The Place of Faith in Education

A Unique Perspective on the Issue from CIVITAS


Iris.

"Education is only adequate and worthy when it is itself religious… There is no possibility of neutrality… To be neutral concerning G-d is the same thing as to ignore Him… If children are brought up to have an understanding of life in which, in fact, there is no reference to G-d, you cannot correct the effect of that by speaking about G-d for a certain period of the day. Therefore our ideal for the children of our country is the ideal for truly religious education." -- William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942.

Here is a very interesting report from CIVITAS [1.], on The Place of Faith in Schools [click to read] by Professor David Conway. It adds a new dimension to the debate now raging in America between those who would impose a strictly secular criteria and those who consider Faith an essential component of learning.

"[A] nation which draws into itself continuously, and not merely in its first beginnings, the inspiration of a religious faith and a religious purpose will increase its own vitality… Our own nation… has been inspired by a not ignoble notion of national duty to aid the oppressed – the persecuted Vaudois, the suffering slave, the oppressed nationality – and it has been most... characteristically national when it has most felt such inspiration…

We offend against the essence of the [English] nation if we emphasise its secularity, or regard it as merely an earthly unit for earthly purposes. Its tradition began its life at the breast of Christianity; and its development in time, through the centuries… has not been utterly way from its nursing mother… [I]n England our national tradition has been opposed to the idea of a merely secular society for secular purposes standing over against a separate religious society for religious purposes. Our practice has been in the main that of the single society, which if national is also religious, making public profession of Christianity in its solemn acts, and recognising religious instruction as part of its scheme of education." -- Ernest Barker, Cambridge Philosopher

Professor Conway  Concludes: "All would stand to benefit from such committed forms of religious education in the country’s state-funded schools, not simply because it would be likely to improve the educational performance, behaviour and well-being of the nation’s schoolchildren. They would also all benefit because, I believe, only by continuing to provide it can this country be assured of remaining the independent and united liberal polity that it has for so long been and from whose continuing to be such all its diverse inhabitants would derive benefit, even those who do not share that faith or any other."

The Place of Faith in Education

A Unique Perspective on the Issue from CIVITAS


Iris.

"Education is only adequate and worthy when it is itself religious… There is no possibility of neutrality… To be neutral concerning G-d is the same thing as to ignore Him… If children are brought up to have an understanding of life in which, in fact, there is no reference to G-d, you cannot correct the effect of that by speaking about G-d for a certain period of the day. Therefore our ideal for the children of our country is the ideal for truly religious education." -- William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942.

Here is a very interesting report from CIVITAS [1.], on The Place of Faith in Schools [click to read] by Professor David Conway. It adds a new dimension to the debate now raging in America between those who would impose a strictly secular criteria and those who consider Faith an essential component of learning.

"[A] nation which draws into itself continuously, and not merely in its first beginnings, the inspiration of a religious faith and a religious purpose will increase its own vitality… Our own nation… has been inspired by a not ignoble notion of national duty to aid the oppressed – the persecuted Vaudois, the suffering slave, the oppressed nationality – and it has been most... characteristically national when it has most felt such inspiration…

We offend against the essence of the [English] nation if we emphasise its secularity, or regard it as merely an earthly unit for earthly purposes. Its tradition began its life at the breast of Christianity; and its development in time, through the centuries… has not been utterly way from its nursing mother… [I]n England our national tradition has been opposed to the idea of a merely secular society for secular purposes standing over against a separate religious society for religious purposes. Our practice has been in the main that of the single society, which if national is also religious, making public profession of Christianity in its solemn acts, and recognising religious instruction as part of its scheme of education." -- Ernest Barker, Cambridge Philosopher

Professor Conway  Concludes: "All would stand to benefit from such committed forms of religious education in the country’s state-funded schools, not simply because it would be likely to improve the educational performance, behaviour and well-being of the nation’s schoolchildren. They would also all benefit because, I believe, only by continuing to provide it can this country be assured of remaining the independent and united liberal polity that it has for so long been and from whose continuing to be such all its diverse inhabitants would derive benefit, even those who do not share that faith or any other."

