Welcome to Rare Jewel Magazine: Mar/Apr 05
"Pulling up the Roots"
There is an alarming trend in our nation to remove public expressions of Christianity -- from our public schools, from our courthouses, from the Pledge of Allegiance, from ?Winter Holiday? celebrations, from public prayers and proclamations, and from more. Our instincts, as Christian patriots, tell us that this trend is inappropriate, even dangerous. Yet we often lack the confidence to be proactive in defense of our Christian nation, our Christian traditions, our Christian heritage.
Perhaps we lack adequate understanding about how deep our Judeo-Christian roots extend. Or we might be able clearly to articulate a few facts about our one nation under God, but lack full appreciation of why the Founding Fathers chose Christian principles to under establish and build our form of government, public policy, and culture.
Political rhetoric, court decisions, evolving public school curriculums, and mass-media distortions of the past 50-plus years warped the public?s general understanding of the Christianity?s role in our nation?s civic life. Our citizenry is confused, or outright misinformed, about the Founders? original intentions for the relationship between Christianity and public policy. Outright hostility and phobia towards ?anything? Christian has become the norm.
"Christophobia"--literally, fear of Christian principles; more, these days, "hatred of Christianity"--is a term you will be hearing with increasing frequency. This is because bias, predujice, and persecution of Christianity are on the rise. This issue of Rare Jewel Magazine deals with the crisis head-on. We present articles about the unique qualities of our Christian heritage in America; about various outrages being perpetrated on believers and our children; and different ways Patriots are fighting back. Among the new writers joining our team are Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), William J Federer of "American Minute," and Michael Chapman of American Heritage Research.
Comparing America today with the nation founded more than 200 years ago, we see that our culture today has abandoned principles that established and maintained the freest and most prosperous nation in history. Can we sustain the trajectory of our successful past, or has America witnessed its apogee? Time will tell.
Nonetheless, Christian patriots will not sit passively while the devouring lions are unleashed in our direction. In this issue of Rare Jewel Magazine we unveil the Declaration of Dependence, a grassroots movement that will unify the voices and tactics of Christian Patriots across our nation, so that our efforts will realize substantial economies of scale in the battle to reclaim America and restore its Christian foundation.
We commend to you this issue of Rare Jewel Magazine -- designed to equip you with the truth about today?s passing trends versus America?s deep-rooted origins -- to be read, referenced, highlighted, underlined, and dog-eared. May we all resolve to restore America, drawing upon the same inspiration of the Founders (as stated in the summation of the Declaration of Independence): ??with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, Fortunes and our Sacred Honor?
Come See Us in Colorado!
Rick Marschall and I will be at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference in Estes Park CO, on May 11-14, 2005. We will each speak at separate sessions, but will also present a special Saturday afternoon workshop together, ?Impacting Our Culture,? that is open to conference attendees and the general public, especially pastors. Discover why and how to ?take captive every philosophy to make it obedient to Christ.? For more information, go to http://www.WriteHisAnswer.com/Colorado and click on the ?Pastors Special? box.
With Sacred Honor,
Tim Ewing
Tim@RareJewelMag.com
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Telling The Truth: Mar/Apr 05 (column by Publisher Tim Ewing)
"When Truth Trumps Tradition"
Tim Ewing is the founder and publisher of Rare Jewel Magazine. Tim lives in Fairfield, MT with his wife and four children. Tim can be reached at Tim@RareJewelMag.com.
?Do you know that the Pilgrims did not come to America because of religious persecution??
We traditionally have been taught that the Pilgrims escaped to America, fleeing religious persecution, to the point that it seems heretical to suggest otherwise. It is true that the Pilgrims left England due to religious persecution; however, they escaped to Holland, not America. The Pilgrims lived for 12 years in the Netherlands, where they enjoyed complete religious freedom, prior boarding the Mayflower.
Why did the Pilgrims uproot themselves a second time and head for the American wilderness? William Bradford, Mayflower Pilgrim and Governor of the Plymouth settlement, specified three primary factors:1
Economic scarcity: The Pilgrim community in the Netherlands felt there was no hope for economic improvement. Although they enjoyed ?the ordinances of God in their purity, and the liberty of the gospel,? the difficult economic situation in Holland dissuaded many Puritans from leaving England, and some were unable to remain in Holland.
The Immoral Cultural Environment: Though the spiritual health of the Pilgrim community prospered, the larger immoral Dutch culture threatened its long-term viability. Damage to the moral condition of Pilgrim youth was feared: ?...the great licentiousness of the young people of the country, and the many temptations of the city, [were leading pilgrim youth] by evil example into dangerous courses... So they saw their posterity would be in danger to degenerate and become corrupt.?
A Desire to Evangelize: The Pilgrim vision included obedience to the Great Commission: ?...they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least of making some way towards it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world?.?
Religious freedom, or just freedom alone, wasn't enough. The Pilgrims also needed a civil government and culture built on Christian principles. We must understand, and promote, the true reasons for the Pilgrims? risky voyages to America -- they formed the three pillars of our nation?s foundation and provided fertile soil for the prosperity and freedom America ultimately reaped.
The Pilgrims experienced complete religious freedom in Holland, but attempted to exist within an immoral culture, limiting their opportunity for free commerce and economic growth.
The Pilgrims had complete religious freedom in Holland, yet existed in the midst of a culture whose laws violated Biblical standards; thus, their youth was corrupted, negating their ability to establish an enduring community.
The Pilgrims understood that God is a God of nations, and just as He has plans and purposes for individuals, He likewise has plans and purposes for nations. ?Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord? (Ps 33:12). America has truly been blessed.
These three pillars supported the American nation like the legs of a three-legged stool -- if you remove one leg, the stool topples. Today, our society teeters from an aggressive assault on all three foundational legs. Allowing our culture to remove Christianity from the public square -- indeed from the core of our national soul -- threatens our traditional national life.
