Restoring Education Central to American Greatness http://davidanorris.posterous.com David A. Norris Blog posterous.com Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:40:00 -0700 Part I: Government/Chapter 2, P 37, 38 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-37-38 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-37-38

The Sovereignty Of Man

Under the Impartial God Of Creation Over Government

 

The following is a listing of the principal lessons to be learned from biblical guidelines about the several levels of government.

 

1.  God instituted civil government.

 

"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?  Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:  for he is the minister of God to thee for good.  But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain:  for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Rom. 13:3-4).

 

2.  Omnipotent God is sovereign--His authority is over all.

 

In the history recorded in 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites rejected citizenship responsibilities outlined in scripture and asked to be like other nations and have a king.  God gave them a king--an arrangement that was second best to His own authority alone, but better than anarchy.

 

"But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Ps. 75:7).  "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase" (Dan. 4:37).

 

3.  Government servants are accountable to God.

 

"For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing" (Rom. 13:6).

 

4.  As citizens, we have a moral responsibility to participate and improve civil government.

 

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God:  the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?  Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:  for he is the minister of God to thee for good.  But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain:  for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Rom. 13:1-4).

 

 

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Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:46:47 -0700 Part I: Government/Chapter 2, P 36, 37 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-36-37 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-36-37

 

The Sovereignty Of Man

Under the Impartial God Of Creation Over Government

 

 

In 1772, Samuel Adams stated: "The right to freedom being a gift from God Almighty . . . the rights of Christians may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutions of the great Law Giver which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament."  Disrespect for Authority: Being under authority is not being under control.  It is being under God's protection.  The help provided by God-ordained authorities can be illustrated by the protective wall or "breakwater" that shields boats in a harbor from devastation.  Getting a boat into the harbor may be inconvenient, but the barrier tames the waves and keeps boats safe.  Similarly husbands, parents, employers, and police may be an inconvenience at times, but they play an important role in our progress.  God's benevolent instruction is evident at several levels of responsibility and authority for government (Romans 13:1-3).

 

The first level of government is individual self-government.  Lasting success comes by giving attention to God's standards, the laws of creation's nature that were the norm before man's rebellion opened the door for Satan's influence.  Big government, the abundance of police, prisons, and hospitals are the consequences of sinful life practices.  When man restrains his own selfish impulses and desires, the tyranny and exploitation of big government can be avoided.

 

The second level of government is the family.  From the beginning, it has been the holy commitment of one man and one woman in marriage that has defeated the will of Satan in his war against civilization.  God instituted marriage to facilitate companionship and the nurturing of children in the Truth.  The husband cares for his wife in a loving way, and she respects him (Eph. 5:22-33).  Parents are responsible for the education of their children.  By learning to honor and obey their parents, children also learn to honor the lordship of God and become responsible citizens (Eph. 6:1,4; Prov. 15:5).  The Bible makes it clear that property ownership and wealth come through labor, while laziness produces poverty (Prov. 10:4-5). Recognition of this aspect of the laws of creation's nature benefits families (1 Tim. 5:8; Prov. 31:13-27).

 

The third level of government is the voluntary union of people belonging to a church, churches of different denominations to evangelize and edify citizens through Biblical principles for faith and community (1 Tim. 5:17) and discipline (Matt. 18:16-19).  Churches also have the Bible mandate to be societal caregivers (1 John 3:17).  Families and churches are united in the promotion of citizen self-reliance and limited civil governments.

 

The fourth level of government is civil government on local, regional and national levels.  Its prime function is to protect the citizens from criminals inside and outside government and from external aggression (Rom. 13:1-4; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).

 

 

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Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:35:16 -0700 Part I: Government/Chapter 2, P 35, 36 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-35-36-31136 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-governmentchapter-2-p-35-36-31136

The Sovereignty Of Man

Under the Impartial God Of Creation Over Government

 

 

In this chapter we can see the rich orthodoxy that brought the universal principles of the Declaration to the American mind.  That the nation was founded upon the principles of God's Word is well documented by the founding compacts, covenants and constitutions.

 

In 1620, the Pilgrims drafted our nation's first self-governing document, the Mayflower Compact: "We . . . having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, do . . . solemnly and mutually in ye presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politic . . .. And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience."

http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/mayflower_compact_text.htm

 

The King of England left the colonists alone for 150 years.  Without the albatross of paternalistic authoritarianism, the colonists experienced the benefits of personal responsibility and hard work.  People would come together with their pastor or a prominent student of the Bible as moderator and search the Scriptures for principles of government that would uphold civility in their community.

 

In 1630, the famous sermon by John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, reflected the great sense of purpose that has prevailed since the arrival of the Pilgrims.  Later quoted repeatedly by Ronald Reagan, Winthrop declared: "We are to be 'a City upon a hill,' a beacon of light for the world to follow."  He continued, "The eyes of all people are upon us.  So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world."*

 

In 1638, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut stated: "[We] enter into a combination and confederation together to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ which we now profess."

http://www.constitution.org/bcp/fo_1639.htm

 

*Robert C. Winthrop, "A Model of Christian Charity," discourse written aboard the Arbella during the voyage to Massachusetts, 1630, In Life and Letters of John Winthrop, 1867, 19.

 

 

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Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:56:37 -0700 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-2233 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-2233

Conclusion (Part I)

 

Immortal Principles Central To Liberty and American Greatness

 

 

"Without learning, men are incapable of knowing their rights, and where learning is confined to a few people, liberty can be neither equal nor universal" (Dr. Benjamin Rush, Essay, 1786).

 

Our families and nation are at risk.  Where moral law ends, tyranny begins.  Some sixty years ago, public schools were still circulating the A Golden Treasury From The BIBLE pamphlet full of wholesome character-building Bible verses.  The God-rejecting secular worldview imposed upon education by control of just a few militant teachers, protected by union contract negotiators, has undoubtedly put our nation "conceived in liberty" to the ultimate test.

