WEBVTT - Seth Leibsohn: Our Dangerous Illiteracy

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<v Speaker 1>This is Seth Leibson for town hall dot Com. Recently,

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<v Speaker 1>a professor of politics at Princeton wrote an op ed

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<v Speaker 1>pointing out how many of his students and students at

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<v Speaker 1>other colleges simply are unfamiliar with the Ten Commandments. He writes, quote,

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<v Speaker 1>they lack religious literacy, and their ignorance of religious ideas

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<v Speaker 1>means they struggle to understand a wide array of Western art, literature,

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<v Speaker 1>and philosophy close quote. They also wouldn't understand a great

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<v Speaker 1>deal of history, never mind political philosophy from Marx Rousseau,

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<v Speaker 1>or recognize lines from Shakespeare to our founding, to Frederick

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<v Speaker 1>Douglas to Lincoln to Martin Luther King Junior. This is

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<v Speaker 1>what the late Richard John Newhouse worried about decades ago

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<v Speaker 1>in America, with an increasingly naked public square bear of

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<v Speaker 1>any religiosity or recognition of religious faith or culture. What

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<v Speaker 1>new House feared is now nearly complete, when students at

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<v Speaker 1>major universities are now illiterate in the cornerstone of Western civilization.

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<v Speaker 1>Many states right now are debating posting the Ten Commandments

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<v Speaker 1>in K twelve classrooms. This wouldn't be a parochial decision.

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<v Speaker 1>It would rather constitute necessary basic and remedial education unset

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<v Speaker 1>leaps