THYME Magazine: Back to School Issue

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VIII, Issue XI

 The Problem of Original Zinn

Last week THYME asked the question: Could it be that the modern activist narrative, perpetuated by writers like Howard Zinn, conveniently ignores the sin, violence and retribution that lies outside of 'Western' activity. His 776 page A People's History of the United States [click to read] is required reading on many college campuses. No doubt, his philosophy has influenced many an aspiring journalist in their own activism. But Zinn must be seen for the Marxist that he is, and his convenient 'omission' of important history needs to be corrected.The problem is that Zinn, not sin, has become the basis for the activism of men like Sharpton and Jackson, who for the media serve as icons of the Civil Rights Movement.

First of all, it must be noted that Zinn himself admits: “Once I was bar mitzvahed, and I had done my religious duty, and my family needn’t be ashamed of me anymore…. that was the end of my religiosity.” He further perpetuates the marginalization of Faith in his works. Bob Cheeks [click to read] writes: "Rhetorician Richard M. Weaver in his essay, Up From Liberalism, explained the spiritual discernment that gave birth to his intellectual epiphany: “Original sin is a parabolical expression of the immemorial tendency of man to do the wrong thing when he knows the right thing.” By acknowledging Original sin, Weaver, abandoned a youthful dalliance with what at that time (the 1930’s) was called liberalism. Unfortunately, historian/activist Howard Zinn had no such epiphany."

The problem is not so much that Zinn has a narrative,but that the academy has embraced Zinn's one-sided narrative as a base for understanding our culture. Daniel J. Flynn sums it up quite nicely: "Who is the most influential historian in America? Could it be Pulitzer Prize winners Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. or Joseph Ellis or David McCullough, whose scholarly works have reached a broad literary public? The answer is none of the above. The accolade belongs instead to the unreconstructed, anti-American Marxist Howard Zinn, whose cartoon anti-history of the United States is still selling 128,000 copies a year twenty years after its original publication. Many of those copies are assigned readings for courses in colleges and high schools taught by leftist disciples of their radical mentor."

That is the problem. Steeped in the narrative that the world was doing fine before the evil white oppressors arrived on the scene, Zinn ignores the sin that has plagued men of all colors and cultures since long ago. Raiding and retribution were seen in tribal cultures and are still seen today in the tragic breakdown of civil society in places like Rwanda. Somehow the only real 'evil' in Zinn's world is that of the Western 'Imperialist.' That is why history, like mapmaking, requires an honest telling. Even America's Romantic period Romanticised the "Noble Savage." Indeed a lot of bloody raiding and retribution was left out even then. Ironically the best anti-colonial emergence of all, the American Experiment, is lumped in with the great empires of Spain and Britian.

No doubt, this is possible because men like Zinn see America as simply a continuation of European Imperialism. What is missed is the bright hope that burned briefly in newly freed African nations who initially modeled themselves after our Constitutional government. I remember that time in the middle of the Twentieth Century where Africans in traditional garb met in gleaming new assembly halls to take their rule from their former colonizers. That seemed such a time of hope and promise. Later I was saddened to see the destruction of Uganda, once known as the 'Pearl of Africa,' by despotic leadership feeding off of the bad feelings and retribution culture of the old tribalism. Rwanda's bloody descent was a terrible playing out of the same scenario.

But the United States Constitution actually acknowledges quite clearly the weakness of man and his propensity to take advantage of his fellows. Thus it enumerates basic rights held by all and limits the restriction of those rights by the institutions of government. Within the framework of Constitution, slavery, long a part of human history, becomes problematic in a way that allows the work of a William Wilberforce to go forward. But, as Bob Cheeks writes: "Zinn’s ideals have a misanthropic ring to them. I don’t believe he loves humanity as he claims. I believe he worships the idea of a state that can transform Americans into that antiseptic android, the socialist’s “New Man.” Perhaps he is angry with a G-d who would allow pain and suffering in this world?"

That last thought of Cheeks, so well dramatized in the movie: G-d's Not Dead [click to read], appears to drive far too much of the narrative at the academy. That would explain the steady stream of socialist solutions coming out of that world and their antipathy for localized initiative outside of government oversight, as in the case of healthcare reform. It may be seen as well in the state's resistance to Faith-based solutions and the desire of the state to create 'compelling public interest' legislation to force businesses run by people of Faith (Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Wood Products) to provide coverage of abortion causing drugs or prohibiting them from refusing service to those who would force them, in providing such service, to violate their conscience (Elane Photography, Sweet Cakes by Melissa). Such is in keeping with the molding of the "antiseptic android," the "New Man." It can be no less than that.

Remembering September 11, 2001

Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)
Alan Jackson

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin' against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out in pride for the red, white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters?

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?

Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Or go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Did you stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to G-d
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?



Lower Manhattan, New York, New York. Photo by Detective Greg Smedinger
 

Arlington, Virginia.
 

Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The Southeast Reliability Project


"There are no simple solutions, only intelligent choices." -- Caterpillar Advertisement.

Intelligent Choices, that was the message of a series of advertisements by construction equipment giant Caterpillar in the 1960's. Of course Caterpillar had a vested interest in the construction industry moving forward, but the thought is a good one. Augusta County, Virginia now faces the need, in the case of Dominion Resources' 42 mile proposed pipeline route through the county, to make some intelligent choices.

"Pipelines tear up the land..." "Affordable Energy requires pipelines." Those could be the conflicting sentiments in today's discussion, much like the opposing viewpoints highlighted in the Caterpillar advertisements. And they can guide us, as we consider the impact and opportunity of any project. A badly designed pipeline route will indeed affect us for years to come, but design is a beautiful process and through intelligent considerations we might indeed arrive at a very workable solution.

The first map of the proposed route simply cut across the expanse of George Washington National Forest without regard for terrain or sensitive natural areas. A second map corrected the route to reflect concern for sensitive areas in the National Forest, but cut a swath through the growing community of Stuarts Draft. The pipeline mappers now had created conflict with the county's comprehensive plan. Supervisor David Karaffa also pointed out the need to protect important underground aquifers in the Stuarts Draft area. Obviously more design is in order.

