There’s been a disturbing trend in right-wing politics lately, and that’s attacks on education. Conservatives’ complaints of “liberal bias” in colleges and universities have been around for a while, and they’re generally just as false as their infamous “liberal media” claims. In recent years, however, the anti-education contingent has really grown in strength. Scientists, economists, and other educated people are routinely heckled and smeared by the likes of Fox News, simply because they arm themselves with facts. With the popularity of Fox, talk radio, and the Tea Parties, millions of people believe — and are raising their offspring to believe — that education is something to be avoided.

Seriously…how the hell did this happen?! It’s flagrant stupidity on a level I can barely understand. Why would you ever want to shit on improving one’s mind, and instead reward the opposite, which is idiocy?

Most of the complaints I’ve seen don’t focus on public schools, as for the most part, it’s required by law for children to attend them. The exception is homeschooling, but even though that’s been slightly on the rise, it’s not as widespread as the anti-college sentiment. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense; there’s boatloads of conservative pundits and politicians who have had excellent educations, yet they turn around and bash the very system that taught them.

Another part of these anti-education views is the increasing role of fundamentalist religion in the United States. Just look at how politicians and religious groups have tried to ramrod complete nonsense like intelligent design into taxpayer-funded public school programs! It never fails to amaze and anger me that people want to supplant rational thought and factual information with superstition, and that’s the very antithesis of a proper education. To return to the subject of homeschooling, there’s a lot of parents out there who feel that public schools are “too secular” at best and “evil” at worst. Thus, they homeschool their children according their religious beliefs, and this is another level of insanity. How can you expect a child to function in the real world when you’re consistently decrying the facts at home?

My theory is one shared by many others: conservatives and über-religious folks hate the educational system because it teaches people to think for themselves, and that may lead them to question these same politics and religions. As well it should! You should question and learn about everything, be it right or left, god or godless. The whole point of a good education is that you can make your own well-informed decisions borne out by facts, not hearsay.

Do you need a college education or higher learning experience to succeed in life? Not necessarily. But dismissing education out of hand is idiotic, no matter which side of the political fence you sit on.