I’m a Former Teacher. Here’s How Your Children Are Getting Indoctrinated by Leftist Ideology.

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Your children are being indoctrinated. The education system designed to teach them how to think critically has been weaponized by the radical left to push an anti-American agenda.

As someone who has worked in education for four years, I have seen firsthand how your children are being ensnared by the left and their teachers.

I worked with kids from ages 3 to 13 and saw the brainwashing that exists at all levels of education. The left uses a combination of propaganda and suppression to push kids into the ensnaring grip of socialism and anti-patriotism.

First is the propaganda. Teachers will assign work instilling the idea that the pillars of Western civilization were evil, and their memories deserve to be thrown in the trash.

How are socialists deluding a whole generation? Learn more now >>

Here’s an example. I was helping one of my elementary school students with a homework assignment about listing famous Britons throughout history. She already had some of the more obvious ones: Shakespeare, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth.

“Well, how about Winston Churchill?” I recommended.

“Oh no, not him,” she replied. “He was a racist and didn’t think women should have rights. He wasn’t a good guy.”

I was floored. It clearly wasn’t something she came up with on her own. She was just regurgitating propaganda her teacher had taught her. All sense of nuance and critical thinking about the man who saved Europe from the Nazis was gone. Churchill committed “wrongthink,” so in the bin he goes.

Another way the left propagandizes is through the normalization of its views and positions as nonpolitical.

The Black Lives Matter organization is a prime example of this. Many of my colleagues wore Black Lives Matter pins and apparel to school in blatant violation of school rules forbidding political statements on clothing.

When I asked for a justification of the behavior, I was told it wasn’t political to support the group, it was a matter of human rights. The children would see these pins and clothes and connect radical leftist groups with basic human dignity. “How dare you question Black Lives Matter? I was taught this is a matter of human rights!”

But it isn’t just a matter of actively teaching that America and the West are evil. Suppression of “wrongthink” is equally as important to the brainwashing process. The lessons I was allowed to teach also were censored.

I was preparing a lesson on Thanksgiving involving Pilgrims and American Indians, with an activity centered on making paper teepees for arts and crafts. Cue the progressive panic.

Other teachers at the school were incensed that a non-Indian was “appropriating” Native American culture for an activity. Of course, these teachers weren’t Indians either, they just wanted to virtue signal.

The whole thing culminated in a hilarious incident where my colleagues tracked down the one teacher on staff who was one-sixty-fourths Native American and asked her if it was cultural appropriation. In her esteemed authority, it most certainly was. The school administrators pulled me aside and promptly nixed the project.

The suppression extends to American religious values as well. I would try to engage my students with folk stories from around the globe to teach them world history and other cultures.

Story time went on without a hitch until I decided to tell stories from the Bible. Other teachers began to complain I was preaching Christian values to the children and attempting to convert them.

Keep in mind, this wasn’t a problem when I was sharing stories from other ancient cultures throughout history. Stories about ancient India and China were fine and encouraged as “sharing unheard voices.” After sharing the story of the Tower of Babel, I was told to switch back to non-Christian stories or face consequences.

The young adults who today gleefully tear down statues of the Founding Fathers were incubated in our very own schools, groomed to burst from the education system and burn America down.

The left argues the great men and women who built this nation are problematic and must be destroyed. Conservatives must demand an end to the indoctrination of our youth or face a new American public taught since childhood that the country shouldn’t exist.

COMMENTARY BY

Douglas Blair

Douglas Blair is an administrative assistant at The Heritage Foundation and a graduate of Heritage’s Young Leaders Program.

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A Note for our Readers:

Democratic Socialists say, “America should be more like socialist countries such as Sweden and Denmark.” And millions of young people believe them…

For years, “Democratic Socialists” have been growing a crop of followers that include students and young professionals. America’s future will be in their hands.

How are socialists deluding a whole generation? One of their most effective arguments is that “democratic socialism” is working in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway. They claim these countries are “proof” that socialism will work for America. But they’re wrong. And it’s easy to explain why.

Our friends at The Heritage Foundation just published a new guide that provides three irrefutable facts that debunks these myths. For a limited time, they’re offering it to readers of The Daily Signal for free.

Get your free copy of “Why Democratic Socialists Can’t Legitimately Claim Sweden and Denmark as Success Stories” today and equip yourself with the facts you need to debunk these myths once and for all.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Parents, Educators, Doctors Join Trump in New Push to Reopen Schools

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Dr. Melanie McGraw Piasecki is both a pediatrician and a mother of three who wants to see kids back in school after the COVID-19 lockdown that shuttered classrooms in the spring and is on the cusp of doing so this fall across the country.

“My children did not have a particularly great experience in the spring, particularly my youngest, who was in first grade at the time,” Piasecki, of Charlotte, North Carolina, said Wednesday at a White House event. “I think the online learning for the young ones, it just doesn’t work.”

Her children’s school is moving to a hybrid model, a mix of in-classroom and remote learning.

“In terms of being a pediatrician, I just think the science is so clear that the risk of death or hospitalization for children with this virus is so, so low,” Piasecki said. “We know the risks of missing school are catastrophic. We probably don’t even know how high they are yet, and they cover so many different areas.”

How are socialists deluding a whole generation? Learn more now >>

Piasecki was among nine Americans—including parents, doctors, teachers, and education officials—who attended the White House event to advocate the reopening of schools.

“We are 100% with you,” President Donald Trump said, referring to children’s return to school.

Vice President Mike Pence, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, presidential counsel Kellyanne Conway, and new White House medical adviser Dr. Scott Atlas also were part of the event.

“The concept of every other day [school attendance] seems a little ridiculous, right?” Trump asked Piasecki. “If you’re going to do it, you do it. The concept of going back—even from a management standpoint from the school—every other day seems very strange.”

Piasecki explained the thinking behind it, but said she’s generally supportive of returning to school.

“The idea is they are going to take half the student body on ‘A’ days and half the student body on ‘B’ days so they can socially distance in the facility; then if you’re home, you’ll be watching it on technology,” she said.

Trump responded:  “But you’d rather see them go back period, right? You’d rather not see that?”

The doctor answered: “That’s right.”

Trump secured $13 billion for states to spend on K-12 education, and is asking Congress to approve another $70 billion for K-12 schools.

Keeping schools closed harms earning potential for students, said Paul Peterson, director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University.

“For every year you spend in school, in the future you will earn 10% more in lifetime earnings,” Peterson said at the White House gathering, adding:

So, if we lock down schools for a year, we assign this generation to a 10% earning loss for the rest of their life. This is profound. The costs are vastly greater than people have appreciated, to say nothing about the importance of young people being together with one another.

At this point, Trump said: “So sitting in isolation with a computer, looking at a laptop, is not the same as being out there in the real world?”

Peterson said the COVID-19 pandemic changed his mind about the effectiveness of remote learning.

“At one point, Mr. President, I thought digital learning was the future,” Peterson said. “But, we have learned through this COVID crisis that we haven’t got digital learning to the point where you can really engage young people. They have got to be in that classroom. They have to be with their peers.”

COLUMN BY

Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for The Daily Signal and co-host of “The Right Side of History” podcast. Lucas is also the author of “Tainted by Suspicion: The Secret Deals and Electoral Chaos of Disputed Presidential Elections.” Send an email to Fred. Twitter: @FredLucasWH.

RELATED ARTICLE: After Losing Both Her In-Laws to COVID-19, Janice Dean Is Calling for an Investigation of New York

A Note for our Readers:

Democratic Socialists say, “America should be more like socialist countries such as Sweden and Denmark.” And millions of young people believe them…

For years, “Democratic Socialists” have been growing a crop of followers that include students and young professionals. America’s future will be in their hands.

How are socialists deluding a whole generation? One of their most effective arguments is that “democratic socialism” is working in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway. They claim these countries are “proof” that socialism will work for America. But they’re wrong. And it’s easy to explain why.

