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Not A Day Care

Dr. Everett Piper, Salem Books, 2017, $24.99

In Not A Day Care, Dr. Everett Piper exposes the sobering reality of life on most college and university campuses, including ivy league schools, where the rejection of biblical moral values and the ousting of true liberal education is all but complete. He begins with an anecdote about an incident at conservative Christian Oklahoma Wesleyan University, where he was president, when a student objected to a sermon on 1 Corinthians 13. This scripture passage is about love, which the author described as "a call to Christian charity." But the student complained that the talk "made him feel uncomfortable for being unloving," and therefore was unfair on the part of the speaker.

Instead of apologizing, as many professors would have done, Dr. Piper posted an open letter on the university website calling out the student's "self absorbed and narcistic behavior." The letter blasted students who, when challenged by a professor or fellow student, quickly label the challenger a "hater, a bigot, an oppressor or a victimizer." The letter garnered tremendous interest beyond the university, and is the linchpin for this amazing book.

Dr. Piper astounds with a number of "snowflake" anecdotes. He relates how, at many institutions of higher learning, "students receive coloring books to help alleviate stress and cope with anxiety." He describes Brown University's creation of a "safe space," complete with "cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-doh, calming music, pillows, blankets, and a video of puppies." At some schools, students can cuddle up together for "campus naps" to drown out the world of real life, where they may be faced with contradicting views and opinions.

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump's election in 2016, college campuses erupted in demonstrations, protests and riots. Teachers canceled classes, postponed exams and helped students form "healing circles" for those traumatized by what they called a "life changing event." Instead of giving these students a reality check, many professors fed the fire by calling Trump's election "an act of terrorism."

The author describes leftist teaching in the classroom and explains how good professors are shut down for introducing students to differing viewpoints, particularly on controversial issues such as transgenderism, gay marriage and global warming. The tragic irony of all this coddling is that while students are protected from any expectation of traditional morality, every sexual excess and deviant lifestyle must be encouraged and celebrated.

So what is the solution? Dr. Piper challenges university leaders and faculty to "grow a spine." He says the arrogance of the radical left has created a vacuum which is being "filled by snowflake insanity, and our culture is paying a high price." He challenges Christian colleges to have a clear mission, to operate with "excellence and integrity within the context of a community where great Christian thinking goes on from a profoundly God-centered perspective... We must not and cannot afford to fail. This is our time."

The Education Reporter Book Review is a project of America’s Future, Inc. To find out more about America’s Future, visit AmericasFuture.net.

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