The concept can be said, or thought of, as pessimistic or fatalistic. Also it can be considered as merely a statement of fact, even an encouragement to a realistic view of life \u2013 a viewpoint from which we might brush the dust off out feet and seek new directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bible addresses the idea of course in a perfect way, and as often the case with bits of wisdom \u2013 proverbs \u2013 in the words of King Solomon. We recently visited the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, in which this verse appears:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This came to mind again this week when I chanced upon a political cartoon I drew (gulp!) half a century ago, almost to the day. Isn\u2019t it amazing how a four-year-old could draw? (I am not good at math, so I might be off by a few years\u2026) But more than the archaeological discovery from my files, I was struck by the issue I addressed in the pages of the Connecticut Herald<\/em> back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This cartoon could have been published this week \u2013 only better drawn, I would hope \u2013 and it would be just as pertinent, just as impertinent, every detail of my critique and complaints resonating the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would give my right inkpot if such were not case. For this is not an amusing coincidence; it is evidence of rot in American life. We might acknowledge that there might be nothing new<\/em> under then sun, but \u2013 despite Solomon and Jean-Baptiste \u2013 we hope that things can at least vary their colors and flavors, can change or evolve. In 1973, for instance, the Soviet Union was our international threat; now it is China. In 1973 Vietnam was a diplomatic vortex; now it is Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the crises in American schools, as I identified them in this cartoon, are the same today (with, perhaps, the only change being greater degrees of severity). In my drawing I pictured sex \u201cteaching\u201d in the classroom; \u201cnew math\u201d (the crazy numbers on the blackboard did not reproduce well here); anti-American teaching and actions; the presence of drugs, violence, and alcohol (I drew a syringe, a knife, and a beer can); the Black Power poster would be BLM today; and a Marxist textbook, which lives today as Critical Race Theory and other propagandistic school books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh. And the assault on Bibles and prayers in schools, and the courts\u2019 malignant interference in public education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I drew this cartoon, \u201cthanks\u201d to the Supreme Court, Bible reading and Christian expression in schools had been outlawed for about 10 years. To many people, this seems like the world of centuries ago, but I was in seventh grade; I can remember another America. Until that time, my schools in suburban New York City \u2013 and it was no different anywhere in the United States \u2013 opened every day with the Pledge of Allegiance. Moments of silence. Every week opened with Bible readings, round-robin with classmates. Out of deference to the Jewish kids in my classes, Bible readings often were Old Testament psalms. These were aspects of American schools until the early \u201860s. Ten years later\u2026 this cartoon was not a fantasy or a warning, but a critique of unfolding situations. Fifty years later\u2026 Nothing new under the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was not too young when Bibles were outlawed, nor when I drew this cartoon, to be unaware of predictions from many quarters. Don\u2019t think citizens did not object. There will be consequences if children are not grounded in an awareness of God\u2019s role in American life\u2026 morals will degrade in a generation of young people\u2026 If Biblical values are stripped from history and science classes, children will have no standards\u2026 We will raise up generations with false values, little respect, and no traditions\u2026 <\/em>and other predictions that are \u201cla m\u00eame chose<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every movement, through many centuries \u2013 indeed, back to the Garden \u2013 that has attacked God\u2019s Word and orderly societies, has commenced with corrupting children. Of late, in the West, whether it is the questionable Protocols; or the manifestos of Marx and Engels; or the \u201cProgressive Education\u201d of Dewey; or the well-funded subversion of George Soros, corrupting the youth<\/em> is the tip of the spear. But I am afraid that my pen has run dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n + + +<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Herald](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mondayministry.com\/images\/conn-herald.jpg?resize=500%2C375&ssl=1\")
<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If kids came from households of no faith, or other faiths, they could opt out; no ostracism of any sort. I had no friends who felt persecuted. The Lord\u2019s Prayer was also recited weekly, and the Protestant kids added \u201cFor ever and ever, Amen,\u201d nothing odd about it. We had Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter programs\u2026 with the spiritual backgrounds discussed matter-of-factly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wish, today, I could draw a cartoon predicting a better future \u2013 American classrooms free of subversion and perversion; shining with patriotism and traditional values; teaching, and learning, the Three Rs; not woke but awakened; outcomes and advancement of students by merit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n