Pipelines are easiest to site in open country. After they are buried and the land is restored you can indeed farm right over them. They are problematic where there is heavy development. They require an open right of way where only roads may cross them and no structures may be placed over them. It might surprise you to know that a gas pipeline runs right through the Virginia Horse Center Complex outside of Lexington Virginia. At one point the center's designers considered covered walkways from stables to arenas and were stopped by the need to leave pipeline right of way uncovered.

Pipelines are least desirable where there is a dense community or in natural preservation areas. The 100' right of way MUST be maintained clear in order to perform necessary inspection and maintenance. Thus it is imperative that the route be sensitively threaded through the mountains by its designers. But that is certainly possible. Just North of Calf Mountain Shelter on the Appalachian Trail, one first crosses a very obvious swath cut for power line right of way. The electricity crackles in the lines overhead, supported by enormous towers... it is a bit eery... but walk a bit farther and you step into what appears to be a wildlife clearing just past Jarman's Gap. Wildflowers and butterflies abound.

You leave the trail and walk to the edge to take in the view a little better. Only then do you realize you are standing on a natural gas line right of way! You can see now that the cleared path extends on past the end of Buck's Elbow Mountain, far in the distance. I grew up with gas lines. In fact, as a boy I walked to my favorite lake, Triadelphia Reservoir, on the gas line right of way. The gas line actually ran right under the reservoir!

One resource I still have from my younger days is a copy of Ian McHarg's 1967 book: Design with Nature. It is a great guide to intelligently siting projects with sensitivity to their environment. McHarg used a series of semi-transparent overlays on which important natural features, historically important sites and existing communities are all colored in. The result of analyzing the composite of McHarg's overlays is the most environmentally responsible design. Such is the process we must insist be applied to the Southeast Reliability Project.

Samuel Truett Cathy: 1921-2014


Samuel Truett Cathy.

No goal is too high if we climb with care and confidence.”

“Nearly every moment of every day we have the opportunity to give something to someone else – our time, our love, our resources. I have always found more joy in giving when I did not expect anything in return.”

“I’d like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in the right order. We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things have not changed, and the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order.”

“You have to be very careful about what you say. More importantly, you have to be very careful about what you do. You never know how or when you influence people – especially children.”

“It is when we stop doing our best work that our enthusiasm for the job wanes. We must motivate ourselves to do our very best, and by our example lead others to do their best as well.”

“I believe no amount of business school training or work experience can teach what is ultimately a matter of personal character. Businesses are not dishonest or greedy, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership.”

THYME Magazine: Finding the C.U.R.E.

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VIII, Issue X

Finding the C.U.R.E.
Star Parker's Mission to Give People a Voice

As the wreckage of Watts smoldered in the wake of the riots of 1992, a young woman's dream lay shattered in the ruins. Star Parker had dreamed of creating an urban Christian magazine and that enterprise was now a casualty of the violence. As a teen she had had a troubled life, influenced by crime and drugs. She came to Los Angeles with a dream to become a dancer on Soul Train, but ended up as a single mother on welfare instead. Her life was forever changed when she gave it to Christ. She credits her G-d-given Faith for everything that happened after that.

Ms. Parker was motivated by her Faith to do more than simply cash her check and languish for the rest of her life on public assistance. She worked under the table and found a way to put herself through school, earning a degree in marketing. She launched her magazine, only to see her business destroyed in 1992. But Star Parker was only defeated temporarily. She continued her writing and her activism. Taking on the welfare system she had escaped, she wrote her autobiography, Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats, published in 1997. Her second book, Uncle Sam's Plantation, was released in 2003.

Star Parker founded the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education, or CURE, to: "provide a national voice of reason on issues of race and poverty in the media, inner city neighborhoods, and public policy." As a social policy consultant, Star Parker has given regular testimony before the United States Congress, and is a national expert on major television and radio shows across the country. She recently RAN for Congress but was unsuccessful. Star is a regular commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. She has debated Jesse Jackson on BET; fought for school choice on Larry King Live; and defended welfare reform on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Today Ms. Star regularly publishes compelling commentary on issues of the day. Many of them appear on the website of CURE [click to read] and provide a welcome contrast to the repetitive tomes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Her story is amazing. Her writing is clear and lucid. She seems like a woman who has stepped out of the Harlem Renaissance and into our century! She is on a mission to inspire black pastors so that they might inspire their congregants.

So why don't we hear more about her? Her story of overcoming does not square well with the 'victim' narrative favored by so many contemporary activists. Also, her Christian Faith, the catalyst in her amazing life story, is problematic to modern Liberal narrative as well!

Could it be that the modern activist narrative, perpetuated by writers like Howard Zinn, conveniently ignores the sin, violence and retribution that lies outside of 'Western' activity. His 776 page A People's History of the United States [click to read] is required reading on many college campuses. No doubt, his philosophy has influenced many an aspiring journalist in their own activism. But Zinn must be seen for the Marxist that he is, and his convenient 'omission' of important history needs to be corrected.The problem is that Zinn, not sin, has become the basis for the activism of men like Sharpton and Jackson, who for the media serve as icons of the Civil Rights Movement.

First of all, it must be noted that Zinn himself admits: “Once I was bar mitzvahed, and I had done my religious duty, and my family needn’t be ashamed of me anymore…. that was the end of my religiosity.” He further perpetuates the marginalization of Faith in his works. Bob Cheeks [click to read] writes: "Rhetorician Richard M. Weaver in his essay, Up From Liberalism, explained the spiritual discernment that gave birth to his intellectual epiphany: “Original sin is a parabolical expression of the immemorial tendency of man to do the wrong thing when he knows the right thing.” By acknowledging Original sin, Weaver, abandoned a youthful dalliance with what at that time (the 1930’s) was called liberalism. Unfortunately, historian/activist Howard Zinn had no such epiphany."

The problem becomes most apparent when 'history' focuses on slavery in the Western world, conveniently forgetting its long-standing existence both ancient and primitive societies. Ignored is the fact that it was the Western world that created conditions for the dialogue and activism that largely ended the foul institution. Faith was the catalyst in the lives of men like John Newton and William Wilberforce. It was the catalyst for Martin Luther King's dream as well.