Our friends at The Heritage Foundation just published a new guide that provides three irrefutable facts that debunks these myths. For a limited time, they’re offering it to readers of The Daily Signal for free.

Get your free copy of “Why Democratic Socialists Can’t Legitimately Claim Sweden and Denmark as Success Stories” today and equip yourself with the facts you need to debunk these myths once and for all.

GET YOUR FREE COPY NOW »

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Schooling Was for the Industrial Era, Unschooling Is for the Future

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We’ve entered a new era, the Imagination Age, so why are we still schooling kids like we did in the 19th Century?

ur current compulsory schooling model was created at the dawn of the Industrial Age. As factories replaced farm work and production moved swiftly outside of homes and into the larger marketplace, 19th century American schooling mirrored the factories that most students would ultimately join.

The bells and buzzers signaling when students could come and go, the tedium of the work, the straight lines and emphasis on conformity and compliance, the rows of young people sitting passively at desks while obeying their teachers, the teachers obeying the principal, and so on—all of this was designed for factory-style efficiency and order.

The trouble is that we have left the Industrial Era for the Imagination Age, but our mass education system remains fully entrenched in factory-style schooling. By many accounts, mass schooling has become even more restrictive than it was a century ago, consuming more of childhood and adolescence than at any time in our history. The first compulsory schooling statute, passed in Massachusetts in 1852, required eight to 14-year-olds to attend school a mere 12 weeks a year, six of which were to be consecutive. This seems almost laughable compared to the childhood behemoth that mass schooling has now become.

Enclosing children in increasingly restrictive schooling environments for most of their formative years, and drilling them with a standardized, test-driven curriculum is woefully inadequate for the Imagination Age. In her book, Now You See It, Cathy Davidson says that 65 percent of children now entering elementary school will work at jobs in the future that have not yet been invented. She writes: “In this time of massive change, we’re giving our kids the tests and lesson plans designed for their great-great-grandparents.”

While the past belonged to assembly line workers, the future belongs to creative thinkers, experimental doers, and inventive makers. The past relied on passivity; the future will be built on passion. In a recent article on the future of work, author and strategist John Hagel III writes about the need to nurture passion to be successful and fulfilled in the jobs to come. He says:

One of my key messages to individuals in this changing world is to find your passion and integrate your passion with your work. One of the challenges today is that most people are products of the schools and society we’ve had, which encourage you to go to work to get a paycheck, and if it pays well, that’s a good job, versus encouraging you to find your passion and find a way to make a living from it.

Cultivating passion is nearly impossible within a coercive schooling structure that values conformity over creativity, compliance over-exuberance. This could help explain why the unschooling, or Self-Directed Education, movement is taking off, with more parents migrating from a schooling model of education for their children to a learning one. With Self-Directed Education, passion is at the center of all learning. Young people follow their interests and pursue their passions, while adults act as facilitators, connecting children and teens to the vast resources of both real and digital communities. In this model, learning is natural, non-coercive, and designed to be directed by the individual herself, rather than by someone else.

Self-Directed Education and unschooling often take place in homes and throughout communities, but increasingly individuals and organizations are launching self-directed learning centers geared toward homeschoolers with both full- and part-time options. These centers make Self-Directed Education more accessible to more families in more places, and each has a unique philosophy or focus. Some are geared toward teens and value real-world apprenticeships and immersion; others are makerspaces that emphasize tinkering and technology, and so on. In Boston, for instance, the JP Green School in the city’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood serves as a part-time self-directed learning space for homeschoolers and unschoolers with a focus on sustainability and nature connection.  Co-founder Andrée Zaleska says:

People educated in coercive models will be damaged for life (most of us are). The lack of respect shown to their autonomous selves as children translates into a lifelong tendency to “get what they need” by any means necessary…We are part of a growing counterculture which finds traditional schooling damaging in ways that are intertwined with the general brokenness of our culture.

Instead of complaining about the education status quo, entrepreneurial individuals are building alternatives to school that challenge it. Centered around passion and an overarching belief in individual self-determination, these entrepreneurs — who are often parents, former school teachers, and others who have become disillusioned by coercive schooling — are freeing young people from an outdated and harmful mass schooling system. Enlightened parents and innovative entrepreneurs may be the key players in constructing a new education model focused on freedom and designed for the Imagination Age.

Kerry McDonald

Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019). She is also an adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an M.Ed. in education policy from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. You can sign up for her weekly newsletter on parenting and education here.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Illinois State Rep Calls for the Abolition of History Classes in the State’s Public Schools

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Rep. Ford claims that “current school history teaching leads to white privilege and a racist society.” Meleika Gardner of We Will says: “Miseducation has fed and continues to feed systemic racism for generations. If Black History continues to be devalued and taught incorrectly, then it will call for further action.” Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty adds: “I support House Bill 4954 because I am interested in learning more and believe the history of Black people should be taught to all children and include all groups, Women, LatinX, and Native Indians who helped to build America.”

All this gives the impression that February is White History Month, not Black History Month, and that the teaching of history in public schools has more of a slant toward the Confederate States than the United States. This is, of course, absurd. We see the products of public education in America today venting their hatred for their native land every night now in Seattle and Portland.

What we need is not more focus on the grievances of this or that group, but rather on what has made the nation great for all of us, of every race and ethnic background. Rep. Ford’s initiative is yet another in a long line of Leftist attempts to erase our history and make us ashamed of being Americans, which will lead us to not having either the will or desire to defend this nation from internal and external attacks.

What we need now, when so many people are telling us that America was never great and is nothing to be proud of, is an unapologetic reaffirmation of what did indeed make this nation the greatest, most magnanimous, freest country the world has ever known. That’s why I wrote Rating America’s Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster, which will be out in a few weeks and which you can preorder now. It evaluates the presidents of the United States on the simple basis of whether or not they were good for America and Americans. Along the way, it gives you a brisk reminder of the history that Leftist destroyers are trying to steal from us. If we do not know our own history, their sinister endeavor will be all the easier to accomplish. Rep. Ford himself put it best regarding why this book is urgently needed now: “the miseducation of our children must stop.”

“Chicago-Area Leaders Call for Illinois to Abolish History Classes,” NBC Chicago, August 2, 2020:

At a news conference, State Rep. LaShawn K. Ford said current history teachings lead to a racist society and overlook the contributions of women and minorities.

Before the event Sunday, Rep. Ford’s office distributed a news release “Rep. Ford Today in Evanston to Call for the Abolishment of History Classes in Illinois Schools,” in which Ford asked the ISBOE and school districts to immediately remove history curriculum and books that “unfairly communicate” history “until a suitable alternative is developed.”…

The full news release is below:

Rep. Ford Today in Evanston to Call for the Abolishment of History Classes in Illinois Schools

Concerned that current school history teaching leads to white privilege and a racist society, state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, will join local leaders today at noon at the Robert Crown Center in Evanston to call on the state to stop its current history teaching practices until appropriate alternatives are developed.

“When it comes to teaching history in Illinois, we need to end the miseducation of Illinoisans,” Ford said. “I’m calling on the Illinois State Board of Education and local school districts to take immediate action by removing current history books and curriculum practices that unfairly communicate our history. Until a suitable alternative is developed, we should instead devote greater attention toward civics and ensuring students understand our democratic processes and how they can be involved. I’m also alarmed that people continue to display symbols of hate, such as the recent display of the Confederate flag in Evanston.”

Attendees at Sunday’s press conference will discuss how current history teaching practices overlook the contributions by Women and members of the Black, Jewish, LGBTQ communities and other groups. These individuals are pushing for an immediate change in history changing practice starting this school year.

“The miseducation of our children must stop,” said Meleika Gardner of We Will. “It is urgent that it comes to an end as we witness our current climate become more hostile. Miseducation has fed and continues to feed systemic racism for generations. If Black History continues to be devalued and taught incorrectly, then it will call for further action.”

Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty notes “As Mayor, I am not comfortable speaking on education, curriculum, and whether history lessons should be suspended. This is not my area. Personally, I support House Bill 4954 because I am interested in learning more and believe the history of Black people should be taught to all children and include all groups, Women, LatinX, and Native Indians who helped to build America.”

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VIDEO: President Trump Trump Wants to Send Education Funds to Parents if Schools Do Not Open

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President Trump wants education funding sent directly to parents to pay for whatever school they choose for their children–including “home school.”

CatholicVote posted the following video on YouTube:

©All rights reserved.

College women, take heed: Prioritize marriage and family!

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A marriage and relationship coach encourages young women to follow their hearts, prioritizing marriage and family.

In the last week alone, I’ve spoken with three millennial women (who reached out for coaching) who are all in the same boat: they’re up to their eyeballs in debt, having gotten degree upon degree due to the pressure they felt from their parents and the culture to do something big with their lives. To not let their intellect go to waste. To not worry about finding a man to marry or even having children because, well, they have bigger fish to fry.

These women aren’t just in debt—they’re crestfallen. All they want is to have a family of their own, but they’ve been so conditioned to believe marriage and motherhood constitutes a lesser life, they don’t dare admit this desire. I can’t tell you the number of single women who tell me they’d give up their career in a hot second for a husband and kids.

And it’s not just unmarried women. Many of the wives and mothers I hear from are working at professions they don’t care much about, and want more time at home to be with their kids and to live a slower-paced life. Problem is, they married men who lack ambition (either that, or they had it but took a step back to accommodate their wives’ ambition) and as a result the women became their family’s main breadwinner. And it’s a role most of them hate.

Their predicament was inevitable. For one thing, modern women weren’t taught to look for a man who can provide for a wife and kids. Women are supposed to take care of themselves! That’s the narrative with which these women were raised, so it never occurred to them to look at a man’s professional prospects.

Second, by delaying marriage indefinitely, these women wound up with fewer choices. Good men of strong character, who are conscientious and gainfully employed, tend to marry younger, family-oriented women. These women may or may not have a college degree and/or a career, but they nevertheless view work as a secondary value to their main priority: marriage and family.

Ergo, by the time the career-focused women are around 30 years of age, the pickings are slim. They can look for a man who’s as ambitious as they, and occasionally they will find him—but sheer math means many will not. So they settle on the best they can get: men who are nice and who are safe, but who lack the necessary drive to produce on behalf of their families.

And we can’t dismiss the reason why so many modern men lack drive: because they’ve failed to launch. What did we think would happen in a culture that hails women’s ambition and independence from men and tells men, both verbally and subliminally, that they’re superfluous?

It’s the culture, along with the previous generation of parents, who created this mess. They instilled all the wrong messages and all the wrong values in the modern generation. As a result, women and men are paying the price.

Still, I have hopes for the women of Generation Z. I think they’re witnessing all of this; and while this group has problems of their own—anxiety, mainly—I don’t believe they’ll end up in the same boat as their millennial sisters. I think they will marry earlier, and they will prioritize motherhood. A career will likely be part of their lives, but it will not be the focus of their lives. It will not be their raison d’être.

That’s the crux of the problem for the women who reach out to me: they were taught that their value lies in what they do, rather than in who they are—that if they don’t live lives the way men live theirs, they are failures. And it’s tearing them up inside. One woman broke down after admitting she has spent a decade getting two degrees she doesn’t even want.

This is madness. Going into debt to prove one’s worth and struggling to do what previous generations used to do with ease—find a man and settle down—is hardly progress. There’s nothing empowering about any of this. College women, take heed: Do not let this be your fate! Prioritize marriage and family. Make it the center of your life, and fit everything else in around that.

No offense, but I’d love to not hear from you ten years down the line.

Republished with the author’s permission. Read the original article at SuzanneVenker.com

Suzanne Venker

Suzanne Venker (@SuzanneVenker) is the author of five books and a relationship coach, as well as host of The… 

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UK Rightly Pushes Back on Gender Transitioning for Minors

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On both sides of the Atlantic, advocates for transgender rights are increasingly substituting ideology for biological reality.

But while here in the U.S. the Supreme Court last month was writing into Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act legal protections for people who identify as transgender that the authors of the law never intended, the United Kingdom appeared to be moving in the other direction, standing up for common sense.

On the other side of the pond, just five days before the Supreme Court handed down its decision, bestselling “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling published an intensely personal essay in response to criticism of her position on the issue of gender identity.

In the essay, Rowling, who is British, revealed her past experiences with sexual assault and domestic abuse, and expressed concern about transgender activists’ attacks on single-sex spaces for women.

Two regimes are fighting an ideological war in America today. But what side are you on? And how can you sharpen up on how to defend your position? Learn more now >>

As a former teacher and a supporter of children’s charities, Rowling also stated her discomfort with the rush to medically transition children with gender dysphoria and especially the massive increase in young girls suddenly identifying as transgender.

Despite the vitriol she received in response from the left, Rowling refused to back down from her stance.

The comments by Rowling, along with other recent developments in the United Kingdom, show promising signs that the relentless advance of transgender ideology in medicine and public policy finally might be encountering some resistance across the Atlantic.

Britain’s minister for women and equalities, Liz Truss, recently announced plans to ban sex-change procedures for anyone under the age of 18.

Truss told a parliamentary committee April 20: “I believe strongly that adults should have the freedom to lead their lives as they see fit, but I think it’s very important that while people are still developing their decision-making capabilities that we protect them from making those irreversible decisions.”

Transgender activists frequently recommend those medical interventions—which include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery—for children who suffer from gender dysphoria.

Parents of children questioning their biological sex are advised to unquestioningly affirm the child’s new, self-identified gender and help them to transition socially with the help of a new name, pronouns, and wardrobe.

Little attention is paid to the adverse effects of that treatment, however. As Ryan T. Anderson and Robert P. George have written, such interventions “should be prohibited”:

Prudent legislation is needed to prevent adults from interfering with a child’s normal, natural bodily development.

‘Gender affirmation’ procedures violate sound medical ethics. It is profoundly unethical to intervene in the normal physical development of a child as part of ‘affirming’ a ‘gender identity’ at odds with bodily sex.

Activists have frequently brushed off concerns about possible regret following gender transitions, ignoring evidence that shows that they carry a number of physical and psychological risks.

The use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can lead to increased cancer risk, decreased bone density, and adverse effects on brain development. In addition, hormones and surgeries can sterilize children who would normally be considered far too young to make such a serious—and permanent—medical decision.

In contrast, a “watchful waiting” approach allows children time to accept their biological sex instead of rushing to alter it and can help address any underlying issues causing the distress.

Studies show that 80% to 95% of children experiencing gender dysphoria who do not transition eventually come to accept their bodies, while nearly all children who are placed on the path of social transition go on to pursue medical interventions.

The U.K.’s decision to prevent those under 18 from being subjected to those unproven procedures demonstrates the importance of considering the best medical and scientific evidence, even if it contradicts the activists’ narrative.

Britain’s National Health Service recently made another change related to its treatment of gender dysphoria in minors.

The Health Service’s website, which provides information about medical conditions and treatment, includes a section on gender dysphoria in children. A section on the use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues to prevent puberty in children who identify as transgender previously stated, “The effects of treatment with GnRH analogues are considered to be fully reversible, so treatment can usually be stopped at any time.”

That’s a common talking point for transgender activists, often employed to support early transitions while avoiding discussion of detrimental side effects or the lack of medical evidence supporting the use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria.

Surprisingly, that section on the National Health Service website was recently updated to read:

Little is known about the long-term side effects of hormone or puberty blockers in children with gender dysphoria. …

It’s also not known whether hormone blockers affect the development of the teenage brain or children’s bones. Side effects may also include hot flushes, fatigue, and mood alterations.

Rowling noted those concerns in a tweet, writing, “Many health professionals are concerned that young people struggling with their mental health are being shunted towards hormones and surgery when this may not be in their best interests.”

