Camp Constitution’s Third Quarter Report for 2022
Camp Constitution in the News:
On May 2, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of our Christian flag lawsuit https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1800_7lho.pdf and, on August 3, we finally raised the Christian flag on Boston’s City Hall Plaza. In the past nine months, we received hundreds of articles, interviews, and editorials from major daily newspapers like Washington Post and New York Times and networks like ABC, NBC, Fox News and Newsmax. The decision continues to have an impact as towns and cities around the country either ban the flying of all third-party flags or allow the Christian flag to fly.
YouTube and Rumble Channels:
We are receiving an average of 4,000 views per month on our YouTube channel. We have close to 7,000 subscribers. Since we started our channel in 2010, we have received 1.5 million views. Our Rumble channel continues as we received 6,000 views this year. A link to our Rumble Channel: https://rumble.com/account/content?type=all
The Sam Blumenfeld Archive:
566,114 views, 11,444 downloads of “Alpha-Phonics” 6,786 downloads of the “Alpha-Phonics” instructional manual. I think our late friend and mentor would be gratified to know that the homeschool movement is flourishing, and that hundreds of thousands of people are using his “Alpha-Phonics.” If you are not a member of the Blumenfeld Archives, please sign up and share his vital work. Membership is free: https://campconstitution.net/sam-blumenfeld-archive/
Camp Constitution Radio on Podomatic:
We are still in the top ten most days for the conservative category with 5358 downloads of shows and 891 hundred plays. Guests over the last three months include Tamara Scott, who hosts a show on Mike Lindell TV, homeschool author Cathy Duffy, Scott Newman of the Christian Flag Project, and best-selling author Vince Ellison.
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal
The show also airs on numerous platforms including Amazon, Google, Spotify. Apple, and Podbean.
Speaker’s Bureau:
We had over fifty engagements that we either hosted or were invited by other groups which included a speaking engagement at the Young Women for America’s convention in D.C, and a Constitution Day Celebration at Northpoint Bible College in Haverhill, MA, and after five years, a Christian Flag Raising Ceremony in Boston, MA, and a Christian Flag Raising in Revere, MA
Camp Constitution’s Website:
The media coverage has generated much traffic to our website. We received over 53,000 views and posted 130 blogs. We added “The Constitutional Minute” written by author Bob Hiliard. https://www.campconstitution.net
Camp Constitution Book Sales:
We have raised over $3000, from our book sales from Facebook, Amazon, and our on-line shop https://campconstitution.net/shop/
Article V Convention:
In September, Tamara Scott who hosts a show on Frank Speech interviewed us on the subject of an Article V Convention. We continue to work with national groups which oppose an Article V Convention sharing information and forwarding E-mail alerts. While the supporters of an Article V Convention did add a few new states, we had one state, Illinois rescind its Article V applications. and some key states voted against Article V resolutions.
Camp Constitution Press:
We have found a volunteer to help transcript the text in the pictures of the letters between Margaret Sanger and Dr. Clarence Gamble and hope to have a book ready by the end of the year. Numerous people have suggested that we author a book on our flag case. We are in the initial stages of the book.
Mass HOPE Home School Convention:
For the first time since the unconstitutional Wuhan Virus lockdowns, we attended a homeschool convention. We have hosted an information table at the Massachusetts HOPE Homeschool Convention since 2011. While this year’s convention, held for the first time in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, had 50 percent fewer vendors, it was our most productive homeschool show we ever attended. A special thanks to Rev. Steve and Mrs. Edith Craft, and Alan Belanger.
Catching Fire News:
We have twenty-four shows in our archives. Our recent guest include homeschool author Cathy Duffy https://cathyduffyreviews.com/ and Tamara Scott http://tamarascott.com/?page_id=36
Please sign up with Catching Fire News. Membership is free: https://catchingfire.news/
Social Media:
We continue to enjoy steady growth on our Facebook page with over 3,000 followers. We also have a presence on MeWe, Gab, and Webtalk.