 

The tactics of a small group of tenured teachers have forcibly elevated sexual promiscuity, infanticide and other practices devastating to students and society to the status of education legitimacy.  Because of the tactics of secular militants, good teachers, students and even the taxpayers who pay the teachers' salaries, are afraid to object.  These few radicals have the power to totally disrupt the education process.  School administrators know this.  Teacher tenure laws, approved by current state laws, force administrators to leave bad teachers in control of the God-rejecting anti-Christian education climate.

 

This is not a strictly religious matter.  The consequences of rejecting the life-enhancing Laws of Nature are easily seen in daily experience.  Even though some parents do not give creation's God credit for life-enhancing standards, they take their children out of government public schools to avoid exposing them to evil suggestiveness.

 

What do we mean by LIBERTY?  We do not need new principles to solve our problems.  We need America; meaning, we need to advance again and apply the civic values of the American Judeo-Christian heritage.  The Preamble (purpose) for the Constitution reads to "… secure the BLESSINGS of LIBERTY to ourselves and our posterity…"  If we do not succeed in alerting our young people, our friends and others, to what the enemies of American liberty are accomplishing, there will no longer be the kind of liberty that inspires the "BLESSINGS of LIBERTY for our posterity [descendants]."  The purpose of the Constitution includes "… establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare…" (meaning common needs that do not conflict with or hamper the development of the work ethic and citizen self-reliance).  If we do not succeed in alerting others, ill-advised politicians will, at the expense of taxpayers, justify benefits for voters from birth to grave.

 

 

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Thu, 14 Mar 2013 08:59:00 -0700 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-48165 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-48165

American Principle Twelve 

 

Vital to the American Work Ethic,

Property Ownership Must Be Secure

 

"… are entitled to life, liberty and property…"

Declaration, First Continental Congress, 1774

 

"All men… are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

"That all men… have certain inherent rights… namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property" (Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776).

 

"In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will [to work and be responsible]" (The Federalist No. 79, by Alexander Hamilton).

 

Karl Marx (1818-1883) helped turn Soviet Russia into a socialist state.  It collapsed after the death of hundreds of millions of people, some by starvation, others murdered by the government.  According to Marx, capitalism would never work because of the inequities between the rich and poor.  He achieved worldwide support of secular intellectuals for taxing the people and redistributing "each according to his ability, to each according to need" still common today.  The truth is that capitalism, man's ownership of the fruits of his labor, helps both the rich and poor get richer.  The promise of ownership encourages men to overcome the pain of labor and take personal responsibility.

 

Socialism was tried in the Plymouth Colony here in America following extensive food shortages.  Instead of the "rule of man," Governor Bradford turned to the Bible for wisdom and then announced that settlers would have a plot of land, and thereafter be responsible for and entitled to the fruits of their own labor (April, 1623).  Entire families went to work, and hard times changed to a plentiful supply of food.*

*http://www.sail1620.org/history/articles/122-plymouth-jamestown.html

 

"That is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where arbitrary restrictions, exemptions, and monopolies deny to part of its citizens that free use of their faculties, and free choice of their occupations, which not only constitute their property in the general sense of the word; but are the means of acquiring property…" (Essay by James Madison, published in the National Gazette, March 29, 1792).

 

Linking the work ethic to the right of property ownership was a monumental break from the world's political history.  The incentive of property ownership is the engine that makes an economy flourish.  It is the increase in value of the products supplied by the worker that leads the buyer to spend his money to own the product.

 

 

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Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:42:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-50006 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-50006

American Principle Eleven (Part I)

 

Government and Union Monopolies Involving Education

Or Religion Are Prohibited--For Liberty's Sake


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a 'redress of grievances.'"

First Amendment, Constitution of the United States

 

 

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were concerned about the use of government power by what Thomas Jefferson called "Tyrants of the Mind."  Instead of government being the servant of the people, tyrants override the people's authority and gradually take control of what schools teach.  The family and the teaching of American history become early victims.  Students are dumbed down.  Secular open-minded morality and class envy divide families and communities.  Fellow travelers in the judiciary reject the historical application of First Amendment law.  In later chapters we document the inroads of harmful law.

 

Government-sanctioned teacher tenure guarantees are a violation of the First Amendment.  Privileged government teachers lead toward the same devastating consequences as the government-sanctioned church imposed on medieval Europe.  Experience with tyrants of the mind is the reason for the First Amendment.

 

Tyrants of the mind are bullies.  The creation of fear enables the few to overpower school administrators hired by the people to run schools in the public interest.  The weapons used include bad-mouthing and the ruin of the reputations of good administrators and teachers who dare to challenge leftist "politically correct" militants.

 

Editors of the book Speeches That Changed the World started with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and Christ's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).  These editors recognized the good that believers have contributed to society and the superior quality of the Bible as literature.  Speeches That Changed the World included speeches by two Darwinian evolutionists, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.  Their leadership did influence the world.  The murder of millions of innocent people demonstrates the depths to which the open-mindedness of Darwin's God-rejecting Origin of the Species dogma can take men.

 

As always happens, those who reject the envelope of the life-enhancing "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" eventually self-destruct.  The problem now in America is the damage being done to the minds of millions of our youth who will soon be leaders.

 

"Educators have recognized the processes by which thought and behavioral patterns acquired in youth become the basis for adult motivation.  In modern times thoughtful observers have become progressively aware that moral, social, and political concepts implanted during the time of mental immaturity not only participate in the conduct of later life, but, once acquired, such concepts become dominant and often unalterable in the adult" (Grand Jury study of problems in higher education for the Eleventh Judicial District of Iowa, chaired by David A. Norris).