America once had a commander-in-chief who said, ?You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.?2
America once had a president who said, ?[I]t is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.?3
America once had a Congress which issued a ?Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer,? recommending that citizens ??confess our unworthiness of the least of his favours, and to offer our fervent supplications to the God of all grace... to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth.?4
America once had a Supreme Court which stated, ?From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation? that this is a Christian nation.... We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth.?5
Imagine the reaction of the Establishment if any of these statements were made by comparable authorities today.
Restoration in America begins with a clear understanding of the Pilgrims? purpose to come to this land, and, then, of their impact on America?s succeeding generations. Certainly, the truth trumps tradition. The Pilgrims journeyed to America not for the freedom to practice religion in the privacy of their homes and churches, but to establish a civil society built on the Rock of Biblical principles and to be a beacon for Christ in the world, thus ensuring an enduring and prosperous culture. Our goal for restoring America should be nothing less.
Footnotes:
1
Citations and following quotations attributed to William Bradford are found in: William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation: Bradford?s History of the Plymouth Settlement. Original manuscript rendered into Modern English by Harold Paget, 1909 (Bulverde, TX: The Vision Forum and Mantle Ministries, 1998), 15, 19-22.
2
George Washington, "Address to Delaware Indian Chiefs," May 12, 1779. In John Clement Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources: 1749-1799, (Washington, DC: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1907, 39 volumes) Vol. 1, 64
3
George Washington, ?A Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving,? New York City, October 3, 1789. In Jared Sparks, ed., The Writings of George Washington, (New York: F. Andrew's, 1834-1847, 12 volumes), Vol. XII, 119.
4
The Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905), proceedings of October 18, 1780. Vol. XVIII, 950-951.
5
Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 US 457-458, 465-471, 36 L ed 226. February 29, 1892, opinion of Justice David Josiah Brewer
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Correcting America's Unsustainable Course (by US Sen Tom Coburn)
"Exclusive Report by US Sen Tom Coburn (R-OK)"
Dr Tom Coburn, M.D., is a Republican Senator from Oklahoma. He served three terms in the House of Representatives, elected first in 1994, before respecting his term-limit pledge and retiring. This report was written exclusively for Rare Jewel Magazine.
One of the most encouraging developments in Washington in many years is the admission by many members of Congress that Social Security is on an unsustainable course, and needs to be fixed now. This sober admission is significant because it could be Congress? first step toward confronting an even larger crisis ? the overall unsustainability of government itself.
Social Security is an enormous problem but is dwarfed by other unsustainable parts of government. Medicare, for example, has an unfunded liability seven times larger than Social Security; we need to fund the War on Terror; we must address discretionary spending for other government programs, which is growing at three times the rate of inflation.
Our founders warned that if we disregarded their warnings we would find ourselves in the place we are today. So it is wise to return to their wisdom in order to find our way out of our fiscal mess. Thomas Jefferson once said, ?Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have? The course of history shows that as government grows, liberty decreases.?
The message we hear from too many politicians in Washington is the opposite. We?re told there is no problem government can?t solve with our tax dollars; that as long as we keep sending money to Washington, the federal government will take care of our education, retirement, and health care.
When our founders wrote the Constitution, they took great care to limit the power and scope of the federal government: any power not specifically delegated to the federal government, such as national defense, was delegated to the states. James Madison, the father of our Constitution, was careful to state for the ages that the framers of the Constitution wanted the federal government to be limited. In the Federalist Papers, Madison wrote, ?The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.?
Today, most career politicians view this perspective as outdated. Yet our founders were guided by a humble and timeless understanding of human nature. The reason the federal government should be limited, they knew, was the tendency of government and elected officials to become tyrannical and corrupted by the acquisition of more power.
The careful system of checks and balances established in the Constitution was, therefore, not only meant to constrain each branch of government but the human desire for power. As George Washington said, ?Government is not reason. It is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.? Just as a fireplace is built to contain fire, the Constitution was built to contain the personal ambition for power that burn in the hearts of men.
This view of human nature, of course, is firmly rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. We have all sinned; are we are all susceptible to becoming part of corrupt systems. General Washington?s knowledge of his own fallibility and the fallibility of man led him to establish the tradition of term limits for elected officials; he could have become a dictator, but he had the humility and moral courage to refuse.
Today, too many politicians believe they are the exception to the laws of human nature. After serving two or three terms they convince themselves that their districts and states desperately need their continued service. I repeatedly have seen how good men and women in Congress fall victim to what C.S. Lewis called the ?fruitless pursuit of the Inner Ring? ? a privileged place of influence and authority. He said the fight to be in that Inner Ring ?makes good people do bad things,? and compared the process to peeling an onion ? you keep peeling until there is nothing left. Many good people enter Congress wanting to make a difference, but become more committed to their own reelection than the principled goals that led them to seek election.
If the United States does not correct problems like Social Security and the overall unsustainability of government, America as we know it today might cease to exist in another generation. I urge my brothers and sisters in Christ to view this battle as not only a financial issue, but a moral issue. It is immoral to burden the next generation so we can avoid tough choices today. It is also immoral to not be good stewards of the blessings of freedom, opportunity and prosperity enjoyed in America.
I am confident that America can be put back on sustainable course if individual Americans do not underestimate the power of their voice. In many congressional offices one thoughtful letter or phone call can force an elected official to make a decision they would otherwise avoid.
John Adams said the real American Revolution was won in the hearts and minds of the people before the war commenced. If we agree with that view, and restore our founders? vision of limited government, we can put our nation back on course and pass on this American experiment to our children and grandchildren.