Special Events:
We had floats in two parades this year: Boston’s Saint Patrick/Evacuation Day Parade and Alton, NH’s Old Home Week Parade where our float won first place. We held three “Camp Constitution For A Day” events in Maine and we participated in a Christian flag raising event in Revere, MA. Gina Castielle, the organizer of the event told us that we motivated her to hold the event. In May, we held a clean-up on our two miles of highway on Rr 28 in Alton, NH.
Camp Constitution Ladies Group
Camp Constitution ladies hosting their second annual ‘Spring Fling” in late April at the Singing Hills Christian Camp. Guest speaker was Mrs. Kathi Lear. We are awaiting the dates for the 2023 Spring Fling.
(Mrs. Edith Craft firing a .22 rifle)
Camp Constitution’s 14th Annual Family Camp:
Another successful annual family camp. Like last year, we had a full house. A link to videos of classes and activities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GewYmAJX0Q8&list=PL7jnzBzBiNYD50pgoewisvDlj2fGxcIb3
Family Weekend Retreat:
We held our first weekend retreat at Camp Sentinel in Tuftonboro, NH. While our numbers were modest-thirty-five, it was a success. We were pleased to have a number of families new to Camp Constitution including a family from Florida. Next year’s weekend camp will run from Friday September 29 to October 1.
Our 15th Annual Family Camp:
We are taking applications for our 15th annual family camp to be held at the Singing Hill Christian Conference Center from Sunday July 16 to Friday July 21, 2023. A link to the on-line application https://campconstitution.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2023-Camp-Constitution-Registration-Form.pdf
How you can help Camp Constitution grow:
* Keep Camp Constitution and our nation in your prayers.
* Become a donor. Monthly and/or one-time donations can be made via our PayPal account accessed from our website https://www.campconstitution.net
* Host one of our speakers.
* Introduce Camp Constitution to family and friends.
*Author an article for our camp blog.
* Share our posts, E-mails, and videos.
And attend our events and bring others with you.
God has mightily blessed us with people like you who help to make Camp Constitution possible, and successful. A special thanks to the folks at Liberty Counsel for their legal help and planning and promoting the prayer vigil, rally and Christian flag raising. Here is a link to a short video “Shurtleff v Boston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALCm7HiIagc&t=32s
Hal Shurtleff, Director
Camp Constitution
Camp Constitution’s 1st Annual Family Camp
Camp Constitution held its first annual weekend family retreat at Camp Sentinel in Tuftonboro, NH https://www.campsentinel.org/ this past weekend- Friday September 30 to Sunday October 2.
After check-in and a wholesome meal, Rev. Craft led off with a class on America’s Godly Heritage, and I conducted a class on the 1st Amendment and our Christian flag lawsuit. We ended the day with evening campfire led Christian recording artist Ben Laine https://lnk.bio/BenLaine.
Saturday started with flag raising, and morning devotions. Mrs. Catherine White, veteran Camp Constitution instructor and founder of The Constitution Decoded http://www.constitutiondecoded.com/index.html led off with a class entitled “Constitution 101. Rev. Craft followed with a class exposing Critical Race Theory or as Rev. Craft correctly calls it “Crazy Racist Trash.” Professor Willie Soon, in his humorous style but erudite style, ended the morning program with his class on the corruption of science. After lunch, some attendees visited the Wright World War II Museum in nearby Wolfeboro, while others either went apple picking or enjoyed the many recreational opportunities available at Camp Sentinel.
Barbara from Harlem was not able to make it to camp, so I filled in for her Saturday evening conducting a class on Agenda 21. I was followed by Kimberly Boobyer, who, with her daughter Samantha, traveled from Naples, Florida to attend the weekend retreat. Kimberly’s class was “Restoring the Foundations of our Constitutional Republic” Saturday evening’s campfire was a special treat when recording artist Eric Brumley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j5h9cuNxFs joined Ben Laine.
Jessica Whitworth and my wife Maura, with help from Jessica’s daughters Willow and Isabella, ran the junior camp program where campers under eleven learned, among other things, how to fold the U.S. flag, write with a quill pen, learn about the U.S. Constitution, and the Founding of America.
