I am admittedly a student of liberal arts. While I have spent lifetime teaching mathematics, my true passion lies in continuing to learn about philosophy, literature, history, political science, rhetoric, music, art. I suppose that in the fanciful compartment of my brain I dreamed of myself as both a student and purveyor of the arts. I imagined becoming a writer of such great wisdom and talent that all the world would hang on to every word that I committed to paper. I considered the idea of reporting facts and truths as a journalist. I saw myself sitting on a stool, wrapped in a shawl introducing students to the glorious realm of the written world. Instead fate and a need to earn a living surprisingly turned me into a teacher of mathematics where I soon learned how to convey the lyrical beauty of numbers.
Learning lies at the center of my personal universe. I want to explore the world through the words and experiences of others. I want to learn about ideas that might never have occurred to me. I actively seek to challenge my own thinking on a daily basis in a lifelong adventure of seeking truth. I don’t want a sugarcoated, condensed version of education leaning toward sameness. I prefer the adventure of hearing ideas that force me to question the status quo and travel down pathways that lead to new ways of seeing the world. Such adventures of the mind are glorious to me and it has been my good fortune to encounter teachers, professors and authors who continue to widen my horizons.
I am always suspicious of the motivation of those who would instead urge me to narrow the thoughts of my mind to a singular way of thinking. Little progress has ever been made when people are denied the truth whether with regard to religion or history or politics. Burning and banning ideas simply because we do not agree with them is self limiting and dangerous. After much thought and study I may not agree with everything that I have learned but I understand that I am all the better person for expanding my knowledge and worldview. I am not ready to accept the illusion that it is dangerous to know more about topics that force me to question my own culture or ways of thinking.
I was quite fortunate to encounter some outstanding teachers in my time before college. They introduced me to formalized debate, books discussing taboos, questions about my sacred beliefs. This journey into before unknown territory did not cause me to lose my religion or to turn against my heroes, but rather to see that there are indeed other good ways of doing things than those that I embraced mostly due to the time and place in which I have lived. I opened my eyes and accepted a lifelong willingness to study and consider and embrace the beautiful diversity of the world as it is.
I am a better person today because nobody stifled my thinking or took away my freedom to ask questions. True liberation for me has meant being able to openly learn about and discuss taboos. It meant debating the pros and cons of differing philosophies. Like Thomas Jefferson I have created a personal worldview from many years of studying the works of the greatest minds of history and the present time. My teachers and later my college professors gave me the ability to do research, to think critically, to draw conclusions, to keep my mind open to present my own points of view. It has been a gift without bounds that I treasure more than money and possessions.
In the current political atmosphere I worry when I see governments banning books, attempting to make a particular religion the centerpiece of education. I cringe when free speech is threatened by a demagogue who demands praise rather than honest rebuttal. I worry that honest investigations will be met with threats of revenge rather than being welcomed ways of shining a light on truth. We enter a dark time whenever we restrict learning and ideas and the ability to speak freely about our institutions and our leaders. History is filled with moments when despots kill ideas and often the people who purvey them as well. I don’t want that for myself or my country but I sense that the ability to openly convey personal beliefs is being threatened.
I truly hope that our teachers and professors, journalists and authors, political figures and pundits will not be confined to a generic way of speaking, writing, behaving. We should cherish and protect our freedoms of speech and press against any forces that attempt to silence protests or differing ideas. Demanding uniformity never leads to a more democratic society nor does it help our young to find themselves. The study of ideas without restrictions leads to a more enlightened world. That should always be our goal.
My voice is small in the grand scheme of things. I doubt that my influence will create waves but I do worry that in the current environment someone may one day attempt to silence me. I hope that does not ever come to pass.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 