Bakersfield In God We Trust issue continues in blogs - By N.L. Belardes
After Jackie Parks wrote her post, "Whose God Do We Trust" in response to the Chad Vegas Trustee Proposal of putting "In God We Trust" signs in classrooms, I figured it was time to sound off.
Here's my comment:
While toiling through grad school I remember reading a few fascinating works about the Constitutional Convention in the late 1700s. The religious leaders represented Christian diversity. Episcopalian/Anglican, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Quaker, Dutch Reformed/German, Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic, Huguenot, Unitarian, Methodist, and Calvinist.
They opened each session in prayer. They sought unity through the creation of a living, breathing document we call the Constitution. There was an air of tolerance for at least each other. They new the historical importance of their work.
I don’t think America has transformed into a completely ungodly, intolerant country (not that you said such). It has just plain transformed. And while the Framers of the Constitution sought unity while creating the document, it is the document itself which is the cement that unifies America.
Other countries have been religious Christian havens. There's nothing unique about America there. But it’s democracy, freedom; the pursuit of life, property, happiness and equality that has molded America, that makes it uniquely its own.
The people who think America was built solely upon religious freedom are flat wrong (I keep hearing such on the radio talk shows). Even some of the earliest people in Jamestown weren’t in America for religious freedom—rather, opportunity. There have been religious communities and religious peoples immigrating, but that wasn’t the backbone, and America’s founders knew that building America wasn’t to be upon a foundation on church doctrine. How could the multiple faiths gathered have even agreed? Impossible. The state of religion in America at the time was in constant flux.
The puritans themselves as a small group went through what was called declension. They deteriorated, faded, and while their moral sphere lived on, it is often within a framework of democracy that includes diplomatic ethics today.
I don’t have a problem with ‘In God We Trust’ being in schools.
There are just bigger issues for a trustee to fret over. It’s like the argument of English being the official language. It already exists in America; so let’s not waste time, let’s move on as a community, and allow people, business and culture to thrive in its multi-faceted forms.
Within the sphere of public education, let’s not lose focus. Signage about trusting higher power isn’t going to educate kids. Educators, parents and kids with work ethics are what matters… Let’s focus on curriculum, paying for tools, building libraries, buying books, computerization, sticking to state and valley standards, and increase the welfare of educators themselves through good benefits and livable pay that bridges the gaps between they and administrators.
Here's my comment:
While toiling through grad school I remember reading a few fascinating works about the Constitutional Convention in the late 1700s. The religious leaders represented Christian diversity. Episcopalian/Anglican, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Quaker, Dutch Reformed/German, Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic, Huguenot, Unitarian, Methodist, and Calvinist.
They opened each session in prayer. They sought unity through the creation of a living, breathing document we call the Constitution. There was an air of tolerance for at least each other. They new the historical importance of their work.
I don’t think America has transformed into a completely ungodly, intolerant country (not that you said such). It has just plain transformed. And while the Framers of the Constitution sought unity while creating the document, it is the document itself which is the cement that unifies America.
Other countries have been religious Christian havens. There's nothing unique about America there. But it’s democracy, freedom; the pursuit of life, property, happiness and equality that has molded America, that makes it uniquely its own.
The people who think America was built solely upon religious freedom are flat wrong (I keep hearing such on the radio talk shows). Even some of the earliest people in Jamestown weren’t in America for religious freedom—rather, opportunity. There have been religious communities and religious peoples immigrating, but that wasn’t the backbone, and America’s founders knew that building America wasn’t to be upon a foundation on church doctrine. How could the multiple faiths gathered have even agreed? Impossible. The state of religion in America at the time was in constant flux.
The puritans themselves as a small group went through what was called declension. They deteriorated, faded, and while their moral sphere lived on, it is often within a framework of democracy that includes diplomatic ethics today.
I don’t have a problem with ‘In God We Trust’ being in schools.
There are just bigger issues for a trustee to fret over. It’s like the argument of English being the official language. It already exists in America; so let’s not waste time, let’s move on as a community, and allow people, business and culture to thrive in its multi-faceted forms.
Within the sphere of public education, let’s not lose focus. Signage about trusting higher power isn’t going to educate kids. Educators, parents and kids with work ethics are what matters… Let’s focus on curriculum, paying for tools, building libraries, buying books, computerization, sticking to state and valley standards, and increase the welfare of educators themselves through good benefits and livable pay that bridges the gaps between they and administrators.
Labels: Bakersfield blogs
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Wednesday, October 03, 2007.
You can leave your response.
leave a response