President Ronald Reagan wisely declared, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
In light of America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, let’s remember what an important role homeschooling parents and organizations play in protecting and preserving the Judeo-Christian principles of this great nation. We as Americans experience so much freedom because our country’s laws were founded on biblical principles like the 10 commandments.
However, America’s spiritual foundation has been slowly and steadily subverted. As the spirit of the nation turns away from the fear of the Lord, the freedom and peace so many Americans experience will also inevitably disappear. Freedom starts in the home, with the biblical principles we are teaching our children. I praise God for all the homeschooling parents that have heard and heeded the call to courageously contend till the coming of our Lord!
Freedom is not free; it requires duty and discipline. We are trustees of our Christian heritage, and must intentionally invest in the next generation if we want to see continued freedom in our country. As we celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary, let’s take a moment to celebrate and remember that we belong to “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The many brave men and women who came before us have made our peaceful lives possible!
The late great Sir Roger Scruton profoundly professed, “We do not merely study the past; we inherit it, and inheritance brings with it not only the rights of ownership, but the duties of trusteeship…Things fought for and died for should not be idly squandered. For they are the property of others who are not yet born.”
Duty was a highly prized virtue of the American Founders thanks to their education in the Bible and the Greek and Roman Classics. From the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word duty comes from the late 14c. duete, due (to owe) and ty (a moral or legal obligation). So duty is not something we necessarily want to do but what we ought to do.
We can recall George Washington, who already had given so much of himself to the cause of freedom. He would have loved to retire to his farm after the Revolutionary War, but saw it as his duty to become the first president when American citizens called on him after the ratification of the Constitution. From The Writings of Washington, we can see from his own words what he thought of duty. He writes, “While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.”
Like our Founders, we must once again highly prize the virtue of duty, and that certainly requires another virtue, discipline. Those who have studied Latin will know that discipline comes from discilpina meaning “instruction, knowledge, or training” and from disciplina to discipulus meaning “student or learner”. Jesus’s disciples were His students, who took what they learned from him and dutifully carried out His mission. Believers all over the world are the fruit of their discipline.
We never get too old to be disciples, and it is often said that the best way to learn is to teach. I find that to be incredibly true. In fact, if we don’t want to remain children ourselves, we must continually increase our knowledge. I love how C.S. Lewis put it in Mere Christianity: “Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the contrary. He told us to be not only ‘as harmless as doves’, but also ‘as wise as serpents’. He wants a child’s heart, but a grown-up head.” So, parents, take this opportunity in your homeschooling journey to practice the virtue of discipline by becoming students yourselves. If you do, not only will your children reap dividends, but you will as well.
Dividends are the fruit of investment. When we take the time to pour knowledge and wisdom into our kids, our families, communities, and nation reap the benefits. Today much of our youth no longer know the connection between the God of the Bible and the founding of our nation. We have neglected our duty to pass on the wisdom of our founding history and are reaping vice and destruction instead. Invest your time in learning our history and passing it onto your children. It is not too much to say that our continued freedom depends on it.
Dennis Prager said, “America’s sins are universal, but her successes are unique.” This is so true. All countries have their sins, but America’s enemies have forgotten or minimized our successes. Yes, we must remember our faults to learn from them and not repeat them, but America has many successes that should make us proud.
On America’s 250th Anniversary, please remember that knowledge is not passed on in the bloodstream. It’s our role as home educators to teach our children about freedom, both through school work and our lived example. This year’s anniversary is the perfect opportunity to study America’s history of freedom and faith with your family.
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