Eighth Commandment: Palestine shall not steal

Submitted to the Cumberland Times-News December 13, 2010; published December 20.

...there are many places where Palestinians could establish a homeland "that would be consistent with their roots. But there is only one place on earth where the Jewish people could have a homeland that is consistent with their roots." -- former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

As we watched Alan Dershowitz attack Mike Huckabee in a taped three-year-old argument on Huckabee’s FOX program Dec. 4, the governor, in real time, most likely rehearsed his remarks for his role the next evening as keynote speaker at the 28th annual dinner of the American Friends of the Beit El Yeshiva Center in Manhattan.

With 1,400 to attend, this dinner “is one of the largest and most prestigious functions of any Jewish organization,” according to Eugen Gluck, board chair, as reported by Arutz Sheva, the Israeli media network based in the West Bank that hosts the event.

The dinner honors 5,500 or so residents of Beit El (Bethel), first settled in 1977, who forego the cushy life to stay put in the conflict and clamor for the rights of Israel.

Bethel is the Biblical site where Jacob slept and dreamt of angels descending and ascending a ladder (Genesis 28:10-19); and God spoke to him. Therefore, Jacob called this place “the gate of heaven.” This is where Jacob delivered the blessing of his father Isaac into Israel, and it is where he would manifest God’s promise to make of his grandfather Abraham a nation.

Huckabee is “outspoken,” reports Arutz Sheva, “in his support for Israel's rights to sovereignty over the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria, where Beit El is located.”

A visitor to Israel 12 times, Arutz Sheva reports, Huckabee said last year there are many places where Palestinians could establish a homeland “that would be consistent with their roots. But there is only one place on earth where the Jewish people could have a homeland that is consistent with their roots."

As a Christian, Huckabee understands his shared inheritance in God’s promise for salvation, first granted to our spiritual elders, the Jews. We believe that Jesus, a descendant of Abraham (Mt. 1:1-17), is the manifestation of that promise.

During Advent, we wait, with Jesus’ mother Mary, and prepare for the Messiah’s birth. We look inward, and we reach out to others in charity, as we aim to re-order our lives, and to open our hearts to God’s redemption. During this holy time, Christians also anticipate Christ’s second coming.

Sadly, the secular crush to buy expensive gifts defines Christmas, and charity, for many today. Surely, for children, visits from St. Nicholas, and fulfillments of hearts’ desires for material expressions of affection are important, to build treasured memories.

As St. Paul writes, though, a time arrives when adults give up childish attachments to things, memories and desires (1 Cor. 13:11). Advent is the time to mature, through personal discipline, to acquire the ability to cast off inordinate lifestyles, and to explore our spiritual destiny, instead -- and to advance on the path of St. Paul toward self-sufficiency (Phil 4:11b-13). One day, with Paul, we may say, “In him who is the source of my strength, I have strength for everything.”

In their disagreement, Dershowitz lambastes Huckabee for saying the Ten Commandments are unalterable; and he claims that Jesus rewrote them to shift the Sabbath and to redefine adultery.

As a Jew, and reportedly a supporter of Israel, perhaps Dershowitz might agree, finally, with Huckabee and others who believe that the eighth commandment stands unchanged: Palestine shall not steal land from Israel bequeathed by God to the Jews.

Furthermore, in the course of three years, since he apparently first tore into Huckabee, Dershowitz could choose to re-order his view, and let go of inordinate tendencies to confound the foundational tenets shared by the Jewish and Christian faiths, and seek authentic peace by making peace with God.

Share the story of the legendary Turkey Foot Road

"Chances are, when you read the book, you will discover new
facts about your ancestors; and you might uncover connections with other folks you know, or will come to know, that you otherwise never would expect."

In its heyday, the Turkey Foot Road was a primary route west into the frontier, which at that time in our region was anywhere west of the Conococheague. In the mid-1700s, the Wills Creek region included the entire Wills Creek drainage area -- seemingly undefined by boundaries and governed collaboratively by the colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was, as "In Search of the Turkey Foot Road" co-author Lannie Dietle once described it to me, "a howling wilderness."

This is where our ancestors, migrating from Europe to seek religious freedom and economic opportunity in unexplored territory, braved the elements and encountered the Indians to claim land, build homes, settle communities, and leave legacies that today are our roots and our hometowns.

Share the story of the legendary Turkey Foot Road, almost lost in time, but captured by co-authors Lannie Dietle and Michael McKenzie from the memories of Salisbury, Pa., Mayor Harry Ringler, Sr., and the research of Mount Savage amateur historian and archaeologist Francis Bridges, and others.

Chances are, when you read the book, you will discover new facts about your ancestors; and you might uncover connections with other folks you know, or will come to know, that you otherwise never would expect. While serving as editor for the project, I grew to know my ancestry better; and I found that I share genetic connections with both Dietle and McKenzie.

So join the fun, and share the story. You will find new friends, and perhaps a relative or two.

Feel free to print our promotional flyer and post it in your school, library, post office, etc., or include it, or an item about the book, in your historical or genealogical society or family newsletter. All proceeds from sales benefit the Mount Savage Historical Society.

Turkey Foot Road 1906 view

Mount Savage Historical Society
P.O. Box 401
Mount Savage, Maryland 21545
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FIGURE 102 CUTLINES -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2010 -- Contact: NancyE.Thoerig@verizon.net

MUCH IMPROVED – In 1904, four Allegany County road directors and Engineer George G. Townsend designed a plan to improve the hillside route along Jennings Run, which primarily entailed protecting the roadway from flood damage when the run “got up,” an ofttimes occurrence. Townsend writes in a 1906 “Good Roads Magazine” article (Appendix 19 in Dietle and McKenzie’s “In Search of the Turkey Foot Road” book): “This wall is 231 ft. long, of good sandstone, laid in first-class Portland cement mortar. Another shorter, but higher wall, similarly constructed, protects an exposed point farther up the stream.” Realignment of both the road and the run was necessary in 1957, to construct the current Maryland State Route 36 corridor. Parts of this wall remain visible, and segments of the old road remain in use today.

Turkey Foot Road 1897 view

Mount Savage Historical Society
P.O. Box 401
Mount Savage, Maryland 21545
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FIGURE 169 CUTLINES -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2010 -- Contact: NancyE.Thoerig@verizon.net

WAGONS HO! -- From the bottom left corner, wagon wheel tracks lead into a curving dirt road that hugs a craggy cliffside, along a portion of the historic Turkey Foot Road between Corriganville and Barrelville, Md. The authors of “In Search of the Turkey Foot Road” consider how road builders might have cut primitive routes through rock and tackled other difficult obstacles to forge and improve westward routes through the Wills Creek Narrows in Cumberland and the Jennings Run gap in Corriganville. The authors selected this view from the 1897 book “Artwork of Allegany County Maryland” to be the cover for their book, published by the Mount Savage Historical Society.

New book retraces historic Turkey Foot Road

Mount Savage Historical Society
P.O. Box 401
Mount Savage, Maryland 21545
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NEWS RELEASE -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2010 -- Contact: NancyE.Thoerig@verizon.net


MOUNT SAVAGE, Md. – Along the northwestern Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania border, an Indian trail led traders, drovers, travelers and settlers into the American frontier. The primitive road that evolved from this ancient route spawned scattered settlements that today are our hometowns.

“In Search of the Turkey Foot Road: From Fort Cumberland to the North Fork of the Youghiogheny,” by Lannie Dietle and Michael McKenzie, retraces this historic and nearly forgotten route, highlighting the part between Cumberland and Confluence, Pa.

The Mount Savage Historical Society is publishing the work , as announced by President Dennis Lashley. Visit http://www.mtsavage.info/ to see sample pages.

