In recent weeks, several acts of violence and terrorism should force us to take a closer look — not just at the actions themselves, but at the troubling responses that followed.
Last week in New Orleans, an Army veteran radicalized by the Islamic State group murdered at least 14 people. On the same day, another U.S. military member detonated a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Not long before that, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated, allegedly by an Ivy League graduate.
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These events should force us to confront a deeply uncomfortable truth: How are these attacks being carried out by people who live in America? How are some of our own citizens becoming radicalized to commit such unspeakable acts of terrorism? And why are more and more people in this country justifying these horrors?
When we think about protecting ourselves from terrorism, we rightly focus on securing the border and ports of entry. But we also need to ask whether our schools are becoming training grounds for terrorist sympathizers.
For decades, parents trusted public schools to provide the same quality education they received. Until recently, most were oblivious to the propaganda infiltrating classrooms through both official curricula and teachers who see their job as indoctrination rather than education. Now, thanks to a number of factors, that veil has been lifted for all to see.
The radical Left has infiltrated schools, undermining our education system with ideologies that promote division rather than unity. From critical race theory to diversity, equity, and inclusion to gender theory, these doctrines share a common thread: They denigrate the principles upon which our republic was founded. Children are taught to see America not as a land of opportunity but as a land of oppression.
Taxpayers are shelling out their hard-earned money for, and parents are entrusting their money to, government officials who are actively trying to get their children to hate their own way of life.
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This is not just a political issue — it’s a moral one. Indoctrination has consequences, and we are seeing them unfold in real time. As C.S. Lewis once observed, we create “men without chests” and then expect them to be moral and virtuous.
No republic can survive this arrangement for long. Abraham Lincoln warned about the danger of “mobocracy” in his 1838 Lyceum speech. His solution was simple: Teach patriotism.
“Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap — let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling books, and in almanacs. … Let it become the political religion of the nation.”
This is the root of the problem. In the rush to strip out American exceptionalism, discussions of the Bible, and a patriotic accounting of our history, schools haven’t become neutral — they’ve become tools of ideological indoctrination. There is no such thing as a value-free education. We will either teach the right values or the wrong ones.
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In Oklahoma, we’re leading the charge by getting back to basics. We’re ensuring that our children receive an education that teaches them to love their country, respect its laws, and build the character foundations necessary to be loyal, law-abiding citizens.
This approach works. Any state can follow our lead, and every state should. We cannot allow schools to become incubators of hate and division. The stakes are far too high. Our children and the future of our country are in the balance.
Ryan Walters serves as the elected Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction.
