Education
The following is a portion of a speech by Michael Goodwin ‘…delivered on April 20, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia, at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar.’
Michael Goodwin
‘I’ve been a journalist for a long time. Long enough to know that it wasn’t always like this. There was a time not so long ago when journalists were trusted and admired. We were generally seen as trying to report the news in a fair and straightforward manner. Today, all that has changed. For that, we can blame the 2016 election or, more accurately, how some news organizations chose to cover it. Among the many firsts, last year’s election gave us the gobsmacking revelation that most of the mainstream media puts both thumbs on the scale—that most of what you read, watch, and listen to is distorted by intentional bias and hostility. I have never seen anything like it. Not even close.
It’s not exactly breaking news that most journalists lean left. I used to do that myself. I grew up at The New York Times, so I’m familiar with the species. For most of the media, bias grew out of the social revolution of the 1960s and ’70s. Fueled by the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, the media jumped on the anti-authority bandwagon writ large. The deal was sealed with Watergate, when journalism was viewed as more trusted than government—and far more exciting and glamorous. Think Robert Redford in All the President’s Men. Ever since, young people became journalists because they wanted to be the next Woodward and Bernstein, find a Deep Throat, and bring down a president. Of course, most of them only wanted to bring down a Republican president. That’s because liberalism is baked into the journalism cake.
During the years I spent teaching at the Columbia University School of Journalism, I often found myself telling my students that the job of the reporter was “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” I’m not even sure where I first heard that line, but it still captures the way most journalists think about what they do. Translate the first part of that compassionate-sounding idea into the daily decisions about what makes news, and it is easy to fall into the habit of thinking that every person afflicted by something is entitled to help. Or, as liberals like to say, “Government is what we do together.” From there, it’s a short drive to the conclusion that every problem has a government solution.
The rest of that journalistic ethos—“afflict the comfortable”—leads to the knee-jerk support of endless taxation. Somebody has to pay for that government intervention the media loves to demand. In the same vein, and for the same reason, the average reporter will support every conceivable regulation as a way to equalize conditions for the poor. He will also give sympathetic coverage to groups like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter.
A New Dimension
I knew all of this about the media mindset going into the 2016 presidential campaign. But I was still shocked at what happened. This was not naïve liberalism run amok. This was a whole new approach to politics. No one in modern times had seen anything like it. As with grief, there were several stages. In the beginning, Donald Trump’s candidacy was treated as an outlandish publicity stunt, as though he wasn’t a serious candidate and should be treated as a circus act. But television executives quickly made a surprising discovery: the more they put Trump on the air, the higher their ratings climbed. Ratings are money. So news shows started devoting hours and hours simply to pointing the cameras at Trump and letting them run.’ https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/2016-election-demise-journalistic-standards/?appeal_code=MK617EM2&utm_source=housefile&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2016_election_demise_journalistic_standards&utm_campaign=imprimis&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8xC9qvSWV5-xz889Lo2pUynHpbDIeJNdI0N-j9LKB2mTI5Caki20vGUTsvAzQhXcBZKR0gt3XOpDvyC_vrvbTlKbiHlw&_hsmi=53242815
Just about the time you thought you had read the dumbest things along comes ‘dumber’. This time ‘dumber’ comes from the University that began as a Christian school of higher education but has devolved into an institution of secular lower education.
‘The office of BGLTQ Student Life at Harvard University has released a new school-
The Harvard BGLTO staff
sponsored guide telling students to “fight transphobia” and “get the facts about gender 
diversity.”
The guide, which was distributed to students on campus, declares that “there are more than two sexes” and that “gender is fluid and changing,” adding that someone’s gender identity “can be affirmed and/or expressed in many ways,” and can even “change from day to day.”
“Sex assigned at birth and gender identity are not necessarily the same,” the flyer begins, elaborating that anatomical characteristics may not always align with “gender identity, 
gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, and/or how one is perceived in daily life.”
It then segues into the claim that “there are more than two sexes,” but this time focuses on biological considerations, citing a post by the Organization Intersex International (OII) asserting that “at least 2% of people” are born with some combination of male and female genitalia, hormones, or chromosomes.