Indeed, Star Parker finds herself swimming upstream (as far as the academy is concerned) with her message of personal responsibility and empowerment. Her message and indeed her own life story serve to deconstruct the 'victim' narrative so essential to the perpetuation of the modern Liberal philosophy. Where they would focus on reforming 'corrupt' (as they see it) institutions, Parker seeks to reform the man! We would do well to remember that our great universities were founded on this principle, to bring the Gospel into practical practice in the hearts of individuals that make up our society. Star Parker is merely picking up their original mission in the work she does. Her message resonates with that of Martin Luther King's 1962 Speech, given at the Lincoln Memorial:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beckoning light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

One hundred years later the Negro is still languishing in the comers of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.

We all have come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to change racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice ring out for all of God's children.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted citizenship rights.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

And the marvelous new militarism which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers have evidenced by their presence here today that they have come to realize that their destiny is part of our destiny.

So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and before the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the mount with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the genuine discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, pray together; to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom forever, )mowing that we will be free one day.

And I say to you today my friends, let freedom ring. From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the mighty Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snow capped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only there; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill in Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of G-d's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank G-d almighty, we're free at last!"

The Divine Plan of Redemption

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 I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." -- 2 Chronicles 7:14

The Great Depression of the 1930's in America...


What does redemption really look like? "The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph" -- Mr. Mendez.

"What this world needs is a little Wonder!" -- Mr Mendez

This beautiful short film has much to say about the mission of G-d's people in the world today. Do we grasp the wonder of Imago Dei in those around us? Do we seek to encourage and nurture it. The Butterfly Circus should be seen as a challenge to all of us in this regard.

THYME Magazine: Seeking Solutions

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VIII, Issue V

An American Story

Dinesh D’Souza, In his film America, addresses the so-called 'historian,' Howard Zinn. Zinn is required reading on the university campuses but his 'history,' while it is quick to point out the very real sins of American history, is all to quick to omit the essential core of the American narrative, that of Redemption! This omission leads the uninformed consumer of Zinn to regard America as just the ultimate manifestation of conquering Colonialism, but the entire narrative tells a different story altogether. In the midst of human weakness, a nation crafted looking to G-d for guidance, was to be the stage for triumph over evil.

Slavery was indeed a vile evil. William Wilberforce fought to eliminate it in England, but the institution stubbornly remained in America until the middle of the Nineteenth Century. The seeds of its distruction, it must be noted, had already been planted in the Declaration of Inalienable Rights first drafted by the Patriots. The departure from John Locke's original "Life, Liberty and Property" was not accidental. It marks a moment of Divine inspiration. That inspiration would see its fruition only after the country's bloodiest war, fought within our own borders.

Zinn and his disciples omit the stories of triumph, such as that of C. J. Walker, because they do not bear out the oppressor/victim narrative at all. The sad truth is that many young people are not being told the wonderful stories that might inspire them. THYME would like to change that.

A Distinctly American Story

She was born Sarah Breedlove, on December 23, 1867, on a cotton plantation near Delta, Louisiana. She was the fifth child of Owen and Minerva, who had been slaves up to the Emancipation. She was orphaned at age seven and went to live with her sister, Louvinia, and her brother-in-law in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Sarah likely picked cotton and did other manual labor but when she was fourteen, she married Moses McWilliams. On June 6, 1885, their daughter A'Leila was born. Two years later, Sarah became a widow. She and A'Lelia moved to St. Louis, where Sarah's brothers were barbers. Working as a laundress, Sarah made enough money to send her daughter to the city school. She herself attended public night school whenever she was able to. It was in St. Louis that Sarah Breedlove met her second husband Charles J. Walker. He worked in advertising and would later become the promoter of her hair care business.

When Sarah Breedlove developed a scalp disorder that resulted in the loss of most of her hair, she experimented with home remedies and patent medicines in an effort to cure it. In 1905, she became a salesperson for Annie Turnbo Malone in Denver, who had developed a line of hair care products for African-American women. By 1907 she had developed her own line of products. Opening her first factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1908, she also opened a beauty school to train her "Walker Agents," who instructed local operators in the best use of her products. She saw her mission as more than producing products. She saw her beauty care products as a means of elevating the status of Black women and became active in philanthropic work as well. The whole operation was later moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where the business continued to grow.

C. J. Walker them moved to Harlem in New York City. She and her daughter A'Lelia became an important part of the 'Harlem Renaissance.' She died on May 25, 1919. She was but 51 years old, yet her personal journey had taken her to such heights that she remains an inspiration to all who know her story.


A child plays in the rubble of Yarmouk. Photo by Jonathan Messing.

Children in a World of Troubles

Yarmouk was home to the largest Palestinian refugee community in the country before the conflict began. 180,000 Palestinian civilians called it home. Now only 20,000 remain. Food and medical supplies are routinely denied entry and starvation is one of the three main causes of death. Recently, in the Jarabulus area, 22 people were killed and thrown into the streets to instill fear in the population. Some of them were children." -- Jonathan Messing

Massacre at Yarmouk [click to read]

I was informed last Friday that there were Unaccompanied Child Immigrants (UCI) at the Shenandoah Juvenile Detention Center in Verona. Like most others, I had read the newspapers and heard the news reports about these children, but now they were here in my district. I called the detention center and set up an appointment to meet some of these children.

I arrived at the Juvenile Detention Center Monday morning at 8 am. I had the opportunity to meet five illegal immigrant children, look into their welfare, and hear their stories. It was a heart-breaking experience." -- David Karaffa

Illegal Immigrant Children in Verona [click to read].