The serious reader soon finds that this 342-page book is more than a story about a road. The Turkey Foot Road, disguised by different names, still takes us where we need to go; and this historic transportation corridor continues to define us today as descendants of those who braved the elements and events of the early American wilderness to make homes, and leave legacies, in a boundless new land of opportunity.

Co-authors Dietle and McKenzie, and Editor Nancy E. Thoerig, found that they share ancestors who traveled this road and settled along it. They suspect that many thousands of Americans similarly can trace their lineage to settlers along the Turkey Foot Road.

Relying on maps, property surveys, aerial photographs, crop marks, landscape scars, oral traditions and local guides (namely Salisbury, Pa. Mayor Harry Ringler, Sr. and Mount Savage amateur historian and archaeologist Francis Bridges), Dietle and McKenzie delineate the route in detail. Assisted with their GPS coordinates, a dedicated hiker might set out to walk the 18th century route from Cumberland to Harnedsville, Pa. The authors also identify key points between Harnedsville and Pittsburgh.

“In its heyday,” Dietle summarizes in the final chapter, “the Turkey Foot Road was an early route west. It helped to settle the towns and environs that interest us most: Barrelville and Mount Savage in Maryland; Wellersburg, Pocahontas, and Salisbury in Pennsylvania.”

Dietle continues, “The road also serviced points farther west, such as Springs, Savage, Confluence, Harnedsville, and so forth, all the way to Pittsburgh. By 1820, the United States population had grown to 9.6 million, and about half of it had moved west of Cumberland. As this tremendous migration and population growth occurred, some of the people along the Turkey Foot Road moved on, helping to settle and populate the great American west.”

The antecedent to the Turkey Foot Road, traditionally called the Turkey Foot Trail, was an Indian trading path. In 1749, the colonies of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, at the request of the Miami Indians, improved this route to facilitate easier trade between Pickawillany (Piqua), Ohio and Wills Creek (Cumberland), Md.

English trade flourished along this primary corridor into the contested Ohio territory, and tensions with the French mounted. Thus, the early Turkey Foot Road, the authors contend, provoked the first large scale attack of the French and Indian War, at Pickawillany in 1752.

George Washington made the earliest mention of Turkey Foot the authors found, in reference to the confluence of the Casselman River and Laurel Hill Creek with the Youghiogheny River, at present-day Confluence, Pa. Most likely, the authors believe, the road takes its name from this destination.

“In Search of the Turkey Foot Road” is a fascinating read through history in our own backyards. Meticulously researched and abundantly documented, with almost 80 appendices and 460 maps, figures and photos, the book is sure to tickle any reader’s curiosity about the people, places and events that transpire along the Turkey Foot Road.

Drawing upon his ancestral connections and childhood memories in Somerset County, Pa., Dietle writes from his home in Houston, Texas, where he works as principal designer for an engineering firm that makes seals for oilfield equipment.

Descended from one of the first settlers in Mount Savage, McKenzie led the project’s local research endeavors. He lives in Barrelville and works as a diesel locomotive mechanic at the CSX shop in Cumberland.

Proceeds benefit the Mount Savage Historical Society. Visit http://www.mtsavage.info/ to see sample pages, a general overview and chapter summaries, biographies for the co-authors, editor and contributors, and to contact Becky Korns, MSHS secretary, to order.

*****
NEWS STAFF: For more information on the Turkey Foot Road project, or to arrange an author’s interview, write NancyE.Thoerig@verizon.net.

Turkey Foot Road history becomes personal

Published in Cumberland Times-News Sunday, November 14, 2010.
(Beginning mid-October 2010, the Times-News limited Letters access to online subscribers.)

Historic roads take us where we want to go, and they transport us to where we come from.

Our fortune to live in such a notably historic place in America gives us an advantage, if we explore it, to understand how the past shapes our present. That dynamic becomes personal when “In Search of the Turkey Foot Road: From Fort Cumberland to the North Fork of the Youghiogheny,” by Lannie Dietle and Michael McKenzie, retraces this mostly forgotten early route that breached the barrier of the Allegheny Mountains and opened travel westward for settlers from Wills Creek.

Dietle and McKenzie are collaborators on items and articles of historical interest in nearby southwestern Pennsylvania and northwestern Maryland, posted at Dietle’s family genealogy web site Korns.org. This is their first book. It is a volunteer project to benefit the Mount Savage Historical Society, which plans to publish a CD with a print companion.

Mount Savage was a destination for settlers and travelers along the Turkey Foot Road, an upgrade of ancient Indian trails. At the town’s northern border with Pennsylvania, Arnold’s Settlement sprang up where Archibald Arnold (proprietor of Arnold’s hotel), and Logsdon, Durbin, Mattingly and McKenzie families (and relatives) stopped on their way west from Westminster in Carroll County, Maryland around 1770.

The Turkey Foot Road follows Wills Creek northwest out of Cumberland, and then Jennings Run west to Barrelville, where it tacks up the hillside to join Mile Lane in northeast Mount Savage. Then it scales Bald Knob Road, and at the top of the hill goes northwest to Pocahontas, Pa., then to Salisbury, Confluence, and the Forks of the Ohio at Pittsburgh.

As an early traders trail, the route forged on to Pickawillany, Ohio (present-day Piqua), where the French and their Indian allies waged a battle on the English in 1752. In this sense, Dietle and McKenzie suggest, trading activities along the Turkey Foot trail in the contested Ohio territory helped incite the French and Indian War.

George Washington made the earliest mention of Turkey Foot the authors found, in reference to the confluence of the Casselman River and Laurel Hill Creek with the Youghiogheny (at present-day Confluence, Pa.). Most likely, the road takes its name from this destination.

Drawing upon his ancestral connections and childhood memories in Somerset County, Pa., Lannie Dietle writes from his home in Houston, where he works as principal designer for an engineering firm that makes seals for oilfield equipment.

Descended from Gabriel McKenzie, one of the early settlers who accompanied Archibald Arnold, Michael McKenzie led the project’s local research endeavors. He works as a diesel engine mechanic at the CSX Cumberland shop.

It was my pleasure to sign on as editor. The book is a fascinating read, meticulously researched and abundantly documented and illustrated with appendices, maps, figures and photos. It is sure to tickle any reader’s curiosity about the people, places and events that transpire along the Turkey Foot Road.

Dietle, McKenzie and I found that we have ancestors in common. Drucilla Ann McKenzie, a descendant of Gabriel, is my mother’s father’s grandmother. Drusianna’s son Ozias Weimer, my mother’s grandfather, was Johannes Weimer’s great-great-grandson. Ozias married Elizabeth Rose Breig, Martin Weimer’s great-great-granddaughter.

Martin and Johannes Weimer were brothers who emigrated from Langensoultzbach, France (in Alsace, on the border with Germany). Martin Weimer, also Dietle’s ancestor, built the first house in Salisbury, Pa., Dietle documents, and owned property along the Turkey Foot Road.

Visit http://korns.org/Turkey-Foot-Road-Book.pdf to see sample pages from the book; among them are the Table of Contents, and first and last chapters. Watch for announcements about availability; or enquire at MountSavageHistoricalSociety.org.

Is groundwork done for Islam's aggression?

Published in Cumbelrand Times-News Wednesday, October 13, 2010.

In our current smoke-and-mirrors political and social environments, where hypocrisy steamrolls sense, astute educators very rightly
may wonder, “How better might Islam transform America than to confuse the views of America’s youths?”

The Texas State Board of Education’s adoption Sept. 24 of a resolution to reject future textbooks that unfairly represent Islam and Christianity is proactive, given current radical Muslim aggression in America.

Proposed in July by Randy Rives, a school board member in Odessa, Texas, the resolution cites abundant instances in high school history textbooks that the TSBOE agrees document a “pro-Islamic anti-Christian bias.”

