The inauguration of Donald Trump as
the 45th President of the United States was remarkable in many ways … not the
least of which was that six different individuals offered prayers (four prayers
ending in Jesus’ name and the other two openly quoting from the Bible). Clearly absent was the typical PC (politically
correct) prayer. Once again, clergy were
allowed to pray (publically) according to the dictates of their own conscience,
as originally intended by the U.S. Constitution.
Another unique feature of President
Trump’s inauguration was the large number of protestors present … most of whom were
Millennials … but all of whom either focused on single subjects (e.g.,
immigration, global warming, ObamaCare) or were still protesting the general election
results. A common protest sign was – “Trump
is not my president.”
Noted historian, Dr. David Barton (founder and president of WallBuilders)
stated with OneNewsNow, “That statement says more about our
education system than it does about those who held the signs. It affirms the failure of American education
in four areas: American history, government, Constitution, and truth.”
Barton goes on to say:
“First,
the sign was intended to express their outrage over the fact that Hillary won
the popular vote by 2.9-million votes (out of 128.8 million cast) but lost the presidency
– an outcome they believed was unprecedented in the history of American
elections. Only it wasn’t. The identical thing has happened in several other
presidential elections. Shame on schools
for not teaching basic American history and why such outcomes occur.
“Second,
the message on the sign was rooted in the protestors’ mistaken belief that America
is a democracy. But we are not. Those who formed our government hated
democracies and wisely protected us from them. For example, James Madison affirmed that ‘democracies
have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention [and] incompatible with
personal security or the rights of property.’
Founder Fisher Ames warned, ‘A democracy is a volcano which conceals the
fiery materials of its own destruction,’ and John Adams lamented that democracy
‘never lasts long….There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.’ For thousands of years, democracies have
consistently proved to be a source of lurking disaster – an unpredictable form
of government where passions and selfishness are allowed to prevail over reason
and deliberation. America was therefore
established as a constitutional republic – what John Adams described as ‘a
government of laws and not of men.’ Shame on schools for not teaching basic
American government.
“Third,
the sign affirmed their unawareness of how presidents are to be elected according
to the Constitution – an election process that mirrors our federal bicameral
system. For example, Wyoming has
half-a-million citizens, but California has 39-million. So in the U.S. House, Wyoming gets only one
congressman while California gets 53, and California will beat Wyoming on every
vote in the House. The popular vote of
the House will always prevail in that chamber. But in the Senate, California gets only two
senators – the same as Wyoming; the representation is solely by state, and every
state has equal voting strength with all others. This is a prominent feature in our federal
system. A bill is not passed merely by
the House, which reflects the popular vote; it also must be passed in the
Senate, which reflects the vote by states.
The protestors believe that only the national popular vote matters
(which Hillary won – barely). But even
though she garnered the votes of most of the largest cities in America, she did
not win the majority of the states, cities, or counties. In fact, Trump won 30 of the 50 states, more
than 80% of America’s 3,141 counties, and an equally lop-sided percentage of
its 35,000 cities. The protestors were unaware
(as are most Americans) that the Constitution establishes an election system
that balances diverse measurements. Shame
on schools for not teaching the Constitution.
“Finally,
the declaration that ‘Trump is not my president’ establishes personal opinion
as the ultimate measure of right and wrong – that truth is whatever I believe
or declare it to be. (Polling today shows
that two of three Americans believe that there are no moral absolutes – that
every individual is his own arbiter of what is right and wrong, or moral.) But the problem with this is that there are
absolutes. Jump off the Empire State
Building and see what happens. On the
way down you may personally object to what is happening, or be offended by it,
or even vehemently disagree with it; but none of that will change the results. There is no alternate reality. None. Shame
on schools for teaching students to elevate personal opinion above absolute
facts.”
It’s long past the time that Americans
demand that their schools once again teach American
history (so students know that the popular vote winner does not always win
the presidential election), American
government (so they know we are a republic and not a democracy), the Constitution (so they understand our
bicameral federal and election system), and absolute truth (that personal opinion must submit to truth and reality). If we don’t make these changes, we will not
want to imagine, much less experience, the horrifying results from Abraham
Lincoln’s warning that “the philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will
be the philosophy of government in the next.”
God help America if citizens don’t act
to change our schools.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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