Curtis Dahlgren
On the anniversary of the banning of school prayer
By Curtis Dahlgren
TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO, THE SCOTUS RULED that a non-denominational prayer used in public schools in New York state was "unconstitutional." On such an occasion as this, we need to contemplate where America came from and where we are going. God is still not mocked, and He doesn't like good people to be mocked (not even by "Supreme judges"). On March 5, 2000 the voters of California voted 62 to 37% to approve Proposition 22, which radically enough defined marriage as between "one man and one woman."
Now by a one-man margin, the California Supreme Court has overruled the essential meaning of Proposition 22 and the will of the American majority.
How many insults will we have to take before the people get out the ptich-forks? When God is not mocked, what does this portend for our future? Even Rush Limbaugh still sees a rosy future, and he is rewarded for his optimism by a Kansas City cartoonist who evidently wishes God had killed Rush instead of Tim Russert. Michael Savage says that the elitists cannot continue to anger the general public without any consequences.
LET'S GET REAL:
On this anniversary occasion, I am compelled to quote an excerpt from a poem by Thelen Paulk from "Poems for Patriots, Pilgrims, and Pioneers" (1986):
A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
I had a dream the other night, I didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by my bed.
He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said:
"We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny.
For future generations, this legacy we gave.
In this, the land of the free and home of the brave.
"The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you'd always keep.
But tyrants labored endlessly while your parents were asleep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you're no more than a slave.
In this, the land of the free and home of the brave.
"You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun, permits to
start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent.
Although you have no voice in choosing, how the money's spent.
"Your children must attend a school that doesn't educate.
Your Christian values can't be taught, according to the state.
You read about the current news, in a regulated press.
You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the I.R.S.
"Your money is no longer made of Silver or of Gold.
You trade your wealth for paper, so your life can be controlled.
You pay for crimes that make our Nation, turn from God in shame.
You've taken Satan's number, as you've traded in your name.
"You've given government control, to those who do you harm,
so they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm, and
keep our country deep in debt, put men of God in jail, and harass
your fellow countrymen, while corrupted courts prevail . . .
"Are there no more values for which you'll fight to save?
Or do you wish your children, live in fear and be a slave?"
Sons of the Republic, arise and take a stand! . . .
what would be your answer, if he called out from the grave:
"IS THIS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE
AND HOME OF THE BRAVE?"
Some people get the Big Picture, but many people don't. Their eyes seem to glaze over when you mention the "culture war," or the true agenda of the public schools (they can't believe that the motives of our educators are anything but altruistic and pure as the wind-driven snow). So here's how I define the word "culture" in Culture War:
Christian roots
Uncompromising values
Liberty, not license
Truth not lies
Unchanging "Natural Laws"
Responsibility over "rights"
Equality of opportunity, not necessarily equality of outcome
WE USED TO CALL THAT "AMERICANISM," BUT THAT WORD, I THINK, HAS BEEN BANNED.
© Curtis Dahlgren
TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO, THE SCOTUS RULED that a non-denominational prayer used in public schools in New York state was "unconstitutional." On such an occasion as this, we need to contemplate where America came from and where we are going. God is still not mocked, and He doesn't like good people to be mocked (not even by "Supreme judges"). On March 5, 2000 the voters of California voted 62 to 37% to approve Proposition 22, which radically enough defined marriage as between "one man and one woman."
Now by a one-man margin, the California Supreme Court has overruled the essential meaning of Proposition 22 and the will of the American majority.
How many insults will we have to take before the people get out the ptich-forks? When God is not mocked, what does this portend for our future? Even Rush Limbaugh still sees a rosy future, and he is rewarded for his optimism by a Kansas City cartoonist who evidently wishes God had killed Rush instead of Tim Russert. Michael Savage says that the elitists cannot continue to anger the general public without any consequences.
LET'S GET REAL:
On this anniversary occasion, I am compelled to quote an excerpt from a poem by Thelen Paulk from "Poems for Patriots, Pilgrims, and Pioneers" (1986):
A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
I had a dream the other night, I didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by my bed.
He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said:
"We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny.
For future generations, this legacy we gave.
In this, the land of the free and home of the brave.
"The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you'd always keep.
But tyrants labored endlessly while your parents were asleep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you're no more than a slave.
In this, the land of the free and home of the brave.
"You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun, permits to
start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent.
Although you have no voice in choosing, how the money's spent.
"Your children must attend a school that doesn't educate.
Your Christian values can't be taught, according to the state.
You read about the current news, in a regulated press.
You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the I.R.S.
"Your money is no longer made of Silver or of Gold.
You trade your wealth for paper, so your life can be controlled.
You pay for crimes that make our Nation, turn from God in shame.
You've taken Satan's number, as you've traded in your name.
"You've given government control, to those who do you harm,
so they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm, and
keep our country deep in debt, put men of God in jail, and harass
your fellow countrymen, while corrupted courts prevail . . .
"Are there no more values for which you'll fight to save?
Or do you wish your children, live in fear and be a slave?"
Sons of the Republic, arise and take a stand! . . .
what would be your answer, if he called out from the grave:
"IS THIS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE
AND HOME OF THE BRAVE?"
Some people get the Big Picture, but many people don't. Their eyes seem to glaze over when you mention the "culture war," or the true agenda of the public schools (they can't believe that the motives of our educators are anything but altruistic and pure as the wind-driven snow). So here's how I define the word "culture" in Culture War:
Christian roots
Uncompromising values
Liberty, not license
Truth not lies
Unchanging "Natural Laws"
Responsibility over "rights"
Equality of opportunity, not necessarily equality of outcome
WE USED TO CALL THAT "AMERICANISM," BUT THAT WORD, I THINK, HAS BEEN BANNED.
© Curtis Dahlgren
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