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The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and a deadly school shooting in Minneapolis are raising new concerns about ideology-fueled violence.
Dr. Corey Miller, president and CEO of Ratio Christi, a Christian apologetics and evangelism organization operating primarily on college and university campuses, told Fox News Digital, “What’s happening in the universities impacts what’s happening in the culture.”
“Politics is downstream from culture, culture is downstream from education,” he explained.
Kirk was assassinated during a Turning Point USA event on the campus of Utah Valley University in September. Weeks earlier in August, a gunman killed two children and left 18 others injured during a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Lawmakers and experts have argued over whether ideology played a role in the shootings.
Dr. Corey Miller warns that universities are shaping America’s “assassination culture” through Marxist teachings. (Corey Miller)
Miller, a philosopher and author of “The Progressive Miseducation of America,” argues that America’s culture wars start in the classroom.
Miller argues that universities are breeding grounds for ideological intolerance, laying blame on Marxist ideas.
“There is a postmodern kind of cultural Marxism that is being taught at the universities that feed this hostility of what is an assassination culture. It is a lower view of human life,” he reasoned.
Studies show professors fear open dialogue as cancel culture spreads across campuses. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Miller told Fox News Digital the Marxist worldview taught at many universities turns people against one another by emphasizing social status and identity.
“Any kind of inequality whatsoever is viewed as injustice, and it really ignites a firestorm under students to feel like they’ve got the ability to service in the cause of justice,” Miller said.
Several studies back up Miller’s warning. A survey by Inside Higher Ed found that 87% of professors struggle to discuss politics on campus. Another by Hanover Research found more than 90% believe academic freedom is under threat. A Harvard paper reached a similar conclusion, citing a growing “cancel culture” in higher education.
GEN Z MEN RETURNING TO CHURCH IN SURPRISING NUMBERS IN FAITH RESURGENCE
Miller urges debate, not censorship, saying truth depends on the “competition of ideas.” (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Miller warns that what starts on campus doesn’t stay there, saying the answer is more debate, not censorship.
“The pursuit of truth requires the competition of ideas,” he added.
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Miller says that rejecting God, as philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche warned, ultimately leads to rejecting the value of human life.