Christian Colleges Under Attack
James Harvey September/October 2001
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Most of our founders said in one way or another that morality is essential to democracy, and that religion is essential to morality. America is fast becoming a test of that proposition. Just look at some of the nations around the world today that are trying to establish democracy on moral quicksand, to see how right our founding fathers were. Without a moral foundation even a democracy inevitably succumbs to corruption, greed, and evil.
A poll in the November 22, 1999, issue of U.S. News & World Report revealed that 84 percent of current college students believe they need to cheat to get ahead in the world today. Another article in the same issue reported on a serious outbreak of insider trading among young brokers on Wall Street. Can America flourish if its leaders are uniformly dishonest? Can democracy succeed without a strong moral foundation?
When the Ivan Boesky and Michael Milliken scandals erupted some years ago, Harvard was aghast to find many of the people involved were its graduates. It sent the administration scurrying to create some new courses in ethics in an effort to stem the tide of corruption. But can a secular college actually develop character in its students? It is doubtful that courses in ethics will make much difference, because the problem isn