 

"The first national study of four common sexually transmitted diseases among girls and young women has found that one in four [is] infected with at least one of the diseases, U.S. health officials reported Tuesday" (Lawrence K. Altman, New York Times, March 11, 2008).  One in four U.S. teenage girls have STDs.  The diseases, which are infections caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites, can produce acute symptoms… and potentially fatal pregnancy… and cervical cancer.  The two most common sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, among all the participants tested were HPB at 18 percent, and chlamydia at 4 percent, according to the analysis portion of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

 

An honest evolutionist: "Evolution is unproved and unprovable.  We believe it only because the only alternative is special creation which is unthinkable" (Sir Arthur Keith, citation in Wallie A. Criswell's Did Man Just Happen?, Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 1973).

 

Education worthy of the name will emphasize that the president, congress and the judiciary are servants of, by and for the people who are the sovereigns under creation's God.

 

 

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Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:16:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-99555 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-99555

American Principle Seven (Part I)

 

The Moral Duties Of Civility Are Also a Predicate

For Interpreting Constitutional Meaning

 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident ..."

Declaration of Independence

 

"Tis substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.  Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with Indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?"

George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

 

 

"Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"* morality fits into the behavioral envelope that supports life, truthfulness and the Golden Rule, meaning treating others in ways that one would like to be treated and would like loved ones to be treated.  Immorality includes those traits called sin that fall outside the envelope of life.

 

Together, morality and work ethic is the engine that liberates mankind from the tyranny of aggressive government employees.  Liberty from intrusive government makes it possible for the people to market their skills to own property essential for maintaining independence and happiness.

 

"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites.  Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere… men of intemperate minds cannot be free.  Their passions forget their fetters" (Edmund Burke, British supporter of the American Revolution, November 3, 1774, speech to the electors of Bristol, England, quoted by HIllsdale College, Imprimis, Vol. 20, No. 9).

 

The atheistic-secular philosophy for law identifies with what Solon of Athens described as "government by incalculable and changeable decrees" (Will and Ariel Durant, The Story of Civilization, Vol. II, The Life of Greece, Simon and Schuster, 1939, 118).  Secularism is an evil repudiation of the solid basis for prosperity and citizen self-government intended by Constitutional law.

 

Government potential for power as well as the lucrative public treasury attract politicians who are intent on self-aggrandizement and conquest.  Expressed by President Ronald Reagan: "Government is not the solution to our problems, it is the problem" (Inaugural Address, 1981).  "A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.  The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes.  To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them" (George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796).

 

*The phrase "Nature's God" used in the Declaration of Independence did not originate with Americans.  The Laws of Nature's God include the Biblical standards of morality.  When the bond between God and man was broken in the Garden of Eden, the forces of evil that seek to defy creation's nature were unleashed.  "The law of nature was a common term used by historic legal writers such as Grotius, Burlamaqui, Blackstone and others.  The law of nature's God, a lesser used term, was more commonly called the divine law, or the revealed law" (Lonang Historical Reference Works).

http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/index.html

 

 

 

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Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:07:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-21804 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-21804

American Principle Six (Part III)

 

The Written Constitution Established

By Americans Is a Tool For Governing

 

Governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

Constitutional law, before it was amended, protected the public treasury from being raided by government employees.  It is important that we the people know and support the retention of honorable legislators, administrators and judges.  Honorable officials do not dole out money flippantly, promote character-destructive legislation, and provide administrative favors or prejudicial judgments to privilege-seeking voters.  This means no "quid pro quo."

 

Secondly, the basis for the Bill of Rights amendment details how the tool, albeit the people's treasury, must NOT be used to interfere with a citizen's freedom to learn, think, worship and work independently.  This principle from the Bible, declaring that people have the right to view competing sources of knowledge and are free to choose, speaks to the tremendous value of the American Judeo-Christian heritage.  This never before used basis for a nation's laws came from the Judeo-Christian beliefs of our Founders.

 

Called natural law, the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" from the Declaration of Independence, reflect man's inherent ability to distinguish between right and wrong.  These beliefs are also supported by man's conscience.  Paul rejoices that "… the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world…" (2 Corinthians 1:12).

 

The original laws adopted by Americans uphold life and equal justice.  They include the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman as well as the Ten Commandments.  When natural law was adopted by the judiciary and legislators, it became known as the Common Law basis for the rule of law.  Clearly superior to the vacillating rule of man, American law is traceable from the Bible to the Magna Carta (citizen sovereignty under God) to the Declaration of Independence and the citizens' Bill of Rights.

 

Common Law, resting on God-honoring values, caused immigrants by countless millions to flee authoritarian rule and come to America.  It is the conspicuous benefits flowing out from the impartial "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" that unified our immigrant nation.  That bond is reflected in the USA Today/Gallup Poll, May, 2010.  Ninety-two percent of Americans believe in God and only five percent say they oppose the National Day of Prayer.

 

The Commission on Excellence in Education remains the premier American study of problems in public education.  It states:  "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war."  The report laments "the de-construct of the moral and spiritual strengths which knit together the very fabric of our society" (A Nation at Risk, the National Commission on Excellence in Education, April 26, 1983).

 

The meaning of diversity, applauded by American immigrant society, has now been perverted by laws, requiring citizens and public schools to assent publicly to sodomy, infanticide and atheistic education exclusivity, all of which are outside the envelope of life.

 

Americans had not sought to amend the Constitution, yet Langdell (dean of Harvard Law School, 1870-95) determined that the original intent and meaning for our written Constitution be scrapped.  As long as the people's lawmakers in Congress willingly sit idly by, liberal judges will continue to modify or sanction laws that are outside the envelope of life and then endorse their own opinions.  Secular militants who discount the Common Law moral fabric that powered American greatness speaks to the evil consequences of secularism which lead men and nations to self destruct.