Thoughts on the Distribution of Spirits

Privatizing the Distribution of Spirits Makes Sense
Sharing a Better Spirit Makes Even More Sense

Lynn Has This [click to read] to say at The Washington Examiner. Here are a few thoughts of my own:

First, the state always creates a conflicting situation for itself when it sells a product it also regulates. Any legal product with clear regulations and guidelines for its sale and use needs to be offered to the marketplace by the private sector. Government's role must always be limited and clearly defined.

Second, communities should always see themselves empowered on a local level. Localities already control signeage. It is reasonble to say that localities could restrict such establishments and, say, keep them a certain distance from schools and residential areas. Fears of neon signs on every corner are greatly overrated. Most distribution licenses, I would imagine, would be sought by existing retailers. These retailers are a part of the community fabric and would likely comply with the values of their customers.

Read the histories of great revivals, such as the one in Toronto in the late 19th Century [1.]. One of the outcomes of such spiritual awakenings is a marked decline in the sale of spirits. William H. Howland's [2.] tenure as mayor saw a decrease in the number of places selling adult beverages. As a person of faith, this tells me that an overabundance of beverage outlets might be best addressed by the offer of a Spirit of a better sort. What regulation cannot achieve, choices that offer more lasting satisfaction can.

The state cannot, by law offer this Spirit. It can, however, acknowledge that human needs must be met by sources beyond the state. The simple excercise of limiting the scope of government says that. There is a beautiful tensegrity created by the First Amendment's 'establishment clause' and the 'free excercise clause' that should allow faith to freely operate in the marketplace. Unfortunately groups such as the ACLU and some courts have twisted the clause so as to protect and promote vile expression and surpress the sharing of the Spirit.

The result is that the state finds itself endorsing one and not the other.

This morning I read about the Farmville rapper who went to a concert where the artists engaged in their First Amendment right to sing about raping, killing and mutilating people [as the ACLU would have you understand it] [3]. Then he bludgeoned his girlfiend and her parents to death.

What would have been the outcome if this young man could have come under the influence of a fine Youth Pastor? I know a few who's lives and message have indeed changed lives just like that of this young man. Yet the state takes great pains to keep the expression of faith out of the public square. Think of the College of William and Mary, where the cross in Wren Chapel had to be removed, but the student union hosted a 'sex workers' show,' presumably for 'educational purposes.' Teachers routinely censor student work for religious references and Heaven help the Valedictorian who acknowledges that her life is what it is because of Heaven's help!

Our nation today stands at a crossroads. Either we acknowledge that government cannot possibly solve all of our problems and limit it; or we must continually expand its scope to deal with an ever growing number of problems. These can only increase in number and severity as people no longer seek answers outside of government.


Toronto in the late Nineteenth Century.

Hard Days for the First Amendment

Attempts to Chill Free Speech, Local and National:


Hundreds of thousands of marchers passed by the First Amendment etched in stone on September 12.

Don't Challenge County Assessments

At least that is the message being sent to attorney Francis Chester, who's attempt to roll back property values to 2005 levels was thrown out of court. Now the county wants to sanction him over the lawsuit. County officials should chill on this one. Residents and businesses faced the possibility of massive tax increases as assessors applied the spiked values of 2006 and largely ignored the subsequent fall of values. Although the rate was reduced there was no guarantee that this would happen. Mr. Chester's challenge was a reasonable exercise of First Amendment rights given the circumstances surrounding the assessment process this time.

Don't Read the Fine Print

HR 3200 was over a thousand pages and yet we were told that it had to be pushed through in record time. There wasn't time to read it. When we did get a chance to read it we were shocked to see the framework for rationing, including illegal aliens and many other problems. When Joe Wilson dared to point out the President's prevarication it was Wilson who was raked over the coals.

'Hate Crimes,' ENDA and the 'Fairness Doctrine'

These all have chilling effect on people exercising their rights. The party in power is the sole determiner of who is 'threatened' by certain ideas, who you might be required to hire even though they disagree with your moral standards and who on the radio needs to be 'balanced out.'

In a letter to the Democrat Base, Bill Clinton asserts: "...the Republican base is energized. Using ultra-conservatives like Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin..." Rush always makes the list. Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck do most of the time too. The point is that they consider certain voices "dangerous" and will use just about any legal technicality they can to silence them. They've used Limbaugh's statement: "I want everything he's doing to fail" as a stand alone quote, forgetting the fact that he's speaking of the largest expansion of government oversight ever envisioned.

