New Endeavor - Springfield TJEd

I've been working diligently towards building a community where I live. Check out our new Springfield TJEd website. Here is the blurb for what we are about:

We are a coalition of family mentors working to build a community of people who value freedom. We are not affiliated with any political parties. Our goal is to promote freedom by offering opportunities to receive a Liberal Arts Education at home, in our schools, churches, and the community at large. Join us in educating ourselves, our families, and those around us.

How can we obtain a Liberal Arts Education?

A Liberal Arts Education is obtained through studying the great minds of history. A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century and The Great Conversation (Great Books of the Western World) describe how this can be achieved. The Founding Fathers studied these great minds and understood how precarious freedom would be then and in the future. Their knowledge led to the greatest expansion of free thinking and progress the world has ever seen.

Together, we can read and discuss the books the Founding Fathers discussed and the great books that have been written since their time. We can gain the knowledge they had. Through this we can retain, and even gain back, freedoms that are imperative to this great country of ours.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.  ~ Thomas Paine

Why should I obtain a Liberal Arts Education?

Many people feel that our country is heading in the wrong direction. Our nation is graduating people who cannot read sufficiently. The general feeling of anxiety and worry about our future, and the future of our children, permeates our everyday activities, the media, and our conversations. What better reason to learn about keeping freedom alive?

I don't know where to start.
Start with us! We have many upcoming opportunities to learn and grow together. Periodically we offer speakers on various education topics. Monthly classic book discussions are available for those wishing to meet and learn with other like-minded people.

Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Book Review: "The Republic" by Plato

The first two books of Plato's "The Republic" were very confusing for me. I struggled to follow the logic and figure out what exactly Socrates (the main character and teacher of Plato) is trying to argue. By book 4, I realized I was getting the hang of how the book reads and that I was following some of the logic. Book 5 brought me to a full halt as I was thoroughly disgusted by the whole "shared women and children" philosophy.

In all, I can see now where the Communist Manifesto and the Humanist Manifesto get a lot of their flawed logic from. I am still struggling with the fact that this book is part of the Great Books series. Why? Some of the analogies seem to be very compelling and true, while others are horrifyingly flawed and evil.

I was mislead by the title of the book to think this was an explanation of how a "Republic" government/society should be run, but I realized by the end that this is, in fact, an argument FOR an aristocracy government/society. This is, as Socrates would say, because I am basing my opinions on my prior knowledge of what a "Republic" is in our day and time. A democracy, in Socrates opinion, is one of the worst types of government because it allows too much freedom. Socrates argues that censorship in education, controlled birth populations, and choosing a person's vocation for them (among other ugly practices) brings about the perfect, just and happy society.

Some advice if you decide to read this book. Read your central cannon during the time you read this book. I felt that at times the arguments Socrates makes was in direct attack of my Christian faith! It was the same way I felt when reading the Communist and Humanist Manifestos. Yet, some of the book makes a lot of sense. It takes a lot of effort, at least for me, to pick out the truth and leave behind the false. Maybe that is the purpose of reading such a book.

What I Found to be Truth

• The Allegory of the Cave - The Cave was one of the things that I found truth in, which describes the state of an unlearned person who does not know what they do not know. It is pretty interesting and I do recommend reading this part of the book.

What I Found to be False

• Book 5 - Deals with education and the sharing of women and children. It is completely appalling. It negates the need for women and men to have separate roles in life and wipes out the family completely.
• Book 10 - The Myth of Er - Deals with reincarnation and a lot of the Greek mythology.
• There are many other things, but spread throughout the text and hard to pinpoint.

Constituting America

I support organizations that teach Americans about America. I have read The Constitution of the United States a few times, but I heard about this undertaking by Constituting America to read the Constitution and the Federalist Papers in 90 days. I decided to take this challenge and hope that you all will too!

I'm a little behind in posting this, but I hope you'll do it with us!

Reading Schedule (Article are the Articles of the Constitution):

• Tuesday, April 20 – Read Article I
• Day 1 – Wednesday, April 21 – Blog on Article I; Read Article II
• Day 2 – Thursday, April 22 – Blog on Article II; Read Article III
• Day 3 – Friday, April 23 – Blog on Article III; Read remaining Articles (IV, V, VI, and VII) of the United States Constitution
• Day 4 – Monday, April 26 – Blog on Articles IV, V, VI and VII of the United States Constitution; Read the Amendments 1-10, Amendments 11-27
• Day 5 – Tuesday, April 27 – Blog on the Amendments to the United States Constitution; Read Federalist Paper # 1

The Great Conversation

I am currently reading "The Great Conversation" by Richard Hutchins, which I believe is where Oliver DeMille got many of his ideas for "A Thomas Jefferson Education". It thoroughly explains how our educational system was drastically changed from a liberal arts education to an occupational training and social integration program. It is a very enlightening read and I highly suggest everyone read this short book. See this article in TIME magazine from 1953.

My newest addition to my list of books to read (drum roll please!)...the "Great Books of the Western World". I heard about a reading list for getting the Great Books read in ten years...yea, that is what I thought too! I must be crazy! I found several books to be the same as on the George Wythe University required reading list (which is part of my current compass for learning), so I figure many of them will overlap. I needed some kind of goal to work towards and this list gives me several ideas.

Here is a link to the check-off list for the Great Books of the Western World in ten years. I found the list at The Great Conversation Reading Group, which contains a combination of version 1 and version 2 books, and made it into a checksheet. I also found a similar listing at The Great Ideas Program, but that list only had version 1. There is also a Yahoo Group here.

Here is a link to what is available online for free for the Great Books of the Western World. I found the entire set at my local library to read for free! Of course, I did not bring it all 60 volumes home to read in the next three weeks. LOL!