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The Upper Room: Mar/Apr 05 (column by Managing Editor Rick Marschall)
"Hatred of Christ"
Rick Marschall, Managing Editor of Rare Jewel Magazine, has written for publications as diverse as The Columbia Journalism Review, World magazine, and Youthworker Journal. Bostonia magazine called him ?perhaps America?s foremost authority on popular culture.? He has taught at Rutgers University, the School of Visual Arts, and the Summer Institute for the Gifted at Bryn Mawr University. Rick can be reached at Rick@RareJewelMag.com.
Christophobia is nothing new. Look on the image on the cover of this issue, The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer by the French painter Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904). It has become an iconic vision of the ghastly persecution practiced by Roman emperors in the early Christian era, in no wise exaggerated here. Historians recorded that the road between the Coliseum and the Circus Maximus routinely was lighted at night by the burning corpses of Christians impaled on spikes or hanging from crosses.
Early-church persecutions were more savage in places like northern Africa and especially Gaul ? now France ? where officials engaged in almost insane savagery of torture, pain, and dismemberment. Eusebius (chiefly in The Church History) recorded these occurrences and patterns of persecution with sad but documentary eyes, honoring the tremendous faith of martyrs? and leaving for us a record of what it can cost to be a Christian.
The reminders prompted by Gerome?s painting and Eusebius? written words are lessons stark and immediate in 2005: It can happen here.
During certain periods Romans sat in bleachers and watched Christians be devoured. Americans sit and watch TV and what?? Do we gesture thumbs-up or thumbs-down, as Romans did, and watch believers die? Not unless you count our passivity over millions of aborted babies? or a ?mini-series? mentality that overtakes the Terri Schiavo ordeal? or inaction at news reports of millions of Christians slaughtered by Muslims, Communists, and others around the world. Cassie Bernall, before being killed at Columbine High School, was asked, ?Do you believe in God?? She answered ?Yes,? and died for her witness. That was ancient Rome all over again. The Trench Coat Mafia kid only pulled the trigger; but it was the culture that killed her.
It ?can happen here?? It is happening here.
Now look at another picture, the photograph on this page (see page 46 of print issue of Rare Jewel Magazine -- Mar/Apr 2005). I shot this on a recent trip to Rome; study it hard, as I did in person. We see the amphitheater, we look from almost the same vantage-point of the painter Gerome: seats, archways, columns. The curious structures on the ground, separated by grassy paths, are visible because once there was a floor, a wooden floor on which Christians stood, lions feasted, and chariots rode. What we see are the remnants of ?holding tanks? where Christians and animals were kept underground before ascending stairs or on mechanical-lift devices. It was not all blood: the floor was sometimes flooded and naval battles re-enacted in scale; exotic tame animals from far places were paraded; and on sunny afternoons a retractable roof kept spectators in the shade. ?Bread and circuses? kept the population satisfied ? not a whole lot different from sports extravaganzas and TV shows today. Except for the blood (that is if you don?t count the blood-lust of abortions and euthanasia; action movies; ?reality shows?; sex and violence on TV; crime statistics we endure; the gore on nightly news; wars in our living rooms; even animated cartoons).
Ironically, the painter's imagination "speaks" reality to us, and the photograph "speaks" symbolism--the rotted floor and the crumbling walls of the Coliseum remind us that Rome fell. There was corruption from within; there were the barbarians outside the gates... and there was the consistent witness, the faithful perseverance, of those who resisted the hatred of their Savior.
Neither shall we, in America today, diminish our witness -- let us pledge -- but let us heed the warnings of historians and prophets, and recognize the signs of the times. Christian Patriots must be smarter in our responses. We must be wiser in our tactics. We must be braver in our fights. We must spend and be spent, and be prepared to sacrifice more than volunteer-time on committees.
In the face of increasing Christophobia in America, we must honor the blood shed by countless martyrs past and present whose faith was more important than their comfort, and whose sacrifices brought believers to this point in history. We must stand with Martin Luther, in the face of death, said, ?Here I stand; I can do no other!? We must answer with Cassie Bernall ? ?Yes!?
Finally, the crumbling walls of the Coliseum remind us, indeed, that Rome fell. No principality or empire devised of man has been eternal, not ever will be. The United States will pass too. But it is our hands, Christian patriot friends, whether it shall be in our generation or that of our children?s distant descendants. Will the exercise of our Christian heritage be reborn, or will future historians refer to it as merely a brief moment in mankind?s murky struggle for liberty?
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Game Plan for Survival (by Rob Tong)
"A Winning Strategy Against Hostile Opponents"
Rob Tong is a deacon at Moody Church in Chicago.
The frustration grew on the football field.
A team comprised of my secular friends shocked my football team of fellow Christians, soundly beating us in our annual football game.
My secular friends adopted a new strategy -- recruit players who were better and more intimidating than their past teams -- enabling them to beat us for the first time in four years. As a competitor, I stewed for the year afterward. I wondered what we could possibly do, considering how helpless we seemed in that defeat.
After much analysis, I devised a game plan for the following year. On offense, we would throw fewer deep passes, which were low-percentage plays. Instead, we would run more and throw higher-percentage passes. On defense, we would blitz from the left side to not only give their quarterback less time to find an open receiver but also to force him to run to his left, the more awkward side of a right-handed quarterback.
Sure enough, the plan worked. The following year, my team of Christian believers faced the same secular team that spanked us the year before. We returned the favor.
On the field of American society, the secular team recently has been battering the Christian Patriots? team by rapidly adopting a similar new strategy: recruit better, more intimidating Christophobic teammates (identify them as homosexual activists, aggressive atheists, best-selling authors, liberal media, activist judges, and others).
This new team on the field has been scoring many victories. For example, Dan Brown?s runaway best-seller, The Da Vinci Code, cast shadows of doubt on traditional Christianity among secularists and Christians alike. Federal judge Phyllis Hamilton overturned the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. Homosexuals labeled Christians as bigots, homophobes, and intolerants, which drew empathy and affirmation from mainstream America. Many media members skewered Focus On The Family?s Dr. James Dobson when he warned that the organization behind an innocuous children?s video had a dangerous agenda. The list goes on.
