“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This statement was made by George Santayana in 1952. I entirely agree with him. If we do not learn from the mistakes of the past, we will repeat them.

A perfect biblical illustration to prove my point is that of the Israelites in the Old Testament. Throughout their story in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, God constantly reminds the people to remember their history. These instructions could not be more imperative for the people as they wander the desert and conquer the promised land. Our story of the U.S. over the last 500 years, since we established a congregation, happens to be similar. Throughout our country’s conflicts it is vital that we do not forget the mistakes of our forefathers. We need to remember the decisions that we made right and the choices that we made that proved to be detrimental.

Here at Biola, our liberal arts program has many strong history courses taught by a number of professors that prepare the students for using our history to better the world we live in today. Biola has professors that care about the students and a solid passion for those courses being taught. As a result, graduates are more equipped in understanding our historical mistakes and have a better understanding about what it means to think critically concerning past mishaps. The best way for our country to stay away from falling into this pattern is to put a stronger emphasis on teaching history. It should start in high schools, but colleges especially have a huge role in educating those who will be the masterminds of our country.

I have heard the argument that history is in the past and there is no value in learning something that already happened. I couldn’t disagree more. We need to learn from these mistakes and take evasive measures to prevent future damage in order to not repeat any of our previous mistakes. If other nations don’t agree then let us watch their mistakes, learn from them and apply what we have learned to our own nation. We have a functioning government. But why stop there? There are always things we can improve in our council, it would be foolish to stop refining what we already have.

We have a stronger educational system than most countries. But we can make it stronger by evaluating where things went wrong in the past and by learning from the leading educational nations. The list is endless. There is infinite value in understanding that which has already taken place. And I for one would not like to repeat the mistakes we have already made.