Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth

I have listened to Dr. Piper speak with Pat Campbell on Talk Radio 1170 since I moved back to Oklahoma in 2016. I began looking forward to his enlightening and straightforward perspective. I remember some time ago hearing Dr. Piper tell this story about the student upset over 1 Cor. 13: 4-13 and I was befuddled. This is a verse that has inspired and challenged me to strive for perfection (as in the act or process of perfecting.) It is a verse that has comforted me many times and, yes, shamed me, too. So, for that student who was "triggered" I say Good for you. That's a trigger worth pulling. What a great opportunity the student had. I hope, in the long run, it wasn't a wasted lesson.So it is time for this book. Dr. Piper has done a magnificent service by committing his ideas to print in this book, Not A Daycare, because there are, indeed, devastating consequences of abandoning truth. Frederick Douglass spoke at Hillsdale College over 150 years ago and delivered an address entitled “Popular Error and Unpopular Truth.” It was -- and is -- the type of message that bears repeating; it is iterative, as truths must be. Dr. Piper's book is a collection of iterations necessary for the growth and upbringing of us all. But definitely for students...of all ages.I join the ranks of those joyful for Dr. Piper saying what needs saying. "It's about time someone said it." But wait. Dr. Piper is really only repeating truth. He is reiterating the truth that is always there. It is error, as Douglas said, that changes. Error conforms to the whims and passions of our minds -- of the times. Error becomes a political movement, a social agenda, a popular striving. But only Truth prevails. Only Truth is constant. From any relative perspective, Truth is. And yet, it is so refreshing to hear it spoken -- aloud and in the written word.Not A Daycare sounds like new speech when you read it -- refreshing, revitalizing...rebellious, even. Know why? Because Truth looks at you full-faced, right into your eyes and into your heart. Error speaks to your momentary passions. Error is Antifa. Error is "the newest thing." Error changes constantly. But Truth? Truth always was. It is there to be found. Our biggest problem as humans (and it is oh, so human an error) is we keep moving it aside looking for it.Once you read Not A Daycare, you will want your children to go to Oklahoma Weslyan University. Or, you'll want to go there yourself, or you'll want to work there. It's a beautiful campus (I grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and remember when OKWU was Bartlesville Wesleyan College.) Dr. Piper is doing a bang-up job as President of the University and he did a bang-up job on Not A Day Care. Kudos galore.Oh, but wait. If you do decide to send your kids to OKWU, or if you decide to go there yourself, remember the caveat in the first part of this book:If you’re more interested in playing the “hater” card than you are in confessing your own hate; if you want to arrogantly lecture, rather than humbly learn; if you don’t want to feel guilt in your soul when you are guilty of sin; if you want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land (in Missouri and elsewhere) that will give you exactly what you want, but Oklahoma Wesleyan isn’t one of them.At OKWU, we teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered. We are more interested in you practicing personal forgiveness than political revenge. We want you to model interpersonal reconciliation rather than foment personal conflict. We believe the content of your character is more important than the color of your skin. We don’t believe that you have been victimized every time you feel guilty and we don’t issue “trigger warnings” before altar calls.Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a “safe place,” but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn’t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that’s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that’s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up.Piper, Dr. Everett. Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth (Kindle Locations 149-162). Regnery Publishing. Kindle Edition.

“Our universities are doing a tremendous disservice, both to students and our culture, by letting students think they can bend reality to fit their whims. In the real world, people don’t get paid to be selfish and disruptive, but, rather, to be productive members of society. They are rewarded for cooperation and teamwork, not for dividing people because they have negative feelings about another race or feel offended by those from a different socioeconomic background. Our universities are producing a generation of Americans who are unable to function in the real world. We are quickly becoming a culture of Peter Pans, believing we can avoid reality in a Neverland of our own making. We encouraging students to embrace their selfish fantasies and to expect everyone around them to bend and submit to their narcissistic whims and personal prejudices. We have created a generation that expects to receive affirmation for every feeling they have and every emotion they feel. Objective reality doesn’t matter. Subjective opinions are king.” – pp 15-16These days it seems like every time I open a newspaper, go online or watch cable news I hear about yet another egregious abridgement of free speech on a college campus. Equally disturbing are the stories about how today’s undergraduates are being coddled by the faculty and administration of these institutions. We now have “safe spaces” for the politically correct crowd only and “stress-free” zones that allow students to escape the rigors of studying for exams. Furthermore, we now have highly organized efforts by the Left to stifle anyone they do not agree with from speaking at colleges and universities all across the fruited plain. Dr. Everett Piper is the President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. He has been dealing with these and many other problems and believes that the time has come to put an end to the madness once and for all. He and co-author Bill Blankschaen discuss these very troubling issues in their compelling new book “Not A Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth.” It’s one thing to read about all of this foolishness in dribs and drabs over an extended period of time. It is quite another matter to read an entire book devoted to this nonsense in just a couple of sittings. It makes me want to tear my hair out!Now I must confess that prior to reading “Not A Day Care” I had never heard the term “trigger warning”. It is so difficult to keep up. So now on all too many college campuses whenever any potentially “offensive” topic is about to be discussed it is deemed necessary for the instructor or moderator to give advance notice so those who might be offended can excuse themselves. Is this college or kindergarten? Meanwhile, the authors caution parents and students that orthodox Christian universities seem to be going the way of the dodo bird. Just because a college or university purports to be Christian does not mean that the faculty and administration share your beliefs. As President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Dr. Piper readily admits that he has a litmus-test for new hires. Professors, instructors and administrators must be pro-life and pro-marriage. They must believe that marriage should be controlled by the Church and not by government. And finally, they must attest to the fact that the truth is given by God and not made up by flawed human beings. There is absolutely no doubt about the kind of education a student will get at his institution. You really do need to do your homework before choosing a school. Buyer beware!I found “Not A Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” to be a scholarly and very well-written book. Dr. Everett Piper and Bill Blankschaen present a very powerful and coherent argument in favor of a classic liberal education open to engaging all ideas and observe: “What American higher education lost when it became secularized was a necessary sense of moral boundaries—these are the boundaries of God-given truth that confirm common sense, natural law, and intellectual sanity.” That would certainly seem to be the crux of the matter. Very highly recommended!

AWESOME 🤓

Dr. Piper's book is spot on, I highly recommend it who are tired of the pc culture that has overwhelmed our nations (Can & US) Thank you Dr. Piper for putting into words what so many a thinking!!!!

Raises some interesting points but a bit too much emphasis on religion for my taste.

Must read for students and parents.

Excellent.