While the contemporary humanities professors might object to discussing God in a secular university classroom (though I am not suggesting they are correct in objecting), they are remarkably bold in promoting their own agenda. However, this agenda is deeply confused. For example, within their worldview, they are unable to make even the most basic distinction between a man and a woman.  Having exchanged the truth about God for a lie and having blurred the distinction between Creator and creature, they now lose any and all other distinctions such as “man” and “woman” and “human” and “non-human.”

Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada.” A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Hemingway.

Nothing, and then nothing, and then nothing.  In Hemingway’s short story A Clean Well-Lighted Place, we get the contrast of a younger man busy with married life, a middle-aged man beginning to reflect on the meaning of it all, and an old man who just wants light.  The old man is wealthy but drinks alone and recently tried to kill himself.

The narrative descends into meaninglessness.  Why?  Because all is nothing.  All of our efforts come out the same in the end, leaving us contemplating suicide–or assisted suicide.  The efforts of the young turn into the middle-aged melancholy, which turn into the last moments of life grasping onto whatever light is left.  The older waiter lets the younger one go home to his wife while he stays so that the old man can have some more time in a clean, well-lighted place before the end.

Trying to Think Without Essences

What does this have to do with the Darkened Mind at the American University?  Everything.  It is the perfect short story to describe the youthful graduate student/early professor “I will change the world with the same philosophy that broke the world,” the middle-aged “at least I get a paycheck and am surrounded by people who all think the way I do,” and the final stage of despair as the professor retires and faces final meaninglessness.  These are the kinds of literary works we can read to learn about the human condition and become wise rather than the fool who rejects God and thinks they nevertheless will find meaning in life.

In the previous installment of The Darkened Mind series, I examined the anatomy of the darkened mind—a mind that rejects fundamental distinctions in reality, such as the distinction between Creator and creature. This confusion is not merely an innocent philosophical error made by someone grappling with a complex subject. Rather, it reflects a willful rejection of God’s commands and the consequences tied to them (“the day you eat of it you will surely die” and “the wages of sin is death”). This willful sin arises out of unbelief and the failure to know God.  God has been exchanged for a lie.  Such a person not only rejects God but also embraces a life of moral corruption (sin), actively suppressing the truths of God by ensuring his commands are not taught.

Can we truly say this applies to the atheist? After all, aren’t there moral atheists? This question can be approached either sociologically or logically. A sociologist might indeed observe that some atheists are more honest or virtuous than their theistic neighbors. However, our inquiry here is not sociological but logical. The question is whether the atheist has any rational foundation for morality after rejecting God and His warning: “The day you eat of it, you will surely die.”  Without anything transcendent, having rejected the nature of things, and given over only to the flow of experience, there can be no universal moral laws on which to build a life.

The Darkened Minds at the American University have provided a telling example here. Gone are the days of the mythical philosophical materialist who remained faithful to his wife of 40 years and lived a life of virtue. During what I term the Marxist Era of the American University (1960–2020), these minds have actively championed sexual licentiousness and increasingly depraved and immoral acts. In fact, there appears to be no boundary to what such professors will celebrate—so long as it is consensual.  We as a culture have come to shrug our shoulders at the sexual licentiousness of our universities and say, “That’s just how they are,” but we shouldn’t.  Education is supposed to make a person wise and virtuous, not a foolish libertine.

The Fool Says in His Heart There is No God: The loss of all distinctions

This demonstrates that the Darkened Minds we encounter today are affirming the truth of the Psalmist’s words. In Psalm 14, we are told that it is the fool who declares in his heart, “There is no God.” The Psalmist goes on to describe this person as entirely corrupt—one who neither seeks God nor understands nor does what is right. The evidence of this corruption lies in their inability to grasp basic distinctions that, in earlier generations, even a child could understand.

If you recall kindergarten, one of the most socially important things to figure out was who were the boys and who were the girls. This wasn’t exactly rocket science—each group was convinced the other had cooties! Yet, the professor with a Darkened Mind, by rejecting the clear distinction between Creator and creature, also can’t seem to keep up with the clarity of a kindergartener. It’s almost as if the kindergartners are thinking at light speed compared to them. Did these intellectuals skip kindergarten? No—but they certainly seem to harbor some deep resentment toward the clear thinking that took place there.

While the contemporary humanities professors might object to discussing God in a secular university classroom (though I am not suggesting they are correct in objecting), they are remarkably bold in promoting their own agenda. However, this agenda is deeply confused.

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