So who's protecting our rights and freedoms? The American Civil Liberties Union claims to. In a letter to their base, the ACLU talks about "restoring our liberties and renewing American freedom." Sounds good, but read on: Their big priorities are as follows:

1. Ending U.S. involvement in warrantless eavesdropping on Americans. [apparently they forget the dangers we face from terrorists and the fact that their icon, JFK used it extensively, even considering Dr. Martin Luther King a potential threat].

2. Ending U.S. taxpayer support for "faith-based initiatives" that provide public funding for programs that practice religious discrimination. [problem is Faith based programs are effective, and those in prisons, for example, actually SAVE taxpayer dollars because of their strikingly lower recitivism rates].

3.Bringing the Patriot Act in line with the Constitution.

4. Ending government funding of abstinence-only programs. [why? they are effective and many parents WANT them].

5. Challenging restrictions on same-sex marriage and other forms of discrimination against LGBT people. [most States have voted to retain the traditional definition of marriage and that is what the majority wants, not restrictions on other forms of partnership].

6. Reversing policies that have thrown batrriers and restrictions in the path of women seeking to exercise their reproductive freedom. [that's a mouthful but it simply means ending any restrictions on abortion and making it a 'right'].

Also the letter waxes long about agressively investigating the Bush administration. Nowhere could I find a word about protecting our religious liberties or the freedom of our radio stations to broadcast unfettered by any 'fairness doctrine.' Nowhere did I see a committment to protect pastors' rights to free speech.

The ACLU was founded ninety years ago by Roger Baldwin. He was a socialist thinker who said things like: "America must follow the example of Stalin's Soviet Union where greater freedoms exist than anywhere else in the world". Wow, I never would have known from the history I read! Knowing America would never follow the path to 'social u[dys]topia because of her Judeo-Christian foundations, Baldwin set out to diminish the influence of Christianity in America.

For 80 years the ACLU has twisted the Constitution to exclude Christianity from the public square and the public discourse. That sense of mission is what drives the endless stream of lawsuits against prayer and Christian expression. That is why your kid's 'religious' message is excluded from the poster contest. That's why the school 'Winter Holiday' assembly is devoid of sacred traditional music. Thankfully there is the Alliance Defense Fund [click to read] which was founded to counter this destructive movement.

Her Passion Speaks for Millions

Today on Rush Limbaugh's show a woman named Susan called. Her passion and frustration were evident over a president and Congress who seem determined NOT to hear the voice of the American people. Rush let her talk for ten minutes and then only interrupted her for the required commercial break. Then he brought her back for more. She lamented that there seemed to be nothing she could do.

May I suggest that Susan's ten minutes are what the First Amendment is all about.

A lot of us were listening to our radios and we stopped what we were doing to follow her more closely. She spoke for all of us.

Listen to Susan [click to listen] at RushLimbaugh.com

Praying in School

The Anti-Christian Litigation Underwriters Strike Again

This Story from Florida [click to read] courtesey of Yankee Phil shows you the lengths the ACLU will go to to make sure no one is 'offended' by Christianity.

When I was younger a fellow student asked if I would be interested in joining the American Civil Liberties Union. They were promoting 'First Amendment Rights' so I took a pamphlet. Of course I made the 'mistake' of reading some of their literature and told my friend that there was no way in a very hot place that I could EVER join the ACLU.

The ACLU was founded ninety years ago by Roger Baldwin. He was a socialist thinker who said things like: "America must follow the example of Stalin's Soviet Union where greater freedoms exist than anywhere else in the world". Wow, I never would have known from the history I read! Knowing America would never follow the path to 'social u[dys]topia because of her Judeo-Christian foundations, Baldwin set out to diminish the influence of Christianity in America.

For 80 years the ACLU has twisted the Constitution to exclude Christianity from the public square and the public discourse. That sense of mission is what drives the endless stream of lawsuits against prayer and Christian expression. That is why your kid's 'religious' message is excluded from the poster contest. That's why the school 'Winter Holiday' assembly is devoid of sacred traditional music. Thankfully there is the Alliance Defense Fund [click to read] which was founded to counter this destructive movement.


Reflected sunrise. The ACLU would find most of my thoughts about nature 'offensive.' If you don't believe me, check out my previous post below and see if you don't agree.

More Information on America's Judeo-Christian Roots [click to read].

ht/SWAG Girl