"The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not." (Holy Bible)
In 2008, Michael Ledeen, on another subject altogether, wrote of the degree to which Americans have been "dumbed down" on some basic ideas underlying our freedom:
Ledeen said, "Our educational system has long since banished religion from its texts, and an amazing number of Americans are intellectually unprepared for a discussion in which religion is the central organizing principle."
In the Pope's speech in Germany a few years ago, he observed:
"A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures."
Ledeen put his finger on a problem that stifles meaningful dialogue and debate in America. Censors [disguised as "protectors" (the Radical Left's ACLU, NEA, education bureaucracies, etc., etc.)] have imposed their limited understanding of liberty upon generations of school children.
From America's founding to the 1950's, ideas derived from religious literature were included in textbooks, through the poetry and prose used to teach children to read and to identify with their world and their country.
Suddenly, those ideas began to disappear from textbooks, until now, faceless, mindless copy editors sit in cubicles in the nation's textbook publishing companies, instructed by their supervisors to remove mere words that refer to family, to the Divine, and to any of the ancient ideas that have sustained intelligent discourse for centuries.
America now stands on the brink of plunging itself backward into the Old World ideas which preceded its almost-miraculous beginning when, as Jefferson described it, the "People" became "enlightened." In his June 1, 1795, letter to Tench Coxe, he said:
"This ball of liberty, I believe most piously, is now so well in motion that it will roll round the globe, at least the enlightened part of it, for light & liberty go together. It is our glory that we first put it into motion, & our happiness that being foremost we had no bad examples to follow."
Why, in recent decades, have unenlightened men and women been attacking the principles essential to "light and liberty"?
Their ideas are self-serving, counterfeit and regressive--the same old ideas of darkness and tyranny from which hundreds of millions have fled as they approached America's shores.
Would suggest to any who wish an authentic history of the ideas underlying American's founding a visit to this web site, at which Richard Frothingham's outstanding 1872 "History of the Rise of the Republic of the United States" can be read on line.
This 600+-page history traces the ideas which gave birth to the American founding. Throughout, Richard Frothingham, the historian, develops the idea that it is "the Christian idea of man" which allowed the philosophy underlying the Declaration of Independence and Constitution to become a reality--an idea which recognizes the individual and the Source of his/her "Creator"-endowed life, liberty and law.
America now stands on the brink of plunging itself backward into the Old World ideas which preceded its almost-miraculous beginning when, as Jefferson described it, the "People" became "enlightened." In his June 1, 1795, letter to Tench Coxe, he said:
brought to mind something said by then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger who, in his capacity as Dean of the College of Cardinals, stated in his Pro Eligendo Homily just before the cardinals convened behind closed doors to select the next pope. In fact, I had a good sleep that night but at 3 am, sat bolt upright in bed and turned on EWTN's live broadcast of the mass, just as Cardinal Ratzinger delivered his homily. In it, referring to that day's reading from Ephesians 4, he stated:
Let us move on to the second reading, the letter to the Ephesians. Here we see essentially three aspects: first of all, the ministries and charisms in the Church as gifts of the Lord who rose and ascended into heaven; then, the maturing of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God as the condition and content of unity in the Body of Christ; and lastly, our common participation in the growth of the Body of Christ, that is, the transformation of the world into communion with the Lord.Let us dwell on only two points. The first is the journey towards "the maturity of Christ", as the Italian text says, simplifying it slightly. More precisely, in accordance with the Greek text, we should speak of the "measure of the fullness of Christ" that we are called to attain if we are to be true adults in the faith. We must not remain children in faith, in the condition of minors. And what does it mean to be children in faith? St Paul answers: it means being "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine" (Eph 4: 14). This description is very timely!
How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects spring up, and what St Paul says about human deception and the trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph 4: 14) comes true.
You can read the entire homily here
Even then, in 2005, those winds were sweeping across our beloved country. That homily shook me to the core and when it was announced that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger had been elected as pontiff, I immediately thanked God. Who better to guide the church than one with his hand on the pulse of the world's tribulations. In these subsequent years, we catholics have witnessed a pope who continues to beat the drum, warning us all of the dangers of secularism and all the other "isms" that plague our world. Today's homily continues that theme, while here in America, we continue to witness the moral and spiritual collapse of one of the greatest society's in contemporary times. I consider myself most blessed to have been educated in the 50's and early 60's when faith was still a part of our American culture. The pain comes from witnessing the slow but steady decline of moralism in our country. History teaches us that when you remove God from the culture of a nation, it collapses.
Well said!