The Islamic State last week issued an ultimatum to the Christians in the town of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, ordering them to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax or face death. The statement by the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, warned that the Christians had until Saturday to “leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate.” He added that, “After this date, there is nothing between us and them but the sword.” Messages warning Christians about the ultimatum were announced through loudspeakers on the city’s mosques. Church leaders advised the few families who wanted to negotiate with terrorist that they should also flee for their own safety. The exodus went on in Mosul throughout Friday, with all the Christians abandoning the town by the end of the day. “For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians,” said one man. "We have lived in this city and we have had a civilization for thousands of years - and suddenly some strangers came and expelled us from our homes," a woman in her 60s told media sources. “Hundreds were walking on foot,” said a bishop in the neighboring city of Tel Keif. He said many of them were bereft of all money or possessions - and that ISIS had robbed them of all of their belongings before setting off for refugee camps. (Israel National News/Reuters) Where is the outcry from the Christian world about what's happening to the Christians in Iraq? Where is the UN? Where are the evangelicals? Where are the Jews and the protesters who so quickly come against Israel!" -- JNN News

THYME Magazine: What Makes a Nation Great?

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VIII, Issue II

What Makes a Nation Great?

The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] once asked: "What makes a school great?" THYME asks: "Why stop there, what makes a NATION great?" As we seek to teach our children the foundations of our Nation, we can agree with the 'other' magazine that it takes great teachers.

No doubt, some will insist that it is a simple matter of perfecting institutions. Some will venture so far as to address the character of man himself, but it is quite evident that those who crafted the original documents our nation is founded on saw a need for a hand greater than their own to guide them. Their own writings give us a clear indication that they did,  so here are some thoughts from our Founding Fathers:

John Adams and John Hancock:
We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus! [April 18, 1775]

John Adams:
“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of G-d.”
“[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798

"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." December 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson

"Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell." [John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817]

Samuel Adams: 
“He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.” [ "American Independence," August 1, 1776. Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia]

“ Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.” [October 4, 1790]

John Quincy Adams:
“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?
--1837, at the age of 69, when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts.

“The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.”
John Quincy Adams. Letters to his son. p. 61

Elias Boudinot:
“Be religiously careful in our choice of all public officers . . . and judge of the tree by its fruits.”

Charles Carroll - signer of the Declaration of Independence
" Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." [Source: To James McHenry on November 4, 1800.]

Benjamin Franklin:
“ G-d governs in the affairs of man. 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 in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” –Constitutional Convention of 1787 original manuscript of this speech

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?” [Constitutional Convention, Thursday June 28, 1787]

In Benjamin Franklin's 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania, he insisted that schools teach "the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern."

In 1787 when Franklin helped found Benjamin Franklin University, it was dedicated as "a nursery of religion and learning, built on Christ, the Cornerstone."

Alexander Hamilton:
Hamilton began work with the Rev. James Bayard to form the Christian Constitutional Society to help spread over the world the two things which Hamilton said made America great:
(1) Christianity
(2) a Constitution formed under Christianity.
“The Christian Constitutional Society, its object is first: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.”

On July 12, 1804 at his death, Hamilton said, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me.”

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of G-d, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." [1787 after the Constitutional Convention]

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."

John Hancock:
“In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, …at the same time all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness… Resolved; …Thursday the 11th of May…to humble themselves before God under the heavy judgments felt and feared, to confess the sins that have deserved them, to implore the Forgiveness of all our transgressions, and a spirit of repentance and reformation …and a Blessing on the … Union of the American Colonies in Defense of their Rights [for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God]…That the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that shall make for the peace of the nation…for the redress of America’s many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations.
"A Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, with a total abstinence from labor and recreation. Proclamation on April 15, 1775"

Patrick Henry:
"Orator of the Revolution."
This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”
—The Last Will and Testament of Patrick Henry

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” [May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses]

“The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

John Jay:
“ Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Source: October 12, 1816. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed., (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol. IV, p. 393.

“Whether our religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have generally received either from the clergy or the laity. It appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his attachment to Ahab ["Shouldest thou help the ung-dly and love them that hate the Lord?" 2 Chronicles 19:2] affords a salutary lesson.” [The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), Vol. IV, p.365]

Thomas Jefferson:
“ The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.”

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

"I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (excerpts are inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in the nations capital) [Source: Merrill . D. Peterson, ed., Jefferson Writings, (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984), Vol. IV, p. 289. From Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781.]

Samuel Johnston:
“It is apprehended that Jews, Mahometans (Muslims), pagans, etc., may be elected to high offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be elected to the office of President or other high office, [unless] first the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves.
[Elliot’s Debates, Vol. IV, pp 198-199, Governor Samuel Johnston, July 30, 1788 at the North Carolina Ratifying Convention]

James Madison:
“ We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all of our heart.”

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of G-d.” [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia]

• I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and [who] are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare the unsatisfactoriness [of temportal enjoyments] by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give in your evidence in this way.
Letter by Madison to William Bradford (September 25, 1773)

• In 1812, President Madison signed a federal bill which economically aided the Bible Society of Philadelphia in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible
.
“ An Act for the relief of the Bible Society of Philadelphia” Approved February 2, 1813 by Congress

“It is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.”

• A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven. [Letter by Madison to William Bradford [urging him to make sure of his own salvation] November 9, 1772]

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison proposed the plan to divide the central government into three branches. He discovered this model of government from the Perfect Governor, as he read Isaiah 33:22;
“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our king;
He will save us.”
[Baron Charles Montesquieu, wrote in 1748; “Nor is there liberty if the power of judging is not separated from legislative power and from executive power. If it [the power of judging] were joined to legislative power, the power over life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary, for the judge would be the legislature if it were joined to the executive power, the judge could have the force of an oppressor. All would be lost if the same … body of principal men … exercised these three powers." Madison claimed Isaiah 33:22 as the source of division of power in government
See also: pp.241-242 in Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History: The Principle approach by Rosalie Slater]

James McHenry – Signer of the Constitution:
Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.

Jedediah Morse:
"To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. . . . Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg:
In a sermon delivered to his Virginia congregation on Jan. 21, 1776, he preached from Ecclesiastes 3.

Arriving at verse 8, which declares that there is a time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenberg noted that this surely was not the time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer in the Continental army! He marched to the back of the church; ordered the drum to beat for recruits and over three hundred men joined him, becoming the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenberg finished the Revolution as a Major-General, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown.