As in my team?s football experience, frustration is growing. Christian Patriots wonder what we can possibly do. Yet Christian persecution and lampooning is not new.
The apostle Peter taught first-century believers to ?not be surprised? by Christian persecution1 and that ?scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.?2
Like my football experience, Christians need to come up with a game plan? for both offense and defense. It is no longer enough to just wing it and hope to get by...
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THE DECLARATION OF DEPENDENCE
"A New Declaration; The Same Revolution"
In a remote corner of the New World, the people of 13 vulnerable colonies, knowing that God had blessed their enterprise, and daring to dream that their fledgling nation would stand unique in the history of mankind, on July 4, 1776 put their knowledge, faith, and dreams to paper. On that date 56 of their leaders signed a document they called a Declaration of Independence.
More than breaking with the mother country, these Patriots clearly were also declaring their independence of outmoded ideas of history, old social patterns of obligation, and the entrapping bonds of suppressed expectations. From the very first settlers, many people from various backgrounds and different countries boldly had claimed this new land for God. Countless compacts and covenants clearly acknowledged that the American Experiment was clearly to mean the full and joyful exercise of biblical principles from the organization of the smallest village to -- yes -- the creation of the mightiest nation.
This was no game: these leaders knew full well the price of failure, or even partial success. ?We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.? All was in jeopardy for these leaders and their descendants if this inspired revolution failed. ?So help me God,? George Washington spontaneously added to his Oath.
To these Founders, the Bible was the purest essence of deliberations, the blueprint for a democratic republican system, the soul of public and private conduct. Never before attempted in the world?s history, such is the stuff of legend... yet this legend is true. Our forefathers succeeded in their endeavors. With pride and passion, American Patriots often should recall our nation?s bold and tenacious beginnings, our precious dreams and bitter sacrifices. Like salvation itself, we were bought by blood.
Unfortunately, the United States has largely forgotten the part of the Declaration of Independence without which it is a mere piece of parchment: its official acknowledgment and pledge of our nation?s reliance on God. The God of the Bible is identified as the source of mankind?s rights: citizens are ??endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.? At the close of the document is a prayer invoking ?a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.? The Framers made agreements with each other, but also made a Covenant with God...
(Click here to read and sign the Declaration of Dependence)
What is the Declaration of Dependence?
The Declaration of Dependence is a document drafted to enlist citizens in a born-again American Revolution - a national campaign that is distinctively united and committed to America's restoration. All Signers of this New Declaration will be kept abreast of related news, special events, announcements, etc. Signers have exclusive access to the Declaration of Dependence Forum - a "town meeting" on the Web - to share their hearts with fellow Signers; encourage and advise; relate personal experiences; suggest ideas on how best to expand this grassroots effort; and more!
We invite all citizens to read and sign the Declaration of Dependence. Share it... urge neighbors and leaders to sign it... use it as a standard to measure candidates for public office, community leaders and elected officials... authorities in churches and schools... and make it your meditation, thereby engaging in this new Revolutionary War for the soul of our nation and its citizens.
Why the Declaration of Dependence?
There are a great many voices in America today that rightly decry the poor state of our Union and who propose appropriate remedies. Unfortunately, these various pronouncements and petitions make for scattered effort that too often falls woefully short of accurately portraying the breadth and depth of citizens' concern and desire to see real change in this nation.
Jesus Christ warned in Matthew 12:25 that a "divided house will not stand," and we must be careful to discern the things that can unite us, and put aside the things that can divide us. Carefully maintaining purity of heart and generosity of fellowship in this common challenge to restore America's foundation, we look for a creed to which concerned citizens might subscribe.
The Declaration of Dependence provides citizen patriots with a document of common agreement for meditation, encouragement, and action - a tool that will unite our voices into a single, clear message and unified front. With unity and clarity of purpose and direction we will multiply our strength and achieve success in the battle to redeem or culture and our government.
The Declaration of Dependence first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2005 issue of Rare Jewel Magazine, originally authored by Tim Ewing (RJM Founder) and Rick Marschall (RJM Managing Editor).
(Click here to read and sign the Declaration of Dependence)
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Flunking The Test (by Michael J Chapman)
"The Christophobic Bias in America's Curriculum"
Michael J. Chapman is an author, historian, education researcher, and founder of American Heritage Research. He is the author (with Ken Ham, David Barton, David Noebel, Marshall Foster, Brannon Howse, Don Wildmon, Rob Lindsted and Bill Jack) of No Retreats, No Reserves, No Regrets: Why Christians Should Never Give Up, Never Hold Back, and Never Be Sorry for Proclaiming Their Faith (St Paul: Stewart House Press, 2000).
For more than a dozen years, I have been working to expose anti-Christian bias within America?s popular curriculum. But it wasn?t until I ran across a copy of Curriculum Standards for Social Studies,1 published by the National Council for the Social Studies under a US Department of Education grant, that I realized the force of law was now driving the agenda.
According to the NCSS standards, ?[I]t is clear that the dominant social, economic, cultural and scientific trends that have defined the western world for five centuries are rapidly leading in new directions.?2 The dominant trends that defined Western civilization are of course, the Judeo-Christian worldview. So what does this mean for social studies? The NCSS explains, ?The United States and its democracy are constantly evolving and in continuous need of citizens who can adapt? to meet changing circumstances. Meeting that need is the mission of the social studies.? 3
Can it be any clearer? Rather than teach America?s history and founding principles for the preservation of American liberty and Western Civilization, the new mission of social studies is to prepare our children to accept the transformation of America. In fact, the NCSS are missionaries of a new religion operating in the field of American education. Unlike Christians, these particular missionaries have government backing, free reign with captive children, and operate under the guise of ?education? ? and thus under the radar of most Christians.
