Caleb Pollema – Staff Writer

Photo by Chip Somodervilla,       Getty Images

President Trump recently signed an executive order to increase free speech on college campuses to ensure all voices, whether that’s political stance or other opinions, are equally heard among students.

Yes, you read that right.

I found this mystifying because, last time I checked, this was a constitutional right outlined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

I find it troubling that the president needs to issue an executive order regarding a right that is clearly outlined in this land’s governing document. Unfortunately, this has resulted from a clear concern with this topic on campuses.

This is a topic that needs to be addressed, and quickly.

According to a study reported on by the Washington Post, liberal professors outnumber conservative professors on college campuses by a ratio of 12 to 1. Frankly, this doesn’t look like a stable or likely breeding ground for free speech on college campuses.

I was blessed to have a high school Bible teacher by the name of Mr. Sutherland that had put extensive work into the study of a Christian philosophy of education amidst the postmodern worldview that is ever prevalent in our society. He explained to us how today’s colleges and universities have fallen away from the true university model and embraced the model of a so-called “multiversity.”

The true university is united amongst diversity because, in the midst of its many diverse subjects, the institution is united by a singular Truth that is the study of theology and how it protrudes into every square inch of study.

Unfortunately, today’s schools have accepted the idea of the “multiversity,” and this idea of diversity in diversity. They have accepted a postmodern worldview that has led to the pursuit of solely getting a job and joining the conversation of the world without a true purpose.

Now, what does this have to do with Trump’s executive order?

I think it shows us that, once again, our country is deeply broken and flawed. Most schools and institutions across the nation have been consumed by a culture that prevents the protections of free speech. They have become less concerned with the purpose behind our doings as children of God and more concerned with pursuing a career and molding a student’s mind for the wrong reasons by teaching them from a solely liberal point of view.

This is one of the many reasons that I am thankful for Dordt College and the blessing to pursue my degree here. I am thankful for its unwavering defense of the Gospel despite what the world has thrown at us.

As for the free speech executive order, it’s quite frankly disappointing, not because it was issued, but because it even got to the point where our Commander-and-Chief had to issue such a document.

This executive order reminds us that our world is broken and that we need Jesus more today in our nation than ever because, whether we like it or not, this is the America we now live in.