Posted on 04/24/2007 7:49:39 AM PDT by NorCoGOP
The tragic incident at Virginia Tech that resulted in a madman taking more than 30 innocent lives has sparked a number of questions. Through the answers we have learned about the background of the gunman, the history of his firearm purchases, the emotions of students and families, and the heroic efforts of many involved. However, the deeper questions and overall trend patterns have been avoided. Escalation of violence and a number of other social ills began rising in a pivotal era and continue to grow today.
In 1961 a U.S. Supreme Court case ignored 300 years of legal precedent and began an assault on Christianity, by banning prayer and later other elements of Christian study from public schools. The religion of secular humanism was protected and allowed, but Christ, prayer, the posting of the Ten Commandments and other Christian documents were hidden from view.
Historic writings such as George Washington's Farewell Address (which contain specific references and warnings to America tying our success as a nation to our commitment to Christ), his divine protection from certain death in the French and Indian War, and various other religiously oriented writings by the founding fathers were all but eliminated from elementary through high school grades.
According to David Barton, perhaps the nation's leading historian (www.wallbuilders.com), there was an immediate increase in societal problems, including violent crime, divorce, unwed pregnancies, dropping test scores at all academic levels, etc. But like the elephant in the closet that nobody talks about, this has been judiciously avoided in conversation about the Virginia Tech massacre.
The United States was clearly founded around Christianity, and every aspect of our society (including our public education system) revolved around it. George Washington once stated, "you do well to wish to learn our arts and way of life, and above all the religion of Jesus Christ." Thomas Jefferson said, "I have always said and always will say that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens."
In 1650 the first bill involving public school legislation in Connecticut specified that public education must include the study of Christianity. (Old Deluder Satan Act -- 1650) The Northwest Ordinance, which provided the criteria by which states could be admitted into the Union, stated in article three that public schools were required to teach religion and morality. This was a mandate as criteria for statehood.
Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, founder of Pennsylvania Hospital, and the father of public education in the United States, wrote a book titled "A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools." In it, he advocated the Bible be the preferred textbook in all public schools, providing 15 different arguments for its use. The evidence connecting Christianity and all life in America and education goes on and on. However, this history was ignored in 1961, and we are now reaping the consequences.
The shooter at Virginia Tech was a madman. However, he had also been raised on a solid diet of secular humanism which teaches no moral absolutes. "If it feels good, do it," is one of the many mantras he ingested. Consequently he did what felt good, and innocent people died as a result. Today, we cannot condemn his actions unless we judge what we fed him as a society. What we sow, we also reap. And we will continue to have a bloody harvest until we return to what we know worked to make America great as a nation in the generations before us; the culture, training, and absolute morality of the Christian faith and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Steven Grant is senior pastor of Destiny Christian Center in Greeley
I heard this crap from liberal professors myself back in the late 1960s.
A comment that will perhaps, draw flames, but it needs to be said. Those of you who are skeptical of the Bible ban idea should consider this concept, one so important it was included in two different psalms:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.--Psalm 111:9-10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.--Proverbs 9:9-11
It seems to me that there were a lot of wisdom failures that contributed to this mess. So much of what we associate with liberalism is not just liberalism (though it is part of their ideology) it's people buying into ideas that seem to spray out of a fountain of dumb.
"Let's disarm the whole campus, that'll be safe."
"Let's make it impossible to suspend or expel a student with severe mental problems, or even call his parents."
"So what if his professor ejected him from a class because she's concerned for her safety? So what if she and her assistant even had a code word arranged in case he went nuts? We can't do anything about it, even if he's obviously screwed up."
"Whatever you do, don't tell his professors in the same department that he's been yanked out of that other class."
"Yes, I know he's playing the same song over and over and writing the lyrics on his wall. And yes, he thinks he's dating a supermodel from outer space. But that doesn't mean we need to do anything about it."
"So what if a court certified him as a danger to himself and others? Out-patient care is fine for that."
"Shouldn't this guy's name be submitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System? Oh well, I'll get around to it." [If you want, feel free to insert whatever other stupidity or incompetence prevented Cho's name from being submitted.]
America is polluted by the fountain of dumb, and I think a big part of it is that our nation's governments and institutions have given the Almighty the middle finger, and have no interest in His teachings.
I agree with you. The moral decay in this country has a lot to do with the banning of the bible, ten commandments, etc. in schools and other public places. I don’t think it hurts to expose people to them. They could then be free to agree with or disagree with them.
Perhaps its a cyclical thing.
Indeed, the entire premise that getting prayer and the Bible out of public schools led to some sort of degeneracy is disproven by the generation called the "Reagan kids". This age group (approximately including those born between 1960 and 1970) backed Reagan nearly 2-1 in 1984, made up the bulk of the Desert Storm era military, and was President Bush's strongest age group in 2004.
A lot of us went to public schools, doing reasonably well there and in college, and none of us public school kids ever prayed or read the Bible in a devotional manner in class. Religious education was up to our parents, and later ourselves.
-Eric
Or perhaps its a simple case of pass the buck, and/or the growth of bureaucracies that discourage and even punish personal initiative and responsibility.
As I just posted, we never had religious teachings in my public schools. We were, however, taught personal responsibility, even when it conflicted with "self esteem".
-Eric
The guy was insane.
If he had been a religious person, then he would have been an insane religious person.
Nothing ever conflicts with the self-esteem, for, as Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, even a self-despiser esteems himself for his self-despising.
Self-serving blarney.
You may find this self-serving, but consider this:
Personal responsibility is part of wisdom. If wisdom begins to disappear because God is rejected, wouldn't the certain result be the replacement of personal responsibility with something foolish?
Thanks!
The beginning of wisdom is knowledge of oneself. “Gnothi seaiton”, I believe, as they used to put in in Delphi.
It's for the childruuuuun.
in in= it in
It's called typical scientific method now. (not that it makes it good)
Please see post 22.
God Almighty lives on.
I'll take His advice, thanks. It's a pretty easy pick.
Your “God almighty” is as much dust as the temple of Delphi. It’s the dollar that is almighty, and not a god. You are dealing with an atheist.
Is it possible to be wise and still not believe in your version of God?
For some reason Bibles in school are unconstitutional, but swearing on them in court isn't.Bibles in school are constitutional. The only things forbidden are devotional reading or presentation of the Bible as the true and revealed word of God as part of the curriculum.
They must be optional....which they are in court.
-Eric
Utter nonsense.
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