The text then breaks into a chorus of Katherine Lee Bates' "America the Beautiful," with the prayer that "God shed his grace on thee." (3)
I should hope so.
Then in an unforgivable spirit of flag-waving jingoism and fairytale-itis the handbook speaks of "Our Heritage of Leadership," described as a "mighty heritage that has come to us in the memory of great deeds performed by pioneer men and women who have established this mighty nation." (4)
And then it gets worse.
Under "Charters of American Liberty," it goes so far as to say that "Beyond the heritage which is found in the lives of the men and women who have made America, stands the Republic itself, the greatest example of constitutional government among free men." (5) The crème de la crème isn't unloaded, however, until the eighth paragraph of the first chapter, where the NEA identifies the foundation principles of this "greatest single document in the entire struggle of mankind for orderly self government." (6)
Under the heading "Religious Ideals the Foundation" we read:
It is difficult to read this history without seeing in it the hand of Providence, for the struggle which was then taking place in America was in a sense the climax of untold centuries of human struggle upward, a struggle against despotism, against the destructive forces within the nature of man himself. The birth of our democracy [the NEA is referring to social democracy in the setting of a constitutional republic] is the result of the teachings of religious leaders going back hundreds of years. Democracy finds its fullest expression in the roots of religion, which has ever emphasized the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man. For democracy to reach its highest fruition, our society must include that larger liberty and justice preached so eloquently by the Hebrew Prophets and by Jesus. (7)
It is upon the Foundation of this Higher Law, the handbook concludes at this point, that our "Constitution …[stands] between us and chaos, between us and a return to the brutalities and confusion of earlier centuries." (8)
I read the above quotes to my 14-year-old last evening. Her instant, non-coached response was a sarcastic "Boy, have we come a long way!"
Yes we have.
Making it plain to see, even for our youth (if given a chance to read what was once read), that censoring the citing of religious texts and perspectives on American law, government, and history, misses the mark with religion in public life, not only because it is dishonest to deny what so surely lay at the root of our laws and the foundation of our national character – and surely we wouldn't want our kids to endorse and accept dishonesty – but also because the results of that denial would be so dire – as the NEA themselves predicted.
Once again, they forecast: chaos, brutality and confusion. Is that dire enough?
And isn't that where we are headed? And isn't the reinsertion of our historical perspective on the Christian faith and our Judeo-Christian heritage just what the rising generation needs to turn this country and this world of ours around?
I suggest that it is. Once upon a time, so did the NEA.
Contact Steve
NewsMax pundit Steve Farrell is associate professor of political economy at George Wythe College, the editor of Liberty Letters (visit LibertyLetters.blogspot.com), and the author of the highly praised inspirational novel "Dark Rose" (available at amazon.com).
Footnotes
1. Morgan, Joy Elmer, arranged by. "The American Citizens Handbook," The National Education Association, Washington D.C., 1941, p. 5.
2. Ibid., p. 14.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., pgs. 14-15.
5. Ibid., p. 15.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., p. 16.
8. Ibid., p. 17.