Posted on 11/20/2014 8:38:54 AM PST by Nachum
A well-circulated school handout is teaching children that rights are given to citizens not by their Creator, but by their government.
The author of the handout, Phyllis Naegeli, writes educational (used loosely) materials for elementary school-aged children. Her lesson Being a Good Citizen, found on EdHelper.com, states the following:
When you are a citizen you have rights. Rights are special privileges the government gives you. In our country, you have free speech. You are also given the right to choose a religion.
Because the government gives us rights, we have the duty to be good citizens.
The writing, which dates back to at least 2009, caused much controversy then, so much so that Naegeli came to her own defense in a concerned forum group discussion that year. Here's what she said:
From what I have discovered an article I wrote for edhelper.com because [sic] quite a point of controversy on your forum the other day. I am being accused of spreading left-wing propaganda, being a Pelosi relative, and other such incorrect titles. I am a Christian and I own up to mistakes that I make. I made a mistake in these articles by saying the government gives us rights. The government is to protect the rights we are given by God. For that I apologize and ask for forgiveness. I am far from being left wing. I chose the incorrect words to try to simply describe what being a citizen is. I never intended for anyone to be offended by this or to spread some incorrect information to children. I home educated all of my children and have been very careful about what they were taught. I have taught them to be loyal citizens of our wonderful country.
Naegeli asked EdHelper.com to revise her writing to say
(Excerpt) Read more at truthrevolt.org ...
People like this normally love tooting their own horn and showing off their credientials at every opportunity - why not "Phyllis"?
If what she says is true then how did someone so wholly ignorant of the basic structure of American government end up writing civics lessons for elementtry schools?
It’s really hard to explain the real Source of rights without “inadvertently” teaching Christianity,
because without that worldview as a basis,
she’s right - your rights are only valid as long as the gov’t “grants” them to you.
All my life, I have pledged allegiance to the flag, and to the republic for which it stands. I have also pledged allegiance to the Constitution. I have never pledged allegiance to the government, because the government exists to serve the interests of the republic and fulfill the mandates of the Constitution, not the other way around.
She is a liberal and therefore an expert in everything.
“Government-granted rights” is an oxymoron.
From another thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3228744/posts?page=22#22
http://www.crosswalk.com/family/homeschool/anything-god-wants-is-best-1264034.html
From article
There are also other lessons written by Naegeli that can be found online. One is titled Our Living Constitution (http://www.opelousasjr.slp.k12.la.us/hls/4TH%206%20WKS%20EC/Our%20Living%20Constitution%20pt.%201.pdf) in which she writes, “Our Constitution is alive! That’s because it can be changed.”
Another is United States Citizenship (http://mrshodgesss.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/7/2/2972869/us_citizenship.pdf) where she states, “As a citizen, you give your loyalty to the U.S. government.”
Sorry charlie there is no way this was a mistake. How convenient that she doesn't "own" the writings she made so they can't be revised.
Looks like little jane fonda here got caught trying to spread communism and is now trying cover herself.
We should be teaching young students to be good people, not good citizens. The latter follows the former, and does so by freeing people, not enslaving them.
Napoleonic Law by Fiat of the the Progressive Era...
ENJOY IT!
The gubmint doesn’t give us a damn thing except continuous lies and stonewalling. Our rights are given to us by two things, GOD and the Constitution that say’s GOD.
End of Story!!!!!
Not only from God but, The rights of the people come from the same place that government comes from. An agreement among the people to setup a government and under what conditions and in what form. That agreement is called a constitution where all of those things are defined before that government was formed, subject to amendment of course.
Unalienable rights don’t come from the Constitution. She also flubbed the part about State’s Rights. Governments don’t have rights, they have powers. Only people have rights.
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