The National Health Service site also notes that the use of cross-sex hormones can lead to irreversible physical changes, such as deepening of the voice in females and breast development in males, as well as permanent infertility.

The changes to its site were made without fanfare, suggesting that the Health Service still fears activists’ outrage against even reasonable medical cautions.

Despite its own update, the Health Service continues to recommend and administer these medical treatments to minors. The Minister for Women and Equalities’ report on banning some of those treatments is not expected until later this summer, and its exact recommendations remain to be seen.

The changes to the Health Service’s website and the minister’s comments provide reason to hope that they will move toward a more cautious approach to treating children with gender dysphoria, protecting vulnerable youth from rushed, ideologically motivated—and often irreversible—interventions.

Policymakers in the United States would be well advised to do the same.

COMMENTARY BY

Andrea Jones

Andrea Jones is a research assistant in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society.

A Note for our Readers:

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

More Than 20 Countries Are Reopening Schools. The US Should Take Note.

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In March, school shutdowns around the globe caused 1.5 billion children to begin schooling from home, representing over 91% of children, UNESCO estimates.

Here in the U.S., conversations about the state of school reopenings have hit a fever pitch as August quickly approaches. Many parents—some 71% in Education Next’s 2020 poll—feel their children learned less this spring than they would have had schools remained open.

As Science magazine reports, over 20 countries reopened schools in June, and some, like Taiwan, Nicaragua, and Sweden, never closed them to begin with. Day cares remained open for essential workers in many countries, and although there are exceptions, outbreaks have generally been rare.

What’s the best way for America to reopen and return to business? The National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, a project of The Heritage Foundation, assembled America’s top thinkers to figure that out. It has made more than 260 recommendations. Learn more here>>>.

Two regimes are fighting an ideological war in America today. But what side are you on? And how can you sharpen up on how to defend your position? Learn more now >>

To be sure, there have been some cases of outbreaks at schools that have reopened. As Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Gretchen Vogel, and Meagan Weiland report in Science, more than 150 students and 25 staff members contracted the virus at a joint middle/high school in Jerusalem, and 96 students and teachers caught the virus at a New Zealand high school before that country’s lockdown went into effect.

Additionally, two day care centers in Canada saw spikes among staff and reclosed.

Overall, however, the data suggest that it is rare for children to develop severe symptoms if they contract the virus, and it is rare for them to spread the virus if they do get it.

That is why many countries, particularly in Europe, have at least partially reopened schools. Here is a sample of what countries around the world are doing when it comes to reopening:

  1. Australia. In the state of New South Wales, schools reopened for in-person classes one day per week in early May, combined with virtual learning the four remaining days. Individual schools were able to decide how to best schedule those classes. On May 25, schools reopened full time.
  2. Austria. Schools have reopened, and masks are no longer required because “officials observed little spread within schools.”
  3. Canada. In Quebec, schools reopened in May and children socialize in groups of six. Science reports that while 53 students and teachers contracted the virus, “officials believed many of those infections were contracted in the community.”
  4. Denmark. Denmark was the first country in Europe to reopen schools, doing so on April 15. Schools in Denmark do as much class time outside as possible, and children are divided into small groups, nicknamed “pods,” of around 12 students.
  5. Finland. Finland reopened schools in May and have retained their standard class size, but have kept classes separated from each other and staggered reopening by age. Finnish officials “found no evidence of school spread and no change in the rate of infection” for students under 16.
  6. France. French schools reopened in mid-May on a voluntary basis. Research out of France suggests that when children do contract the disease, they are contracting it at home, rather than in school. French schools are planning to fully reopen in September.
  7. Germany. In German schools, which reopened in May on a part-time basis, if a student or staff member contracts the virus, “classmates and teachers of an infected student are sent home for two weeks, but other classes continue.”
  8. Israel. Schools fully reopened in May in Israel, and classes are full, but students wear masks. Individual schools close temporarily if a student or staff member contracts the virus.
  9. Japan. Japan began reopening schools in June. Parents must take their children’s temperature every morning and provide a report to the schools. Children attend on alternating days, and teachers and students wear masks.
  10. Netherlands. The Netherlands reopened in May but halved their class sizes. Schools did not require social distancing for students under 12.
  11. Sweden. Schools in Sweden never closed for young children, nor did they make major adjustments to their day-to-day operations or reduce class size. Although Sweden’s death rate is high compared to its European neighbors, Sweden’s chief epidemiologist says “there’s little evidence schools exacerbated the outbreak.”

In countries with high infection rates, like India and Brazil, schools remain closed and local governments will likely determine when schools reopen on a case-by-case basis.

In the U.S., the Trump administration has called on schools to reopen this fall. President Donald Trump suggested last week that schools could lose access to federal funding (which only makes up just 8.5% of all K-12 school revenue) if they do not reopen.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos suggested that rather than withholding federal funds, those dollars should simply follow students to the schools of the family’s choice that are open—a smart policy response.

For their part, the teachers unions and other special-interest groups are demanding hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending to reopen schools. The American Federation of Teachers has demanded Congress spend $116 billion on K-12 school reopening, “close to the amount the U.S. dedicated to the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II,” Corey DeAngelis of Reason Foundation points out.

By framing the conversation as a battle between federal officials and special-interest groups, the debate shifts away from those it impacts the most—local schools and families—as my colleague Jonathan Butcher observes.

Decisions about reopening schools need to be driven by school leaders and parents, and based on local factors.

If public school districts remain closed, do a poor job of transitioning online, or do not meet the needs of families in this COVID-19 era, parents should be able to take their money elsewhere.

States should provide emergency education savings accounts to families to enable them to enroll their children at schools of their choice that are open or are providing quality online instruction.

COMMENTARY BY

Lindsey Burke

Lindsey M. Burke researches and writes on federal and state education issues as the Will Skillman fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation. Read her research. Twitter: .

A Note for our Readers:

These are trying times in our nation’s history. Two regimes are fighting an ideological war in America today, with polar opposite viewpoints on public policy and the government’s role in our lives.

Our friends at The Heritage Foundation asked world-class speaker, educator, and researcher David Azerrad to walk you through his research and outline the differences between the “two regimes” in our society today—conservatism and progressivism—and their primary differences.

When you get access to this course today, you’ll learn key takeaways like what it means to be a conservative, what “modern progressivism” is, how a conservative worldview differs from a progressive one, and much, much more.

You will come away from this online course with a better understanding of the differing points of view, how they align with your principles, and how to defend your beliefs.

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Let’s Take Back Our Kids, Already!

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I realize it is tacky to be an I-told-you-so. But, we conservative activists have been fighting on the front-lines of the culture war for many years warning the masses. WAKE UP AMERICA…leftists are turning our kids into sleeper cells. At the proper time, leftists will unleash our kids to launch a violent no-holds-barred war against their parents, God and country!

Black disciples of socialism disguised as civil rights activists have also been allowed to sow their seeds of anti-American hate in public education for decades. In the 1970’s, I was a student at the prestigious Maryland Institute College of Art via scholarships. The Black Panthers showed up, angrily demanding a platform on campus to protest. College management humbly complied. As a black student, I never understood what I was suppose to be angry at the college about or how the college was abusing me.

Dad was a civil rights pioneer. He pressured me and my four younger siblings to always vote and join the NAACP. Upon attending my first NAACP meeting, I was stunned. They actually joined in a circle, held hands and sang, “We Shall Overcome”. Their rhetoric sounded like I had stepped through a time-warp back to 1950. Leftist institutions of indoctrination are still selling students, black and white, the absurd lie that America has not progressed racially beyond the 1950s.

I wrote about public elementary schools teaching white kids to hate themselves and feel guilty for being born white – about pre-k students being taught to embrace homosexuality and to consider changing their sex. The children’s book, “I Am Jazz” about a boy whose parents insanely began changing his sex at age 3 is read to kindergartners without parental consent and even mandatory in schools’ curriculum.

