The truism that “all politics are local” is under challenge. The new mantra is that “all politics are national”.

As a retired high school social studies instructor who taught at Sumner High School for 31 years, an Nov. 18 editorial in the Tacoma News Tribune, “When Teachers Start Self-Censoring,” caught my attention.

“According to EdChoice and Morning Consult’s most recent educator survey, which polled teachers at the end of September, about 40% of America’s teachers say they’ve had to change what they teach or discuss in class because of political pressure…. Fifty-six percent said they’ve decided on their own to avoid or limit discussion of political or social topics in class, a 13-point jump since spring.”

The pressure about what to teach for public schools comes from three sources: administrators (35%), the federal government (33%) and state governments (31%). Private school teachers also feel the pressure, but parents (41%) make up the largest percentage. Parental pressure is 28% in public schools.

The problem with these statistics is that they show the influence of national politics upon what is taught. Politics and religion have become a barrier to critical thinking and genuine inquiry.

As a college-age student, I joined a religious cult and attended its college. After graduation I got my Master’s in history at Pepperdine University. That education caused me to reconsider the narrowness of the cult’s beliefs and teachings. When I encountered the diversity of thought regarding the causes of the American Civil War, I came to realize that there were more than two perspectives — right and wrong, good or evil.

There are at least fifteen different scholarly arguments for what started that bloody war that killed around 750,000 Americans. That knowledge and the varying perspectives helped me to leave the cult. The same process should be occurring in public and private schools too, at both the high school and college levels. Self-censorship is not a healthy approach to education. Black-and-white thinking can be seen all around us.

We are living in the age of a political presidential cult where questioning the “dear leader” could lead to losing your job.

You may have noticed that I rarely mention our president’s name. I once had an experience where our former attorney general and now governor used computer tracking to discover where his critics were. I got a nasty threatening letter from him criticizing me for being sloppy and irresponsible when I strongly opposed him in an editorial column for suing tri-Cities florist Barronelle Stutzman when she refused on religious grounds to arrange flowers for a gay couple’s wedding back in 2013.

I now teach adult education classes at Green River College and to groups of mainly retired adults. What I have found teaching adults is that they are hungry to learn the truth from independent sources rather than what the legacy media is reporting and ignoring out of fear of losing their FCC licenses or their ability to merge corporations.

I have true academic freedom in my retired role. I also write for this newspaper. Even then, due to attacks on “fake news” sources and the potential for lawsuits even at this low level, discretion is the better part of valor.

For a time, the mention of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s name was to risk being fired. This happened to late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Media people took note and became more cautious.

I feel for public school teachers who teach about controversial topics in our current time. Self-censorship is a problem we all deal with. Think of your coming family get togethers where politics can still divide families, and certain topics are avoided to keep peace in the family.

The phrase, “all politics are local” has now become “all politics are national.” The world has been turned upside down.