The board’s action sends a message to publishers: If it’s biased, we won’t buy it. With about 4.7 million students in K-12 public schools, and contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Texas wields mighty sway in the textbook publishing industry.

In our current smoke-and-mirrors political and social environments, where hypocrisy steamrolls sense, astute educators very rightly may wonder, “How better might Islam transform America than to confuse the views of America’s youths?”

Most Americans recall the horrific 9/11 attack, and object to the Ground Zero mosque. We believe Sharia law is incompatible with American justice, and puzzle over President Obama’s advancement of Islam in America.

We find the President’s radical upbringing undeniable and his liberation theology undesirable; and we hear that radical Muslims intend to influence American foreign policy and redefine America’s Judeo-Christian tradition.

Then a year ago, the Dubai royal family, headed by a sheikh who is “young, ambitious and quite entrepreneurial,” as described on a “history and lineage” website, was “poised to become a major shareholder,” as reported in the July 28, 2009 Independent.ie, in Education Media & Publishing Group.

EMPG owns Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Harcourt Education. The royals “lost (their) stake,” as reported Sept. 23 by MSNBC, when EMPG restructured its debt earlier this year.

Realistic fears of radical Islam’s influence and infiltration hearken back to Communist penetration that took hold in our government and religious institutions from the 1930s into present times. Just three months ago, the FBI arrested and deported 10 Russian spies.

The American Communist Party, founded in 1919, was purported by liberals to be harmless. However, in 1995, the Commission on Government Secrecy published the Venona papers – 2,900 documents of radio messages from top KGB agents in Washington and New York to their superiors in Moscow (1943 to 1948) – that confirmed the American Communist Party did influence American policy, and commit espionage.

Claremont Institute reports: “It is now plain that by 1945 every important branch of the American government…was infested with Communists busily doing the work of the Soviet Union.”

At the same time, Communists infiltrated the Catholic Church. In 1952, Bishop Fulton Sheen converted Bella Dodd, who revealed that as a Communist agent, she recruited young radicals to enter Catholic seminaries.

According to a June 21, 2009 Detroit Examiner article, Dodd confessed: “In the 1930s, we put 1,100 men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within. The idea was for these men to be ordained, and then climb the ladder of influence and authority…. Right now they are in the highest places in the Church.”

The idea of Communist infiltration, writes Clare Kolewski, was to destroy the faith of the people “through the promotion of a pseudo-religion — something that resembled Catholicism but was not the real thing.”

Kolewski goes on: “This would be necessary to shame Church leaders into ‘openness to the world’ and to a more flexible attitude toward all religions and philosophies. The Communists would then exploit this openness in order to undermine the Church.”

Might we wonder if Communist infiltration into our government and values systems, begun as much as 80 years ago, has done groundwork for Islam to “shame” us today, into “opening” our culture to their radical philosophies?

Would this mosque be America's undoing?

Published in Cumberland Times-News Sunday, August 29, 2010.

"So how can a radical Muslim who pledges fidelity to the Koran and (spiritual, if not physical) death to Christians and Jews lay such an impassioned claim to the U.S. Constitution?"

Many believe the Ground Zero mosque symbolizes militant Islam and threatens to undo America’s Judeo-Christian tradition.

On Oct. 22, 2001, six weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Associated Press religion writer Rachel Zoll reported that Muslim organizations aim to redefine America’s heritage.

Zoll writes that a post-9/11 study commissioned by the American Jewish Committee shows Muslim organizations in America inflate their numbers, by more than double, to exceed six million.

Six million Jews live here, and by claiming more, Muslims “would buttress calls for a redefinition of America's heritage as 'Judeo-Christian-Muslim,'” ACJ Director David Harris tells Zoll, “a stated goal of some Muslim leaders.”

President Obama’s Aug. 13 mosque endorsement barely got air until Nihad Awad, director of the Washington lobby, Council on American-Islamic Relations (criminally implicated for Hamas support), called other national leaders “to speak out in defense of the freedom of religion…enshrined in our Constitution” (USAToday, Aug. 14).

Our unique Judeo-Christian Constitution establishes America as the world’s grand experiment in religious freedom. Muslim countries do not embrace this concept. So how can a radical Muslim who pledges fidelity to the Koran and (spiritual, if not physical) death to Christians and Jews lay such an impassioned claim to the U.S. Constitution?

Hypocrisy? Mockery? Deception? Would a scoundrel like Awad set out to transform America, in a covert 21st century Conquest? (Google “taqiyya.”)

If not, then he might consider a well-reasoned, common sense precedent in this matter.

In 1984, Carmelite nuns set up a convent in a former administration building at Auschwitz. In 1993, they moved, because Jewish sensibilities -- nearly half a century after the holocaust -- were offended.

The sisters had a legal right to stay, and they had a rightful mission: Praying for the souls who died there, among whom were Polish Franciscan priest St. Maximilian Kolbe (starved Aug. 14, 1941) and Polish Jewish convert and Carmelite nun St. Edith Stein (gassed Aug. 9, 1942).

One of the controversial Carmelites was an Auschwitz survivor. Among more than a million who perished at Auschwitz, 149 were Catholic religious (Auschwitz.org, May 24, 2004) and 600 were Catholic Jews (TheTablet.co.uk, Feb. 13, 1999).

Dr. Ady Steg, a French Jewish leader at the time, blasted Catholic officials: "[T]he Carmelites come to Auschwitz to exalt the triumph of the Church” (Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1987).

Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants to France, whose mother died at Auschwitz, and Polish Pope John Paul II, who narrowly escaped Nazi capture, empathized.

The nuns relocated to a convent built for them across the street. It houses an information center about the Jewish holocaust.

The nuns, though, did not set out to destroy the country from within. The Muslim Brotherhood, with whom Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf allegedly has ties, does.

In his Sept. 9, 2007 Dallas Morning News commentary, Rod Dreher quotes from an 18-page Muslim Brotherhood document, seized by the FBI:

“The process of settlement [of Islam in the United States] is…eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ their miserable house…so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all religions.”

Earlier credit goes to San Ramon Valley (Calif.) Herald reporter Lisa Gardiner for quoting CAIR founder Omar Ahmad on July 4, 1998: “The Koran…should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.”

If Cordoba House is legitimate, then true moderate Muslims might say, “Move it.” But if those involved, like Awad and Abdul Rauf, intend this mosque to be the axis for America’s undoing, and for world domination by Islam, then we all should say, “No way.”

Liberation theology politicizes Christianity

Published in Cumberland Times-News Tuesday, July 27, 2010.

"Jesus says our Father sent him to stir up the social order, to raise up
the poor and scatter the proud. But Jesus’ radical idea of revolution is a
spiritual wave of individual conversions. The savior’s poverty, and power, is a humble spirit."

Jesus teaches us that our personal relationship with him is the heart of our service to others (Lk. 10:38-42).

Today in America, perhaps emboldened by a President who champions their beliefs, liberation theologians -- and not just black adherents -- are ramping up efforts to remake Christianity into a politicized Christology.

Considering the movement’s genesis, it is unsurprising that President Obama has found friends at University of Notre Dame, where liberation theology founder Gustavo Gutierrez holds a prestigious professorship in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.

Rev. Gutierrez’ bio at the Institute web site lists Latin America as his focus and “[t]he historical background and continuing theological relevance of the preferential option for the poor” as his current research topic. Gutierrez, a Peru native, is a Dominican priest.

Most associated with the Jesuits and 1960s insurgency in El Salvador, liberation theology hit a high pitch with assassination of San Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero, killed March 24, 1980 because he publicly called Christian Salvadoran soldiers to obey God’s order and honor human dignity, and not follow government orders to oppress, abuse and kill countrymen.

