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LIVE! From Chuck Baldwin
By Chuck Baldwin
The Writer's Shack
George Washington: Who Is That?
This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20080318.html
A recent USA Today report confirmed what most of us already knew:
America has lost touch with its history. The story ran on February 26,
2008 and begins by saying, "Big Brother. McCarthyism. The patience of
Job.
"Don't count on your typical teenager to nod knowingly the next time
you drop a reference to any of these. A study out today finds that
about half of 17-year-olds can't identify the books or historical
events associated with them.
"Twenty-five years after the federal report A Nation At Risk
challenged U.S. public schools to raise the quality of education, the
study finds high schoolers still lack important historical and
cultural underpinnings of 'a complete education.'"
This report only touches the tip of the iceberg. The fact is, the
current generation of Americans is more "historically challenged" than
any previous generation. The public education system has all but
eradicated a healthy knowledge and respect for American history. I
believe the indifference of public education to our great history is
deliberate and intentional.
Not only is true American history not being taught, what is being
taught is mostly a distortion of our history. For example, virtually
every child in America can quickly identify Martin Luther King, Jr.,
as the father of the civil rights movement, but many, if not most,
cannot identify George Washington as the Father of Our Country. Fewer
still know that James Madison was The Father of the U.S. Constitution
or that Sam Adams was the Father of the American Revolution. School
children are indoctrinated in political-correctness, but are taught
nothing of the fundamental principles of liberty upon which America
was founded.
By contrast, when I attended a public elementary school back in the
1960s, I well remember reading copious volumes on America's Founding
Fathers. In fact, I recall that our required reading included
documents such as Washington's Farewell Address. On the whole,
however, today's public school children do not even recognize names
such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, or
Alexander Hamilton.
Beyond that, about the only references that are given about America's
founders are insults, criticisms, and downright slander. Our Founding
Fathers are referred to as racists, homophobes, extremists, etc. Even
the faith of America's founders is mostly impugned in modern public
education. Their deep reverence for God and the Bible is either
totally ignored or, just as often, ridiculed. Hardly ever will a child
learn that our nation's founders were mostly (by a vast margin)
Christians. If there is any reference at all to their faith, they are
simply called "Deists," (a belief-system which can be honestly applied
to only a couple of founders).
Without an understanding of our Christian history and heritage,
however, people cannot possibly comprehend the principles that
galvanized Colonial America and glued this republic together. Without
at least a rudimentary understanding of Natural Law, one cannot
possibly comprehend--much less appreciate--America's Declaration of
Independence, our war for independence, or the Bill of Rights.
Is it any wonder, then, that our country seems to lack both a rudder
and a compass? Is it any wonder that multiculturalism is in the
process of tearing our country apart? If things continue as they are
currently going, these United States of America will soon become a
regionalized, hemispheric, borderless state, without distinction or
recognition. A nation without a history is a nation without a future.
In the meantime, it is not surprising that so many American families
are completely bypassing the public education system and choosing to
homeschool their children. Others are sending their children to
private, Christian, or parochial schools, because public schools have
become little more than massively-expensive incubators of violence,
teen pregnancy, illiteracy, and anti-America propaganda. And that goes
for many of our institutions of higher learning as well.
Add to a public education system that already reeks of failure the
unbelievable situation in California, where the promotion of
homosexuality is part of the curriculum and where homeschool parents
are being threatened with criminal prosecution. It is perfectly
understandable why an organized effort is underway in The Golden State
called California Exodus 2008, which encourages and assists parents in
removing their children from the public schools.
See the Exodus Mandate website at
http://www.exodusmandate.org
This is also the reason why my staff and I worked so hard to put
together The Freedom Documents, a compilation of 50 of our country's
great historical documents in one volume, under one title. The next
printing of The Freedom Documents will be in June, 2008, but we do
have a special early printing of some 30 copies of The Freedom
Documents currently on hand, which may be purchased now. Or, readers
may also reserve their copies of The Freedom Documents for the June
printing now.
To order or reserve Freedom Documents, go here:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/products.html
If we do not have a serious and concerted effort to restore knowledge
and respect for America's history quickly, this once-great land of
liberty will not long survive. I applaud the efforts of many who are
desperately trying to resurrect a hunger and thirst for American
history. Unfortunately, in order to succeed at our task, we are
competing against a heavily financed (by our own tax dollars) public
education monstrosity that seeks to bury our history in the graveyard
of irrelevance. We must not let that happen.
If you still have children at home, make reading and studying American
history a high priority. Beyond that, prayerfully consider moving your
children out of the public school system. Most communities have
networks of homeschooling parents that can answer questions regarding
the homeschool alternative. And, of course, most communities have a
few--or in some cases many--private and/or Christian schools nearby.
If we rely on the public school system, the mainstream media, the
entertainment industry, or even most churches to help teach America's
great history and heritage to our children, they will not learn it.
And what they do learn will be nothing short of anti-America
propaganda. If our children are going to learn American history, they
are going to learn it from their parents and grandparents. So, Mom and
Dad, what are you waiting for? Get busy!
*If you enjoyed this column and want to help me distribute these
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(c) Chuck Baldwin
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