An Interesting History Lesson

Traditions and History Are Important!

Sad will be the day when the American people forget their traditions and their history, and no longer remember that the country they love, the institutions they cherish, and the freedom they hope to preserve, were born from the throes of armed resistance to tyranny, and nursed in the rugged arms of fearless men.

Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence

The LEFT Hates History

The left has done a very good job of infecting America with an existentially dangerous strain of cultural nihilism. Millions of American students have been taught to hate themselves and their ancestors, and some people believe that taking pride in their heritage is no different from white supremacy. It may seem convenient, perhaps even wise, to compromise on something like statues of Robert E. Lee. But remember, when they go after statues of Lee, they’re not trying to right historical wrongs or give a voice to the oppressed. They’re trying to destroy American history and the American people along with it.

Hayden Daniel, The Left’s Real Target In Its Latest Attack On Robert E. Lee Is America Itself

The LEFT's Destruction of History

Those on the left who call Robert E. Lee a traitor and call for statues of him to be torn down have no interest in the historical facts or good faith debate. They only want to sow strife and division within America, so it’s not worth it to engage them on the merits of the argument. It’s all a ploy anyway. They wish to leverage the destruction of statues and American history into political power. Historical nuance and complexity are inconveniences to these people, roadblocks on the path to their political goals.

Leftists don’t really care about racism or slavery or justice. They only care about tearing down America’s history and its heroes, about destroying the common history and identity that make America what it is. A nation without a common history or identity is no nation at all, and that’s the left’s ultimate aim.

Hayden Daniel, The Left’s Real Target In Its Latest Attack On Robert E. Lee Is America Itself

Importance of History

History is the study of the way people, based on various religious worldviews, act through time to accomplish their goals. The study of history is vital because by looking back on the past, we can see how people’s decisions affected their fellow humans’ ability to flourish. As George Santayana famously admonished, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We thus need an accurate view of the past if we are to sustain trends toward greater wealth, justice, and sustainability. History can guide us to learn from our mistakes, act rightly in our current circumstances, and get better over time.

Jeff Myers & David A. Noebel, Understanding the Times: A Survey of Competing Worldviews, pg.472

Don't Forget Traditions & History

 

The Importance of History

 

Check Beliefs Against Historical Facts

Where beliefs are not checked against facts, but instead facts must meet the test of consonance with the prevailing vision, we are in the process of sealing ourselves off from feedback from reality. Heedless of the past, we are flying blind into the future.

Thomas Sowell, Black Rednecks and White Liberals, pg.291

How the Ancient World Knew There is a God

A century before Christ, the great Roman writer Cicero said, "When we see something moved by machinery, like an orrery [mechanical model of the planets] or clock or many other such things, we do not doubt that these contrivances are the work of reason; when therefore we behold the whole compass of heaven moving with revolutions of marvelous velocity and ... perfect regularity ... how can we doubt that all this is effected not merely by reason, but by a reason that is transcendent and divine?"

So when Paul wrote the book of Romans, his audience knew as well as we do that the cosmos gives evidence of a mind that is "transcendent and divine."

Cicero concludes, "You see not the Deity," yet "by the contemplation of his works you are led to acknowledge a God."

Nancy Pearcey

It's True

It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Patrick Henry.

Study History

One of the painful consequences of studying history is that it makes you realize how long people have been doing the same foolish things with the same disastrous results.

Thomas Sowell, Dismantling America, pg.44

Know the Future by Experience

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. 

Patrick Henry, cited in Daniel Greenfield, Domestic Enemies: The Founding Fathers’ Fight Against the Left, pg. 235

We MUST Embrace the Past

The Utopian Left is convinced that history can be broken away from the past and that its ideology will cary us away to “the right side of history.” Conservatives innately understand that there will be no great break with the past. That is why the Left makes war on the past, canceling historical personalities and demanding a blank slate, while conservatives embrace our roots.

Daniel Greenfield, Domestic Enemies: The Founding Fathers’ Fight Against the Left, pg. 234

The Importance of Jews in World History.

I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I  were an Atheist, and believed in blind eternal Fate, I should Still believe that Fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential Instrument for civilizing the Nations.

John Adams, second U.S. President, in 1809 letter. Cited by Dennis Prager,The Rational Bible, Deuteronomy: God, Blessings, and Curses,  pg.428.

The USA and Christianity

In 1853, there was an anti-God group who sought to have God removed from government much like we see being pushed today. They wanted references to God removed from government documents, sought to remove chaplains from the military, etc. Their vision was a religiously neutral Government. But the problem with their vision, and with those who espouse similar views today, is that neutrality is a myth, a point which will be addressed below. 

The anti-God proposal was submitted in the U.S. Congress to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees for deliberation. They deliberated for several months and, in 1854, came back with the following report:

"Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, but not any one sect … In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity … That was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.” 

Brad Sherman, Iowa State Representative for District 91, The Sherman Liberty Letter 12/19/23

TEACH History

It is the job of parents, teachers, and society at large to connect each generation with its nation’s past. Just as a person ceases to exist as that person if he loses his memory, a nation ceases to exist if it loses its memory. This is happening to many Western countries at this time—without their people even going into exile as the Jews did.

Dennis Prager, The Rational Bible, Deuteronomy: God, Blessings, and Curses, pgs. 48-49

Remembering History is Important.

This is among the most important and relevant commandments in the Torah: “Do not forget…. Make them [the events you saw] known to your children and to your children’s children.”

If there is one overriding reason Jews have survived for more than three thousand years—the great majority of those years spent exiled from their national homeland—it is that they preserved their national memories.

Dennis Prager, The Rational Bible, Deuteronomy: God, Blessings, and Curses, Pg. 48

The Importance of Knowing History

It is often said that when a people forget their history, they are condemned to repeat it.  I prefer to rephrase that by saying that when people either forget their history or never knew it in the first place, they make it easy for demagogues to get away with lying to them about it.

Mark C. Ross, False history and its unwitting victims

History Repeats--Often

 

The LEFT Hate History

[B]y the standard applied by the Progressive Left today—by which they drive Christian people out of business, and accuse politicians of various new bigotries—history’s heroes simply would not make the cut. Secular progressive ideology is too new. History has been retroactively rendered a graveyard of homophobic bigots, and regardless of heroism or towering achievements, they are simply fortunate to have not lived in a time where their great deeds would have done nothing to avoid a social media lynching for failing to identify a robust Olympian father as a woman.

I had the opportunity recently to sit down with veteran journalist and Christian historian Ted Byfield to discuss these trends. History, he noted, has heroes and villains. That is why history is so dangerous for secular progressive types, and that’s why they’ve replaced the teaching of “history” with the teaching of social studies. Social studies borrows from history, but is actually an entirely different pursuit.

In order to find the way forward, Christians must refresh themselves on what happened in the Past. History is one of our greatest weapons, because without it, we can have no context for what is happening and how we can respond. A tree without roots blows over at the first gusty breeze.

Jonathon Van Maren, Why progressives are terrified of history.