 

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Fri, 01 Feb 2013 07:16:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-57382 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-57382

American Principle Four (Part II)

 

All Men Are Equal

In the Sight Of God and the Law

 

"that all men are created equal ..."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

The Bible's Priesthood of Believers doctrine points to the direct God-to-man relationship that has liberated countless millions of people from exploitation by truth trashers.  People cherish a system that defines the truth as a gift from God, unchanging and always applicable.  They appreciate a system that respects the right to enjoy the fruit of one's labor and freedom to exchange enhanced products for prosperity.  Recognized anew during the Great Reformation (1500-1570), it is part of the American Judeo-Christian heritage.  The God-to-man relationship is a protective covenant.  People may choose to avoid deception imposed by authoritarians by going directly to God's Word and, when interpreted as such, learn the TRUTH.  Protected by the religious liberty amendment, until twisted by judges, the First Amendment freed the people from the tyranny of ideological truth trashers.

 

When adopted both religiously and educationally, Priesthood of Believers diminished the ability of truth and knowledge trashers and generated the greatest expanse of human ingenuity and prosperity in history.

 

The Judeo-Christian faith is not a religion that is forcefully imposed on the people.  Acceptance is a personal choice.  Paralleling Biblical morality, the Creator-based Declaration of Independence serves as America's impartial Civic Religion for public life.  Immigrants come to America by the millions because they can be free from the inequality of authoritarian rule.  For some readers, this may seem beside the point, but the Judeo-Christian Bible, though thousands of years old, has been the most popular book throughout history, by far.  Pilgrim's Progress, a book composed of Christian allegory by John Bunyan, was published in February, 1678.  Written almost 350 years ago, Pilgrim's Progress is thought to be second only to the Bible in existent numbers today.

 

Only when public alarm leads to changes in the judicial branch, and the meaning of the First Amendment again becomes law, can education become free from the enemies of religious liberty and citizen self-government.  This would put an end to the use of government-powered lawsuits by men intent on defiling society.  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press …" (from the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America).

 

 

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Wed, 30 Jan 2013 07:24:00 -0800 Part I: Government http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-94240 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/part-i-government-94240

American Principle Four (Part I)

 

All Men Are Equal

In the Sight Of God and the Law

 

"that all men are created equal ..."

Declaration of Independence

 

 

All persons, regardless of their religious, racial, and cultural backgrounds, have human rights that are equal in value.  These rights, which include the right to life, start with the inception of life and the God-given right to equal treatment by the civil and criminal justice systems.

 

"The multitude I am speaking of is the body of people--no contemptible multitude--for whose sake government is instituted; or rather, who have themselves erected it, solely for their own good--to whom even kings and all in subordination to them, are strictly speaking, servants and not masters" (Samuel Adams, essay in the Boston Gazette, 1771).

 

The Creator-based Declaration of Independence is a monumental reversal of the idea that leaders as a class have divine rights, are superior to and entitled to rule others.  The constitutional Fathers believed the Bible, which is a history book, and they recognized how respect for the values of Creation's God supported the work ethic and self-government.  The Founders were students of historic experiments in governments that led to tyranny.  Although they themselves were leaders, they wisely concluded that the people are more trustworthy and discerning in matters of government than are leaders.  Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights" (Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Richard Price, January 8, 1789).

 

As has been the case throughout history, determined enemies of citizen self-government are now fighting day and night to achieve unequal and superior standing by law for control over education.  Removing respect for Creation's God from curriculum and de-emphasizing the fact that immoral practices lead to harmful consequences are not education.  The consequence of taking Creation's God out of education is apparent from the huge increase in births by unwed teenage girls, infectious diseases and violent crime (even in homes and on school campuses).  Also, S.A.T. scores have declined and the God-honoring family values upon which American greatness was achieved are brought into question, Chapters 7-10.  Pointed instruction for reliance upon the divine nature and breadth of God-given human equality would also reverse support for baby genocide and the appetite for racial prejudice.


 

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Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:25:00 -0800 Introduction VI http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-vi http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-vi

"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants," Justice Brandeis

http://www.law.louisville.edu/library/collections/brandeis/node/196

 

Secular militants claim to be patriots because, as they say, dissent is American.   What they mean is evident from how they have gutted traditional American values in public education.  They demand freedom for themselves, but reject the American concept of academic freedom (the freedom to be honestly informed) and the freedom of others to make their own choices.  The soft underbelly of the secular left is the fact that they cannot withstand the competition of ideas.  For them, it is intolerable to allow students to be taught about the non-sectarian and impartial  God of creation upon which inalienable rights, citizen self-government and liberty depend.

 

An elaboration of “In God We Trust” is found in Proverbs 3:5,6:  “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

 

The “In God We Trust” worldview has been the foundation for public education, beginning in the original thirteen colonies and continuing for over 250 years.  The Supreme Court's ruling in the Everson v. Board of Education decision of 1947 began a dramatic shift away from “In God We Trust.”  See Chapter 6 for details about this Supreme Court ruling.  We review the civic religion adopted by immigrants from around the world in Chapters 1 through 4 and Part IV, Appendix B, Iowa's Bill of Rights, taken in part from the Declaration of Independence.  The strategy for restoring competition in education and choice by the people is outlined in Chapters 11 and 12.

 

The unionization of teachers and accompanying tenure law have enabled a small cadre of radicals to take God out of citizen-funded government schools. Newt Gingrich stated:  “Those who want absolute proof you cannot teach American history honestly and accurately without reference to God, go to the Lincoln Memorial and read where in Lincoln’s second inaugural, March 1865, he referred to God fourteen times and used two quotes from the Bible.”*

 

*http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/3597743

 

 

Lincoln_memorial_lincoln_contrasty

Lincoln Memorial Statue

 

 

 

There are millions of honest, hardworking teachers, but they have no more control over the lifeview being taught in the soft sciences than do parents.  An entirely different system for educating American youth is needed that would bypass the leftist teachers' union monopoly.  Funds for education provided by Americans must be routed through the parents, similar to the G.I. Bill following World War II.  This bill provided that education sought by veterans be paid from taxpayer revenues, and the veterans had the freedom to use the tuition grant in a public or private institution of their choice.