Before building a ?new? structure, the ?old? must be torn down. Christianity, the foundation of Western Civilization, must be bulldozed. I find three primary indoctrination methods publishers use to undermine Christianity. The first is the censorship of America?s true Christian heritage. The second method I call association propaganda ? the linking of negative ideas or events with Christian principles, people, or groups. Finally contextual redefinition changes the meaning of written text in order to support a pre-planned conclusion that is different from the original author?s intention. There are other subtle methods, but most are variations of these three.
All of these methods of indoctrination have one purpose ? to convince our children to reject Biblical Christianity and to accept a secular worldview:
America?s Censored Heritage
America?s foundations are rooted in the Judeo-Christian worldview. Even the few Founders who might not have been doctrinal Christian regarded these principles as the best source for moral self-government, liberty, justice, and establishing the proper function of government.
It was Benjamin Franklin, for example, who on June 27, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention called for prayer to begin each session of Congress. Quoting the Gospels several times, Franklin reasoned, ?I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth ? that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that ?except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it??.?4 Founding Father Noah Webster explained the same idea in his History of the United States textbook for schools: ?Our citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament or the Christian religion.? 5
Today, by contrast, textbooks not only omit such history, they purposely distort the facts in order to support a new idea about who we are as a people. For example, under the heading ?Roots of American Government,? a popular seventh-grade Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook expounds: ?Enlightenment thinkers in the American Colonies were excited. Here they were, the first people in history to have the chance to create an entirely new government based on Enlightenment Principles.? 6 Few elementary-school textbooks offer source-footnotes, but this particular textbook mentioned its source for the assertion: ?A recent study looked at more than 15,000 political writings published in America between 1760 and 1805?. [The authors] most often quoted were? all part of the Enlightenment.? 7
Unfortunately, the textbook censored an important fact. Besides falsely characterizing some figures as Enlightenment thinkers, the textbook fails to mention that the study it cites actually proved that the Founders quoted the Bible nearly twice as often as the top three individual sources combined. 8
Facts that get in the way of an agenda to convince our citizens of a secular basis for government are simply ignored.
Association Propaganda
A powerful method of indoctrination is to link Christian principles with negative events in order to divert thinking from the truth. Examples of association propaganda in the classroom follow, with the associated words highlighted:
?Understanding Imperialism: [Defined as] economic and political control of other nations. ?Many imperialists believed that they had a God-given mission to spread Christianity.?9
?A total of 160,000 Spanish inhabitants, mostly men, had subjugated some 5 million Indians ? all in the name of the gentle Jesus.? 10
?Among [the conquistadors] were missionaries?. At times the goal to convert Indians was achieved by force. Many were forced to work on haciendas owned by Spaniards of the Catholic Church. Life for Indians in Spanish America was shaped by missionaries.? Millions died from disease and overwork.? 11
The textbook?s goal is to associate Christianity with negative connotations of force and control. In the last example above, Christian missions and the church are made interchangeable with the Spanish and Conquest. Absent is the truth that missions protected Indians against both Spanish and slave-trading Indian tribes, and often were welcomed by the Indians ? facts that do not conform to the preconception that Christianity is equated to destructiveness.
Even during lessons on the Roman Empire, the tables are cleverly turned against the Christians. For example, in one textbook lesson on the Roman Coliseum, ?persecution? is simply defined as ?the act of being harassed for differing beliefs?12 The lesson plan instructs the teacher to ?Tell the students that persecution of Christians in the early days was occasional and local?? but makes no mention that Christians were martyred for their faith. Instead, students are to ?discuss why minorities? face persecution in times of trouble.? In the teacher?s margin, ?background information? helps make the discussion question ?relevant? by identifying Christians as the true persecutors: ?[In early times] Christians made fun of [rural people and their old beliefs in gods and goddesses] by calling them pagani, meaning ?country people? or ?hicks.? This is the origin of the word pagan.?
Obviously, the lesson?s motivation is not the teaching of accurate history (or accurate Latin), but a social agenda: to build sympathy for politically favored groups today that might think they are under persecution by Christians. The lesson ends with a Role-Playing exercise (another form of association propaganda); students are directed to ?take the role of a traditional Roman disturbed by the rise of Christianity, and write a letter explaining why he or she is opposed to the new religion.?
One very powerful form of association propaganda is to accurately list Christian ideals and then associate those ideals with a group such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Textbook publisher D.C. Heath has been especially good at this. In the middle of a lesson on the Scopes ?Monkey Trial?13 in Dayton, Tennessee (where ?Fundamentalist Christians? are painted in a negative light), a sidebar highlights ?another fundamentalist group? ? the KKK. A quotation, not dissimilar to complaints of Christians today, is presented: ?One by one all our traditional moral standards? were disregarded. The sacredness of our Sabbath, our homes, chastity, even our right to teach our own children in our own schools fundamental facts and truths, were torn away from us.? The attribution is to ?Hiram Wesley Evans, Imperial Wizard of the KKK, in 1926 movingly describing the cultural grievances that inspired the Klan??14
Whether or not Evans actually said this is irrelevant; four minutes of research will prove these were not the grievances that inspired the Klan to form. A textbook publisher that knowingly repeats a lie is party to it. The point, again, is not accurate history; rather it is to teach children to distrust or reject Christians who make similar complaints.