Thomas Paine:
“ It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.”
“ The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator himself, they stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter, and jump over all the rest by saying, that matter is eternal.” “The Existence of God--1810”

Benjamin Rush:
• “I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them…we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this Divine Book, above all others, constitutes the soul of republicanism.” “By withholding the knowledge of [the Scriptures] from children, we deprive ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds.” [Letter written (1790’s) in Defense of the Bible in all schools in America]
• “Christianity is the only true and perfect religion.”
• “If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into our world would have been unnecessary.”

"Let the children who are sent to those schools be taught to read and write and above all, let both sexes be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education”
Letters of Benjamin Rush, "To the citizens of Philadelphia: A Plan for Free Schools", March 28, 1787

Justice Joseph Story:
“ I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society. One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. . . There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying its foundations.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]
“ Infidels and pagans were banished from the halls of justice as unworthy of credit.” [Life and letters of Joseph Story, Vol. II 1851, pp. 8-9.]
“ At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]

Noah Webster:
“ The duties of men are summarily comprised in the Ten Commandments, consisting of two tables; one comprehending the duties which we owe immediately to G-d-the other, the duties we owe to our fellow men.”

“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”
[Source: 1828, in the preface to his American Dictionary of the English Language]

Let it be impressed on your mind that G-d commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God [Exodus 18:21]. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. [Noah Webster, The History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie and Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337, 49]

“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” [Noah Webster. History. p. 339]

“The Bible was America’s basic textbook
in all fields.” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5]

“Education is useless without the Bible” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5 ]

George Washington:
Farewell Address: The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion" ...and later: "...reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..."


“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without G-d and Bible.”

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.” [speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779]

"To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian" [May 2, 1778, at Valley Forge]
During his inauguration, Washington took the oath as prescribed by the Constitution but added several religious components to that official ceremony. Before taking his oath of office, he summoned a Bible on which to take the oath, added the words “So help me G-d!” to the end of the oath, then leaned over and kissed the Bible.

Nelly Custis-Lewis (Washington’s adopted daughter):
Is it necessary that any one should [ask], “Did General Washington avow himself to be a believer in Christianity?" As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic devotion to his country. His mottos were, "Deeds, not Words"; and, "For G-d and my Country."

“ O Most Glorious G-d, in Jesus Christ, my merciful and loving Father; I acknowledge and confess my guilt in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of my sins, but so coldly and carelessly that my prayers are become my sin, and they stand in need of pardon.”
“ I have sinned against heaven and before Thee in thought, word, and deed. I have contemned Thy majesty and holy laws. I have likewise sinned by omitting what I ought to have done and committing what I ought not. I have rebelled against the light, despising Thy mercies and judgment, and broken my vows and promise. I have neglected the better things. My iniquities are multiplied and my sins are very great. I confess them, O Lord, with shame and sorrow, detestation and loathing and desire to be vile in my own eyes as I have rendered myself vile in Thine. I humbly beseech Thee to be merciful to me in the free pardon of my sins for the sake of Thy dear Son and only Savior Jesus Christ who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Thou gavest Thy Son to die for me.”
[George Washington; from a 24 page authentic handwritten manuscript book dated April 21-23, 1752
William J. Johnson George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York & Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-35.]

"Although guided by our excellent Constitution in the discharge of official duties, and actuated, through the whole course of my public life, solely by a wish to promote the best interests of our country; yet, without the beneficial interposition of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, we could not have reached the distinguished situation which we have attained with such unprecedented rapidity. To HIM, therefore, should we bow with gratitude and reverence, and endeavor to merit a continuance of HIS special favors". [1797 letter to John Adams]

James Wilson:
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
Supreme Court Justice appointed by George Washington
Spoke 168 times during the Constitutional Convention

"Christianity is part of the common law"
[Sources: James Wilson, Course of Lectures [vol 3, p.122]; and quoted in Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, 11 Serg, & R. 393, 403 (1824).]

Source: Quotes of the Founding Fathers.


Photo by Nick Page.

School Starting Age: The Evidence
by David Whitebread

Earlier this month the "Too Much, Too Soon" campaign made headlines with a letter calling for a change to the start age for formal learning in schools. Here, one of the signatories, Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, from the Faculty of Education, explains why children may need more time to develop before their formal education begins in earnest.

"In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously" -- David Whitebread

In England children now start formal schooling, and the formal teaching of literacy and numeracy at the age of four. A recent letter signed by around 130 early childhood education experts, including myself, published in the Daily Telegraph (11 Sept 2013) advocated an extension of informal, play-based pre-school provision and a delay to the start of formal ‘schooling’ in England from the current effective start until the age of seven (in line with a number of other European countries who currently have higher levels of academic achievement and child well-being).

This is a brief review of the relevant research evidence [1.] which overwhelmingly supports a later start to formal education. This evidence relates to the contribution of playful experiences [2.] to children’s development as learners, and the consequences of starting formal learning at the age of four to five years of age

There are several strands of evidence which all point towards the importance of play in young children’s development, and the value of an extended period of playful learning before the start of formal schooling. These arise from anthropological, psychological, neuroscientific and educational studies. Anthropological studies of children’s play in extant hunter-gatherer societies, and evolutionary psychology studies of play in the young of other mammalian species, have identified play as an adaptation which evolved in early human social groups. It enabled humans to become powerful learners and problem-solvers. Neuroscientific studies have shown that playful activity leads to synaptic growth, particularly in the frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for all the uniquely human higher mental functions.

In my own area of experimental and developmental psychology, studies have also consistently demonstrated the superior learning and motivation arising from playful, as opposed to instructional, approaches to learning in children. Pretence play supports children’s early development of symbolic representational skills, including those of literacy, more powerfully than direct instruction. Physical, constructional and social play supports children in developing their skills of intellectual and emotional ‘self-regulation’, skills which have been shown to be crucial in early learning and development. Perhaps most worrying, a number of studies have documented the loss of play opportunities for children over the second half of the 20th century and demonstrated a clear link with increased indicators of stress and mental health problems.

Within educational research, a number of longitudinal studies have demonstrated superior academic, motivational and well-being outcomes for children who had attended child-initiated, play-based pre-school programmes. One particular study of 3,000 children across England, funded by the Department for Education themselves, showed that an extended period of high quality, play-based pre-school education was of particular advantage to children from disadvantaged households.