 

 

Image from http://washingtonvirtualtrip.wikispaces.com/Abraham+Lincoln+Memorial

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Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:33:00 -0800 Introduction III http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-iii http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-iii

Historically, public schools salvaged many students from homes where parenting was failing. Now students from good homes are abandoning the values that made America such a great nation.  This problem is ongoing even though most teachers are doing their best to counter the incursion of secular absolutism (atheism) in the soft sciences of our schools.

 

John Adams' quote:  "But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.  And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.  Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to constitute abler and better agents, attorneys, and trustees. And the preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks, is of more importance to the public than all the property of all the rich men in the country."  John Adams was a direct descendant of Puritan colonists from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  A Harvard graduate, he served on the First Continental Congress and helped to draft the Declaration of Independence.  John Adams was vice-president under George Washington and the second president of the United States  (A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1766 from The Works of John Adams, …by his grandson, Charles F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 10 volumes).


 

Truth or Consequences

 

Knowledge of and acceptance of the Bible, the Great Reformation (1500-1570) and American history empower conscientious individuals to be self-governing and, on a broader scale, inspire communities and the nation as a whole to overcome the tyranny of moral confusion.  Identifying with the first principle (God of Creation is Man's Benefactor) enables believers to avoid the deception and confusion advanced by truth-trashers.

 

Strangely, even the German atheist, Friedrich Nietzsche, accepted the message from human history and understood the source of freedom for his way of life.  He wrote:  "Remove Christianity and the ideas fall too."*

 

*http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2008&month=11

 

The American Founding Fathers understood human history and identified the distinction of good as self-evident Laws of Nature and of Nature's God.  It is the governing character of these principles (laws), such as humility, the Golden Rule, and the Ten Commandments, that leads to lasting success.  This is the sure foundation upon which man's right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" rests.  Called "virtue" by America's Founding Fathers, the impartial and divine element frees man to do what is right.  "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

 

 

 

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Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:37:00 -0800 Introduction II http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-ii http://davidanorris.posterous.com/introduction-ii

Ideas for decision making have one of two origins—either materialistic and mortal or based upon the reality of everlasting truth, according to the design of Creation's God.  From the beginning, Americans reached beyond the failed practices of man to immortal values that make stability, liberty and prosperity possible.  Judeo-Christian principles have been the foundation for public dialogue and government policy.  Truth from the Hebrew Christian Bible has enabled citizen self-government and individual liberty.

 

William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England were used by Abraham Lincoln and were continued to be used by students of law into the 1920s.  Blackstone said: “Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws [principles] of his Creator …  These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil … This law of nature dictated by God Himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other.  It is binding over the entire globe, in all countries, and at all times:  no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.”*

 

*http://www.constitution.org/tb/tb-1102.htm

 

First Principle

The God of Creation is Man's Benefactor

 

That the God of creation is man's benefactor is so foundational it cannot be arrived at by any other proposition.  It is the basic principle upon which all other principles follow.  When man chooses to walk according to God's benevolent law, he learns of the power that is God's alone and by which God grants him victory over evil.  This reality about creation's nature reveals God's protection.

 

"Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for support of societies as the natural affection is for the support of families.  The Amor Patriae is both moral and a religious duty.  It comprehends not only the love of our neighbors but millions of our fellow creatures, not only the present but of future generations.  This virtue we find constitutes a part of the first character of history."**

 

--Dr. Benjamin Rush, essay on patriotism published in 1773.  He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania and signed the Declaration of Independence.  A devout Christian, Rush established Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and served as professor of medical theory and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1813.

 

**http://www.whatwouldthefoundersdo.org/showQuote.aspx?q=403

 

In fact, the American colonies did not become united until the constitutional delegates agreed to amendments that were specific about religious and educational freedom from government and non-government dictation.  The first ten amendments included the codification of the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence (separation from authoritarian rule).  Far from being secular, all aspects of human endeavor, including government, fall under the purview of creation’s God.  The values for determining the proper role of laws and the use of government power are clear.  We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).  Adoption of this impartial, nonsectarian, God-honoring predicate for society has served as a marvelous unifier for our diverse immigrant nation.

 

An elaboration of "In God We Trust" is found in Proverbs 3:5,6:  "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

 

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Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:39:00 -0800 Responsible Citizen Self-rule and Liberty http://davidanorris.posterous.com/responsible-citizen-self-rule-and-liberty http://davidanorris.posterous.com/responsible-citizen-self-rule-and-liberty

By placing their faith in the principles advanced by creation's God for education, Americans achieved liberty from brutal rulers and the history of big government.

 

Benjamin Franklin, a delegate from Pennsylvania to the second Continental Congress and signer of the Constitution of the United States, wrote this in his Articles of Belief:  "I believe there is one supreme, most perfect Being…  Also when I stretch my imagination through and beyond our system of planets, beyond the visible fixed stars themselves, into that space that is [in] every way infinite, and conceive it filled with suns like ours, each with a chorus of worlds forever moving around him…  That I may be preserved from atheism . . . Help me, O Father!... For all thy innumerable benefits; for life, and reason… my good God, I thank thee!"*

John Quincy Adams, America's sixth president:  "The law given from Sinai was civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code; it contained many statutes… of universal application--laws essential to the existence of men in society [of the United States], and most of which have been enacted by every nation which ever professed any code of laws."**

To justify taxpayer-funded education, instruction must detail the civil and moral absolutes found in the Ten Commandments but rightly avoid controversy of religious codes that are the domain of church denominations.  The depth of spiritual conviction of these absolutes is spelled out in the Creator-based Declaration of Independence, religious liberty (First Amendment), and the Bill of [human] Rights law.  Citizen equality as sovereigns under God over government is demonstrated when randomly chosen citizens serve as the supreme court for judgment of guilt or innocence in criminal trials conducted by government officials.  The above values are the design, and the Constitution is the tool to implement that design.

