The American Creed

This weekend I found a real treasure at a local library sale. I am a big fan of Dr. William "Bill" Bennett. You can imagine how happy I was to find a copy of The Book of Virtues in the sale stack. The library wanted a mere $3 for this treasure. I quickly grabbed it up before another Bill Bennett fan could come along and grab it up.

Thumbing through it with my daughter a few nights ago, I found something called The American's Creed. Dr. Bennett writes this introduction to the section:

In 1917, William Tyler Page of Maryland won a nationwide contest for "the best summary of American political faith." The U.S. House of Representatives accepted the statement as the American's Creed on April 3, 1918. It's two paragraphs remind us that responsibilities are the source of rights. It deserves to be read and recited. Today very few people have even heard of it.

I have to admit that I had never heard of it. I did some searches online to find out more about the creed and about William Page. The American's Creed is listed on a number of websites, and I can't find where it has ever been repealed or changed. William Page was later elected to the Clerk of the U. S. House. More impressively, when power changed in the House in 1934, the position of Minority Clerk of the House was created. Mr. Page held that position until his death 8 years later.

I think this creed is a great creed and it's easy to see why it was selected out of 3,000 entries. Without further ado...

The American's Creed

I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.

California Court of Appeals Strikes Again!

In February, the California Court of Appeals ruled that parents do not have a right to teach their own kids in their own home. The Court of Appeals decided that homeschooling was illegal, and was not protected by the constitution. The Alliance Defense Fund has a few articles up about the decision and has a link to the 18 page decision by the court.

There are a few facts that might be of interest. First, California law does not address homeschooling one way or another. According to the San Francisco Gate, “There is no provision in the California Education Code or elsewhere in state law that addresses the issue of homeschooling.” All the code says is that kids are required to attend school. In California, most parents fill out the proper paper work to have their home designated as a private school. According to the Gate, there are over 18,000 private schools in California with less than five students. However, where there is no law, the California Court of Appeals has taken it upon themselves to act as the Legislative Branch and write their own law.

Second, the original case didn’t deal with the homeschooling issue for these children. Again, in the words of the Gate, “[a]lthough the case did not involve the question of the children’s truancy, the court decision broadly addressed the legality of homeschooling in California.” The original case involved a charge of physical / emotional abuse by one of the parents. Apparently, the courts have decided that the best way to monitor this is to force the kids to enroll in public schools.

Finally, in the words of Bill Bennett, every parent is a teacher, but not every teacher is a parent. Parents are responsible for teaching their children many of life’s lessons. I think very few of my readers would argue for religious instruction in public school. The debate surrounding evolution usually touches many people’s nerves. However, if as a parent, I don’t like the way these topics are treated in school, I always have the right to teach my child at home. Children have been home schooled since before there was a United States. To have the California Court of Appeals decide parents don’t have a right to teach their children shows just how out of touch with reality the court is.

Book Review: Why We Fight

I posted the dedication fromWhy We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism a few days ago. I thought the opening dedication was very moving, and was equally impressed with the rest of the book. I just finished the book and immediately sat down to write this review. It is a short book (less than 200 pages in the paperback edition), however many of the points are very powerful and are very powerfully made.

This is not a book for someone who believes America is no better or worse than any other nation on the planet, and doesn't want to hear anything to the contrary. Dr. Bennett writes of patriotism, right and wrong, and the undeniable truth that some things really are worth fighting for.

The original edition of this book was released in 2002. The paperback edition that I stumbled across at a used bookstore is an updated version. It includes a new introduction entitled “Blaming America First”. Dr. Bennett explains why this mentality is so deadly to our country. The original introduction (“A Moment of Clarity”) is also included in the paperback edition.

I thought many of Dr. Bennett's arguments were well laid out and hard to counter. Dr. Bennett uses this book to discuss patriotism and the anti-America movement since September 11^th. He examines the pacifist movement. This book is also interesting because it makes a case for our action in Afghanistan and Iraq before we entered Iraq. Don't open this book expecting to see a lot of talk about WMD's. Many forget there were other reasons to go into Iraq. The epilogue should be required reading. Dr. Bennett uses it to lay out the case for removal of Saddam Hussein.

On a larger scale, Why We Fight seeks to shine a light on the anti-America movement that has been in this country since the 1930’s. It also argues why Patriotism is something we should be instilling in our children along with a fundamental understating of what it means to be an American. How can we hope to survive when reports look at our government with suspicion, but take petty dictators and tyrants at their word? Dr. Bennett makes the case for Israel and our continued support of that nation.

This book should be required reading for high school students, and for anyone who thinks patriotism is something to be avoided. For those of us who believe being a patriot is a good thing, this book is a welcome reinforcement of that belief.

Just a Quick Note...

This is going to be a very short post. I started reading a new book tonight, Why We Fight, Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism by William J. Bennett. The dedication to the book hit my like a hammer so I thought I would share it with everyone. From the dedication to Why We Fight:

This book is dedicated to the heroes of

Flight 93. When duty called, they rose to the

task and fought for control of an airplane,

saving countless people in Washington, D.C. –

including, perhaps, me. They said, “Let’s roll,”

and they made concrete the meaning

of courage and citizenship.