Posted on 09/24/2003 11:34:55 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Edited on 09/24/2003 11:52:44 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
David Limbaugh's new book, "Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity," will make you cry for your country. (But don't pray for your country if you're anywhere near a public school!) Released this week, Limbaugh's copiously researched book documents how the courts, the universities, the media, Hollywood and government institutions react to any mention of Christianity like Superman recoiling from kryptonite, Dracula from sunlight, or Madonna from soap and water. His straight, factual narrative of what is happening in our public schools makes you wonder how much longer America can survive liberalism.
In a public school in St. Louis, a teacher spotted the suspect, fourth-grader Raymond Raines, bowing his head in prayer before lunch. The teacher stormed to Raymond's table, ordered him to stop immediately and sent him to the principal's office. The principal informed the young malefactor that praying was not allowed in school. When Raymond was again caught praying before meals on three separate occasions, he was segregated from other students, ridiculed in front of his classmates, and finally sentenced to a week's detention.
Before snack time in her kindergarten class in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., little Kayla Broadus held hands with two of her classmates and recited this prayer: "God is good, God is great, thank you, God, for my food." The alert teacher pounced on Kayla, severely reprimanded her, and reported her to the school administration. In short order, the principal sent a sternly worded letter to Kayla's parents advising them that Kayla was not allowed to pray in school, aloud or with others.
The school board then issued a triumphant press release crowing about its victory over a kindergartner praying before snack time. Thus was creeping theocracy in Saratoga Springs stopped dead in its tracks! Kayla's mother brought a lawsuit, winning Kayla the right to pray out loud. But she was still prohibited from holding hands with others while she prayed. Hearing the G-word in kindergarten might interfere with the school's efforts to teach proper sexual techniques in the first grade.
Thanks to the vigilance of an alert teacher at Lynn Lucas Middle School outside of Houston, two sisters carrying Bibles were prevented from bringing their vile material into a classroom. The teacher stopped the students at the classroom door and marched them to the principal's office. (Maybe it was just the sight of public school students carrying a book of any kind that set off alarm bells.) The sisters' mother was called and warned that the school intended to report her to Child Protective Services. When the mother arrived, the teacher threw the Bibles in the wastebasket, shouting, "This is garbage!"
In another display of tolerance at Lynn Lucas Middle School, school administrators snatched three students' books with covers displaying the Ten Commandments, ripped the covers off, threw them in the garbage, and told the students that the Ten Commandments constituted "hate speech." (Also, it would be insensitive to expose the Ten Commandments to students who had never been taught to count to 10.)
After the massacre at Columbine High School, students and families were invited to paint tiles above student lockers. The school district had taken all reasonable precautions, immediately deploying an army of secular "grief counselors" with teddy bears to descend on the school after the attack. Nonetheless, some students painted their tiles with "objectionable" messages, such as: "4/20/99: Jesus Wept" and "God Is Love." This would not stand: The school removed 90 tiles with offending religious messages.
A federal court upheld the school's censorship of the religious tiles. Of course, Columbine school officials had earned a measure of deference after having inculcated such a fine sense of morality in their students that two boys could walk into school one day and stage a bloody massacre. You don't argue with a track record like that.
Not all mentions of religion constitute "hate speech." In Tupelo, Miss., school administrators methodically purged all Christmas carols of any religious content – and then led the children in a chant of: "Celebrate Kwanzaa!" At Pattison Elementary school in Katy, Texas, Christmas songs are banned, but students are threatened with grade reductions for refusing to sing songs celebrating other religious faiths.
In New York City, the chancellor of the Department of Education prohibited the display of Nativity scenes in public schools, while expressly allowing the Jewish menorah and the Islamic star and crescent to be displayed. Some would say that was overkill inasmuch as New York City is already the home of the world's largest public display built in commemoration of Islam: Ground Zero.
