Do you know who said the following?
“It’s time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers.”
Many will recognize it as having come from a speech by Ronald Reagan who became our 40th President. But did you know he said it decades before he became President? He said it fifty-six years ago in 1964. A lot has happened since his speech and our freedoms are at even greater risk.
It seems our founding documents and the lives of the founders of our nation are primarily the subject of ridicule in public universities. There is an effort to deemphasize the documents and their history in public education.
Did you know in 2014 the Arkansas State Board of Education had so little regard for the founding documents of our nation that it adopted education standards for public schools relegating the study of that period of our nation’s history to elementary school grades 1 through 5 and eliminating the requirement to study our founding documents and history in grades 6 through 12. The Board’s destructive policy would be the rule for our children’s education (or lack thereof) if it had not been for Arkansas Senator Linda Collins along with several cosponsors passing Act 1284 of 2015 to stop the policy the Board had already passed.
Arkansas is a fairly conservative state yet the State Board of Education thought only little children needed to know about our nation’s most important documents. Makes you wonder what is happening in more liberal states.
Our younger generations need to know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers because radicals and anarchists are trying to convince them that everything about this country is bad.
In recent months counties have been urged to pass a Bill of Rights Ordinance that would promise not to enforce laws passed in violation of our rights listed in the United States Constitution. There has been only a little success in this effort. Opponents say it is not the business of counties to defend the constitution and say instead counties have a statutory duty to follow all of the state laws. These opponents ignore the fact that each county officials has a duty to defend the constitution and has promised to support the Constitution.
It is not just county officials who have a duty to defend the Constitution. It applies to both state and local officials. Officials must take an oath of office and must promise to SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION. The oath is required by Article 19 § 20 of the Arkansas Constitution.
§ 20. Oath of office.
Senators and Representatives, and all judicial and executive, State and county officers, and all other officers, both civil and military, before entering on the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe to the following oath of affirmation: “I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Arkansas, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of , upon which I am now about to enter.”
Every week we hear about governors and mayors issuing orders that are now being challenged for trampling our fundamental rights. This makes us wonder how many public officials repeat the words of the oath just as a formality without knowing or caring what it means or how many think to themselves, “I know better what to do than the founding fathers.”
Our elected officials owe us a duty to know and understand our freedoms before they start passing laws, ordinances, and executive orders diminishing our guaranteed freedoms! Do your elected officials still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers?
This is not just about what teachers, professors, and politicians do, it is also about what you do.
If you are a bit foggy on the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers, it is easy to start refreshing your memory. Just by clicking these links you can read our nation’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States. Start by reading the Bill of Rights which is the first ten amendments to the Constitution. If you are a visual learner there are plenty of videos on YouTube that list the Bill of Rights or give an overview of these documents.
(Some videos and materials you see may push the idea that the Constitution no longer means what it says and claim it must be adapted to current society. We do not buy that argument, but you be the judge.)
Do you still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers?
