“Left to themselves, the students will establish their own informal dress code. This is another inescapable concept. It is not whether there will be cultural enforcement of dress standards, but which standards will be applied and by whom” (The Case for Classical Christian Education, p. 188).
Our Cultural Mechanics
“Today’s relativists could not have gotten away with their double standards in a culture that prized truth. But a gradual, sustained assault on truth has been carried out through the soft underbelly of Western culture: the arts. In film, music, and television, the themes of sensual pleasure and individual choice have drowned out the tried-and-true …
Sartorial Teleology
“But the next issue is also important for a school to recognize. Some clothes are more suitable than others. Clothes are tailored for the occasion. There is no reason for a man to rent a tux in order to change the oil in his car. A tux is a better garment than a mechanic’s overalls, …
Art That Is Dangerous to Diabetics
“But among evangelicals, morality and spirituality are usually the primary determinants of the quality and acceptability of art, at the expense of aesthetic and cultural considerations. Pious themes, jejune lyrics, sweet-sounding music, didactic dialogue and Pollyannaish endings characterize much evangelical music, movies, fiction and television programming” (William Romanowski, Pop Culture Wars, p. 327. Amen. But …
Oh Great
“According to a recent report, overseas film earnings are growing at twice the annual rate of the domestic market; Hollywood accounts for about half the movie market in Japan and two-thirds of all movie tickets sold in Germany, France and Italy. Generally about 70 percent of films shown around the world are U.S. productions” (William …
Every Collar Obedient
“The Enlightenment tradition insists on the primacy of ‘timeless truths’ and says that as long as a student gets the answer right, nailing down that timeless truth, it does not matter if the answer came out of a disheveled, greasy head. It does not matter if the student mumbling the timeless truth is slouching around …
And Where Would We Be Without Music Videos?
“The ‘Fab Four’ first captured the serious attention of critics and intellectuals with their cinematic debut in A Hard Day’s Night (1964), considered a precursor of today’s music videos” (William Romanowski, Pop Culture Wars, p. 218).
What Do You Mean, “Others”?
“What might be called the ‘casual imperative’ has established itself in the American mind as the ultimate desideratum. Whatever else you do in the morning when you dress, make sure you make yourself comfortable. Of course, we should dress for comfort, but the biblical view is that we should also dress for the comfort of …
Black and Tan
“Rock was a derivative of two other popular music traditions in the rural South that existed alongside the Anglo-American one: the country or ‘hillbilly’ music of rural southern whites (country blues and gospel, honky-tonk and bluegrass) and the African-American tradition (blues, rhythm and blues, jazz and gospel music).” (William Romanowski, Pop Culture Wars, p. 209).
A School With AIDS
“Lack of discipline will kill your school — a school without discipline has no way to fight off ‘infections.’ If a school is unwilling or unable to fire administrators or teachers, expel or suspend students, the school will take on the mission desire by those the school refuses to let go. The troublemakers can determine, …