Pediatricians along with Pope Francis say teaching transgender ideology causes child abuse.

I wrote about a white friend who said her middle school son came home in tears after being taught how cruel his ancestors were to women, blacks and native-Americans. Today, her son is an adult member of the Communist party. She cannot display an American flag for fear of retaliation by her son. I wrote about how when I suggested that a millennial relative visit Mt Rushmore while vacationing in South Dakota, their venomous response was, “I wouldn’t go across the street to visit those guys!”

I wrote about the Dancing Waters at Bellagio Fountain in Vegas doing a breathtakingly beautiful presentation set to Whitney Houston’s spectacular version of our National Anthem. At the end, I expected thunderous cheers and applause. Shockingly, the mostly young audience of thousands responded with a yawn.

I wrote about Michelle Obama telling students to report their parents who make racist statements at the dinner table.

I wrote about the powerful documentary, “Waiting For Superman” which exposed urban black parents’ desperate heartbreaking efforts to get their kids out of violent failing schools into charter/good schools. Democrats’ loyalty to the teacher’s union is keeping black students stuck in bad schools.

I wrote about leftists’ PSA telling kids to steal their parent’s guns and turn them over to their teachers.

I caught holy-hell for writing about LGBTQ activists infiltrating the Boy Scouts of America. Once inside, LGBTQ activists insisted that “morally straight’ be removed from the oath. They also changed the name. The historic heroic Christian organization has been destroyed.

I wrote about how Planned Parenthood which was founded by a racist, targets black babies while illegally selling the body parts for profit. I wrote about public schools recruiting students for Islam while banning Bibles and Christian clubs. I wrote about schools assisting students with sex-change surgery and abortions without parental knowledge or consent.

I was told, “Lloyd do not put your divisive articles on my Facbook page.” Everyone was wimpish, content with being politically correct, keeping their heads buried into the sand.

Then, along came the perfect political storm of covid-fear and the unfortunate death of George Floyd. Leftists commanded their sleeper cells, “GO! GO! GO!” Seek, kill and destroy all things American and Christian!”

As my late momma would say, “No sense crying over spilled milk. What’s done is done.” Due to passively allowing counter-culture old hippies to control public education, we have a lost generation infected with severe anti-Americanism and anti-Christianity. The question is how do we take back our kids?

President Trump made a major step in the right direction with this tweets:

“Too many Universities and School Systems are about Radical Left Indoctrination, not Education. Therefore, I am telling the Treasury Department to re-examine their Tax-Exempt Status and/or Funding, which will be taken away if this Propaganda or Act Against Public Policy continues. Our children must be Educated, not Indoctrinated!”

I say, “Right on bro!!!” (a little 1970s lingo)

Leftists have aggressively sought to criminalize homeschooling.

Ironically, in forcing an unnecessary covid lock-down, leftists have forced parents to home-school.

A refreshing exchange at Walmart. I spotted a white twenty-something year old wearing a MAGA cap. “Excuse me sir, why do you support Trump?” The young man replied, “He’s honest. He always tells the truth.” I asked, “What do you think about the Marxist war taking place in our streets?” He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Oh well, that’s their opinion.”

I said, “If only anarchists had the same tolerance for various opinions.”

The good news is the Marxist war against America unfolding in our streets has awaken millions to how public education has transformed our kids into an army of leftist walking brain-dead zombies.

Finally, parents are saying, “We must take back our kids.”

Cancel Culture is Coward Culture

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Randall Smith to college students: Want your diploma handed to you without effort or mastery on your part? Go somewhere else. You’re not tough enough for the real world. 

The disgruntled, like the poor, we will always have with us. Grumbling is not just something God’s people do in the wilderness. It has been a common feature of human life ever since Eve asked, “But why can’t we eat the apple?” and ever since Adam told God: “Yeah, sure, all the animals are great, but I’m still lonely.”

There will always be people who will complain. There have been bullies ever since Cain beat the life out of his brother Abel. What we have not always had in such large numbers are quite so many cowards who refuse to stand up to such people.

A friend and I have a joke about the phrase, “Is it too much to ask. . .?” Whenever you preface something with this phrase, it is understood that it is too much to ask, but shouldn’t be. If you say, “Is it too much to ask that the waiter would get my order right?” it’s because he didn’t.

So here’s my question. Is it too much to ask that corporate CEOs and university administrators, who get one of these increasingly ubiquitous, self-righteous “virtue-signaling” complaints about something or someone, would simply brace up and say: “No, I’m sorry; I’m not giving in to your emotional blackmail. Take it somewhere else”?

The answer to that question would appear to be the same as the answer to the question: Is it too much to ask that politicians would actually be consistent in applying moral indignation?

Would that some university president somewhere in one of these dust-ups would simply release a statement that says:

I am sorry you are offended, but one of our fundamental principles is freedom of speech. We respect your right to protest and complain, but the same right that protects you also protects them. We will not shut down the free exchange of ideas. If you want to shut down the free exchange of ideas, then you want another institution – probably another country. Did you mistake this for East Germany circa the 1950s perhaps? So you can gather all the mobs you want, either on-line or out in front of our offices, but we’re not giving in to the demands of an irrational mob. Come and make your case with solid arguments. We promise to listen respectfully. But please understand: our policy is “Everyone has a voice; no one has a veto.” If you make a good case, we just might change our practices. But if you come with nothing but vilification and threats of violence, we will simply shut the door and go about our business. Oh, and please don’t misunderstand: we will defend the property and heritage handed down to us by our forebears. So if you come here to tear down and destroy and not to discuss, we will have you arrested. If you assume our will to defend what has been built here is weaker than your will to destroy it, you would be making a very big mistake.

A female friend writes to say that, “The first thing any university could do that wishes to survive is to quit tossing the word ‘leadership’ around without ever exercising any. Civilized people do not practice cancel culture, and Christians certainly should not. When the mob tried to cancel the woman caught in adultery, Jesus was the woman’s strong defense.”

“Leaders,” she continues, “do not throw good people under the bus for trivial matters.” Leaders lead, they don’t just “manage.” They help form diverse groups of people into a community. They do not press the “eject” button on someone the moment the mob arrives at the door. Offering to throw his daughter to the mob at his door did not work for Lot, and it will not work for any of today’s cowardly lions either.

No one can guarantee success in the current educational market. But it would be nice if at least one university marketed itself as the place to study if you are brave and have the guts to test your ideas against the best minds of all time. You can disagree. You can disagree vigorously. We welcome it. But you better be ready with some tough, well thought-out arguments. If you want “safe,” then stay at home and live in your parents’ basement.

Do you want your diploma handed to you without much effort or mastery on your part? Go somewhere else. You’re not tough enough for us. Here you are going to work for it. It will be intense. But at the end of four years, you will have developed relationships that will last a lifetime, and you will have learned to be mature and resilient in a way that none of your peers from any other institution can touch. They will be shouting and throwing tantrums. You will be talking seriously with others who disagree with you, thinking through problems, and building together with them.

We don’t mollycoddle people who want to be “managers”; we form servant leaders. And here’s how you can tell. We do not just slavishly follow whatever fad others in the academic world happen to be running after. We do not trim out sails to the prevailing winds. We have principles. They guide us. We don’t sell them out. We are willing to question them and analyze them and subject them to serious critique. But we don’t spout empty slogans that have no meaning.

We adhere to these principles as faithfully as we can because we believe they are the best means to human flourishing, both as individuals and as a community. You don’t have to like them; we need not like your principles either. But we do have to learn to live together in peace. If you want us to bow to your idols, I’m sorry, but the answer is no. So it’s probably best to be clear on that right up front.

Now that’s the appeal I want to hear. I mean, is that too much to ask?