Studies have compared groups of children in New Zealand who started formal literacy lessons at ages 5 and 7. Their results show that the early introduction of formal learning approaches to literacy does not improve children’s reading development, and may be damaging. By the age of 11 there was no difference in reading ability level between the two groups, but the children who started at 5 developed less positive attitudes to reading, and showed poorer text comprehension than those children who had started later. In a separate study of reading achievement in 15 year olds across 55 countries, researchers showed that there was no significant association between reading achievement and school entry age.

This body of evidence raises important and serious questions concerning the direction of travel of early childhood education policy currently in England. In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. [1.] The original article appears Here [click to read].

THYME Magazine Special Shutdown Edition II

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VI, Issue XVIII

"What Happened to America?"
A Conversation with Donna Lou Shikel
© 2013 Donna Lou Shickel Publishing Co. Distribute freely with permission

(This is a transcript of This Broadcast [click to listen] of Donna Lou Shickel's program: A Place of Grace. It is a very well researched beginning to a series she is presenting on this program. Here is presented a very concise, but thorough picture of what has happened to our nation. This is essential information for those of us who wish to reclaim it).

A Decline by Diabolical Design? 

What has happened in America in the last half a century? How have the foundational blocks of a Judeo-Christian society, dissolved so quickly? How has the greatest country in all of the world’s history moved toward the brave new world, right under our noses? And are we, without even knowing it, part of her decline? Welcome to A Place of Grace, I’m your host, Donna Lou. I used to think people who spoke of what I’m about to tell you were conspiracy theorists. Back when I didn’t want to listen because somewhere, in my heart, I knew if I did, I would be compelled to investigate, and then do something about it. And regret that I had other matters more pressing – family, faith, and freely sharing that faith even at state sponsored events. Matters which will all play out very differently for my children because I figured someone else would take care of it. This is America. But ever since beginning this program, I have had countless letters from listeners, especially our World War II generation, wanting to share their fears over where America is headed if we as Christians do not stand for America’s Judeo-Christian values and founding principles. I once dismissed people who spoke of America’s decline as alarmists, sky is falling chicken littles. Because that’s what they were so commonly labeled. Today we call them haters. As I’ve researched this progression for the past six months now, in preparation for today’s show, I have been struck by just what one person with an ordinary background can accomplish through lies for the sake of evil. And today, as a Christian, I am convicted that with G0d, as a disciple and ambassador of Christ Himself, how much more can one person do in His Love for the sake of Truth?

You may know, more people were slaughtered in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined. According to the Congressional record, one hundred and thirty-five million - martyred for the cause of Communism, which says there is no law higher than the state – the government. And in order to achieve that end, they must create new types of human beings who would conform to the blueprint of a world in which they have great faith they will one day control. The Communist Party operates by infiltrating and subverting social institutions like the churches, schools, mass media and government. And according to Vladimir Lenon, founder of the Soviet Union, the first and necessary step toward Communism is to implement socialism – socializing every institution under the nation’s government. And the main thrust of this philosophy is to first destroy all Judeo-Christian culture and values. No longer by force, because that hasn’t worked, but by subverting from the inside out. But we thought Communism was dead. The Berlin wall came down! No, Communism is alive and deadly for one and a half billion people in South and Central America, six countries in Latin America, Africa, China, Cuba, North Korea, Viet Nam, Russia, Eastern Europe, and proponents of its philosophy serve in governments and universities all over the world. How can this be? Well as Whitaker Chambers, former Soviet spy and member of Communist Party USA said after his conversion: “Communism succeeds because most people who promote Communist causes are not Communists—the useful idiots, as Lenin called them—giving an air of legitimacy it would never have if it were identified with communists or Communism.” So are well-intentioned people becoming useful idiots? And why would anyone be in favor of promoting socialism that without exception always leads to communism and the mass murder of more people in times of peace than all of the wars of history combined?

Denying a Divine Design for Society

History has proven that the free society of a Judeo-Christian nation best benefits all people. In my research in trying to be fair and see both sides, I discovered that Socialists and Communists have no hidden agendas. They are wide out in the open, and despite changing their label from socialists to progressives, they are not ashamed not too complacent to promote their agenda. But without having knowledge of this agenda, today in America, have many good people, including the targeted Judeo-Christan populace, cooperated with socialist/communist goals? Do we follow Jesus, Who came to serve? Do we claim the words of the Apostle Paul, 10 I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ (1 Corinthians 12 verse 10) Or have we bought in to the notion that we are entitled to be free from hardship and deserving of being served? All ideologies that set aside God’s plan to “make life fair” for mankind by man’s plan only succeed by devaluing and destroying certain groups of human beings first, then eventually, everyone but those in power. Dictators like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro all came to power by claiming to bring change and make life and the world fair and just for all people. But facts show that there is no example in history that big government does NOT prepare the platform for just such an evil dictator, even using well-intentioned predecessors to prepare the way, that’s what’s so scary, and it’s the reason our Constitution is set up the way it is. But the Constitution, the law, is being broken time and time again, to use against the very Christian faith of DIVINE justice it was founded upon. And we just shake our heads. Because like the nations before us, no one dared even suggest that such wonderful people as their country’s leaders could have anything but the best plan in mind for them -even as they were promised justice for all in the process of having every individual freedom stripped from them to create greater dependency on the state.