Returning to the theme of “identity,” the flyer tells students that “for many people—cis and trans—gender expression, identity, and self-understanding can change from day to day,” noting that gender can be expressed through one’s “speech, mannerisms, clothing,” and more.
Even “make-up” and “grooming” choices are listed among the forms of gender expression, though more-extreme examples like hormone therapy and surgery are also mentioned.
“Transphobic misinformation is a form of systemic violence,” the document goes on to state. “Fixed binaries and biological essentialism, manifest in gendered language, misgendering someone, and the policing of trans bodies, threaten the lives of trans people.”
The guide cites statistics put out by a group called “Trans Student Educational Resources” in support of the provocative claim.
“Trans people of color are 6x more likely to experience physical violence when interacting with the police than with white cisgender survivors of violence,” the first bullet point states, followed by the claim that “80% of trans students feel unsafe at school because of their gender expression.”
Several Harvard students expressed outrage about the use of school funds for this campaign, but all declined comment on the record due to concerns about potential repercussions from the school.
Harvard evoked national outrage for a similar stunt in December 2015, when it distributed “social justice placemats” intended to help students articulate their progressive views to family members during Christmas break.
Spokespersons for Harvard did not respond to inquiries from Campus Reform concerning the use of school resources for the latest campaign.’ https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9079
One can only pity and pray for these deluded people. The Word of God upon which Harvard was founded is pretty plain when it says ‘But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female’ Mark 10:6.
No wonder the mental health of young people is so fragile. The politicians and teachers are pushing this issue of gender identity so much that if it continues who knows what the future generation of young people will be like!? This gender identity issue is at the forefront of the homosexual’s agenda and it is being pushed right into the classroom via the so-called Safe Schools Program.
At the Safe Schools web site a teacher may read “Making your classroom safe and inclusive for LGBTI students: three top tips!”
Here there are ” three recommended tips for teachers to use in their classrooms to make them more inclusive for same sex attracted, gender diverse and intersex young people.” Are you ready? Here are the 3 tips.
1 Challenge all homophobic or transphobic language and behaviours
For instance “Transphobic language, such as ‘he-she’ and ‘tranny’ should be addressed as inappropriate immediately. Transphobic behaviour can also involve questioning someone’s gender identity. Asking someone if they are a girl or a boy or claiming that they are not a girl or a boy can be deeply distressing for someone who is gender diverse or not conforming to gender stereotypes. Providing an explanation that a person’s gender identity is defined by them and that it isn’t respectful to question someone’s gender identity would be an appropriate response.” Does gender have anything to do with the body’s plumbing? It is hard today sometimes to tell if a person is a boy or girl by the way they dress but that doesn’t mean they are not one or the other!
2 Give positive examples of sexual diversity, gender diversity and physical diversity
For example “A maths problem that poses David and his boyfriend Tuan ordering three pizzas that need to be evenly sliced to feed them and their six friends for example, demonstrates the way some less heteronormative thinking can result in some inclusive examples. Even if a problem like this raises questions from the class about sexuality, students can be told that some boys have boyfriends and that’s okay and then redirected to answer the question in a casual way that normalises the inclusive content.” HETRONORMATIVE THINKING! How many times have you ordered pizza thinking it had anything to with gender identity? These people are certainly thinking outside the box! Way outside!!!
Also “Economics classes could investigate the impact of the Sydney Mardi Gras on the local economy. There are an increasing number of English texts with characters that have diverse sexual and gender identities and there is a vast array of relevant media issues that can be studied. The list goes on and on and is only limited by the teacher’s ingenuity when making connections with national learning standards!”
3 Take the pressure off gender
For example “Getting students to line up in girls and boys lines and dividing project groups along gender lines are just two examples of unnecessary gendering that can cause significant distress to gender diverse students who don’t experience their gender as either male or female or who are not supported to be with the group that aligns with their gender identity.” More of this gender identity non-sense may be read at http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org.au/making-your-classroom-safe-and-inclusive-for-lgbti-students-three-top-tips-1
Hey, I know, I am an old fuddy duddy but all this gender identity issue (non-sense) is simply building a psychiatrist’s patient list! If this questioning of one’s gender continues who knows what a person might be able to identify as! Already there is the “non-binary” identity. The list is gathering so many letters an A4 page will not be able to contain it. Simply put, this whole issue is anti-God. God clearly says in both Testaments that we are either born a male or a female! This is not hate speech but simply the truth. Look at your body’s plumbing and that is what you are no matter what your thoughts may be or what someone is telling you! Going down this road of questioning one’s gender is going to lead to more mental and emotional problems. Is it too late to save these young people who are being exposed to this non-sense? No, there is always hope for there is a God Who said He “…so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
What will your children and grandchildren remember about you? That is a sobering question, isn’t it? The following is what Don Boys’ was taught from his dad. Enjoy!