COLUMN BY

Randall Smith

Randall B. Smith is a tenured Full Professor of Theology. His book Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas: A Guidebook for Beginners is available from Emmaus Press. And his book Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the Scholastic Culture at Paris: Preaching, Prologues, and Biblical Commentary is due out from Cambridge University Press in the fall.

EDITORS NOTE: This Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. © 2020 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

EXPOSED: How the Sunrise Movement is Indoctrinating our Youth in Public Schools

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Millennial Millie posted the below YouTube video and comments.

On the surface, the Sunrise Movement is group of peaceful young activists fighting for a “Green New Deal”. On a deeper level, they are a gateway to radicalization teaching young activists how to exploit tragedy, including one’s own victimization, for political gain.

J.K. Rowling and the Cursed Woman

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Breaking the transgender spell has cost the author a lot.

Did she impose the Unforgivable Curses? Did she condemn anyone to Azkaban? No; she claimed that a woman should not have forfeited her job for maintaining that men and women are different. And she followed that up by arguing that in fact they are different.

The position J.K. Rowling defended was one which, a few years ago, nearly everyone would have agreed with. In fact, I believe that today also nearly everyone would agree. But a violent and vocal minority not only believe otherwise but viciously attack anyone who disagrees with them. Ms Rowling has been the target of vicious verbal attacks and has even received death threats.

It is sad to see the three principal actors in the Harry Potter stories criticising the author without whom they would not be millionaires. Harry, Hermione and Ron would be ashamed of them.

It is an evident biological and psychological fact that men and women are different; a matter of science and of common sense: they complement each other. This is so obvious that no reasoned case can be made against it: which is why those who oppose it must resort to blind emotion and even physical threats.

Rowling’s statement in defence of her position is moderate and reasonable, yet it has provoked outrage. But the critics have not answered her arguments. Why? Because they can’t.

Through her personal experience and her study of the issues involved she has become deeply concerned about the detrimental effects the trans rights movement is having, and its push to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender.

She points out that there is an explosion of young women wishing to transition, and increasing numbers are taking steps that have permanently altered their bodies and taken away their fertility. In those transitioning “autistic girls are hugely over represented in the numbers”.

Rowling refers to researcher Lisa Littman, who wrote a paper expressing concern about Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, and who “…had dared challenge one of the central tenets of trans activism, which is that a person’s gender identity is innate, like sexual orientation. Nobody, the activists insisted, could ever be persuaded into being trans”.

Littman was “subjected to a tsunami of abuse and a concerted campaign to discredit both her and her work”.

Rowling shows great sympathy for young people who want to transition, partly because of her own experience when young. She suffered severely with OCD, and her father said openly that he would have preferred a son. Had she been born 30 years later she might have tried to transition. “The lure of escaping womanhood would have been huge.”

Noting that we are living through the most misogynistic period she had experienced, she points out that it’s not considered enough for women to be trans allies. “Women must accept and admit that there is no material difference between trans women and themselves.”

That statement expresses the essence of the problem: women are expected to annihilate themselves. Instead of there being two complementary ways of being human, male and female, the trans activists would blur the distinctions and cancel out the distinct qualities of each sex.

This program has dire consequences for both men and women, but holds special dangers for women, as in the insistence that biological men (there’s really no other kind!) be free to use women’s bathrooms and showers.

As Rowling observes: “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he is a woman – and as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones –then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside”

It should really be no surprise that Rowling takes the stand that she does, for it is in accord with the healthy outlook on human nature implicit in the Harry Potter stories. Women there are portrayed as equal to men, but expressing their humanity in a feminine way. Large families are implicitly defended, as in the Weasley family: seven children with a loving father and mother: a rather poor family but happy.

And when Harry and Ron become romantically interested in girls, it is a healthy attraction.

An underlying theme is the power of a mother’s love, exemplified by Harry’s mother sacrificing her life to save him from the evil Lord Voldemort.

In fact, the theme of a mother’s unique love for her children is manifested when Molly Weasley hurls herself into battle against the formidable Bellatrix Lestrange, in order to defend her daughter Ginny. It is shown too when Narcissa Malfoy, in gratitude to Harry for telling her that her son is alive, lies to Voldemort, thereby risking her own life.

The Potter stories show a contrast between a healthy world and the world of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. And in this vendetta against Joanne Rowling we see something of a parallel. She defends a healthy view of Woman against a sick view that implicitly annihilates Woman.

J.K Rowling deserves support for her courageous stand. And it is good to read in her letter that the overwhelming majority of responses she received were positive, grateful, and supportive.

Professor Dumbledore warned the students at Hogwarts that a time may come “when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, chapter 37) It is all too easy right now to buckle to a fashionable trend, against all reason.

COLUMN BY

John Young

John Young is a Melbourne based writer on theological, philosophical and social Issues. He is author of several hundred articles and three books: The Natural Economy, Catholic Thinking, and The Scope of… More by John Young

EDITORS NOTE: This MercatorNet column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Supreme Court Hands Huge Victory to Families on School Choice

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In a 5-4 decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court held that families have a right to seek the best educational opportunities for their children, by preventing states from blocking the participation of religiously affiliated schools in state school choice programs.

In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the court ruled that the application of a “no-aid” provision in Montana’s Constitution violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, since it barred state tax credit scholarships from being used at private religious schools.

In a huge win for families, the high court held that states cannot apply the no-aid provision to discriminate against religious schools by excluding them from private school choice programs.

In 2002, the court’s ruling in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris held that the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution did not block parents from choosing schools that are the best fit for their children, including religious schools.

In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>

Tuesday’s decision in Espinoza removed the largest state constitutional obstacle by holding that so-called Blaine Amendments cannot be used to deny choice to parents.

Under the U.S. Constitution, states no longer may prevent parents from choosing religious schools if they are participating in a school choice program.

“A state need not subsidize private education. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools simply because they are religious,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion of the court in Espinoza.

This decision struck a blow to the notoriously anti-Catholic Blaine Amendment in Montana’s Constitution that sanctioned explicit discrimination against religious schools in funding. Montana’s discrimination hurt families who have a wide variety of values and preferences when it comes to their children’s education.

As the Supreme Court had previously noted, Blaine Amendments have an “ignoble” history. The amendments are named after Sen. James G. Blaine of Maine, who in 1875 sought a federal constitutional prohibition of aid to “sectarian” schools.

“Consideration of the amendment arose at a time of pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church and to Catholics in general, and it was an open secret that sectarian was code for Catholic,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the court’s Mitchell v. Helms decision in 2000.

As Jarrett Stepman and one of us, Lindsey Burke, wrote previously in the Journal of School Choice:

Catholics sought to establish their own schools, and proposed that funding should follow, as it had to the common school (proto-public schools).

Supporters of the common school movement perceived a threat to its mission in such proposals. … Against this backdrop, Blaine [Amendments] sought to prevent aid to Catholic schooling as part of a wider reaction to increased Catholic immigration.

Blaine’s effort to amend the U.S. Constitution failed in 1875, but his effort still served as a major impediment to school choice, continuing to thwart modern-day school choice programs in the 21st century.

That’s because 37 states went on to adopt similar amendments, sometimes referred to as “baby Blaine Amendments.” Prior to today’s ruling, in states such as Montana, many of these state Blaine Amendments and similar “compelled support” clauses restricted or outright prohibited the use of taxpayer funds at private religious schools.

This timeline shows when states adopted Blaine Amendments and similar “compelled support” clauses.

The Supreme Court made it clear Tuesday that the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution prohibits discrimination against religious schools on the basis of their religious status—a status that provides families with more education options that best meet the needs of their children.

The high court said that if states create a publicly available benefit, such as a scholarship program, they must allow religious schools to participate. The states that have Blaine Amendments in place are now prohibited from excluding religious school options.

In Mitchell v. Helms, Thomas wrote of Blaine Amendments: “This doctrine, born of bigotry, should be buried now.” On Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s decision in Espinoza took us one step closer to achieving that goal.

