Opinion
By Judge John Marshall Meisburg, Jr.
11-27-23
The influence of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith on American education cannot be overstated. From the early days of the Pilgrims and the Colonies, education was centered around the Christian faith.
Noah Webster said that “education is worthless without the Bible.” Others said that it would be dangerous to educate people without a faith in God, citing the Tower of Babel. The great evangelist Charles Finney said: “education that is not sanctified is odious to God.” Daniel Webster argued for 3 days before the Supreme Court that the Bible should be allowed in public schools, and the Court held that the New Testament and religious instruction should be taught in the schools, which was reaffirmed in 1950. And, the first schools in America used the New England Primer and the McGuffey Reader, both of which used the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount and many other Scriptures to teach the children every subject. The New England Primer was used for 200 years. There was no talk of “evolution” or Communism. The students were taught Creation Science, and Godly capitalism and that hard work and individual responsibility and faith in God were the keys to success.
The First and Second Great Awakening Christian revivals led to the creation of great Universities like Harvard and Yale and Princeton and Oberlin college. Harvard was created to train Christian missionaries “ for the glory of God” and “for Christ and the Church.” The founding logo of Harvard on its shield was “Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae” which in Latin means “Truth for the Church and Christ.” The shield contained three books: two open face up and one face down. The book facing down signified the need for Godly wisdom and the limitations of human reason. Thus, the founding creed of Harvard was to advance the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so it was at Princeton and Yale. Harvard students were required to read the Bible twice a day, and were told that the main end of life was to “know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life.” Princeton was started by Presbyterians to train ministers of the Gospel, and they had mandatory worship twice a day. No profanity or immorality was allowed. Yale was founded on the “saving knowledge of Jesus Christ”, and all students were told to “diligently read the Scriptures.” Benjamin Franklin started the University of Pennsylvania in 1740, and the stated purpose was instruction in the Christian religion. Sadly, these ivy league colleges have now departed from their founding faith and creed. Harvard’s logo was changed to just say “Veritas” meaning truth, and now all three books on the shield are face up. I pray that these universities and colleges will see the real truth and return to the Godliness of their founding.
The intent of the Founders of America was to support and even require the teaching of the Bible and Christian values in the public schools and they saw that as consistent with the First Amendment. Gouverneur Morris said that education must teach the precepts of religion as the basis for morality. Fisher Ames, who helped to write the First Amendment, said that the Bible must be read in school and that children should limit the time that they spend reading secular books. Benjamin Rush
said that the Bible should be read in our schools more than any other book. They all agreed with Martin Luther, who once said that schools that do not teach the Bible are “wide gates of Hell.”
When I was in Junior High School (public school) in Louisville, Kentucky in 1959, the Principal started every assembly meeting with the Lord’s prayer. He also allowed me to read the Bible on the Public Address system during homeroom. School discipline was never a problem, and academic standards were very high.
However, In the 1960’s, the liberal Warren Supreme Court unfortunately took prayer, the Ten Commandments and Bible reading out of the public schools based on a radical interpretation of “separation of church and state” that the Founders never intended. Those decisions resulted in an entire generation of Americans losing faith and turning away from God. Crime and teen pregnancy have increased greatly since then, school discipline is now a terrible problem causing teachers to resign, and SAT scores and academic standards have plummeted.
However, the good news is that the current Supreme Court is reversing those decisions and turning the tide in America back to our great public faith. The recent Bremerton decision held that any government activity that is “consistent with our history and tradition as a country” is Constitutional and not a violation of separation of church and state. And, we know from history that the early schools of our country were teaching the Bible and Christian values. So prayer and the Ten Commandments are returning to our schools. And, the Court has held that the Bible can be used as a textbook in public schools in regard to English literature, science and history and other subjects as long as it is not used to proselytize. The psalms of David are better than the sonnets of Shakespeare. The Biblical account of creation is more believable than evolution or the so-called “Big bang.” The “young earth” theory and the Great Flood are supported by both science and the Bible. Evolution has been discredited by science for many years,but is still being taught in many public schools as a fact rather than a discredited theory. As Christians, we need to pray and seek a return to Godly values in the public schools in order to save the next generation. In 1986 I ran for School Board in Duval County on the platform of “Safety, Academic Excellence and Godly values”. I submit that this should still be our platform for the future of education.