We held a worship service on Sunday with Rev. Craft delivering an inspirational sermon from the Book of Daniel. Pastor William Levi of Operation Nehemiah followed him with a presentation on his experience living under Shariah law. https://www.operationsnehemiah.org/ After lunch, we packed up and went home ending a weekend of learning, fellowship, worship, friendship, and networking. Thanks to all who helped to make this event happen.
Our second annual weekend retreat will be held at the same venue Friday September 29 to Sunday October 1, 2023
(Pastor William Levi speaking at our retreat)
The Weekly Sam: The Federal Government Owns Too Much US Land By Samuel Blumenfeld
One of the ways the Federal Government can significantly cut its 13 trillion-dollar debt is
by selling some of 635 million acres of land it owns in the United States. Believe it or
not, Washington owns 3 out of every 10 acres of land in the country. Yet, the Obama
administration wants to buy more. It wants Congress to allocate $900 million in new
spending in 2012 to increase its ownership of U.S. land.
Indeed, when a nation is severely in debit, it ought to sell off some of its assets to balance
its books. There are many Americans, and foreigners too, who would gladly buy up some
of that government land which could then become productive property. According to
the Treasury’s Financial Management Service, the U.S. government at present owns
about $233 billion worth of highly saleable non-defense “property, plant, and
equipment,” which it ought to be selling instead of maintaining.
Niall Ferguson, the brilliant libertarian economist, writes in Newsweek (2/29/11):
“Washington could also sell its stakes in the Southeastern Power Administration and
related assets as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority’s electric-power assets. There’s
Amtrak (which runs at a loss) and the extensive hydroelectric empire of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.”
Besides, there is a huge backlog of projects on public lands which the Land and Water
Conservation Fund can’t pay for. Also, there is a multibillion-dollar maintenance
backlog which requires funding. So why is the government going to borrow money to
buy more property? It doesn’t make sense. But it only makes sense to socialists who
want the government to own everything, including its citizens. The aim of the socialists is
to abolish private property.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was created in 1965, is funded by fees
charged to oil and gas companies for extracting resources from public lands. Since then
the fund has been used to buy more than 4.5 million acres, costing $6.1 billion. The last
thing the Federal Government should be doing is borrowing more money to buy more
land, which it can’t maintain.
George Washington, our first President, was deeply concerned with government debt.
He said: “No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and
discharge of the public debt.” But we have a government in Washington that has
accumulated 14 trillion dollars in debt, and thinks nothing of adding to it without the
blink of an eye. Obama seems to delight in the fact that the nation is near bankruptcy
and has offered no real plan to avoid a financial collapse.
And the reason for his lack of interest is that he is an Alinsky-trained radical
revolutionary who sees the bankruptcy of America as the surest way to destroy our
capitalist system. His behavior during the recent crisis which would have led to a
shutdown of the government is quite revealing. This fight over cuts in the 2011 budget
would have never taken place had the Democrats actually issued a budget when they
controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. The Wall Street Journal
commented a day before the settlement:
“Democrats were supposed to pass this budget last year but failed to do so. House
Republicans proceeded to cut $61 billion after two years of record spending, but Mr.
Obama says he’ll accept only $33 billion and most of that must come not from specific
programs but from ‘unobligated balances’ that might not be spent anyway. Republicans
now want $40 billion and cuts that are real. Inviting a shutdown sooner or later has
looked to be the White House strategy since Mr. Obama unveiled his own budget in
February that increased spending and dodged any serious budget reform. Our guess is
that Mr. Obama’s political advisers have concluded that the lesson from Bill Clinton’s
1995 shutdown is that presidents win such showdowns. If they don’t believe this, why
risk a shutdown over $7 billion and a few policy differences like funding for Planned
Parenthood?”
But Obama, in his magnanimity, came before the cameras a few hours before the
shutdown deadline and announced that an agreement had been reached and that the
government would continue to be open so that Americans could visit the Smithsonian,
the National Parks and museums, and that federal employee, including the military,
would continue to receive their checks without interruption. What a great president!
Only in America!
But what became clear during this crisis was that the liberals consider funding Planned
Parenthood more important than paying our soldiers. Why? Because
abortion-on-demand is the sacred cow of the Democratic Party.