Between issuing laws prohibiting discrimination against transgendered individuals and running up a $38 billion deficit, the California Legislature mandated a three-week immersion course in Islam for all seventh-graders. A "crash course" in Islam, you might call it, if that weren't so ironic. Students are required to adopt Muslim names, plan a trip to Mecca, play a jihad game, pray to "Allah, the Compassionate" and to chant "Praise to Allah! Lord of Creation!" They are encouraged to dress in Muslim garb. Students are discouraged, however, from stoning girls at the school dances, abusing their "Jew" math teachers or blowing up their classmates.
A popular student textbook, "Across the Centuries," treats the Inquisition and Salem witch-hunts as typical of Christianity, but never gets around to mentioning the Muslims' conquest of Spain, the Battle of Tours, or the execution of Jews in Qurayza. Or 9-11.
There is no surer proof of Christ's divinity than that he is still so hated some 2,000 years after his death. Limbaugh's "Persecution" covers it all in staggering, heartbreaking detail. His methodical description of what is happening in our public schools alone will call to mind the hate speech banned in Columbine: "Jesus Wept."
Our teenagers have been homeschooled from the beginning and they have no problem with socialization. Our homeschool group is made up of over 150 families and the activities are endless. Additionally, band, church groups and Boy Scouts add to the mix. Do you really want you children getting their greatest influence from NEA teachers and children whose parents have values not remotely close to yours? We don't have to deprogram every evening.
Interesting. I had no idea there were groups like this. Then again, I haven't looked into homeschooling that much yet.
Your point is well taken, but don't you think it's also a little extreme. I mean, I know plenty of children that have gone to public schools and turned out just fine thanks to the influence of their parents. Wouldn't you agree? I'm not trying to say my wife and I have the power to overcome the school systems, just that not all children turn into little immoral, unethical, communist punks just because they attend public schools. :)
See also Useful Idiots by Mona Charen. Whether through mere stupidity or careful intent, the leaders of the liberal movement have been damaging this nation in every area for decades. At best, they are busy desperately looking for a mote in our country's eye while her enemies are trying to beat her to death with a 2 X 4.
My wife has this answer for you: Don't do anything about this, and it will be.
I have this answer for you: "People ask me when I go to churches to speak, 'When do you think persecution will come to America?' Lately, my response has been, 'Ask Cassie Bernall's parents if we have persecution in America yet.'"--Tom White, President of Voice of the Martyrs and a victim of torturous persecution at the hands of Castro's regime.
Don't let your good instinct (to refuse whining) blind you. If Christians cannot share their ideas in the public square or must pretend they're not Christians when they enter certain buildings, that is persecution, plain and simple. The fact that our brothers and sisters are suffering worse elsewhere doesn't change that a bit.
Bob Cook and Sangoo made good points. Here are mine:
One successful homeschooler (12 kids!) wrote that when you're finished raising your children, you want them to act like adults, not kids. Interacting with adults more than usual is not going to make them grow up to be childish or screwed up, and "socializing" with a bunch of kids who can't spell "socializing" if you spot them the "s-o-c" is not going to help you toward that goal. Let's also remember that the vast, vast majority of time after kindergarten is not spent socializing, it's spent sitting in a room with 35 other kids listening to a union employee talk, and not interacting with the other children at all, under penalty of punishment. Granted, that's much like schools have always been, even back when they were effective, but notice the lack of "socialization."
Second, studies show the average public school kid has two extracurricular activities per week with their peers, the average homeschooler has five.
Third, my kids are homeschooled, and they get along famously with just about every kid they meet. Homeschooling will not desocialize your kids, that is a convenient myth that the NEA uses to keep the pipeline full of future democrat voters.
Hmmmm...a person named after one of the Devil's aliases denies clear, documented examples of Christian persecution...Hmmmmmmm.
Why don't you try doing some research? You will find that this sort of thing is often how heavy-hitting persecution starts in many countries. For example, for the first six months or so, the Communists pretended to allow religious freedom in Romania, then they started putting pastors in jail. Let me give you a contemporary example: you can be as Christian as you want in Egypt, as long as you never mention it at school, or try to convert a Muslim. Sounds like about one step further than "Don't bring your Bible to school" and "Don't sing Christmas carols, but here, pretend to be a Muslim for a week."
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