In the 1980’s a homeschool movement arose in America in response to the secular humanism and radical sex education in the public schools. In 1985 I formed a group called Virginians United for Quality Education to fight the radical sex education program in Loudon County Virginia public schools. Christians were ridiculed for homeschooling their children and they faced legal challenges, but the movement continued to grow. During COVID, the homeschool movement became very strong, as students were required to learn from home, and parents began to learn the ungodly things their kids were being taught in public school. It was ironic that during COVID, homeschool actually became mandatory in many states of the Union! Now, millions of Christian young people are in homeschool, and they are thriving academically and emotionally and spiritually. And Loudon County, Virginia last year again became the tip of the spear of the so-called “parental rights” movement to seek input into school curriculum, which has become a national political issue for Presidential candidates. Republicans like President Trump fully support parental rights in education, and a return to the Godly values that made our schools great.
Another major problem in modern America has been the ultra liberal bias in our colleges and universities. For many years, liberal tenured professors have been trying to brainwash our young people against God and Jesus Christ. Many teach a godless evolution in science, and support liberal Democrat party policies such as socialism. They ridicule conservative Republicans and seek to stifle and censor those voices on campus and in the classroom. Liberal professors make up over 90% of college teachers, and conservative teachers are afraid to speak out for fear of persecution and termination. Students feel compelled to agree with their liberal professors on tests or receive poor grades. This is more like Russia than America. A recent survey found that Harvard and other so-called great schools had a terrible record for free speech, and regularly censored conservative and Christian voices on campus. This bias also became very apparent during the recent war between Israel and Hamas. College professors actually voiced their support for the Hamas terrorists and against Zionism and Jewish people in general. Jewish students began to be afraid to even go to class on college campuses due to the hatred of these professors and their students. But, in a promising development, many college benefactors began to stop funding the colleges that revealed this terrible prejudice and bias. Tenure for liberal professors must be ended. Free speech and tolerance for conservative views must be re-established. College is supposed to be a search for the truth, not a bastion of indoctrination.
Freedom of choice in education is also a great new development. In Florida, any parent in the state can now apply for an $8,000 voucher to send their child to a private Christian school, thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis. The vouchers are no longer limited to low income students. This is truly an amazing development. When I was growing up in the 1950s it was unthinkable that government could support a private Christian school (mostly Catholic at the time) due to “separation of church and state.” But,I have said for many years that government support of religion and faith in general is fully Constitutional as long as no favoritism is shown toward a particular faith because America is “one nation under God.” That is exactly the premise of the Florida School Voucher law that is now leading the nation in freedom of choice in education. Because of this law, all of the young people of Florida can attend a private Christian school,and get a Godly education! I give glory to God for this new law. We need to make people aware of this great program. Let freedom ring.
Abraham Lincoln once said that “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next generation.” He was right. It is very important that Judeo-Christian values and truth are taught again in the classrooms of America. We need to post the Ten Commandments again in every classroom. We need to start every day with a moment of silent prayer. We need to use the Bible as a textbook in literature, history and science. Let us all give thanks for the Christian influence in American education, and pray that our schools and colleges return to the faith in God that made America so great.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR- JUDGE JOHN MARSHALL MEISBURG JR.
Judge John Marshall Meisburg, Jr., was a U.S. Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration for 26 years in Jacksonville, Florida. He retired as a judge in 2021 and is now living in Fernandina Beach, Florida with his wife of 43 years, Dr. Denise Meisburg. They have six children and 11 grandchildren. Prior to being a judge, he was a lawyer with the Federal government for 23 years, serving in all three branches of the government, with the U.S. District Court, EEOC, Justice Department, Congress, FDIC and Office of Special Counsel (MSPB). He was in private law practice one year in Washington, D.C. and filed the lawsuit that became the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case on sexual harassment. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Kentucky, and a Juris Doctor law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He is a lifelong Christian, being raised in the Baptist faith in Louisville, Kentucky. He was an Elder at New Life Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville where he taught Sunday School, the Jewish Roots of the Faith and the Christian Heritage of America. He was a leader of both the National Day of Prayer and the House of Prayer in Jacksonville for over ten years. He has published ten books relating to Christian and legal ssues. He is now a member of Living Waters World Outreach Center in Fernandina Beach, where he serves in the prayer and home group ministry, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Faith Christian Academy.
Christian Heritage Articles:
“Christopher Columbus – Man of Great Faith and Courage” – Citizens Journal Florida
The Christian Heritage of America (Installment 2) – Citizens Journal Florida
The Christian Heritage of America Installment 3 – The French Huguenots! – Citizens Journal Florida
The Christian Heritage of America Installment 5 -The Great Awakening – Citizens Journal Florida
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