Frogs in the pot? No, I don’t think so. Had the frog been told he was the frog in the pot he would have had the sense to at least fight to get out of the pot. Socialism, the first necessary step, is taking things by force, not godly charity and justice, from one person to freely give to another. Up front, it may look fair and just. Most people in our country don’t see the evil behind this at all because it’s the utopian vision that will finally bring world peace and justice. So many good people in our country, and government, are sincere in raising up the down and out. But before you can get people to the place you can take by force, you have to demonize certain groups, elevate others, create divisions between them and by the time they are in so much fear (also part of the plan), all they can think of are their own personal interests, and others are dehumanized. No longer compassion and love of neighbor, but disconnected and even repulsed by certain other groups of human beings. Because as is in their open agendas, socialists know they must get citizens to dehumanize others in order for the plan to progress. History shows us that whether it was Hitler’s National Socialism or Stalin’s Soviet Socialism, the people eventually revolt, and the government, who has already prevented its people from being armed with their own weapons of self defense, responds with mass murders. Could never happen here? Not in civilized Germany either. Ever hear the story of the cattle cars full of Jews that would pass behind a certain Christian church, and in the middle of their worship they would hear the train and the cries for help? The good people, what could they do at this point, would pick up their hymnals and sing as loud as they could to drown it out. People would be too afraid to even make such associations. And not a one of us can judge a person’s heart, or whether their motives are good or evil. Or some of both, we don’t know. We don’t know who is a well-intentioned pawn and who is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. But we do know that what is happening in America is evil. And we have to call evil, evil. Because the nest phase of this evil plan is to create chaos, then government steps in as the solution. Because by this point, in the midst of fear and chaos, people will turn a blind eye to the demise of others while bowing to those in authority. They will cooperate with the very leaders they trust the least to come to their aid!

First, they must destroy family, law, productivity, prosperity, and methodically eradicate individual freedoms. Degrade the culture. Infiltrate education, media, call it political correctness, but it’s really cultural Marxism, then it becomes traditional Marxism which is socialism then it becomes outright communism, where the government controls every institution and individual. But if we remember history, why wouldn’t we look at this and take a stand? Well, much of this history has been removed from our children’s textbooks, and replaced with a vilification of our free market system as evil, along with the magnification of all of America’s social ills while removing her legacy of charity and heroism. And the influence of Christian Judeo values, which once was acknowledged as at the heart of every American victory over evil, for G0d and fellow countryman, has been taught to an entire generation, that now the CAUSE of every civilization’s problems and wars, is religion. You even hear this propaganda from pulpits. We’ve been too brainwashed to cry foul over being stripped of our religious freedoms, we’re the bad guys now. We can only turn the other cheek and convince ourselves that Jesus will return next weekend. Problem is, in doing so, we’re unwittingly cooperating in the destruction of the many souls Christ sent us to reach. A generation has been raised on this, and its founders are tenured, ordained and in public office.

Friends, none of us wants injustice in our world. But few of us want a real leader, because a leader is someone who leads the people to become involved in their plan to move forward. We’ve gotten too complacent to even educate ourselves on the issues, as we see with our government Health Care Plan. (Although no one was allowed to read the bill until it was passed, and if we did? We’d read what it proposes, and say, yea, but that’s a scenario that could never happen.) Most people decide who they will vote for not by doing research, but by “charisma” and charm, and slants from their misleading advertising and the secular media. We’ll go by emotions, not facts. That takes too much time and trouble. Again, the mission of socialists, or progressives, always sound like a good thing. But the agenda, which we’re going to talk about, is a nightmare. In 1992 the Communist party USA split over differences in how to take America down. One side wanted outright revolution. But the other side recognized that all of those efforts throughout history have failed. They saw that the best plan was to infiltrate America from the inside. Because a people united in faith in God and in sacrificial love of their fellow citizens could not be brought down and ruled by government no matter what you do to them. But if you destroy the human will and character, if you work to rot away the sacrificial life of those who would give their lives for the greater good, then people will become so dependent that they will want you to rule and reign. If you can break down individual integrity, destroy and degrade the family, then you can penetrate the culture with a cultural revolution. Precipitate and actually create crisis and government can step in and once the chaos comes, people are very eager to step aside and let the government step in. The more this happens, the more dependency on big government you can create, the more quickly people will compromise their G0d-given values. This is so evil, and contrary to everything we stand for as children of G0d.

 The Forty-five Goals of the Communist Party

If you look up the Communist Party USA, which has chapter members in every state and growing, once you read past their opening mission statements of helping the poor and disenfranchised, you will easily discover their agenda consists of something entirely different, and outrageously evil. And very much in effect in our country today. Their goals, which originated in Europe, were reaffirmed after their split in 1992 and were confirmed in a book called “The Naked Communist” written back in 1958 by Cleon Skousen, a former FBI agent investigating communist activities. The book outlines 45 goals set forth by Communists in the 1930’s, which were updated from the original Communist goals outlined back to the 1880’s in Europe. The first two goals require U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war and U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. Number three says: “Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.” The goals continue with promotion of alliances, free trade and aid to Communist countries. Number eleven says: "Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces because (it says), (some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. 

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths (like the Pledge of Allegiance). 
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 
15. Capture (infiltrate) one or both of the political parties in the United States. 
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. (If you look up the National Education Association’s agenda, you would be shocked to see how effective they’ve been.) Put the party line in textbooks (promote communist ideals in US textbooks, and we have many individuals with connections to communist organizations who are in the highest ranks of education – just compare the history books of today with from when you were little . 
18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 
19. Use student riots . . .. 
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of (book-review) assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. (that was easy) 

Number 22: Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. Eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms. Again, people in these government positions are connected to Socialist/communist organizations. 
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art. 
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch." 
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools (again, this from 1958!) on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. (Again, a generation indoctrinated would agree with this statement.) 
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." (again, just pick up one of the textbooks) #32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized (government) control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. (abolished in 1975) 
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 
37. …and of big business. 
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat]. 
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems. 
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 
 45. Repeal the Connally Reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike."