 

The preamble to the Constitution, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare [meaning common needs that do not conflict with or hamper the development of the work ethic and personal self-reliance], and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

 

"Our investigation indicates that the main reason for youthful rebellion and the attitude of carelessness in student morals is their loss of confidence in the wisdom embedded in their heritage.  Failure to dearly implant these truths detaches future generations from past experience, the very basis of education" (Grand Jury Presentment, 1968-69, Problems in Higher Education, the Eleventh Judicial of Iowa).

 

First-amendment-rated-e-for-everyone-225x300

*http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/ben-franklin-quotes-1.html

**http://quotes.practicalmanliness.com/john-quincy-adams/138/

 

 

Image from http://www.freethefirst.com/

 

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Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:34:00 -0800 The Sovereignty of the American Citizen http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-sovereignty-of-the-american-citizen http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-sovereignty-of-the-american-citizen

Those among us who choose to exchange declining relationships and health for the temporary excitements of moral revisionism is one thing.  Exercising that diversity in private is their right.  Those demanding the right, however, to take over behavioral curriculum in taxpayer-funded public schools is another.  The war they have imposed, by pressuring liberals in government, must be confronted and won.  America is a Republic!  The "living Constitution" idea of changeable decrees imposed by liberal judges (1947 Everson v. Board of Education decision) always becomes despotism because power in the hands of man, over time, becomes corrupt.

 

"Our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.  And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.  Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority. And the preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks, is of more importance to the public than all the property of all the rich men in the country" (John Adams, Vice-President under George Washington, and second president of the United States, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1766 from The Works of John Adams, …by his grandson, Charles F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 10 volumes).

 

The sovereignty of man under the impartial and higher authority of creation's God over government is traceable from the Bible to the Magna Carta, 1215, signed at the point of a sword by a frightened king.  It is likewise traceable to the English Bill of Rights, 1689, signed by a would-be brutal king.  We then have the God-honoring American Declaration of Independence, 1776, the War of Independence, and then the Constitution highlighted by the First Amendment and the Bill of [human] Rights which details what servants in government must never be allowed to violate.

 

The Common Law jury system, resting final authority in the people, came alive in America on March 4, 1789, the date Congress set for the start of the new ConstitutionThis is the most important feature of the American Constitution.  George Washington became our first president under the Constitution on April 30, 1789.

 

Revelations of the American Judeo-Christian heritage are singularly qualified to foster personal responsibility, citizen self-government and prosperity.  People do not steal the fruits of other men's labor.  The community helps those few who are not able to work or are indigent for other reasons.  Reputations for honesty do not rest in the words of evil gossips.  Taxpayer-funded educators support the character of the traditional family.

 

God does not control men; He protects those who will listen.  By applying God-honoring interpretations of Scripture and being sensitive to His Spirit, man becomes self-controlled (Hebrews 13:18-20).  "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

 

First_amendment_in_yellow

Image from http://www.freethefirst.com/

 

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Fri, 14 Sep 2012 21:53:00 -0700 Every Citizen Has Power to Advance Liberty in November http://davidanorris.posterous.com/every-citizen-has-power-to-advance-liberty-in http://davidanorris.posterous.com/every-citizen-has-power-to-advance-liberty-in

Support legislative candidates who recognize the benefit of routing taxpayer revenues for education directly to parents or other guardians.  They may then choose homeschool, private school or a charter school that reflects their values.  Texas legislators are now even backing "charter colleges."  They could be "core curriculum charters" that would offer "great books seminars," including courses on Bible, Renaissance, Reformation and, of course, American values resident in the Declaration of Independence.  Charter colleges would receive per-student funding as charter K-12 do now.*

 

Elect people to serve on school boards who will insist that the unique and specific American principles for government be taught.  In 1877, the United States government printing office published The Organic Laws of the United States of America.  Ben Poole, who was then clerk of printing records, compiled the documentation under an order by the U.S. Senate.  The Organic Laws of the United States of America lists the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Northwest Ordinance and the Constitution on the United States.  Share this study with your school board.

 

Support candidates at federal and state levels who agree to work for the appointment of judges who respect the original meaning of the Constitution.  "Judge Robert H. Bork describes the enormous damage that activist judges have inflicted on America in his book, Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges.  The courts are often dominated by faux intellectuals of the Left who, unable to persuade the people or the legislators, 'avoid the verdict of the ballot box' by engaging in 'politics masquerading as law.'  We are 'increasingly governed not by law or elected representatives, but by unelected, unrepresentative, unaccountable committees of lawyers applying no law other than their own will.'"**

 

Work for and elect senators and representatives to the U.S. Congress who will reassert their duty to represent the people and restore the Constitutional provisions for restricting the role of federal judges.  The Constitution is a rule of law document, not a rule by unelected judges.  In terms of how authority manifests itself over time, the two contrasts represent the distinction between representative government of, by and for the people and the tyranny of authoritarianism.  In terms of philosophy, the two represent the distinction between the Creator-based Declaration of Independence and the evils of old European secular philosophy.  When the traditional American sovereignty of man under God over government was adopted on July 4, 1776, it reversed the historical inevitability of authoritarian carnage.