A 12-year civil war ensued. Among 75,000 killed were six Jesuit priests, murdered in their home Nov. 16, 1989.

Fr. Jon Sobrino was not in the rectory that day. He continues to work and teach in El Salvador.

Two of Sobrino’s books published in 1999 are the subject of a Vatican notification to the faithful of March 14, 2007. Fr. Sobrino’s work with the poor is “admirable,” the Vatican writes, but he strays from church doctrine in his theological “presuppositions” that humanize Jesus Christ and neglect his divinity and “the salvific value of his Death.”

Fr. Sobrino’s material, rather than spiritual, view of Jesus and his teachings constructs the premise of liberation theology: That Jesus manifests social liberation from economic and political injustices imposed on the downtrodden by their oppressors -- not personal redemption from sins of immorality.

Along with Gutierrez and Leonardo Boff of Brazil (a former Franciscan priest twice admonished by Rome), and Juan Luis Segundo of Uruguay (a Jesuit priest, deceased in 1996), Sobrino was instrumental in formulating this humanistic view of social justice into a modern liturgy.

These liberation theology creators supposedly gained inspiration from the Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium: “the Church encompasses with love all who are afflicted with human suffering and in the poor…sees the image of (Jesus). It does all it can to relieve their need and in them it strives to serve Christ” (Chapter 1, paragraph 8).

Consider Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Like Fr. Gutierrez and the others, she lived among the world’s poorest outcasts and devoted her life to improving their condition. Unlike the priests, however, she embraced Jesus’ spiritual poverty, his acceptance of suffering and surrender to God’s will, and his divine power to show us the way to heaven.

Jesus says our Father sent him to stir up the social order, to raise up the poor and scatter the proud. But Jesus’ radical idea of revolution is a spiritual wave of individual conversions. The savior’s poverty, and power, is a humble spirit.

Salvation history, Jesus teaches, is God’s domain, not man’s. Our monumental spiritual task in our puny human existence is to transcend injustices with charity and forgiveness.

Largely diminished in Latin America after Rome’s 1984 rebuke of Marxist (and underlying atheist) concepts, liberation theology remains a current among liberal Catholics and a prominent force in American black churches.

Among notable U.S. liberation theologians is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose 1990 sermon “The Audacity to Hope” inspired the beliefs of longtime Trinity United Church of Christ member Barack Obama.

U.S. Immigration Overhaul Overdue

Published in Cumberland Times-News Tuesday, June 22, 2010.

Can the Speaker, and the President, not hear the masses’ outcry for
immigration reform? Do they not see that Americans do want reasonable treatment for illegals – but most assuredly, protection for Americans?

Rather than follow through on a promise to send National Guard troops to Arizona’s border, President Obama appallingly slapped the governor last week with a frivolous lawsuit over the constitutionality of her state’s immigration law(s).

Equally reprehensibly, Obama’s third-in-command, Nancy Pelosi, preached amnesty as immigration reform last month to Catholics at what appears to be a contrived “first-of-its kind” forum in Washington, D.C.

Besides stretching the limits of the First Amendment, Pelosi played Pope to 1) cite a Catholic view of Scripture that inspires her viewpoint, 2) tell Catholic bishops to teach her view to the faithful, and 3) call all Catholics in the pews to endorse her progressive policies.

Pelosi told conferees in a May “briefing” at Trinity University, “the Church is going to have to play a very major role (in how illegals) are treated. … I want you to speak about (reform) from the pulpit…to instruct your (people who) oppose immigration reform…and you have to tell them that this is a manifestation of our living the gospels.”

Can the Speaker, and the President, not hear the masses’ outcry for immigration reform? Do they not see that Americans do want reasonable treatment for illegals – but most assuredly, protection for Americans?

The President illogically pressures the governor not to defend Arizonans; and Pelosi crazily pressures Catholics to defend all illegals: “As a practical matter, we can’t say to (12 million people), go back to wherever you came from, or go to jail.”

Surely, as immigration reform unfolds, illegals who seek better lives here, and contribute, should earn assistance. However, rather than hogtie the states, federal officials should coordinate with them (and home countries) to arrest, incarcerate and prosecute illegals who commit heinous crimes in America.

His lawsuit typifies Obama’s inability to respond effectively to a plight like Arizona’s. And in delusional style, Pelosi blithely turns her gaze from Arizona’s border, where citizens daily battle transgressions like trafficking, rape and murder, to call fellow Catholics to manifest her utopia by advocating that compassion trumps law!

Sensible Christians know that compassion succeeds when transgressors amend their lives. Unrepentant, unreformable, criminal illegals who repeatedly break America’s laws and harm her people are due justice (Mt. 18:23-35).

Now, how could Pelosi’s intimate sharing of motives and agendas from state to church transpire?

Pelosi is a 1962 graduate of Trinity, which co-sponsored the Catholic forum, with National Catholic Reporter.

Founded in 1897 as a Catholic women’s college, Trinity today is iuber-liberal. Its president, Patricia McGuire, labels pro-life Catholics “uber-guardians of a belief system we can hardly recognize” (Catholic News Agency, May 18, 2009).

Founded in 1964 by laity and clergy, NCR is independent and often dissents from Catholic teaching.

Another speaker at Pelosi’s forum was Sister Simone Campbell, director of Network social justice lobby, who organized women religious to sign a letter, against bishops’ teaching, that influenced fence-sitters to vote to pass the abortion-friendly health care reform bill.

Prominent among panelists was Sister Carol Keehan, CEO of Catholic Health Association, touted by NCR as “the organization that played a pivotal role in the health care reform debate.” Sister Keehan and CHA also disregarded bishops’ teaching to endorse the flawed bill.

A panelists list includes Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, though his office confirms, “He did not attend.”

On the back burner since 9/11, immigration overhaul is overdue. The U.S. Bishops advocate well-reasoned reform “that keeps immigrant families together, adopts smart and humane enforcement policies, and provides undocumented immigrants with a set of rules by which they can earn legal status and begin a path toward citizenship” (Archbishop O’Brien, May 6 Catholic Review).

Nancy E. Thoerig
Mount Savage

Judeo-Christian primciples make U.S. exceptional

Published Monday, May 17, 2010 in Cumberland Times-News.

Now, if America’s history students could explore motivational
religious themes like Moses’ leadership and the Exodus, they might discover more personally the situational gravity, and vision, of William Bradford, George Washington, Harriett Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Cecil B. DeMille, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, and so many more.

Christian conservatives can find a recapitulation of beliefs in Jewish author Bruce Feiler’s 2009 book, “America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story.”

Feiler visits popular museums and interviews prominent historians. He probes obscure corners and inspects hoarded troves of historic objects. He analyzes common threads and concludes that Judeo-Christian principles are the bedrock of American society.

Recognizing the Bible’s influence -- from the Pilgrims’ crash-landing on Clark’s Island in 1620, to the clashes in our homes and communities today -- is essential, Feiler establishes, to understanding American history and preserving the American dream.

“Discovering how much the biblical narrative of the Israelites colored the vision and informed the values of twenty generations of Americans and their leaders,” Feiler writes, “was like discovering a new front door to a house I’d lived in all my life.

“You can’t understand American history…without understanding Moses. He is a looking glass into our (collective American) soul.”

Now, if America’s history students could explore motivational religious themes like Moses’ leadership and the Exodus, they might discover more personally the situational gravity, and vision, of William Bradford, George Washington, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Cecil B. DeMille, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, and so many more.

The Founding Fathers (and our most revered leaders) were Christians (or God-fearers) who knew their Hebrew Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy); and Moses, the reluctant-yet-headstrong redeemer in Exodus, motivated them to rise up and defeat the world’s (and society’s) most daunting or oppressive powers.

