Living A Worthy Life- Democracy and Education Revisited

This story did not begin on Sept. 18, 2001 but our part of it did.  It did and many people did not know it. This went unnoticed to most Americans then and now.  On Sept. 18, President Signed Authorization for Use of Military Force bill.

Statement by the President

 Today I am signing Senate Joint Resolution 23, the "Authorization for Use of Military Force."

 On September 11, 2001, terrorists committed treacherous and horrific acts of violence against innocent Americans and individuals from other countries.  Civilized nations and people around the world have expressed outrage at, and have unequivocally condemned, these attacks. Those who plan, authorize, commit, or aid terrorist attacks against the United States and its interests -- including those who harbor terrorists -- threaten the national security of the United States.  It is, therefore, necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to defend itself and protect United States citizens both at home and abroad.

      In adopting this resolution in response to the latest terrorist acts committed against the United States and the continuing threat to the United States and its citizens from terrorist activities, both Houses of Congress have acted wisely, decisively, and in the finest traditions of our country.  I thank the leadership of both Houses for their role in expeditiously passing this historic joint resolution. I have had the benefit of meaningful consultations with members of the Congress since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and I will continue to consult closely with them as our Nation responds to this threat to our peace and security.

      Senate Joint Resolution 23 recognizes the seriousness of the terrorist threat to our Nation and the authority of the President under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of terrorism against the United States.  In signing this resolution, I maintain the longstanding position of the executive branch regarding the President's constitutional authority to use force, including the Armed Forces of the United States and regarding the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution.

      Our whole Nation is unalterably committed to a direct, forceful, and comprehensive response to these terrorist attacks and the scourge of terrorism directed against the United States and its interests.

GEORGE W. BUSH

 THE WHITE HOUSE,

 September 18, 2001.

This story is not about President Bush it is about we the people.  When are we going to wake up and see what is happening. One person did and in 1943 in his book entitled, Philosophies at War,  Bishop Fulton J. Sheen explained it this way. He said that we were told that we fought World War I to free the world from the Kaiser and make the world safe for democracy. Well it didn’t.  Then about twenty years later we were told that we were fighting a war against the Nazis and make the world safe again. Well it didn’t that time either. 

Well fast forward to September of 2019.  There were elections being held in Afghanistan for President.  The Taliban depressed the voter turnout in many areas of the country through direct or indirect intimidation.  They cut off power, shut down the internet and did many other things that impacted the elections. This was done almost 18 years to the date of declaration of President Bush.  Were we lied to again?

In Chapter 10 of the Philosophies at War, Bishop Sheen wrote a great deal about education and democracy. He explained what was wrong with education then. 

Mr. Walter Lippmann, addressing the American Association for the Advancement of Science on December 29, 1940, stated: "The prevailing education is destined, if it continues, to destroy the Western civilization, and in fact, is destroying it. . . . The plain fact is that the graduates of the modern school are actors in the catastrophe which has befallen our civilization. . . . Modern education is based on a denial that it is necessary, or useful, or desirable for the schools and colleges to continue to transmit from generation to generation, the religious, and classical culture of the Western World. ... By separating education from the classical, religious tradition the school cannot train the pupil to look upon himself as an inviolable person because he is made in the image of God. These very words, though they now sound archaic, are the noblest words in our language." 

The plain fact is that the graduates of the modern school are actors in the catastrophe which has befallen our civilization. This is now very true in Afghanistan. Our foreign policy has kept US troops there for nearly 18 years to combat the Taliban.  Today the Taliban are strong and have made a strong influence on democracy and rights in Afghanistan. Can we just export the idea of government without God? Can government solve our problems? Did the government create us? Were we created in the government’s image?  Wait a minute, didn’t men create the government not the government created man?

Now we are using some Socratic Questioning here. This is what Bishop Sheen meant when he added:

President Hutchins of the University of Chicago, in June 1940, said: "In order to believe in democracy we must believe that there is a difference between truth and falsity, good and bad, right and wrong, and that truth, goodness and right are objective (not subjective) standards, even though they cannot be verified experimentally.”

When your Universal Truth is not God but government, you have not only short changed yourself, you have short changed your nation and the world.  We can not and will not take the role of being a Moral Leader of the world by acting without morals and we can not be an active proponent of big government if we do not support a moral life.  We can live without government but we can not live without God.  

Bishop Sheen added, “Our great country was founded on the principle of the separation of Church and the State, and we have no desire to change this principle; but our country was not founded on the principle of the separation of religion and the State”

Note that Bishop Sheen was absolutely correct here. He wrote this before the Everson Case where the U.S. Supreme Court turned the entire idea of separation of Church and State completely backwards.  This was 1947. Ever since that date we have been taught in the United States that we are a democracy, we never lost a war, and the US was founded on the idea of Separation of Church and State.  

Nothing could be further from the truth. Bishop Sheen explained, “The United States Supreme Court, on February 29, 1892, after an elaborate review of legal decisions, laws, and constitutional history declared: The reasons presented affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. ...That attitude of the Founding Fathers is well ex- pressed in the Ordinance of 1787 providing for the development of the Northwest, which Ordinance clearly associated religion with education: "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged."

In fact at the end of his second term in office, Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt’s White House Conference of 1940 stated: "The child needs to have a personal appreciation of ethical values consistent with a developing philosophy of life. . . . Here the potent influence of religion can give it to the child a conviction of the intrinsic worth of persons and also assurance that he has a significant and secure place in an ordered universe."

Would a democratic conference do that again today?Where have we failed?  We have failed our schools, our teachers and our students.  We have taken God out of the picture and replaced him with government.  We have taken education out of the classroom and replaced it with institutionalized products that do not help a person with their critical thinking skills. 

Next time you are having a problem.  Thank a teacher for helping you realize that you have a problem and look around- wake up you are not in this alone, God is on your side and he will help you always.