Now is the time for states to cast aside these 19th-century rules rooted in prejudice that unfairly punish religious families, students, and schools. The Constitution requires states to provide a level playing field for religious and secular education.

The legal impediment to school choice programs is now gone, and it’s up to state legislatures to move forward advancing education choice.

The court made it clear that policymakers across the country now have the power to enact robust school choice programs. They should do just that.

COMMENTARY BY

Lindsey Burke

Lindsey M. Burke researches and writes on federal and state education issues as the Will Skillman fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation. Read her research. Twitter: .

Emilie Kao

Emilie Kao is director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation. Twitter: .

A Note for our Readers:

This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.

The Heritage Foundation has compiled input from more than 100 constitutional scholars and legal experts into the country’s most thorough and compelling review of the freedoms promised to us within the United States Constitution into a free digital guide called Heritage’s Guide to the Constitution.

They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Christianity/Judaism is our Foe … Word manipulation is Control

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“Christianity is our foe. If animal rights are to succeed, we must destroy the Judeo-Christian Religious tradition.” – Peter Singer, founder of Animal Rights.

“Childbearing should be a punishable crime against society, unless the parents hold a government license. All potential parents should be required to use contraceptive chemicals, the government issuing antidotes to citizens chosen for childbearing.”  – David Brower, first Executive Director of the Sierra Club

And you thought the Environmental movement was about the environment. Today nothing is as it seems.  How do you control millions of people? You lie to them.  The purpose of the Environmental movement:  MONEY, POWER, CONTROL

Remember Michelle Obama and her famous statement about changing history?  The altering of history enhances dumbing of the people by infusing meaningless values prompted by emotional trigger words rather than facts.  Values not facts are now promoted in school.  Facts are truths which give people the security of knowing where you are like being home with a warm fuzzy feeling you can always count on.  Facts ground you because wherever you are, facts never change and will bring you home.  You can always count on facts to be the same for everyone. People can communicate on facts alone. Facts when known, bind individuals together.  Facts are the fastest way to unite people because they are the same for everyone. People knowing the same fact can organize quickly and come together efficiently.  To conquer people, facts must be destroyed. Once values, which are ever changing opinions, replace facts, individuals become confused and are easily led and often become part of a gang, crowd or mob for security.  This is called identity politics aka division.  People are identified and divided by things over which they have no control like Race or Gender.

By calling division “DIVERSITY”, participants think they are allowed individual opinion when in reality all groups must think the same.

By using identity politics, one group becomes the haves while all in opposition are destroyed economically or by violence.    School programs like: School to Work, NCLB, CCS eliminate facts and indoctrinate value driven emotion by training individuals what to think not HOW TO THINK. Once you conquer someone’s emotion you can control them. The school curricula focus on emotions to control the mind.

Emotion creates a trigger which when used subliminally elicits required responses like flash mobs, demonstrations and other events often used to divide people. America is divided through emotional triggers like:  race, global warming, religion, then back to race. Divided people can easily be conquered as social justice dictates which group will receive favors or grants for believing while other groups are demonized and blamed.  The Haves vs Have Not’s arguing, monopolizes the media, diverting attention from real issues.  The end result is loss of Freedom, Family, God and America.

“We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans..” Bill Clinton USA Today–3-11-93, page 2a.  Why Bill, what are you afraid of? Or Nancy?

The easiest way to change the belief system of American individuals through lies and deception is through Outcome Based Education (OBE) replacing Competency Based Education (Carnegie – 8 Year Study 1933-1981.)  When the outcome is predetermined, no skill, common sense, logic or reason is necessary to complete the task. , All you do is follow someone else’s value to arrive at the required conclusion.  Jeannie Georges in her book Outcome Based Education and Higher Thinking Skills found, the motive and the process are worse than the outcome.  Outcome Based Education requires:

  • Cleanse the Slate – eliminate history
  • Dumb them Down – Omit factual education and replace with values
  • Modify the Behavior – Stimulus response – Skinner Pavlov animal training
  • Confuse Values – no right and wrong, no consequences for actions, gender manipulation
  • Assess , Remediate, Reassess –  make sure they are trained

The New World Order Globalist Mafia (aka Global Mafia) believes dumb people require less resources from their government enabling the Global Mafia to maximize profit for themselves. They dreamed up SUSTAINABILITY and tell the masses, “You must do more for less to save the planet.”  If they don’t want people mobile, they demonize gas and the auto blaming them for any environmental change.  Surprise, the sheeple will comply.  Example; bike paths and walkways that interfere with business. .

OBE education fits the bill.   OBE uses word manipulation. Word manipulation is one of the most favored techniques used to divide people. By using the same word with multiple meanings, groups can not have conversations since both believe in their one definition of the word.   Example, the Global Mafia does not want competition so the Global Mafia indoctrinates Human Capital to believe making a profit is bad because others don’t have the same as you.  The Global Mafia will just have to take some of yours … more taxes, more regulation, nationalize this…to level the playing field and make it “fair” for everyone.  The Global Mafia never shares their stash, only yours.  The Global Mafia believes: What is theirs is theirs and what is yours is also theirs. Profit is bad for you good for them.

Let’s see how word manipulation works with candidates using the constitution. Question: Do you believe in the constitution?

When vetting our potential legislators we often ask – Do you believe the Constitution as the supreme law of the land? 

When the answer is yes, we rejoice, donate and vote.  Those of us who do not understand word manipulation, never ask the second question – Do you believe that the Constitution is living breathing flexible – or bed rock solid, the same for all Americans?  The Global Mafia taught their followers to choose #1.  The Global Mafia includes attorneys who manipulate Constitutional laws into case law to favor special interest lobbyists.  This new law divides and conquers the people as they protect believers and quite non believers.  All the while the populace is tricked into believing they are selecting a constitutional candidate. The constitution to the Right stands for FREEDOM.  To the Left the Constitution means Slavery.  Unless you define the word Constitution before you talk, you will wind up in a fight.

If you are unsure of your legislator, Google: Aspen Institute and your legislator’s name.  The Aspen Institute is a Global Mafia think tank supported and funded by the Islamists and Global Mafia, including Soros, Gates, Saudis, American Taxpayer and the usual suspects.  Our legislators go to the Aspen Institute to be trained into globalization – the elimination of America. Would you be surprised to learn Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan and Debbie Wasserman Shultz are graduates? As a result of this training, there is no right and left, no Democrats or Republicans.  All progressives are in the same Global Mafia and filter through the RNC and DNC.  Democrats are taught to have no responsibility, love big government and let government handle every aspect of their lives. The Global Mafia can then own everything while leaving crumbs for the common folk.  This type of government is communism.  Republicans who learn Fabian economics based on maximizing debt and public private partnerships are fascists.  Together they are members of the Global Mafia Club/Progressives in both the RNC and DNC sitting in Congress and the administration.  Just listen to those who want open borders and the demise of America.  “In orders to save the planet, we must destroy capitalism,”  Maurice Strong, UN Environmental Programme.   Maurice made his money in OIL while he demonized oil.  No competition is allowed in a communist society.

Those who know history remember from the decline of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic that Communists learned quickly a funding source must be integrated into their communist plan or globalism can not succeed because the people who have given everything up, can no longer fund the give away projects promoted by the Left.  Wall Street joined with the Government on a crash course to “relieve” the American middle class of all equity.  The 2008 crash was designed to take the money, businesses through regulations and land through foreclosure, of the middle class in order to complete a wipe out using the manipulated word of “fairness.” Blocks were bought by Hedge Funds for pennies on the dollar.  They threw the owners out instead of making a deal.  The stimulus money Obama gave to the banks would have paid every mortgage in the US. Instead the Hedge Funds tore down and rebuilt SINGLE FAMILY HOMES into multi-use buildings with work on the first few floors while you live upstairs.  No car necessary to go to work. These complexes aka sustainable developments were empty for a long time until illegal immigration.. Homeless Americans live on the streets and in cars while illegals get a handout and an apartment.  Yet no one can figure out why our cities declined. Drugs and “mental illness” are the result of these criminal policies not the cause.  Follow the money.