 

"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress.  If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.  If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature… If the next centennial does not find us a great nation… it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."***

 

 

Timthumb

*Quotes from Marvin Olasky, "Academic Perestroika," World, December 5, 2009, www.worldmag.com/marvinolasky?ndxpage=3.

**Phyllis Schlafly, The Supremacists:  The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It (Dallas: Spence Publishing Company, 2004), 14.

***James Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States, 1877 (http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/presidential_quotes.htm).>

 

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Tue, 04 Sep 2012 06:54:25 -0700 The Healing of Citizen Paralysis http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-healing-of-citizen-paralysis http://davidanorris.posterous.com/the-healing-of-citizen-paralysis

Restoring educational traditions central to American greatness provides the sure basis for strong families, prosperity and limited government for, by and of the people.  Many people are in the dark about the God-rejecting worldview now being imposed upon captive student classrooms and as a result, they do not join in opposition.  

 

We must broadcast anew and persist in upholding the First Principle, that it is creation's God Who is man's Benefactor.  This is the basic principle upon which all other worthy principles follow.  When the First Principle is not publicly upheld by educators (for students to learn), the standards of righteousness that are central to liberty and American greatness soon become fodder for distortion by atheistic secular militants.

 

When we as a people championed the spirit of the First Principle, creation's God Who is man's Benefactor, the meaning of the Declaration of Independence was clear and the war of King George III and his army against Americans failed.

 

Our duty now is to be very public about the fact that reliable standards for law come with knowledge of the nonsectarian Creator-based meaning of the Declaration of Independence and the First Amendment.  In 1835, the significance of this connection was observed by the French lawyer, Alexis de Tocqueville, "… in America, religion is the road to knowledge and the observance of the divine laws leads man to civil freedom…"

 

The rudeness and even hatred exhibited by secular pathfinders when confronted with American principles gives politics a bad name.  They cannot tell the truth and sell their leftist agenda.  This gives us a comparative advantage.  Political involvement and persistence in broadcasting American values is a noble and necessary calling for every freedom-loving American.

 

In the American system of representative government, education central to American greatness will be restored if the people know how it has been altered.  That is the purpose of Restoring Education Central to American Greatness.  I accept no personal remuneration for writing or serving as President of the Heartland Foundation, Inc.  If you have received important insights from this blog, purchase the book, Restoring Education Central to American Greatness, and share it with people you know.  The documentation has been put in book form so that readers such as you can put it into the hands of as many people as possible.

 

"The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing" (The Works of Edmund Burke in Nine Volumes, Vol. IX… 172).

 

Prayer, humility and recommitment must be undertaken.  The selfless dedication that made the American Revolution possible is seen in the Great Awakening of 1740 through 1780.  God has provided this specific promise:  "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

 

"As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgement of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness cannot exist nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed."*

 

Book_image

*John Adams in his Proclamation 8 ~ Recommending a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, March 23, 1798 (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65661).

 

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Mon, 27 Aug 2012 07:34:00 -0700 A Suggested Letter to the Editor of Your Local Newspaper http://davidanorris.posterous.com/a-letter-to-the-editor-of-the-ames-tribune-77979 http://davidanorris.posterous.com/a-letter-to-the-editor-of-the-ames-tribune-77979

Applicable today, the confusion of many now trying to decide which candidates for government service best represent the civic and economic interests of our families and businesses is understandable.  The decline in the quality of what is taught about American history, morality, government and free enterprise comes at no surprise with the secularization of government education and, in my opinion, this is NOT the fault of the great majority of teachers.

 

Articles in the local Ames Tribune* opinion page by an atheistic professor in the religion department of Iowa State University suggest that he MAY not understand two things.  One is the Judeo-Christian Bible and the other is American history.

 

The tone of one's deeply felt religious belief, be it God-honoring or otherwise, and values sought for government, law and education, ARE INSEPARABLE.  Much older than any other text, the Bible has remained intact down throughout history.  The reasons are many, but one is that it resonates with human life experience.  The moral law, John 3:16 and Psalm 23 have no equal.  The Bible tells the truth and it DOES NOT GLOSS OVER the evil done in the name of religion.

 

The power of government comes from the people who fund the gigantic bank called the Public Treasury.  We pay for courthouses, schools, highways, salaries of public servants, etc.  Good government is a tool for protecting life and liberty for the pursuit of happiness.  The God-honoring American Declaration of Independence is universal and immortal in scope.  That Declaration and Bill of Rights, added later to the Constitution, are the design, and the Constitution is the tool for implementing that design.

 

Patriotic Americans applaud diversity.  They recognize, however, that worldly concoctions for diversity that tear down family values, morality and appreciation for the American idea, IN GOD WE TRUST, are evil and totally unacceptable.

 

"Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for support of societies as the natural affection is for the support of families.  The Amor Patriae is both moral and a religious duty.  It comprehends not only the love of our neighbors but millions of our fellow creatures, not only the present but of future generations.  This virtue we find constitutes a part of the first character of history."

 

The above essay on patriotism by Dr. Benjamin Rush was published in 1773.  He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence.  A devout Christian, Rush established Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and served as professor of medical theory and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1813.

 

This particular blog entry is not under copyright, and we encourage you to use it as a template to write a letter to the editor of your own local newspaper.  Use of the blog is increasing by over 1,000 repeat users per month.  You can help restore the American dynamic by informing your friends about this refreshing review of American values provided by Heartland Foundation, Inc.

In-god-we-trust-1

*http://amestrib.com/

 

Image from http://www.donotbesurprised.com/2011/11/in-which-god-does-america-trust-anywa...