Throughout the American timeline, Feiler illustrates, the Exodus storyline repeats: 1) Righteous rebellion, 2) hard-won liberty, 3) just law, grounded in Hebraic principles – and all along the way, supplication and gratefulness to God for his intervention and generosity.

While Jesus is a personal savior to Christians, Feiler acknowledges, Moses is America’s prime founding father. Moses is the one to whom those we call founders turned, for inspiration and leadership -- from renouncing allegiance to the king, to establishing three chambers of government; from declaring the rights to choose life and liberty and to pursue happiness, to ensuring that those rights be protected by law.

Having signed the Mayflower Compact Nov. 11, but still seeking a suitable harbor, the Pilgrims organized an exploration party of 17 who set out Monday, Dec. 6 to explore Cape Cod Bay. As night fell on Friday, in a blustery storm, the pilot guided their battered shallop to rest on a tiny island inside Plymouth Harbor.

The next day, Saturday, the men needed to rest and repair their boat; and as William Bradford writes in his journal, “this being the last day of the week, they prepared there to keep the Sabbath.”
Their fellow Pilgrims -- on the ship, anchored 20 miles away -- likely knew not if they survived. Yet these devout Christians, finally finding suitable shelter after three months at sea, primarily honored God, praised him for his providence, thanked him for his “manifold deliverances,” and sought his blessings upon their pursuits in this New Promised Land.

From their humble act sprang Thanksgiving, what Feiler calls, “the symbol of American blessing, the one holiday that (marks) the union of God, the people, and the land.” He relates it to Passover, the Jews’ seminal commemoration of deliverance.

“I hadn’t known that Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams proposed Moses for America’s seal,” Feiler ponders at the conclusion of his history-detective tome. “The United States at its founding was essentially one hundred percent Christian.”

Well, Christians share the faith of Abraham and his descendants; and the Judeo-Christian tradition is the sublime combination of liberty and law that makes America exceptional.

Texas Gives the Boot to Liberal Social Studies Bias

From Education Reporter April 2010

"An education without some understanding of the profound role of
religion in our nation's history and its contributions to our nation's success is an incomplete education, and our courts have often said as much." -- Derek Davis, dean of the College of Humanities at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

After three days of contentious meetings, Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) members gave preliminary approval to revised social studies standards they say are intended to rein in the liberal bias of teachers and academics. "We are adding balance," said Dr. Don McLeroy, leader of the conservative bloc of the board. "History has been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left."

The new standards will be written next year and remain in effect for ten years. They will determine what the state's 4.8 million K-12 students are taught in government, world history, U.S. history, and economics classes from kindergarten through high school. They will also be used to develop state tests and write textbooks.

Significant media attention has been devoted to the state's debate over social studies guidelines because decisions made there have national impact. Since Texas is the largest single purchaser of textbooks, publishers tailor them to its guidelines. Typically more than 90% of America's textbooks are based on Lone Star state curriculum, as it is too costly to produce multiple versions.

The lengthy process of determining curriculum guidelines began with teams of teachers writing a first draft, which was then reviewed by six experts appointed by the SBOE. The expert panel then reported their findings and recommendations to the 15 board members. The board also received at least 14,000 emails and considered 17 hours of public testimony prior to the three-day meeting. Parents, teachers, civil rights groups, historians and state legislators were among those who attended the proceedings, and many testified before the board.

The heated discussions there served as a public forum for quieter ideological skirmishes happening throughout the country. The battle line runs between defenders of traditional values, who oppose what they see as politically correct historical revision, and progressives, who prefer secularism and emphasize prominent inclusion of minority figures. McLeroy acknowledged the conflict, saying, "Our country is divided on how we see things, and [it comes] into sharp focus, especially with history and how you present it to your children." (Austin-American Statesman, 3-11-09) Proponents of both sides were visible and vocal during the deliberations.

The conservative caucus of the Texas legislature submitted written testimony and sent representative Ken Paxton to read it at the proceedings. The letter called on the board to resist pressure to wash the standards "clean of any references to Judeo-Christian faiths while promoting references to other religions." The letter cited a prior attempt to remove Christmas and Rosh Hashanah from guidelines and replace them with the five-day Hindu festival Diwali, a measure that was overturned by the board.

The board also rejected the adoption of the secularist-preferred B.C.E. and C.E. (Before the Common Era and Common Era) instead of B.C. and A.D. to specify time periods before and after the birth of Christ. Board member Mavis Knight (D-Dallas) objected on the ground that the "social studies community uses B.C.E. and C.E."

Hostilities escalated over presenting the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers, and particularly on how the First Amendment should be taught. Knight proposed an amendment to teach students that "the Founding Fathers supported a strong wall of separation between church and state."

Republican member Ken Mercer countered that the Founders "did not want a separation from religion, they just wanted to avoid having a national denomination . . . one religion everyone would have to follow. I think they had a different understanding of religious freedom." Other Republican board members agreed that the First Amendment was written to protect rather than prohibit the practice of religion, and Knight's motion failed. (wnd.com, 3-15-10)

"Some board members and the non-expert ideologues they appointed to a review panel have made it clear that they want students to learn that the Founding Fathers intended America to be an explicitly Christian nation with laws based on their own narrow interpretations of the Bible," said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, an organization whose mission is to "counter the religious right."

Former board chairman McLeroy said the efforts of conservatives were misconstrued and mischaracterized. "I don't see anyone wanting to say this is a Christian nation or anything like that," he said. "The argument is that the principles on which (the nation) has been founded are biblically based."

McLeroy found support for his position in the dean of the College of Humanities at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Derek Davis. "An education without some understanding of the profound role of religion in our nation's history and its contributions to our nation's success is an incomplete education, and our courts have often said as much," said Davis. (Education Week, 1-13-10)

The subject of minority inclusion and prominence in the guidelines was another ongoing area of controversy. Texas state legislator Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin), representing the Mexican-American caucus, came before the board to voice concerns about the absence of important Hispanic figures and groups in the history standards. Rodriguez asked the board to include Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America and member of the Democratic Socialists of America in the guidelines; member Pat Hardy (R- Fort Worth) informed him Huerta was already in the standards.

Other Hispanics such as Jose Antonia Navarro were added in response to the push for greater inclusion, but tensions rose when not every request was adopted. Mary Helen Berlanga, Democrat board member, stormed out of the room when members did not add the names of two Hispanic and one black Medal of Honor recipients to a history lesson. Berlanga was also upset that the board deleted a requirement that sociology students "explain how institutional racism is evident in American society." She accused her colleagues of "whitewashing" the curriculum standards, saying, "We can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don't exist."
Republican members argued that listing three Medal of Honor winners out of the thousands of those honored "diminishes the accomplishment of other recipients." Terri Leo (R-Spring) said, "I would rather give teachers the academic freedom to possibly pull a winner from that school, that those children can relate to and emulate."

Further examples of the changes the SBOE ultimately approved include restoring references to Independence Day, Thomas Edison, Christopher Columbus, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong and Daniel Boone that had been deleted. The board added the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms to a lesson on the Bill of Rights, an element conspicuously absent from some curricula.

Teachers and textbooks will be required to accurately describe the U.S. form of government as a constitutional republic rather than as a democracy. Depictions of Joseph McCarthy must include an explanation of "how the later release of the Venona papers confirmed suspicions of Communist infiltration in the U.S. government." The Venona papers are verified transcripts of communications between the Soviet Union and its agents in the U.S.

A section in the U.S. government standards will cover the concept of American exceptionalism and detail how the nation's values are unique from other nations. Alexis de Tocqueville's five values critical to America's success as a republic will also be delineated. In economics, the board added free-market economists Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek to the usual list of John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith and Karl Marx.