Contextual Redefinition
When censorship is impossible or association propaganda too obvious, publishers simply change the meaning of texts to fit the desired outcome, even for well-known documents like the Declaration of Independence. For example, Houghton Mifflin teaches, ?When Jefferson wrote ?all men? are equal, he really meant ?all citizens,? women and blacks were not included.? 15
Nonsense! First of all, Jefferson wrote all men are ?created? equal, suggesting that all people are equal in God?s sight. Second, the term ?men? was often used to denote the species ?man-kind,? not a specific gender, in Jefferson?s day. Finally, Jefferson did make clear his views on slavery; his words on the wall of the Jefferson Memorial, written in reference to slavery, proclaim, ?God who gave us life, gave us liberty! And can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God??
Historians have access to facts, but ?facts? aren?t the point of social outcome-based studies. Undermining our Founders is necessary in order to bulldoze the Founding Christian principles ? the true source of liberty.
Contextual redefinition even colors textbooks when they address Church history and doctrine. Publishers recently have been under pressure to include some aspect of Christianity in the name of ?multicultural? balance. Unfortunately Christianity is undermined while every other religion is presented in a positive light. For example, by redefining terms, the textbook My World ? Adventures In Time and Place gives Humanists credit for the Reformation of the church; Martin Luther becomes just one more ?angry monk?: ?Starting around 1500, Humanists such as Erasmus began to criticize the Roman Church. He especially questioned the Church policy concerning indulgences.? In Wittenberg, Germany, the sale of indulgences also made a monk, Martin Luther, angry. He felt that the money, often given by people who were poor, should not be spent on the building of Saint Peter?s, a great cathedral in Rome.?16
According to the text, Luther?s only complaint was how the indulgence money was spent. While pretending to explain Christian doctrine, this same textbook demotes Jesus to a ?teacher who learned the Jewish religion and then started his own religion.? Notice what is missing from these examples:
? ??the Bible says, Mary gave birth to a son, Jesus.? [Missing: Virgin Birth]
? ?According to Jewish belief, the Messiah is a special leader to be sent by God?to set up God?s rule on Earth.? [Missing: He came to save us from our sin and said, ?My Kingdom is not of this Earth.? Instead, the emphasis is on politics, building a fear of Christian involvement.]
? ?The apostles helped spread Jesus? teachings after he died.? [Missing: The apostles hid after he died and only found confidence after witnessing his resurrection.]17
In six pages that pertain to Christianity, there is not one mention that Christians believe Jesus was the Son of God, came to die in our place, nor that He is said to have fulfilled Jewish prophecy.
I gave this same book to a Muslim friend of mine and asked him to assess the segment on Islam. He nearly wept with happiness telling me, ?school children are finally learning the deep truths of Islam.? In fact, the questions and assignments following Islam and Hinduism do require a deep understanding of their doctrines ? always presented as fact. But the questions following Christianity are trivial at best and have nothing to do with even basic doctrine.
Building A Post-Christian Society
Once the Christian consensus is bulldozed, the building of secular society is possible. Humanist Manifesto II, signed in 1973 by a virtual Who?s Who in academia, explains the goal: ?We deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds.? The best option is to transcend the limits of national sovereignty and to move toward the building of a world community.? Thus we look to the development of a system of world law and world order based upon transnational federal government.?18
The future vision of a world society based upon Humanistic principles is now fully imbedded in the public school curriculum. The goal to divorce America from our Christian roots carries with it the force of federal law. This should not surprise anyone, since it was announced openly in 1989. Dr. Shirley McCune, a US. Department of Education official in charge of the national standards in 1989, was the keynote speaker that year at the National Governor?s Association Conference on Education held in Wichita, Kansas. McCune explained: ?What we?re into is the total transformation of society? what it means for education is that we no longer see the teaching of facts and information as the primary purpose of education? We must prepare children not for today?s society, but for a society that?s 20, 30, or 50 years down the road. That?s called anticipatory socialization, or the social change function of schools.?19
What Can We Do?
Christian patriots need to realize that their children are being stolen from under their noses. Most won?t realize it until it?s too late. The textbook examples offered here represent just a tiny sample of Christophobes? methods. Unfortunately, the government provides these textbooks free to Christian schools willing to take them ? and many do!
Beware of any school that builds its house on sand simply because the sand is free! Put your children in schools that understand how a Biblical worldview impacts every aspect of life, and therefore every subject. Theology is just one aspect. Not all Christians hold a biblical understanding in economics, mathematics, sociology, history, and civics.
Parents alone hold the responsibility to train their children in the way they should go, regardless of who is hired to carry out that duty.
Footnotes:
1Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies, 1994)
2Op. cit., Preface, xix
6A More Perfect Union, Houghton Mifflin Social Studies, 1991, 82
8Donald S Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press1988), 141
10Thomas Bailey, David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, The American Pageant: A History of the Republic (Lexington MA: D.C. Heath, 1991), 13
11My World ? Adventures In Time and Place (New York: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, 1997), 470-471
15Beverly J. Armento, J. Jorge Klor De Alva, Gary B. Nash, Christopher L. Salter, Louis E. Wilson and Karen K Wixson. America Will Be: Houghton Mifflin Social Studies Teachers Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin School, 1994), 264
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Required Reading: Democracy In America (Book Review by Tim Ewing)
The Great Experiment 101: The Essential Role of Christianity in America
Democracy in America
Alexis deTocqueville, translated by Gerald E. Bevan
New York: Penguin Putnam, 2003. 935 pages. $7.99
www.ChristianBook.com
America’s Founding Fathers frequently referred to the “experiment” of launching a new nation. History records that it was indeed a Great Experiment: bold, radical, inspiring… and, certainly, a successful experiment!
Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America provides a unique opportunity to see early America through the eyes of an objective “outsider” – the visiting Frenchman’s view of the factors responsible for the American character. Just 55 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the United States of America already had astounded the world with its growth in population, economy, freedom, and prosperity. According to de Tocqueville, America, relative to Europe, was “…much superior in civilization, industry, and power.”