 

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Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:14:00 -0700 Outcome-Based Education That Is Profoundly American http://davidanorris.posterous.com/outcome-based-education-that-is-profoundly-am http://davidanorris.posterous.com/outcome-based-education-that-is-profoundly-am

Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States, wrote to her young son, John Quincy, who would later become our sixth president:  "Great learning and superior abilities, should you ever possess them, will be of little value and small estimation, unless virtue, honor, truth, and integrity are added to them.  Adhere to those religious sentiments and principles that were early installed into your mind and remember that you are accountable to your Maker for all your words and actions.  Let me enjoin it upon you to attend constantly and steadfastly to the precepts and instructions of your father, as you value the happiness of your mother and your own welfare. His care and attention to you render many things unnecessary for me to write which I might otherwise do, but the inadvertency and heedlessness of youth, requires line upon line and precept upon precept, and when enforced by the joint efforts of both parents will, I hope, have a due influence upon your conduct; for dear as you are to me, I would much rather you should have found your grave in the ocean you have crossed, or that an untimely death crop you in your infant years, than see you an immoral, profligate, or graceless child.*

 

Children are not the property of the government or the state.  The authority and responsibility for what children are taught rests with parents.

 

A Well-Educated Student:

Speaks and writes accurately.

Listens attentively.

Is a reader.

Is honest at all times.

Is a person of prayer.

Has God-honoring goals.

Upholds the traditional family.

Is sensitive to the Word and to the will of God.

Is sensitive to the needs of others.

Handles success and defeat with grace.

Has convictions and stands for them.

Fulfills citizen duties to family, church and country.

Is polite in his dealings with others.

Uses resources responsibly.

Recognizes the existence of absolute truth which never changes and, applied, 

     serves as a very sure means for personal development and success.

Uses gentle yet persuasive words, not physical force, to communicate his position.

 

Woodrow Wilson, in his election campaign for President, stated "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do.  We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about…  America was born a Christian nation.  America was born to exemplify that devotion to the tenets of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."**

 


Abigail_adams

Abigail Adams

1744-1818

 

 

 

*Abigail Adams, Letter to John Quincy Adams, June 10, 1778, Butterfield Adams Family Correspondence, 3:37, http://books.google.com/books?id=59dQoRNSwxMC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq...&q=butterfield%20adams%20family%20correspondence%20his%20care%20and%20attention%20to%20you%20render&f=false

**http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120802/NEWS03/120802024/Chris-McDaniel...

 

Image from http://everythingtoshare.com/abigail-adams-lost-letter-discovered/


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Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:01:00 -0700 Curriculum That Is Profoundly American http://davidanorris.posterous.com/curriculum-that-is-profoundly-american http://davidanorris.posterous.com/curriculum-that-is-profoundly-american

The proposal for education advanced by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and adopted by the University of Virginia provides an excellent formula for teaching American history and government.  It provides indisputable evidence of the American principles that are imperative for education in the taxpayer-funded classroom.

 

The resolution stated that "all students shall be inculcated with the basic American principles of government…  None should be inculcated [taught] which are incompatible with those on which the Constitution of this State, and of the United States were genuinely based, in the common opinion."  The resolution also stated that the faculty had a standard of responsibility and were required to teach affirmatively these unique American principles.  Only after they had done so were they to teach the conflicting principles as such, judging them by the soundness of the American principles that served as a basis.  The resolution then specified six writings that, in the board's opinion, reflected the unanimously supported principles unique to America that youth should be taught.  "These documents were John Locke's Essay Concerning the True Original Extent and End of Civil Government (1690), Algernon Sidney's Discourses Concerning Government (1698), the Declaration of Independence, Washington's Farewell Address, the Virginia Resolutions of 1799 (adopted by the Virginia legislature), and the Federalist Papers."*

 

The character-building curriculum now taught by homeschool parents and many Christian private schools is comparable to the curriculum taught in common schools and one-room neighborhood schools in early America.  At that time, such schools often had, say, thirty students, some at nearly every grade level, with one teacher.

 

Noah Webster's textbooks, including the Webster's Blue-Back Speller, were standard for American schools until early 1930.  Conversant in many languages, he spent several years writing the Webster's Dictionary that preceded the dictionary used in America today.  His definitions were often supported by Scripture.

 

Webster taught school in West Hartford, Connecticut, and later served as a soldier during the American Revolution.  He spent nine terms in the Connecticut legislature and three terms in the Massachusetts legislature.  A strong proponent for convening the Constitutional Convention, he wrote what became Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

 

Webster was concerned that the youth of our nation would learn to check their emotions and avoid the fears and pitfalls of foolish imaginations.  Karl Marx stirred up the emotions of heady intellectuals.  With promises of a utopia, he captured millions who, to the great loss of their families and even nations, embraced secular popularism.  The Webster dictionary defined emotions as the "strong impression, or vivid sensation that immediately produces a reaction.  The nature of the reaction is to either 'appropriate and enjoy, or avoid and repel' the cause for the impression."**

 

Abraham Lincoln's strong foundation in language was a result of his stepmother's curriculum--the Bible and Shakespeare (The Encyclopaedia Britannica: a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences…, Vol. 16, by Hugh Chisholm, p 703).

Albert Einstein and Bill Gates were university dropouts but not learning dropouts.  They were challenged to learn about the unvarying reliability and order of creation's design.

 

American_schools

 

*Nathaniel F. Cabell, Early History of the University of Virginia, as contained in the "Letters of Thomas Jefferson and Joseph B. Cabell," (n.p.: Richmond, Virginia, 1856), 339.  Repeated in Hamilton Albert Long, The American Ideal of 1776, Your American Heritage Books, 141-44, 147.

**Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, G. and C. Merriam Company, 1828; cited by David A. Norris, Lasting Success (Ames, IA Alpha Heartland Press, 2003), 7.

 

Image from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-old-new-one-room-schoolhouse.html

 

For more information or to purchase Restoring Education Central to American Greatness:

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http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/restoring-education-david-a-norris/1103308053...

 

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