People who rely on the government for handouts or freebies suffer from lack of confidence and lack of pride.  Word manipulation trains them to be satisfied, mediocre people with nothing to be proud of.  Rather than elevate the people to ownership, the Global Mafia tells them that pride is evil.  Proud people will rise up when something is worth protecting. When you have nothing to protect, there is nothing to be proud of. Schools now run by the Global Mafia indoctrinate pride is bad, Human Capital having massive debt is fine.  They never say that people with massive debt will never be able to own anything (the true goal of the Global Mafia). The same people who brought us the failed NCLB and Common Core are now promoting a Work Force Program.  Training IS NOT education.

Americans talking and acting together are the worst thing that can happen to The Global Mafia.  Why?  Simple: There are more of us than them.  The Global Mafia is very small. The Global Mafia is afraid of our large numbers and what will happen once we find out their game plan. Therefore, to beat anything, it is imperative that we communicate and become individuals not just members of a group. It is imperative we choose real people for office not those selected by the Global Mafia in the Democratic and Republican party. Ask the second question.

Then the biggest challenge:  We must stop talking to each other (preaching to the choir) and start working with the low information voters.

Why? They are unhappy and lack leadership.  70-80% are unhappy and don’t know what to do.

How? You must become a caring American individual and interact.  The simplest solution is always the best solution…

Solution for Action:

Goal:  Communication with low information voters.

Method: Let’s use their strategy.  Never let a crisis go to waste.

Find a crisis.  Pick something simple, non political like …

We have a crisis in America.  Americans are not being taught cursive writing in school. Talk about anything education Not Political.

Why is cursive important?

  1. Cursive helps eye hand coordination in young children and reinforces left brain/right brain connections.
  2. Your signature can never be duplicated. It is yours alone. To the Global Mafia People, the collective, are only bodies to work, not people able to make choices. They do not need a signature, individualism doesn’t count.  Print, make an X, no pride necessary.
  3. Most old historical documents, American, religious and family are in cursive. Imagine how the Constitution and Bill of Rights will change when no one can read it.

“People who can not read are slaves forever.” Fredrick Douglass, slave who became an advisor to Pres Lincoln (R).

Action: Can your group or you, individually, go to a local group or church and offer to teach cursive.  Together you can make a plan to bring cursive back to school by going to school board meetings. Doing things together bring respect and trust and will break barriers used to stereotype a group. Imagine the great conversations you all can have when you begin to talk and gain trust and respect.   You will break the racist barrier. You will find you have a lot in common.

This simple task will bring people together on an individual level. Individuals can gain trust of each other and will actually begin conversations.  Imagine if the last cursive activity was to read the original constitution.  While reading you get a chance to explain its value. When people learn liberty, freedom and the pursuit of happiness, they will step up with pride and protect America.  Only unity will make that happen.  United we stand, divided we fail.

I will not comply.

Will you?

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Democrats Exposed as the Racists They’ve Always Been

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They say that out of every bad thing comes a good thing. Ask any mother who has been through a 20-hour labor!

The same can be said of the criminal behavior of the Marxist-inspired radicals––Antifa and Black Lives Matters––which eclipsed the legitimate outrage that followed the horrific murder of George Floyd by a white policeman, Derek Chauvin, in Minneapolis, MN.

This crime called for reform of the Minneapolis Police Department, which had ignored 18 grievances against Chauvin. But that is not what happened.

Instead, the peaceful protests against this savage act were obliterated by the professionally orchestrated, bountifully financed rampage of the above-mentioned anarchists-cum-terrorists through American cities and suburbs, leaving a massive swath of destruction that included dozens of black-owned businesses and dozens of white-owned businesses that employed black citizens. So much for Black Lives Matter!

What a beautiful tribute to George Floyd––God spare all of us such a memoriam!

A SHAMEFUL EXPOSÉ

However, the good that came out of this disgraceful, destructive, criminal behavior was the willingness of many black conservative commentators and writers to tell the American public what Democrats and their leftist media lackeys have been concealing from the public for decades.

  1. Since the 1960s, the welfare system rewarded single black mothers with lifetime financial support which resulted in every generation for the last 60 years with fatherless homes–in short, the destruction of the black family. When the mothers worked outside the home to make ends meet, their children were left to the streets to admire the rich pimps, drug pushers and other criminals who became their role models….a doomsday scenario for every child.
  2. Public schools run by Democrat-controlled unions and benefits-infatuated teachers and administrators allowed generations of illiterate students to “graduate” without the knowledge or skills necessary to be productive members of society. Just mention the name Eva Moskowitz to any leftist and you will be assaulted with vile language and the deep hatred Democrats feel toward the woman who runs upward of 25 Charter Schools in New York City, schools attended by children from black ghettos who pass the Regents with flying colors, score high marks on the SATs, graduate from high school and go on to top-flight colleges (without the “benefit” of Affirmative Action). This is tragically unlike the children who attend public schools and go on to survive either through lives of crime or welfare dependency.
  3. The result: a disproportionate number of blacks––mostly men––in prison, representing a complete waste of potentially vibrant and contributory lives.
  4. And the women? Most Planned Parenthood facilities are located in minority neighborhoods… on purpose! In fact, 25 percent of abortions performed each year are on black women. The founder of these baby-destroying factories, Margaret Sanger, as John Nolte reports, was an impassioned eugenicist  who spoke before Ku Klux Klan groups. On December 10, 1939, in a letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble of the Eugenics Society––in the context of discussing the Negro Project, which she developed in concert with white birth-control reformers––Sanger wrote: “We do not want word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population…” The Planned Parenthood Federation of America aborted 345,672 babies during the 2018 fiscal year, which equals approximately 86,500 dead black babies. So much for Black Lives Matter!
  5. Democrats conceived of and implemented Sanctuary Cities which flout federal immigration law in protecting illegal aliens from deportation and prosecution. These laws go further in providing cradle-to-grave benefits like taxpayer-funded free food, free housing, free medical care, free schooling, and of course welfare payments. The result, of course, is that the states who subscribe to this communist philosophy are both crime-ridden and bankrupt. The cost is in the multibillions of dollars, which could and should have been spent on better schools, jobs and living conditions for black citizens, but never is and never was. So much for Black Lives Matter!

John Nolte asks what the following cities have in common:

Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Fayetteville, Atlanta, New York, Nashville, Seattle, Portland, Philadelphia,  Chicago, Milwaukee, Salt Lake, Washington DC, Detroit, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Kansas City, Houston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, Tampa, Baltimore, Oakland, Louisville…

  1. They’re all run by Democrats, many for generations.
  2. They’ve all been looted and burned by left-wing Antifa terrorists and other Marxist groups over the past few weeks.
  3. These riots are wholly owned, supported, indeed applauded by the Democrat Party.

Here is but one example:

Make no mistake: all of the above actions were taken with one overriding goal in mind: to accumulate votes for Democrat candidates. The strategy was obviously to keep minority populations dumb and dependent, the better to convince them that hope for a better future lay right around the corner.

If you go to horrible schools, you’re not going to keep up on politics and you are going to listen to sermon-spouting “reverends”––like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and Jeremiah Wright, et al––who tell you what to think and who to vote for, while they are making millions and their gullible acolytes are barely getting by. So much for Black Lives Matter!

TO THE RESCUE

But now that President Trump enacted the unprecedented prison-reform First Step Act, and created an economy in which black people have enjoyed the highest employment rate in American history––money in their pockets, unlimited opportunity, increased awareness of the slave mentality of the Democrats––which political party will this minority population vote for?

As I said, good comes out of bad. A black vote of 20 percent, and quite possibly 30 percent for President Trump, will teach the Democrats that even their most cherished “value”––abortion––is not enough to keep the black population loyal to their historically empty promises and innate racism.

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