“Character must be sought, taught, and caught but often it is fought! Whatever character I have, I got it from my father who died at age 66. My dad was a highly principled and successful man with a sixth grade education! At this time of year, it is appropriate that I consider how much I owe him. Much of what I am and what I have accomplished is because of him.
Dad dropped out of school in the sixth grade to help support his family. He was the eldest of five brothers and three sisters. The depression was on and war drums were beating all over Europe and the far east. After several odd jobs, he got a job pumping gas at an ESSO station in Wayne, WV on old U.S. 52. He was an early teen and would be married before he was sixteen. Mom was a year older and got married after graduation. A little over a year after they were married, “Little Don” entered the world.
After a few years, Dad got a job running a cake route for a national cake company and became a troubleshooter for them. Things were tough until I was in the seventh grade. By that time, the war was over and Dad was making more money, even bought a used car with a rumble seat. He ended up buying two gas stations and a drug store and became a highly respected man, not because of his success but because of his character. He tried to pass that on to me.
My most impressive lesson from Dad was that, “A man who will lie will do anything.” Life has proved that truism. People will lie then lie again to cover the first lie then sometimes even kill to not be detected. Plus, as he said, if you don’t lie, you don’t have to remember what you told people about anything.
Dad was savvy about people and business. He bought a gas station on one of Huntington’s major streets and quickly made it a success. He wanted everyone in town to know that Boys’ Esso Station did the best wash job in town and could be trusted with minor repairs. So I had to wash under the wheel wells and other places that no one could see.
I had just become a Christian and refused to work on Sunday morning or evening since I would be in church. He was not thrilled with that but he grudgingly accepted it. He permitted me to drive our service truck around the station driveway as I taught myself to drive. The truck was a 1948 Ford pickup painted white with red fenders. On each door was emblazoned “Boys’ ESSO Station” and within months I was using it for my dates with Mary Anne who was destined to become my wife. Often on Sunday or Monday, people would inform Dad as to where I had been on my Saturday night date! Within a year, I was preaching throughout the WV-KY-OH area and drove the truck to my preaching engagements.
Dad was not successful by accident. It was all planned and I had to follow his plan. I was to approach a car on our driveway with, “Good day, sir, may I fill it up and check your oil?” Dad never had a psychology course but he knew it was better to suggest a fill-up rather than, “What can I do for you?” He also knew that a few cars each day would need oil, maybe even an oil change. Of course, every car got the windshield and back window cleaned.
Dad taught me to work hard and long and watch out for details, something I have treasured during my life. All my life I have never been comfortable when people were working while I was watching. His push to get me to finish a job the best I could has been reflected in every area of my life sometimes to extremes. I remember when I was 40 years old and Mom and Dad came to Indianapolis to spend a few days. In recent years I had annually sold a million dollars per year of whole life insurance (for six years); was now administrator of one of the largest Christian schools in America; was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives; and had just written my first book; yet I remember wondering what Dad would think of my backyard garden! Would he be impressed with the straight lines of vegetables; the firm, red tomatoes, the lack of weeds (that he had taken years to train me to eliminate in our family garden)?
To this day, I still follow procedures that he insisted on me following as a boy: always wash my hands before every meal; comb my hair; stand when a lady enters the room; never sit when speaking with a lady; never talk when someone else is taking; respect all uniforms and I do to this day.
I was to keep my word whatever the cost to me. This came home to me when I was publisher of Christian school curriculum and mailed a promotional piece that was ambiguous, to thousands of Christian schools. It cost me over $2,000 to make it right although I could have pleaded that it had been taken the wrong way. Dad would have insisted that I make it right. I’m glad I did.
