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One Nation Under God

One Nation Under God
Monday, many Americans were off work and school – a three-day weekend capped by a national holiday. Originally celebrated as George Washington’s birthday, these days Presidents Day might be a ski day (or week, as many public schools have instituted) or even a day lost in the merchandizing of Valentine’s Day or other three-day weekend sales.
Washington’s Birthday, instituted by the United States Congress in 1880, was originally celebrated on February 22, Washington’s actual birthday. The 1971 Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved Washington’s birthday to the third Monday in February, ironically never to fall on his actual birthday again. During the 1980s, retailers’ pushed to re-name the holiday Presidents Day. While February 12, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, was never a federal holiday, several states adopted it as a state holiday. Several other states take advantage of the holiday to honor their homegrown presidents, as well, such as John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and John F. Kennedy in Massachusetts. (For interesting information on Presidents Day, read “Ten Things You May Not Know About Presidents Day.” 
Our Founding Fathers’ Legacy
George Washington and other early founding fathers possessed character, integrity, and valor and the forethought to know that America’s godly heritage should be threatened at our own peril. In his 1796 Farewell Address, George Washington warned, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensible supports…in vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens…” 
Benjamin Franklin, though often portrayed as the most secular or deistic of our founding fathers, reminded his fellow representatives at the 1787 Constitutional Convention of God’s great faithfulness to the nation during the Revolutionary War. He cautioned, “We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believed that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel.” Franklin concluded with a request that “henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business….”
Both Washington and Franklin were instrumental in the founding of colleges and universities in an effort to nurture leaders, teach them about their country’s history and institutions, and encourage their successful participation in public affairs. Franklin founded the University of Pennsylvania. Washington’s legacy became Washington and Lee University. He also left part of his estate to found a national university that would help students “in acquiring knowledge in the principles of Politics and good Government.” While his vision never came to be, Congress did charter military academies like West Point and Annapolis. 
Far From Our Founders’ Ideals
Colleges today fall far from the lofty ideals of Franklin and Washington. A new study, “The Shaping of the American Mind: The Diverging Influences of the College Degree & Civic Learning on American Beliefs,” found college students today are not only woefully ignorant of civics and history, but they are being indoctrinated with non-traditional public policy. The study tested a cross-section of Americans on 33 basic questions that included political literacy, American history, and economics. The average score was 49 percent, and college graduates scored an average of 57 percent. 
Participants were also asked to respond to 39 social issues, and their answers were compared to results from a 2006-7 survey of college students on similar issues. While 24.6 percent of those with high-school educations believe homosexuals should be allowed to marry, 39.1 percent of college graduates do. While more than half (56.6 percent) of the respondents with a high-school education believe teachers should be allowed to lead prayer in public schools, only 39.4 percent of college graduates agreed. While almost three-quarters (74.2 percent) of those with only a high-school diploma agreed the Bible is the Word of God, the number dropped to 63.5 percent among the college educated. The gap on the issue of abortion was less striking. While 20.1 percent of those with a high-school degree supported abortion on demand, the percentage rose only slightly to 20.8 among those with a college degree. 
Additionally, the study broke out the beliefs of college professors and found that most agreed that the Ten Commandments are irrelevant, that educators should instill more doubt – and reject certainty – in students, and that homeschool families neglect their community obligations. 
Incredibly, The Heritage Foundation’s blog, The Foundry, reported earlier this month that North Carolina was considering changes to its high-school U.S. History curriculum to cover only events from 1877 forward – to teach only “what students feel connected to, ‘where they see the big idea and draw relationships between parts of our history and the present dy.’” Does that mean students don’t have a connection to our nation’s founding, to our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence? And how about Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, and the abolition of slavery? 
Our founders possessed a biblical worldview and believed that, for America to survive, its citizens must understand its founding principles. Most Americans still agree with that, but many of our colleges seem to disagree with the original goal of the American founders. How can one understand and think critically about public affairs if one does not know or understand the principles on which the nation was founded? How can one stand for basic liberties and freedom, if one lacks the knowledge of their historical roots? Those beginnings still inspire our nation and evoke patriotic fervor and pride in our country. What can you do?
·         See how you measure up on the civics test.
·         Guide the young people in your lives in selecting colleges and coursework that support America’s founding.
·         Talk about current events and their public and historical impact with your family and peers.
·         Advocate for more courses that teach founding documents and principles – in high school and college.
·         Enter the debate online, or write an op-ed for your local newspaper.
·         Read about our nation’s founding and founders.
·         See the Intercollegiate Studies Institute American Civil Literacy Program, which authored this study, for more resources and ideas.
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