De Tocqueville set out to discover why this was the case, and reported his findings in Democracy in America. This classic work is extensive, analytical, unbiased, and is readable yet today. He soberly states, “My aim has been to discover lessons from which we [France] may profit. It would be a bizarre mistake to think that I intended to write a hymn of praise.”
In 1831, de Tocqueville, a 25-year-old French civil servant, embarked on a nine-month visit to America. He saw the journey as a career-creating opportunity; contemplating a political career at home, he cleverly reckoned that becoming an expert in American affairs would set himself above his peers. France surely would continue on its path toward a more representative government, and at that time the United States was the only country where the people governed themselves. His journey brought him to 17 of the existing 24 states then existent, traveling more than 7000 miles by stagecoach, horseback, steamer, and canoe.
Democracy in America was published in two major volumes -- Part I in 1835 and Part II in 1840. Every facet of America’s political processes and form of government, cultural dynamics and social factors, are discussed in vivid detail; we learn of our nation’s political parties and prison systems; our vast geography; freedom of press and trial by jury; slavery, Indians, war, and much else, but, de Tocqueville notes, “On my arrival in the United States, it was the religious atmosphere which first struck me.”
This essay on de Tocqueville’s observations will focus on the essential importance he attributed to religion, more specifically Christianity, in the America he observed 175 years ago. Given today’s increasingly anti-Christian stance in public America, de Tocqueville’s conclusions are instructive.
At the end of his extensive visit Tocqueville summarized: “[I]n America, religion leads to wisdom; the observance of divine laws guides man to freedom…. I seem to see the whole destiny of America encapsulated in the first Puritan to land upon its shores, just as the first man led to the whole human race….” Why would this be?
- He credits God’s divine intervention alone for successful emigration to America: “The founding of New England was a novel spectacle, and everything attending it was unusual and original…. [I]t is the germ of a great nation which God has placed on a predestined shore.”
- America’s early settlers came not only to practice Christianity, but to form a civil society based upon Biblical principles: “No sooner had they [the Mayflower Pilgrims] landed on this inhospitable shore than the immigrants turned their attention to the constitution of their society [codified in the Mayflower Compact].”1
- De Tocqueville noted the intentional partnership between Christianity and government as early Americans wrote their laws: “[T]hey had the bizarre idea of using biblical texts…. The overriding concern of these legislators is the preservation of moral order and good practices in their society….”
- He pays tribute to divine wisdom bestowed upon the early settlers: “It was at that very same time that these same principles, unknown or neglected by European nations, were being proclaimed in the deserts of the New World to become the future symbol of a great nation…. Puritanism was not only a religious doctrine; it linked itself in several respects to the most prominent democratic and republican theories.”
Thus de Tocqueville concludes that the “social theory” of the nation blossomed from that of the New England states and its original founders, the Pilgrims and Puritans, “permeating the entire confederation.” Further: “The civilization of New England has been like a beacon lit upon mountain tops which, after warming all in its vicinity, casts a glow over the distant horizon.” Such terminology reminds us of the prophetic nature of Puritan John Winthrop’s words written 200 years before de Tocqueville: “We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when He shall make us a praise and glory, that men of succeeding plantations shall say, ‘The Lord make it like that of New England.’ For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill….”2 Tocqueville devotes much attention to Christianity’s influence in America because he sees a crucial stabilizing and protective force.
The power of a democratic people to create or abolish laws can be a great strength and a potential for disaster, de Tocqueville warns; a common theme in his book is the threat of the “tyranny of the majority” – “I see that only God can be omnipotent without danger because his wisdom and justice are always equal to his power. There is, therefore, no earthly authority so worthy of respect or vested with so sacred a right that I would wish to allow it unlimited action and unrestricted dominance. When, therefore, I see the right and capacity to enact everything given to any authority whatsoever, whether it be called people or king, democracy or aristocracy, whether exercised in a monarchy or a republic, I say: the seed of tyranny lies there.”
Half a century after the Founding Fathers, de Tocqueville affirmed their view that America’s primary deterrent against tyranny is its commitment to Christianity and the restraint it places on man’s greedy heart and thirst for power. He states, “From the start, politics and religion were in agreement and they have continued to be so ever since…. [A]merica has been peopled by men who… brought, therefore, into the New World a form of Christianity which I can only describe as democratic and republican.... America is still the country in the world where the Christian religion has retained the greatest real power over people’s souls and nothing shows better how useful and natural religion is to man, since the country where it exerts the greatest sway is also the most enlightened and free.”
The variety of Christian denominations in America were noted, but, though their particular forms of worship differ, “…all sects teach the same morality in the name of God…. [All] sects in the United States unite in the body of Christendom whose morality is everywhere the same.” Here we discover a vital connection between Christianity in America past, and its ability to influence public policy and restrain abuses of freedom. All Christians, we are reminded, were united about basic moral standards for the nation: “America is certainly the country where the bonds of marriage are most respected…. In Europe almost all social disorder stems from disturbances at home and not far removed from the marriage bed.” Can we find a better argument against 21st-century America norms, almost epidemic, of easy divorce, infidelity, cohabitation, homosexuality, pornography, and other “freedoms” that attack the institution of marriage and destroy the fabric of our nation? He continues, “Thus, while the law allows the American people to do everything, religion prevents their imagining everything and forbids them from daring to do everything…. They believe it [Christianity] necessary for the maintenance of republican institutions.”
The political and cultural forces at work today in America seek to separate our nation from its Christian roots in order to gain freedom without restraint – or if there be restraint, according to man’s will and not God’s authority. Clearly de Tocqueville would say that such a separation is not possible without the inevitable destruction of the very nation itself. He wrote: “Liberty looks upon religion as its companion in its struggles and triumphs, as the cradle of its young life, as the divine source of its claims. It considers religion as the guardian of morality, morality as the guarantee of law and the security that freedom will last.”
