analysis of the past and predictions for current trends have proven so uncannily accurate that this amazing series still feels contemporary almost three decades after its initial release. Ultimately, Schaeffer concludes that man’s only hope is a return to God’s Biblical absolute, the truth revealed in Christ through the Scriptures.
Available for the first time on DVD, this documentary spectacular also includes intimate in-depth conversations with Francis and Edith Schaeffer. With the on-disc study guide, this presentation forms a unique course of comprehensive study. While this series forms an innovative analysis of the past, this outstanding work is more than history. Each episode focuses on a significant era, yet speaks clearly to 21st-century man with answers for modern problems.
$49.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
Martin Luther (DVD) 1953 Classic
Niall MacGinnis – Digitally Remastered
The dramatic classic film of Martin Luther’s life was released in theaters worldwide in the 1950s and was nominated for two Oscars. A magnificent depiction of Luther and the forces at work in the surrounding society that resulted in his historic reforming efforts, this film traces Luther’s life from a guilt-burdened monk to his eventual break with the Roman Catholic Church.
In spite of its age, this film continues to be a popular resource to introduce Luther’s life. This historical epic captures the life and times of the greatest figure of the Protestant Reformation with depth and clarity, while giving a glimpse at the private man in the eye of the storm. Luther’s protest against the established order of the Church gave birth to one of the largest religious and cultural movements history and serves as a prime example of how one man’s spiritual convictions can change the course of human events.
Running Time: 105 minutes
$9.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
God's Law and Society (DVD)
Download the Free on-line Study Guide!
God’s Law and Society powerfully presents a comprehensive worldview based upon the ethical system found in the Law of God.
Speakers include: R.J. Rushdoony, George Grant, Howard Phillips, R.C. Sproul Jr., Ken Gentry, Gary DeMar, Jay Grimstead, Steven Schlissel, Andrew Sandlin, Eric Holmberg, and more!
Sixteen Christian leaders and scholars answer some of the most common questions and misconceptions related to this volatile issue:
1. Are we under Law or under Grace?
2. Does the Old Testament Law apply today?
3. Can we legislate morality?
4. What are the biblical foundations of government?
5. Was America founded as a Christian nation?
6. What about the separation of Church and State?
7. Is neutrality a myth?
8. What about non-Christians and the Law of God?
9. Would there be “freedom” in a Christian republic?
10. What would a “Christian America” look like?
Perfect for group instruction as well as personal Bible study.
Ten parts, over four hours of instruction!
Running Time: 240 minutes
Watch over 60 on-line video interviews from God’s Law and Society.
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
The Real Jesus: A Defense of the Historicity and Divinity of Christ (DVD)
Who is the Real Jesus?
Ever since the dawn of modern rationalism, skeptics have sought to use textual criticism, archeology and historical reconstructions to uncover the “historical Jesus” — a wise teacher who said many wonderful things, but fulfilled no prophecies, performed no miracles and certainly did not rise from the dead in triumph over sin.
Over the past 100 years, however, startling discoveries in biblical archeology and scholarship have all but vanquished the faulty assumptions of these doubting modernists. Regrettably, these discoveries have often been ignored by the skeptics as well as by the popular media. As a result, the liberal view still holds sway in universities and impacts the culture and even much of the church.
The Real Jesus explodes the myths of these critics and the movies, books and television programs that have popularized their views. Presented in ten parts — perfect for individual, family and classroom study — viewers will be challenged to go deeper in their knowledge of Christ in order to be able to defend their faith and present the truth to a skeptical modern world – that the Jesus of the Gospels is the Jesus of history — “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is the real Jesus.
Speakers include: George Grant, Ted Baehr, Stephen Mansfield, Raymond Ortlund, Phil Kayser, David Lutzweiler, Jay Grimstead, J.P. Holding, and Eric Holmberg.
Ten parts, over two hours of instruction!
Running Time: 130 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
A Revival Account: Asbury 1970 (DVD)
What is true Revival and Spiritual Awakening?
Discover the answer in this eyewitness account by Dennis Kinlaw, President of Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, who recounts the story of a visitation of the Holy Spirit in 1970. This is the presentation that has continued to spark the flames of Revival in the hearts of people around the world. Contains eyewitness footage from the Revival at Asbury College in 1970 in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Certain to challenge you to greater holiness and a deeper commitment to full-scale revival. Original news and private footage has been included. If you are a student who longs to see a spiritual awakening at your school, you must see this video!
“This simple video does a wonderful job of conveying something of God’s heart and power, Everyone we have ever shown this to has received an immediate impartation of faith for revival and the power of prayer.”
— Bob and Rose Weiner, Weiner Ministries Int’l
Running Time: 40 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