That is from the 1958 book, “The Naked Communist.” As I said, most socialists and communists, other than the Communist Party USA chapters, are now labeling themselves “progressives”. They’re even getting rid of the label of “liberals.” Many of whom probably don’t realize they are cooperating with the open agendas of Communism, or if they do, think it’s an acceptable compromise for change. But in any case, the first attack is on all of our traditional Christian Judeo, moral values - the traditional family. These Communist Agendas begun in America in the 1930’s and in Europe in the 1880’s, ratified in the 60’s, 90’s, and you’ll find them when you look up the Fabian Society, from 1880’s still alive and growing, or the Students for a Democratic Society, later the Weather Underground Organization, busting at the seams, ACORN, well you get the point. On our own soil, under our noses, calling members to work to promote infidelity, divorce, co-habitation and sexual immorality and immodesty. Fuel the women’s liberation movement, promote discontent and anger between the sexes. Belittle and degrade the father as head of the family and get women into the workforce to remove children from parental influence and into government programs as early as possible. To increase governmental power, destroy business and the free markets, demonize business owners, both large and small, as “the wealthy and privileged” - enemies of the poor, despite their being the largest source of remedy for underprivileged, I mean 10 percent of nothing is still nothing) and paint businesses as the enemy of the environmental movement which the socialist/progressives in the organizations I cited, state is “as essential to the destruction of capitalism as was the legalization of the birth control to getting women to abdicate their own children” who were then ripe for indoctrination, and to destroy the traditional, bourgeois family, as they labeled it. Discourage business growth with new laws, taxes and red tape. Didn’t business majors at James Madison University (along with other schools) just get singled out to pay thousands more in tuition to make life “more fair” for the other majors? I couldn’t compare the work business majors had to do compared to me as a liberal arts major. The news release called this singling out of business majors as a means to “even the playing field”. Not for science or engineering majors, who generally make higher salaries - no, just business majors. One more link in the chain of imprisonment to make independent business the villain and government the hero.

Class Warfare as a Part of Their Agenda

Another important part of their open agenda is to destroy unity in America by igniting class divisions. Promote hatred between the races, the rich and the poor, men and women, the young and old, between the North and the South, within religions, get behind any discontent and fuel it and vilify anyone trying to heal divisions. Use political correctness to demonize anyone and everyone in your way. Take your biggest swing at the Church, and promote vilification of Christians, and anywhere there is division between Christian entities, jump in and promote it. One method of openly degrading morality I discovered in a Students for a Democratic Society meeting I attended in college, and I’ll have to tell you about that bone-chilling experience next time, but the statement was actually to incite hatred against any churches teaching the virtues and sacrificial life. To promote sexual immorality and the traditional, archaic Christian values, you can accuse anyone who teaches a life of virtue and sanctification of promoting a “salvation through works” theology. Christians just look for reasons to hate each other,” the speaker said. And people laughed. But all these groups call members to incite prejudice and bigotry after maligning and slandering us to the extend that those activists sincerely believe they are crusaders in a cause for what is right and what is good. I’ll tell you also next time of some of the radical, socialist leaders who’ve infiltrated our education system, government, news media, Hollywood and churches to dismantle Judeo-Christian values, morality and to fuel any divisions and prejudices that ordinary people like you and I can participate in and see as “harmless”. Am I being dramatic or alarmist? Or a hater? Well, no one decided one day to simply start throwing Jewish families into ovens.

No soldier with a conscience would participate with a Communist leader forcing starvation on millions of their own countrymen. And no civilized American would tolerate health care that jeopardizes their grandparents or anyone else who can’t speak up. It starts with an insidious plan in which the majority who cooperate with are well-intentioned but blind to. And you can and must do your own research and decide how successful they have been, and consider which of these trajectories we have compromised with that started so small, the lesser evil, but now we see how far from the Truth that we profess, they have taken us. And don’t fear. If you’re involved, praying, believing G0d, and standing firm in His Truth, Who is Christ, you won’t fear. But if you’re doing nothing, if you won’t even take the time to go to your children’s parent teacher’s conference, or you’re too chicken speak to an errant pastor, or take the time to even cast an informed vote, well then, trust me, fearing is all you can and will do. Burying your head is a scawy, dark place. But who feels afraid in the Light? Come on, beloved! As I said in the opening, in six months of researching this topic which we’ll continue with part 2 and 3 if we have to, I’ve been AMAZED at just what one person with an ordinary background can accomplish through lies for the sake of evil. But as a Christian, I am convicted that with G0d, as a disciple and ambassador of Christ Himself, with two thirds of the hosts of Heaven and countless saints cheering us on, how much more can just one person do in His Love for the sake of Truth? Join the battle for Truth and Divine Justice. And know at least, if we go down, we’ll go down on the winning side.

Broken Compass

Let's Hope the World is Right About 'Evil' Israel


Can we trust the world's compass if it is that broken?

Dennis Prager [click to read] in Jewish World Review.

"The reason mankind has to hope that the world, its leaders, its newspapers, its so-called human rights organizations and the United Nations are right about Israel is quite simple: If Israel is the decent party in its war with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas — and nearly all the world's countries, nearly all the world's media and the United Nations are morally wrong — what hope is there for humanity? If the world's moral compass is that broken, are we not sailing into a dark age?"

The Plain Truth about Israel [click to read] by Caroline B. Glick.

An Apalling Lack of Curiosity

Why Doesn’t Anyone Care... The Unread Soviet Archives?


Tanks in Red Square.

A Hidden History of Evil [click to read] by Claire Berlinski in City Journal.

"We rightly insisted upon total denazification; we rightly excoriatethose who now attempt to revive the Nazis’ ideology. But the world exhibits a perilous failure to acknowledge the monstrous history of Communism. These documents should be translated. They should be housed in a reputable library, properly cataloged, and carefully assessed by scholars. Above all, they should be well-known to a public that seems to have forgotten what the Soviet Union was really about. If they contain what Stroilov and Bukovsky say—and all the evidence I’ve seen suggests that they do—this is the obligation of anyone who gives a damn about history, foreign policy, and the scores of millions dead."

I grew up during the Cuban Missle Crisis. The possibility of an all out nuclear attack caused me to consider Eternal realities at a very young age. Eventually that consideration would lead me to faith.

At that point in history evil was very real and clearly discernable. Today so many thinking people seem to just not want to know. Stalin's destruction of ten million lives just doesn't seem to matter anymore. Flying over Siberia on the way to Japan, I remembered that Korean Airlines flight 007 had been shot down for straying into Soviet airspace years before. I probably was the only person on the airplane who made the connection. Most of my fellow passengers napped or watched movies as I stared out the plane window at the frozen wasteland where dissidents were exiled to.

Today the American President is all too quick to find fault with our own country and all too oblivious to the evil outside our borders. We dare not ignore the honest study of history!