The board, whose members are elected, voted ten to five along party lines to approve the revised standards, with the Republicans prevailing over the Democrats. Conservatives held only one seat 15 years ago, but have built up to seven of the ten GOP seats on the 15-member board now. A final vote on the Texas standards is expected in May, after another public comment period. (Education Week, 3-1-10; New York Times, 3-13-10)

U.S. History textbook battle bigger than Texas

Published Tuesday, April 13, in Cumberland Times-News.

I agree with Cynthia Dunbar on this: America’s classrooms are no place to preach religion, but students should learn its importance in our nation’s founding and foundation.

Ms. Dunbar seemed to be one stirring national interest in the Texas State Board of Education textbook revision controversy (and the board had invited phone calls and emails from interested citizens), so I called her to learn her views.

She told me that school textbooks today redact references to God from Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution excerpts. Students should learn accurate history, we agreed, the truth about our founders’ inspirations and the ideals they impart to us.

After three days of contentious debate on 300 amendments, the board voted 10-5 on March 12 to pass a set of curriculum standards for grades K-12 that preserve a patriotic (rather than revisionist) approach to American history.

American Center for Law and Justice attorney Jay Sekulow speaks of revisionists: “Our Founders acknowledged their reliance upon Divine Providence, that we are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights; and this idea that now you remove that, it as if it is does not exist…. It really goes to the depths of what these groups are trying to get at, and that is to expunge any reference to America's religious heritage" (FOX News, March 8).

The TSBOE vote followed the party line, so Democrats (three Hispanics, two blacks) are shouting “racism” and accusing Republicans of imposing religious and conservative views. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus, composed of 44 Texas House members, has scheduled an April 28 hearing on the TSBOE’s process; and Democratic state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa says he will work to abolish the board when the legislature convenes next January.

Gov. Rick Perry tells the Associated Press (March 26 Austin Star-Telegram) the process works. Perry declined federal funding earlier this year and rejected a national curriculum developed by governors and education leaders in preference for the elected board's updates.

The board must review public comment now, and then take a final vote in May. If it passes, the new curriculum starts in the 2011-12 school year and stays in place for a decade. Because Texas is a major textbook purchaser, these changes set standards to be included in textbooks marketed nationwide.

Gilbert T. Sewall, American Textbook Council director, tells FOX, no doubt, “identity politics have contributed to the decline of textbook quality over the last 20 years."

Sewall says groups from nutritionists to gender activists have demanded their way into textbooks. He says Christians comprise the most visible groups who want to “use American history textbooks (positively) to recapture the soul of the nation."

A national Rasmussen survey (March 9) concludes 55 percent of Americans believe school textbooks present information in a politically correct manner, rather than accurately (18 percent are undecided). Forty-three percent say U.S. history textbooks are not accurate (26 percent are undecided). Dissatisfaction is higher among parents of schoolchildren.

Chair Gail Lowe tells KUT News Austin the TSBOE has spent more than a year discussing and developing the social studies curriculum review standards: “We have sought input from teachers, parents, professors, history experts, business and industry leaders,” and more recently, all interested Americans.

Board member Terri Leo calls the standards a "world-class document."

ABC News reports (March 10): “State governors and education officials proposed new national standards for K-12 education today, a step President Obama believes is key to improving the quality of the nation's schools.”

Jay Sekulow says, “Well, if you grab the minds of the young people, you grab the minds of the next generation."

Write sboeteks@tea.state.tx.us, or call (512)463-9734.

Nancy E. Thoerig
Mount Savage

TSBOE clarifies Thomas Jefferson legacy in curriculum

“Jefferson was not himself an Enlightenment philosopher, although he was heavily influenced by the writings of these individuals. But to say the (Texas) State Board of Education has removed him from the TEKS is inaccurate and irresponsible,” said (Gail) Lowe (board chairman).

NOTE (updated March 26): On Wednesday, March 24, I received an email from Texas State Board of Education member Terri Leo. The content was a release on TSBOE letterhead dated March 19 that corrects erroneous reportage and clarifies a March 12 board decision regarding Thomas Jefferson's role as a founding father and statesman. The original on letterhead may be viewed at the Fort Worth Star Telegram archives. Ms. Leo may be reached at TerriSLeo@aol.com. Here, then, is our email exchange, including the TSBOE release:

From: Terri S, Leo
To: Nancy E. Thoerig
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 9:15 PM
Subject: Re: Thomas Jefferson remains in social studies curriculum (17)

Thank you, we covet your prayers!

**********

From: Nancy E. Thoerig

To: Terri S. Leo

Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 6:15:21 A.M. Central Daylight Time

Thank you, Ms. Leo, for includimg me in your update.
I appreciate receiving this letter and applaud the good work you and your colleagues are able to achieve, in the face of opposition, to strengthen the American history curriculum for students everywhere.
Keep plugging...and praying.
Best wishes for a blessed Easter for you and yours,
Nancy E. Thoerig

**********

From: Terri S. Leo
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 8:51 PMMarch 19, 2010

Thomas Jefferson remains in social studies curriculum

After hours of public testimony and more than 100 amendments offered to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for social studies, the State Board of Education last week gave preliminary approval to the curriculum standards that will be used in Texas public schools.

One amendment in particular has garnered a lot of attention, after some media outlets erroneously reported the State Board of Education was dropping Thomas Jefferson from the curriculum framework.

“The only individual mentioned more times in the curriculum standards than Thomas Jefferson is George Washington,” said Gail Lowe, chairwoman of the 15-member board. “We expect students at the elementary level, in middle school and in high school to study the Founding Fathers and to be well versed in their contributions to our country. That includes Thomas Jefferson and his legacy,” she said.

In fifth grade, designed as an introductory survey course of the United States from 1565 to the present, students are expected to “identify the Founding Fathers and Patriot heroes, including John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Nathan Hale, Thomas Jefferson, the Sons of Liberty, and George Washington, and their motivations and contributions during the revolutionary period.”

In the eighth grade, in which the history of the United States from the early colonial period through Reconstruction is presented, the TEKS framework requires students to “explain the roles played by significant individuals during the American Revolution, including Abigail Adams, John Adams, Wentworth Cheswell, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, James Armistead, Benjamin Franklin, Bernardo de Galvez, Crispus Attucks, King George III, Haym Salomon, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Paine and George Washington.”

The U.S. Government course required for high school graduation states that students will “identify the contributions of the political philosophies of the Founding Fathers, including John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, George Mason, Roger Sherman and James Wilson on the development of the U.S. government.”

In addition, students must “identify significant individuals in the field of government and politics, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.”

Although Jefferson had been listed in a World History standard, the board removed his name from a list of European Enlightenment philosophers that included John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

“This was inappropriate placement of Jefferson’s name,” said Lowe of the World History proposal. “Jefferson was not himself an Enlightenment philosopher, although he was heavily influenced by the writings of these individuals. But to say the State Board of Education has removed him from the TEKS is inaccurate and irresponsible,” said Lowe.

Lowe continued, “Jefferson not only penned the words of the Declaration of Independence, served as the third president of the United States and was father of the University of Virginia, but his promotion of the ideals of a limited federal government and states’ rights also permeated our nation for generations. No study of American history would be complete without his inclusion,” she said.

The social studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills will be finalized in May when the board holds its last public hearing and final adoption of the standards.

Christians, atheists square off in battle over God in public

Published Friday, March 12, 2010, in Cumberland Times-News.

"Ironically, a conservative atheist would endorse the Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical and Orthodox Christian principles of the Manhattan Declaration, regarding exercise of conscience in political matters of compromise, more readily than could a liberal Christian."

Christians won in the courtroom in recent weeks, while atheists advanced to ground zero, in the battle over God in the public square.

Late Feb. 26, Christians cheered as Westview (Calif.) High School math teacher Bradley Johnson, a 30-year employee, won his three-year battle for the right to re-post classroom banners that display historical and religious American heritage themes.

