GOD SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE

 

 

Before we get into our lesson proper today, I feel that I must offer you readers a caveat. I'm going to return to a subject that I've written on several times and when I think it has been covered sufficiently, up pops another incident that fires up my editorial juices all over again. The subject matter of which I speak is society's efforts to remove God, or anything relating to Him, from public view. Perhaps I should refer to it as society's "unbalanced efforts" in its attempts at "separating church and state."

If you recall, in past editorials, we've discussed the efforts of removing "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, prayers in both school and public speech and the removal of the Ten Commandments from courtrooms and other public buildings. Those are all misunderstood or misguided beliefs regarding the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Well, in my opinion, this latest effort by a segment of our society goes beyond "misunderstood or misguided." In the annals of efforts to eradicate God from any public mention in our society, this one reaches the most irrational, foolish and totally biased, maneuver I've seen so far. Yes I said "biased" and you'll easily see what I mean in a moment. This latest episode shows just how far some will go to remove God, but accept anything else man can concoct.

I read a recent news article (and if anyone is interested I can provide you with how you can see it for yourself) that reported on a court case from the San Diego, Ca. area. The case involved a couple of posters placed in the classroom by a math teacher at a local high school. The school district administrators were so offended and incensed by these posters that they ordered them removed. The teacher involved felt that his Constitutional rights had been violated and sued the district. To make a long story short, he won the law suit, but it's been appealed to the 9^th District Court of Appeals and we're all familiar with the liberality of that bunch.

Now here's what the administrators felt was so apparently damaging to young minds that they ordered the posters removed. On one of them were these phrases: "IN GOD WE TRUST - ONE NATION UNDER GOD - GOD BLESS AMERICA and GOD SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE." On the other poster were seen these phrases: "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL - THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR."

Aren't those words frightening? Can you see just how damaging they could be to young and impressionable minds? One school board member even asked this question: "If this is allowed, what else can go up on the wall?" Now do you see why I said this goes "beyond misunderstood and misguided?" To me, it borders on sheer stupidity. Now here's why I said it was "biased" and even discriminatory.

When the question was asked about "what else can go up on the walls," guess what was on the walls of other classrooms? There were posters of Mahatma Ghandi's (Hindu) "7 Social Sins." A poster of Malcolm X (Black Muslim leader). A poster of the Dalai Lama (Buddhist leader) with Tibetan Prayer Flags. A Gay Pride poster. A Stop Global Warming poster and a poster having the lyrics of John Lennon's song "Imagine" which starts off with the words "Imagine no heaven." These posters were not contested by the administrators, but were certainly brought out in the trial.

I think I would be remiss if I didn't provide you with a portion of the trial Judge's ruling. Sometimes there are courts who see things correctly and, as mentioned earlier, found that the teacher's rights had been violated and ordered the school district to pay him a certain amount and also pay all court costs. This, by the way, is the ruling the school district is appealing to the 9^th Dist. Ct. of Appeals.

The Judge said this: "Ironically, while teachers in the Poway Unified School District encourage students to celebrate diversity and value thinking for one's self, Defendants apparently fear their students are incapable of dealing with diverse viewpoints that include God's place in American history and culture."

"American history and culture." I emphasize those words of the Judge in order to point out that the posters ordered removed by the administrators are phrases found in our country's "national motto." The "Pledge of Allegiance." The last words of every Presidential speech I've ever heard, the song "America The Beautiful" and the "Declaration of Independence." Boy, high school students certainly have to be protected from mind-warping things like those, don't they?

In wrapping this up let me say that I'm not predicting the end of the world, but I will say that we're living in the "last days" that are spoken of several times in the Gospel. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy (2Tim. 3:2) about the ways "people" would behave in the "last days" and one of them would be "scoffers of God" or "blasphemers."

Then we can look at the words of the Apostle Peter "reminding us that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires." (2Pet. 3:3) In citing these scriptures to you today, I'm feeling a kinship to Jude who said in verse 17-18 of his letter "But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said. They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires." (NLT)

All we have to do is look around us and see what our society is doing in regards to God and I think it's easily seen that the "scoffers" and "blasphemers" are here in force. And the actions of the Poway Unified School District in their attempt to remove God from the classroom and allow false religions and avowed heathens to remain serves as a prime example of the apostle's warnings.

Ron Covey