Wall Street Journal <\/a>by Anthony Kronman, a Yale professor. Some of you might think he would be an unlikely source to question how identity politics has been embraced on college campuses, but his thoughts are insightful. His main thesis is that the educational process of American universities has\u00a0replaced the pursuit of truth and reason with the dogma of identity politics and this has damaged the pursuit of truth so important to American higher education.<\/p>\nDiversity, he argues, is a powerful word in higher education. But it has become a political agenda about race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, and is not related to the educational ideal of diversity of ideas<\/em>. Universities have become group think organizations.\u00a0\u00a0If you veer from the beliefs and sentiments of a group, you are ostracized. Instead of encouraging diversity of ideas, you are forced into one way to think in order to be in the club\u00a0of your particular group. Kronman puts it this way, “remain in your corner in which you have been assigned.”<\/p>\nThe fall out of this, of course, is that if you do question or have an individual opinion, you are disloyal to the group think. This is nothing more than control. This is an effective strategy for group solidarity in political fights, but an obstacle to academic learning. You must think and hold beliefs to the group to which you are assigned, not think for yourself and question.<\/p>\n
Kronman rightfully calls out the fact that campuses are being politicized. Moreover, this move feeds into a culture of grievances, a characteristic of political life in which truth is not pursued, but blame abounds. A grievance results in a demand and converts the free exchange of ideas into a battleground. Academic differences and disagreements are not questioned with facts or learning, but inflamed by passion and feeling. This is not learning, it is political advocacy.<\/p>\n
Kronman says that truth is not democratic. It is to be pursued and not based on what someone feels and believes. Feelings and beliefs must be reasoned and subject to a standard of objectivity. Instead, we have developed a culture of political loyalty and opinion which pushes students into segregated groups of thinking. The common ground of reason is being lost.<\/p>\n
What is at stake? Kronman says we are losing independent thinking citizens, truthfulness and honesty. And that loss would be significant in the educating of young minds and future leaders. This should give us all pause as we drop those college kids off to places that are supposed to help them pursue truth but have become places of political advocacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Several of my friends are taking their young adults to college this week. And they wonder, will my child be able to pursue truth or be indoctrinated by identity politics so rampant on our university campuses? Recently,\u00a0\u00a0I read one of the best articles on identity politics yet. It was in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[4478,4476,3448,4474,4477,4475],"class_list":["post-10975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-american-education","tag-colleges","tag-higher-education","tag-idenity-politics","tag-political-advocacy","tag-university-campuses"],"yoast_head":"\n
Universities: Pursuing Truth or Political Advocacy?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Universities: Pursuing Truth or Political Advocacy?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Several of my friends are taking their young adults to college this week. And they wonder, will my child be able to pursue truth or be indoctrinated by identity politics so rampant on our university campuses? Recently,\u00a0\u00a0I read one of the best articles on identity politics yet. It was in…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-19T10:00:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-18T11:48:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/08\/bonding-1985863_1920-1024x564.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Universities: Pursuing Truth or Political Advocacy?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Universities: Pursuing Truth or Political Advocacy?","og_description":" Several of my friends are taking their young adults to college this week. And they wonder, will my child be able to pursue truth or be indoctrinated by identity politics so rampant on our university campuses? Recently,\u00a0\u00a0I read one of the best articles on identity politics yet. It was in…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2019-08-19T10:00:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-18T11:48:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/08\/bonding-1985863_1920-1024x564.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html","name":"Universities: Pursuing Truth or Political Advocacy?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/08\/bonding-1985863_1920-1024x564.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-19T10:00:08+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-18T11:48:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/08\/bonding-1985863_1920-1024x564.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/08\/bonding-1985863_1920-1024x564.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/08\/universities-pursuing-truth-political-advocacy.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Universities: Pursuing Truth or Political Advocacy?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10975"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11013,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975\/revisions\/11013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"bonding-1985863_1920\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2019\/08\/bonding-1985863_1920-1024x564.jpg\")
<\/p>\n