Almost every day now, especially during the Christmas season, we’re reading stories about how anything religious is being cut out of history. Censoring Christianity from culture is not a new phenomenon. What has been going on for more than 30 years and known only by a few is finally coming to light thanks to the Internet. It’s no wonder that most young adults have little knowledge of America’s rich Christian history.
Consider how a teacher’s guide for the high school history text Triumph of the American Nation, published in 1986, omitted material from the 1620 Mayflower Compact without informing the teacher that the document had been edited. Students in discussing the document are left with an incomplete understanding of what motivated these early founders because they do not have all the facts. The Mayflower Compact is described solely as a political document with its more striking religious elements deleted. Here is the document as presented by the textbook company. The bold face portions are missing from the textbook version:
In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic. . . .[1]
These brave men and women had more on their minds than political freedom. Missionary zeal and the advancement of the Christian faith were their primary motivations as they risked life and property to carve out a new home in an uncertain wilderness.
The Declaration of Independence (click image to enlarge)
Teachers are being intimidated for using official United States documents in the classroom.
The critics of America’s early Christian origins have steadily removed such references from textbooks and have created a tense legal environment that frightens many teachers from even raising evidence contradicting the censored texts. Will a member of the ACLU threaten legal action against a teacher who decides to cite original source material to support a view that differs from the historical perspective of the textbook?
Of course, we know that it is already happening. Teachers are being intimidated for using official United States documents in the classroom. The most recent incident occurred in the Cupertino California Union School District. Stephen Williams, who teaches history, passed out copies of the Declaration of Independence, the diaries of George Washington and John Adams, the writings of William Penn, and various state constitutions to point out the historical reality that America has a deep and rich Christian heritage. School officials objected even though the California Education Code allows “references to religion or references to or the use of religious literature…when such references or uses do not constitute instruction in religious principles…and when such references or uses are incidental to or illustrative of matters properly included in the course of study.” Most mainstream media outlets gave the incident minimal coverage. The Internet made it a major story. Sean Hannity got involved and took a day to broadcast from the school district.
The movie National Treasure, starring Nicolas Cage and Jon Voight, shows the extent to which our own government goes to protect the Declaration of Independence, and yet these historical fascists believe they are the true guardians of our nation’s past. They can no longer get away with covering up the past as long as Christian teachers like Stephen Williams know their history, are willing to stand up to the deceptive Orwellians, and other Christians come to their aid. There’s more to be done. American Vision has a dream of building an American Heritage Museum™ so the light of historical truth can be seen even if others attempt to bury it.
Footnotes:
[1] Education Update, Heritage Foundation, 10:3 (Summer 1987). Quoted in Robert P. Dugan, Winning the New Civil War: Recapturing America’s Values (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1991), 149]150.