One of the most impressive lessons from Dad was his almost fanatical insistence on paying bills on time. It has played out in my life as I pay all bills when they arrive not when they are due.
I think Donald W. Boys was a great man even before he trusted Christ at 60 and after that he became a good man–an outstanding Christian. I still find myself wanting to talk with him at times; but it will have to be some other time!” http://donboys.cstnews.com/character-must-be-sought-taught-and-caught-lessons-from-dad
Where is America heading?
Just about the time you thought you have heard everything then this. Listen very carefully what is said starting about 40 seconds into the video! This man’s credentials can be read at https://universityrelations.wisc.edu/staff_listing/Mitchell_Everett/. Therefore, if you cannot get your free stuff out to the car at your local Walmart store without being hassled by security call Everett Mitchell.
“Everett D. Mitchell is the Director of Community Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also an attorney, pastor, and community leader.”
“At a recent panel discussing “Best Policing Practices,” Mitchell said that police should stop prosecuting individuals who shoplift from Wal-Mart and Target.”
Mitchell said ““I just don’t think they should be prosecuting cases for people who steal from Wal-Mart. I don’t think that. I don’t think that Target, and all them other places – the big boxes that have insurance – they should be using the people that steal from there as justification to start engaging in aggressive police behavior.” http://www.mrctv.org/blog/wisc-director-community-relations-suggests-shoplifting-not-crime
In Western Australia “A Mandurah private school, which receives millions of dollars every year in taxpayer funding, has told the father of a seven-year-old girl she would not have been welcome had it known her parents were gay.”
The father states “I don’t want her to be told that I’d go to hell, not that they ever did, but it is their belief, and I didn’t want her to be told that love is only between a man and a woman.”
The school’s principal “Mr Newhouse, a candidate for Family First in the 2013 Federal election, denied the family was driven from the school, but confirmed children of same-sex parents were not welcome and accused Brendan of concealing his sexuality during the interview process.
”’When the father submitted his application for enrolment, he did so with his ex-wife as part of the process,’ the principal said. in a statement provided to the Mandurah Mail.” http://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/3454887/gay-dad-not-welcome-at-mandurah-christian-school/?cs=288
The article has raised several points but only a few will be discussed here.
Firstly the school should NEVER HAVE accepted taxpayers funds. Accepting these funds will certainly put the school under the government’s guidelines which will most probably include no discrimination on one’s sexual preferences.
Secondly the theological beliefs of the school are now going to be challenged.
Thirdly why did this father bring his ex-wife rather than his “partner”? Or why didn’t this father bring both his ex-wife and partner to the meeting for his daughter’s enrollment? My own personal opinion is that he already knew the position of the school on this subject.
Fourthly it is very evident that it is NEVER an Islamic school that is confronted by the homosexual agenda! Why?
The sodomite crowd have an agenda and that agenda is against Christians, God and the Bible.
“A PUBLIC primary school has come under fire for allowing Muslim students to walk out of assembly while the national anthem is being sung.
Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School principal Cheryl Irving said she was allowing Shi’a children to opt out of singing or listening to the anthem because it was a religious month of mourning and they should not be forced to take part in joyous events.” http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/fury-as-muslim-students-allowed-to-walk-out-of-assembly-during-national-anthem/story-fni0cx12-1227583278175?sv=25b6f46627b223fb59f60260064485b&utm_source=The%20Telegraph&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial
The following is from the school’s web site. “The caring and multicultural school community works to enable all individuals to realise their personal and academic potential in a challenging learning environment which values inquiry, perseverance and reflection. Academic success is highly valued, along with a strong belief that the all-round development of each individual child is vital. We act with integrity and treat one another with respect, learning together as responsible global citizens. For 52 percent of the children, English is not the main language spoken at home. A significant number of children were born in New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan with Dari, Krio, Samoan, Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Malayam, Tamil, Hindhi, Konkani, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Khmer and Oromo as some of the many languages spoken.” http://www.cranbournecarlisleps.vic.edu.au/?page_id=50 NOTE the word “multicultural” and that 52% of the homes from which the students come DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH! I think I would be looking for a new school!
whatyareckon 