Freedom from the Fifth Freedom

The American Enterprise: God on the Quad

When I saw the headline for this article, I figured it was another review of Naomi Riley's book of the same name. Then I noticed her name attributed to the piece. So, I read it. In case you are new to StackOfStuff.net, the reason this interests me is because I dealt with Naomi when she visited Bob Jones University in preparation of her manuscript.

The article is an adaptation of her book. Frankly, this condensed version is more clear to its purpose than the book itself. She at least has changed her purpose statement to a question. "Can these young men and women become pioneers, bringing an ethical perspective back into their professions, their schools, their communities, and their government institutions?" Her book states these young people are the "missionary generation" who are doing these things. I guess she has read the reviews!

It is nice that she recognizes that there are thousands of students who do not wish to exercise what Tom Wolfe calls the "fifth freedom". Much of academia would claim that you are not truly educated unless you are set free from the shackles of religion. Riley shows that there are many who do not agree and show it by enrolling at religious (read "restrictive")universities. Call it "Freedom from the Fifth Freedom." I only wish she would have done more research on how such an education places the graduate on an even - if not higher - playing field with their secular school counterparts.

You can read this article to get the play-by-play and if you want the color commentary, read the book.