Who Will Follow God's Will? The True Royal Philosopher
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When I read about the American Federation of Teachers President’s Randi Weingarten's recently uncloaked Why Fascists Fear Teachers, I thought, “ridiculous!” Actually dictatorial public school elites—from the Department of Education veterans to ivy league universities to secular school boards to anti Christian school districts to local Democrat Party-controlled teachers unions—are what should frighten all good teachers. However, I must admit that many of my fellow Christians have already been persuaded that orthodox Catholicism is fascist. A significant number openly disdain the Republican Party, and, oddly, some are complicit in violent response to the current President and conservative voices.
I wonder how many so persuaded have ever considered that Weingarten’s name translates to “vine garden,” and pondered further that not all vines are good. Like all invasive vines, hers destroys whole gardens, eradicating native species (the people) and cutting off light, water, and nutrients. In fact only the metaphorical vine spoken of by Jesus Christ in his Last Supper Discourse can be trusted to bring life to us. (John 15:5).
How to tackle those “weeds” while cleaning up the Church’s proverbial landscape? We must courageously combat deadly fodder with fact and permeate our Church communities with catechetical and historical blooms that assertively restore the goodness, truth, and beauty of Catholicism.
First, expose the lie of “selectivity.” The secular world does this with snippets of quotes and narrowly edited “clip clicks” of speech and behavior of its opponents. However, Christians are guilty of the same. The notion that the Gospel message can be capsulized in short, selective passages, like Matthew 25, and repeatedly quoted to the exclusivity of the entire Bible strikes at the integrity of Truth and distorts Love.
To help counter this, know the Catechism of the Catholic Church which is founded on Scripture and contributions by knowledgeable and inspired Christians from 2,000 years ago going forward. While determined to pursue all its contents, study in particular Part Three for this immediate mission: “Life in Christ.” (CCC 421-611). The contents offer clarity and understanding to help distinguish between what is authentically the Word of God from worldly insensibility. Among the topics are man’s genuine freedom, morality, virtues, and sin. Other important subsections within the realm of the Ten Commandments include: the person and society, true social justice in the light of Truth, Church as mother and teacher, family in God’s plan and within society, respect for the dignity of the person, male and female he created them, and living the truth.
From an historic viewpoint, as there is nothing new under the sun, explore Church history and read the Encyclicals which individually and collectively address conflicts and challenges in understanding right and wrong ways to interpret and act upon human ills and conflict. A few related to education follow.
Pope Leo XIII—known as the Industrial Revolution Pope—noted in his writings the perils of failing to acknowledge God’s supremacy over the State. Specifically, related to “the liberty of teaching,” he wrote “There can be no doubt that truth alone should imbue the minds of men”. He elaborates that nothing but the truth should be taught to both the ignorant and the educated, and that “it is the duty of all who teach to banish error from the mind and by sure safeguards to close the entry to all false convictions.” He references the notion that the State cannot teach whatever it pleases without failing its duty and warns against turning teaching into an instrument of corruption. More so because the authority of teachers has great weight with their hearers who can rarely decide truth from falsehood. (Libertas On the Nature of Liberty, 1888).
In the early 20th Century, 1929, Pope Pius XI issued Divini Illius Magistri that asserted that true education must be directed towards the ultimate end of human existence which is God and delineated the complementary roles of the Church, family and civil society that result in not merely earthly happiness but spiritual perfection. In fact the encyclical notes the hierarchy of family and Church as the primary educators, possessing the divine authority to teach faith and morals.
Parenthetically, our godless, pluralistic culture acts with hostility towards these maxims. In the 1960’s the final foundational stone was removed, along with God in the famous Madalyn O’Hair cases, but nothing later arose to protect the expression of Christian faith by millions of students in the closing decades of the 20th century. Satan blinded justice.
Pope Paul VI penned “Confronting the Devil’s Power” in 1972, citing the Church’s greatest needs at the present time to be defended against the evil we call the Devil. His insightful letter invited its audience to see how important it is to be aware of evil if we are to possess a correct Christian concept of the world, life, and salvation. Pope Paul VI warned that the matter of the devil and his influence can be exerted on communities, entire societies, or events, as well as individuals.
Did we listen? How many read these guiding exhortations despite easy Internet access? Perhaps more importantly who taught it? Did most, like Pope Paul VI mention, rely instead on psychoanalytical or psychiatric studies instead of identifying the real enemy? Did we not also grow weary and defensive about appearing superstitious, inflexible, and, does one dare suggest, today fearful of being called a fascist?
The Devil was there the whole time, and he has his minion millions, too. Together they tempted and toppled powers at all levels, but most pointedly in education; silenced otherwise regular church attending Christians while luring them into a minimalist, worldly social justice vision; and confused the minimally engaged in faith.
Regardless, the fact is that today Christians (and Jews) are actually persecuted in public school settings, denied reasonable access to that which they hold inherent to their being, now and into eternity. Conscientious parents are maligned. (Among many articles:“For Some School Boards, Parents Are The Enemy,” Pacific Legal Foundation. 12/20/2023) Their God given authority, long ago was stripped away. Any complacency now will lead to a worse spiritual disaster here and globally.
Nausea rises when reading that Weingarten claims that her book is a “love letter” to teachers, sympathizing that they are victims like educators under Hitler. (“What Matters Most” by Randi Weingarten, 9/21/25 aft.org) The Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, would disagree. Further, I would share the Epistles for teachers to truly grasp Who truly loves them. But then, there are no Bibles in public schools today.
Be the change for that.
Patricia Hershwitzky, a three-decade educator, holds a degree in Political Science, minor journalism; a Masters in Education and an Educational Specialist degree. Since the early 1990's, she has published numerous articles and letters, along with four books, including:: "Teaching the City of God in the City of Man: Pursuing Salvation Education." Her background includes advocacy for children in the womb. pregnant mothers in crisis, the mentally challenged and emotionally ill. As a breast cancer survivor, Patricia has encouraged women to embrace Catholic responses--meditations and prayer-- during treatment. She is a member of the Guild of St. Benedict Joseph Labre and recently made her promise to the Secular Order of the Servants of Mary. Her most recent work, "Speaking One's Soul: Magnifying God's Word in a Madly Godless World," co authored with Mary Sobel Ott, is now available through Enroute Books and Media. A current focus is finalizing a Catholic parental guide through the maze of mental illness.
