Ron Figuly [01/19/2005]

To the editor:Why don't they know?Where in America is the beginning? Two distinguished political scientists, Willmore Kendall and George Carescholars surprisingly free from typical academic bias against Christian influence on historyanswer the question. (See "Basic Symbols of the American Political Tradition.") America's beginning is rooted in the Mayflower Compact.If we knew our history, we would know that America was a nation founded upon Christ and his word. If you went to a government school or taught in the past 50 years or so, you may not know this as fact without more reading and studying. So let's start at the beginning: Before sailing from Holland to New England, Pilgrim leader William Bradford, who gave us the Pilgrims' history, describes their motives for the journey. It was not religious freedom, it was evangelism: "...a great hope, and inward zeal...of laying some good foundation, or at least to make some way there unto, for the propagating and advancing of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea, though they should be but even as stepping stones unto others for the performing of so great a work."Before debarking onto the New England shores, the Pilgrims drew up America's birth certificate, the Mayflower Compact, which began "In the name of God, Amen.... Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith...a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia..." And so, the Pilgrims themselves here officially declare and sign that which their governor had said about them before they left Holland. The reason they came was for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. Thats evangelism.Ah, but there are those anti-Christian, intolerant, arrogant, ignorant, judgmental bigots who don't want to hear thatthe advancement of the Christian faith. Finally when the Pilgrims' settlements formed the New England Confederation, those New Englanders declared, "Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ditto for the First Charter of Virginia, Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.Skipping to 1781,Thomas Jefferson wrote in his "Notes on the State of Virginia": "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 the gift of 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; that His justice cannot sleep forever."On April 21, 1803, (the writings of Thomas Jefferson), Jefferson wrote to Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, "My views...are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions.To the corruptions of Christianity, I am indeed opposed, but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others."Why is it that high school graduates don't know these things? Because the ACLU might threaten to sue school districts if it is taught? Frightening parents, school boards and superintendents into avoiding costly lawsuitschilling free speech? That's true, isn't it? Isnt it? Isn't it?