America has drifted far from our foundations, the Christian ethic so less valued today. Yet, thanks to documents like Democracy in America, we have a clear image of the original standards we wish to restore. “In America you see one of the most free and enlightened nations in the world fulfilling all their public religious duties with enthusiasm…. In France I had seen the spirit of religion moving in the opposite direction to that of the spirit of freedom. In America, I found them intimately linked together in joint reign over the same land…. Tyranny may be able to do without faith, but freedom cannot. And what could be done with a nation in control of itself, if it is not subject to God?”
Christian Patriots: let us no longer stand by and allow the truth of our nation’s great Christian heritage be disparaged. Let us no longer stand by and watch our government be mismanaged and our culture destroyed. Let us no longer stand by and neglect the work before us. Let us unite to restore America, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Will you be brave?
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:6-7).
FOOTNOTES
1 The Mayflower Compact, America's first great governmental document, was signed by the Pilgrims before they disembarked from their ship, the Mayflower. This covenant, revolutionary in its concept of individuals mutually and voluntarily submitting themselves to each other under God, has influenced all other American constitutional instruments since: “In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by ye grace of God, of
Great Britaine, France, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, etc., having undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour
of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutually in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd ye 11. of November, in ye year of ye raigne of our soveraigne lord, King James, of England, France, & Ireland ye eighteenth, and by Scotland ye fiftie fourth. Ano:Dom. 1620.”
2 Winthrop, John. "A Model of Christian Charity" Stewart Mitchell, editor. The Winthrop Papers, 1623-1630 (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1931) Vol. II, 292-295, June 11, 1630.
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The Evolution of Tolerance (by William J Federer)
"A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance No Longer Tolerates Religion"
William J. Federer is president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America?s heritage. His book, America?s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations has sold over 250,000 and his American Minute radio program is aired nationwide. Amerisearch, Inc., P.O. Box 20163, St. Louis, MO 63123. 1-888-USA-WORD www.Amerisearch.net
America, where once Pilgrims came seeking freedom, and found a place to express their Judeo-Christian beliefs? now a place practicing discrimination against those very beliefs in the name of tolerance. How did this happen?
The evolution began in England. When King Henry VIII's divorce was not recognized by the Pope, he decided to be the "pope" of his Church of England, and eventually had six wives whose fates, in succession, were divorce, beheading, death, divorce, beheading, and a survival. King Henry?s advisors suggested that to solidify his break with Rome, he should replace the Latin Bible with an English Bible, in order that his subjects would look to England for their spiritual heritage. Henry did so, but something unexpected happened ? people began to read the Bible ? and they compared what they read to the King?s habits like divorcing and beheading wives.
One group wanted to radically purify the Church of England, resulting in their nickname "Puritans." The King disagreed on the question of his need to be purified, so he persecuted them. As a result, some twenty thousand Puritans fled to Massachusetts, where they tolerated... only Puritans.
Roger Williams was not tolerated in Massachusetts, so he fled south and founded Providence, Rhode Island, and the first Baptist Church in America. Thomas Hooker was not tolerated, so he fled south, founding Hartford, Connecticut, and the Congregational Church. The Quakers were not tolerated, being considered heretics, and, with leader William Penn, they founded Philadelphia. Within a generation, tolerance developed for all Protestant denominations.
Another generation went by, and Catholics began to be tolerated. In 1731 the first Catholic Church in the Colonies was opened in Philadelphia; in 1649 Maryland passed a landmark Toleration Act. By the time of the Declaration of Independence, one of 56 signers was Catholic ? Charles Carroll, the richest man in America whose cousin started Georgetown.
In the early 1800s, French Enlightenment thought experienced a period of popularity in New England, and tolerance was extended to "liberal" Christian denominations like Unitarians and Universalists, who quoted from the Bible and called themselves followers of Christ.
The expanding Christian populace began to promote tolerance of non-Christians. After all, Jesus never forced anyone to believe in Him, did He? To please God, true religion was voluntary from the inside-out, not forced from the outside-in; and to fulfill the Great Commission, those of other faiths should be allowed to come in so they might have an opportunity to hear the Gospel ? so went the reasoning.
Jews experienced varying degrees of tolerance in America, but only in 1851 was Maryland's Constitution was amended to let Jews hold office. In 1860, Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall was the first Rabbi ever to open a session of Congress with prayer; Abraham Lincoln was the first president to allow military Hebrew chaplains.
Until the second half of the 1800s, tolerance extended to Monotheists ? anyone believing in one God. US coins were inscribed with the National Motto "In God We Trust," not "gods," and oaths ended with "So Help Me God," "?gods." A monotheistic God was acknowledged in Federal Courts, which open with the invocation "God save the United States and this Honorable Court"; every President acknowledged God in his Inaugural Address; and each of the state Constitutions made reference to God. Many of those same state Constitutions forbade citizenship to Chinese, Japanese and other "Mongolian" races, in part because they were Polytheists, believing in many gods. By the turn of the last century tolerance had expanded to Polytheists and believers in any other religion.
Finally, in the last half of the 1900s, tolerance was extended to Atheists, Secular Humanists, and the anti-religious.
The founders' Christian exercise of "doing unto others as you would have them do undo you" expanded the circle of tolerance by attempting to find common ground with newly arrived immigrants and newly invented beliefs. Today, those "not believing" among us are now demonstrating intolerance to those "believing." We see their many activist court cases to remove God from the Pledge; to prohibit Ten Commandments monuments; to erase Christian symbols from city seals; to stop prayer at school ballgames and graduations; to ban the Boy Scouts and Salvation Army; and to censor historical documents.
As President Ronald Reagan on February 25, 1984, said: "We're told our children have no right to pray in school. Nonsense. The pendulum has swung too far toward intolerance against genuine religious freedom. It is time to redress the balance."
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