That morning, atheists gloated over a first-ever secular lobby meeting at the White House (two hours with five Obama staffers) to discuss religious policy matters.

In San Diego, the school district violated Johnson’s constitutional rights, ruled Federal District Court Judge Roger Benitez, when the principal ordered him to remove the banners – because they “overemphasized” God, or might offend a hypothetical Muslim student.

For 25 years, Johnson displayed a banner that features traditional patriotic phrases – “In God We Trust,” “One Nation under God,” “God Bless America,” and “God Shed His Grace on Thee.” For 17 years, he displayed another that quotes from the Declaration of Independence: “All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed by Their Creator.”

Johnson removed his patriotic displays, but other teachers’ personal banners that promoted political positions or non-Christian religions stayed put, a fact that weighed heavily for Judge Benitez:

“Fostering diversity…does not mean bleaching out historical religious expression or mainstream morality. By squelching only Johnson’s patriotic and religious classroom banners, while permitting other diverse religious and anti-religious classroom displays, the school district does a disservice to the students…and the federal and state constitutions do not permit this one-sided censorship.”

In his 32-page opinion, Judge Benitez strongly states, “That God places prominently in our Nation’s history does not create an Establishment Clause violation requiring (scrubbing of) Johnson’s public high school classroom walls. It is a matter of historical fact that our institutions and government (give) place to a supreme God.”

Meanwhile, 60 representatives of the Secular Coalition for America, which unites 10 member organizations -- and boasts 25 endorsing groups -- of atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, skeptics, brights, ignostics, materialists and naturalists, met with Obama staffers from Public Engagement; Intergovernmental Affairs; Children, Youth and Families; Department of Justice; and Military Personnel.

SCA founder (2002) and president Herb Silverman reports (Washington Post, Feb. 28) the secularists’ three-prong agenda: “to close legal loopholes for the religiously based medical neglect of children;” protect military personnel from “(coercion) into religious participation,” proselytizing, or discrimination; and to establish that religious organizations who receive federal funds “cannot discriminate in hiring,” or proselytize, “and that secular options are made equally available.”

Margaret Talev writes in her Feb. 25 McClatchy Newspapers article that the White House “downplayed the meeting,” while SCA members believe they have a “kindred spirit” in President Obama --- since his mother was agnostic, and he is the first U.S. President to recognize “nonbelievers,” alongside religious groups, in his inaugural address.

Coincidentally, on Feb. 24, the Pontifical Council for Culture announced it would create a foundation to answer Pope Benedict’s call to "renew dialogue with men and women who don't believe but want to move towards God."

Sounds counter-intuitive; but Catholic News Agency reports the council’s aim is “to create a network of agnostic or atheistic people who accept dialogue” to develop “themes of rapport (among) religion, society, peace and nature.” The first conference could take place later this year.

Ironically, a conservative atheist would endorse the Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical and Orthodox Christian principles of the Manhattan Declaration, regarding exercise of conscience in political matters of compromise, more readily than could a liberal Christian. In fact, the document signatories commend pro-life atheists for their support.

Could convictions of heart transcend this battleground?

Thank you to TSBOE members who vote to preserve American history

NOTE: In the morning of Eeb. 25, 2010, I called TSBOE member Cynthia Dunbar to discuss the textbook controversy and the role of the board in revisionist history. Ms. Dunbar told me that she is one of seven conservatives on the 15-member board. Their continual challenge, she said, is to garner the support of the eighth board member to comprise a majority to be able to vote down revisionist proposals that come from liberal committees. Ironically, she noted, 10 members of the board are Republicans; but most often, one of the moderate Democrats is the eighth vote. They have had significant successes, she noted, in keeping traditional history in place. They got Christmas back into the textbooks, for example, she said, though the board did compromise to put in Dewali. The next vote will take place in March, with adoption to be made in May. In either of those votes, she said, revisions could come forward again; so it is important for her and the conservatives to remain vigilant (and in the majority). Ms. Dunbar appreciates our support; and she encouraged me to email again to the SBOE support address, though we confirmed in our phone conversation that she had not received a copy of the letter I sent Feb. 18 to Dr. Morrow.

Here, then, is a letter emailed Feb. 26, 2010 to all members of Texas State Board of Education, thanking those who vote to preserve traditional, patriotic American history in school textbooks.

Dear Ms. (Cynthia) Dunbar and members of the Texas State Board of Education, in particular,
Ken Mercer, Terri Leo, David Bradley, Barbara Cargill, Don McLeroy, Gail Lowe and Geraldine Miller:

Thank you for all you accomplish to preserve a traditional, patriotic presentation of American history, especially in the face of revisionist pressures. I applaud your ongoing efforts to maintain for students what former President Ronald Reagan calls "an informed patriotism ...an unambivalent appreciation of America."

Well educated in the public schools and state university systems, I come from a family of educators. I believe that American history grounds us in our homes, our communities, our nation and the world; and it is vital that students from kindergarten through graduation learn key age-appropriate and expanding American history concepts in order to develop a mature understanding of our unique experience and place among the nations of the world.

We Americans share an exceptional heritage that began with a quest for personal freedom and traces now from our families to nearly every other country – an experience of trial, courage, commitment and achievement in which all of our students have the right and privilege to participate.

Students should have the opportunity to gain a full understanding of their troubled but beautiful American identity. They need to know that people like them have acted with values of justice rooted in a tradition of faith and clear thinking, and based in a strong Constitution, to right our country's greatest wrongs and take her repeatedly from crises to new heights of greatness. At the beginning, our country's leaders grounded the Constitution, and acknowledged the source of their greatness, in gratitude to God for His many blessings and good guidance. As our U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black's web site affirms today, our First Amendment separates church and state, but not God and state.

These are concepts our students need to learn (and we need to uphold) in order to esteem their own families and communities, their nation and themselves. One cannot love what one does not know. Hire teachers who know and love American history. Give them sound textbooks. Teach our students traditional, patriotic American history. Give them the chance to know and love their country.

Thank you for your consideration.

I pray for your guidance.

Sincerely,

Nancy E. Thoerig
Mount Savage, MD

Preserve traditional, patriotic American history in our schools

Letter emailed Feb. 18, 2010 to Dr. Rosemary Morrow, director of Social Studies, Division of Curriculum, Texas Education Agency, Austin, Texas, in response to her email to Ron Maiers regarding his concerns expressed in a telephone conversation about proposed revisionis to American history textbooks. (Dr. Morrow's email to Mr. Maiers and his email response follow, along with an original email sent Feb. 16, 2010 to the full membership of the Texas State Board of Education.)

Dear Dr. Morrow:

I appreciate your Feb. 16 response to Ron Maiers; but concerns remain.

On Mike Huckabee’s Feb. 6 program, Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel and Liberty University School of Law said the TSBOE would consider proposed revisions to U.S. history textbooks in March; and he urged Americans to contact board members to voice concerns. Accordingly, I wish to say: I believe that revisionist history destroys the American identity, robs our students of a sure sense of their American citizenry, and ill prepares students to be American citizens in the global society.

A Liberty Counsel press release reports further that the proposed social studies guidelines will have final reading and adoption in May.

Dean Staver summed up, essentially, regarding Texas' purchasing power as it influences availability of textbooks for other states to purchase: As goes Texas, so goes the nation. Dean Staver noted that board member Cynthia Dunbar of Liberty University School of Law stands opposed to suggested revisions -- sweeping and trivializing changes that apparently could stay in place for a decade, if approved for the next school year. It seems Ms. Dunbar leads an effort to convince a majority of the 15-member board to vote to preserve a traditional, patriotic presentation of American history in school textbooks, rather than take a revisionist approach to diminish our unique and exceptional American story in deference to a global view.

In reviewing the 148-page "Instructional Materials Current Adoption Bulletin" for the year 2009-2010, I see strong instructional support for music, languages, and the arts, health and technical education, and career preparedness; but only four U.S. History textbook titles appear (page 105), and they are advanced placement. Otherwise, five AP World History titles show, with seven for AP European History (page 106). The four U.S. Government and three AP U.S. Government and Politics textbooks likely are narrow in scope and would not instruct in American history, per se. Moreover, the one title (page 107) for AP Comparative Government and Politics and four titles for Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System likely do not give students a view of the unique American experiment and experience in these arenas.

I am no expert, but I am well educated in the public schools and state university systems; and I come from a family of educators. I believe that American history grounds us in our homes, our communities, our nation and the world; and it is vital that students from kindergarten through graduation learn key age-appropriate and expanding American history concepts in order to develop a mature understanding of our unique experience among the nations of the world.

We Americans share an exceptional heritage that traces from our families to nearly every country in the world – an experience of trial, courage and achievement in which all of our students have the right and privilege to participate. Students should have the opportunity to gain a full understanding of their troubled but beautiful American identity. They need to know that people like them have acted with values rooted in a tradition of faith and clear thinking and based in a strong Constitution to right our country's greatest wrongs and take her repeatedly from crises to new heights of greatness.

These are concepts our students need to learn in order to esteem their own families and communities, their nation and themselves. One cannot love what one does not know. Hire teachers who know and love American history. Give them sound textbooks. Teach our students traditional, patriotic American history. Give them the chance to love their country.

Thank you for your consideration.

I pray for your guidance.

Sincerely,

Nancy E. Thoerig
Mount Savage, MD

*****

Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: Texas Social Studies Standards


"IN GOD WE TRUST"
Mrs Morrow,
Just Wanted to tell you thanks for forwarding this information to me. I feel that every citizen MUST stand for the freedoms which all out generations before us fought for and we also must continue the fight so that our generation and the ones after us can live in a free Nation
We must never give up the title of "AMERICANS" and we must pass this idenity on for generations to come.

God Bless
Ron

*****
Sent: Tue, February 16, 2010 3:20:36 PM

Subject: Texas Social Studies Standards

Dear Ron Maiers:

The State Board of Education (SBOE) in Texas is currently reviewing the social studies standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). It is from these standards that a proclamation will be issued in a year or so for instructional materials that include textbooks for Texas public schools. The SBOE makes decision for Texas public schools and does not decide standards or instructional materials for private schools or homeschoolers within the state and does not make decisions for other states.

Drafts of the revised standards from social studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) review committees can be found at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=364. The State Board of Education (SBOE) met in January and made amendments to Kindergarten through Grade 8 and high school U.S. history. These amended documents will be posted on the same link in early March.

By examining the standards drafts, you will find that there is a history, citizenship, and government strand at every grade level. U.S history is taught at Grades 5 and 8 and high school. U.S. government is required for high school graduation. There are no plans to remove the courses nor radically change the content of the courses. Standards are generally intended to be broad concepts, not specifics of names, places, etc. These specifics are generally included at the level below the standards, curriculum writing, which is left to local school districts in Texas.

If you have any further questions regarding social studies standards, please contact me at (512) 463-9581 or by e-mail at rosemary.morrow@tea.state.tx.us.

Sincerely,

Rosemary Morrow

Rosemary Morrow, PhD, Director of Social Studies
Division of Curriculum

Texas Education Agency
1701 North Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701
512.463.9581
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/

*****
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 5:19 PM
Subject: textbook revisions

Dear Texas State Board of Education members,

Texas' purchasing power determines textbooks that other state boards of education order for their students. Therefore, your decisions regarding textbook revisions affect all students across the country.

When you consider revisions, please -- along with portrayals of important historic scandals and mistakes -- respectfully present the fullness and beauty of the American experience, the courage and commitment of our founders and our prominent historical heroes, so that our students may understand the sacrifice and witness of our predecessors.

Only with an understanding of the past -- our countrymen's struggles that are grounded in exceptional primciples and common sense, the experience known as the American experiment -- can our students embrace and cherish their unique heritage in the world. Only with love for this country, nurtured through knowledge of its people and accomplishments, can the well-informed American citizen develop a realistic view of his or her place in the world.

Ours is a legacy that deserves reverence and pride. America is the envy of the world, a light of truth and justice, the desire of the oppressed and the destination of generations of immigrants. From its troubled beginings, this country and its people have been blessed and guided by divine providence to realize uncommon greatness.

I pray that wisdom will guide you.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Nancy E. Thoerig
Mount Savage, Maryland

Power without God deludes, tyrannizes, destroys

Published Wednesday, February 10, 2010 in Cumberland Times-News.

“Throughout the years, the United States Senate has honored the historic separation of Church and State, but not the separation of God and State”: From the web site of Barry C. Black, U.S. Senate Chaplain.

“The first Senate, meeting in New York City on April 25, 1789, elected the Right Reverend Samuel Provost, the Episcopal Bishop of New York, as its first Chaplain.” Since then, “all sessions of the Senate have been opened with prayer, strongly affirming the Senate's faith in God as Sovereign Lord of our Nation.”

Intending to undo our country’s unbroken grounding in God, 255 atheists, humanists, secularists, skeptics and freethinkers, along with thousands from 19 national and local organizations, represented by Michael Newdow, renewed their fight on Dec. 15, 2009 to remove prayer from public life.

In at least nine suits filed since 2002, Newdow leads the charge to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance; strike “in God we trust” from American currency and as the national motto; stop invocations at Presidential inaugurations; eliminate “so help me God” from the Presidential swearing-in; and wipe “God save the United States and this honorable court” from court session openings.

In its amicus brief filed in Newdow’s appeal (the D.C. Circuit dismissed the case), American Center for Law and Justice attorney James M. Henderson writes that Newdow’s “targeting of religious expression at Presidential inaugurations is particularly meritless given the controlling decision” in Marsh v. Chambers (July 5, 1983).

Nebraska state senator Ernie Chambers sued to prove that prayer offered by a state-supported chaplain at the legislature’s opening violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The Supreme Court held that prayer in the legislature, and state-hired chaplains, are constitutional, given the “unique history” of the United States.

“The practice of opening sessions of Congress with prayer has continued without interruption…since the First Congress drafted the First Amendment, and a similar practice has been followed…in Nebraska and many other states,” writes then-Chief Justice Warren Burger in the court opinion.

“To invoke divine guidance on a public body entrusted with making the laws is not…a violation of the Establishment Clause; it is simply a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country.”

As Justice Burger cites, “the Continental Congress, beginning in 1774, adopted the traditional procedure of opening its sessions with a prayer.” Burger quotes from a document of the first Senate session to recount that one of our founders’ early items of business was “to take under consideration the manner of electing Chaplains.”

Burger notes the House followed the Senate by six days to elect its first chaplain May 1, 1789. “A statute providing for the payment of these chaplains was enacted into law on September 22, 1789,” Burger writes, adding that three days later, “final agreement was reached on the language of the Bill of Rights.

“Clearly the men who wrote the First Amendment Religion Clauses did not view (paid chaplains) and opening prayers as a violation of that Amendment.”

The Rev. Daniel P. Coughlin, a Catholic priest, is U.S. House of Representatives Chaplain. In Maryland’s General Assembly, House sessions open with the Pledge of Allegiance; then a different delegate each day offers a prayer. In the Senate, either an invited religious leader or one of the senators leads daily prayer.

Our founders, imperfect but striving, knew that political pursuits without God’s blessing were untrustworthy. History demonstrated for them -- as it does for us -- that power without God deludes, tyrannizes and destroys. Let us pray that our leaders hold fast to exceptional American principles and common sense, and never lose sight of God.