Which means that any true defunding of such entities as Planned Parenthood will have to
wait until the conservatives capture both the Senate and the White House in the election
of 2012. And incidentally, Obama’s budget for 2012 is $3.7 trillion, with a $1.5 trillion
deficit!
Please visit the Sam Blumenfeld Archives: https://campconstitution.net/sam-blumenfeld-archive/
How the Christian Flag Made History in 2022: The Remarkable Story of “Shurtleff v Boston”
Camp Constitution’s legal team Liberty Counsel http://lc.org created this short video and what better day that September 26 to promote its viewing.
From the website of our friends at Christian Flag Project: https://christianflagproject.com/
The story goes that the Christian flag dates back to an impromptu speech given by a Charles C. Overton, a Sunday school administrator at Brighton Chapel in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1897. Since the guest speaker didn’t show, Overton had to step in. While noticing the American flag near the podium, he started talking about flags and their symbolism. The concept was born when Overton proposed that Christians should have their own flag, and it continued to stay on his mind for years to come after the speech. Eventually, in 1907, Overton teamed up with Ralph Diffendorfer, an officer with the Methodist Missionary Movement, to help in creating the flag.
It’s interesting to note that the colors on the flag match those on the American flag. White represents purity and peace, blue indicates fidelity, and red stands for Christ’s blood sacrifice. The Christian flag is regularly displayed outside of buildings, churches, and in classrooms, but few realize its important history and significance dating back over a century.
The Weekly Sam: On Learning Greek
Many young Christian home schoolers have decided to learn Greek in order to be able to
read the New Testament in its original language. The problem of learning Greek, of
course, is that you are not only learning a different language, but also how to read a
different alphabet. So the first thing you have to do, is learn the Classical Greek
alphabet. Christians who have read Revelation are acquainted with the phrase uttered by
Jesus, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Alpha and Omega are the
first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
There are twenty-four letters in the Classical Greek alphabet. Anyone who has been a
member of a sorority or fraternity will be acquainted with some of the letter names. Phi
Beta Kappa is a famous learned society. The alphabet names are as follows: alpha, beta,
gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, ksi, omicron, pi, rho,
sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, cm, psi, omega. Memorize these letters names as your first step
in learning to read Greek. Then learn the letter symbols.
Note that the modern Greek alphabet is slightly different from the classical alphabet. For
example, in the modern version, beta is veta or vita; delta is thelta; zeta is zita; eta is ita;
theta is tmta; lambda is lamvtha; tau is taf.
By all means get a good Greek-English, English-Greek dictionary, plus some good
introductory books. You can get them new or used. On amazon.com I found a number
of good books: Homeric Greek: A Book/or Beginners by Clyde Pharr, $29.95; A GreekEnglish Lexicon 0/the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by William
Arndt, $125.00. Get your public library to buy it! Do your own search not only on
amazon.com but on such excellent used book sources as BibliofInd, ABE books, etc.
Beginning Greek by Stephen W. Paine (New York: Oxford University Press, 1961) may
be worth having, although it teaches Greek at a university level. If possible, get hold of a
Greek primer, that is, a textbook that teaches Greek children to read Greek. The Greek
Consulate in Washington might be able to help you get one.
Also helpful in learning the Greek alphabet is to get hold of modern Greek newspapers
and magazines that use many words in Greek that are similar to words in English. Words
like salam~ avocado, classical, mechanic, music, theatre, film, story, astronomy,
archeology in Greek sound very much like their English counterparts but are written in
the Greek alphabet. Get a lined notebook and make lists of such words in both Greek and
English so that you can become familiar with the letters and their sounds.
Also, English and American proper names are often written in Greek to sound just like
their pronunciation in English. Tills enables you to see how a different alphabet can be
used to write English. You must also learn to write Greek, using their cursive system of
handwriting. At the beginning you can print the words. But if you are to become fluent,
you must learn the Greek writing system. A Greek primer that teaches writing will
probably have to be obtained from Greece.
The Internet provides a good deal of information about Greek magazines and
newspapers. Just type in “Greek newspapers” in your search engine, and you’ll get a
plethora of web sites to choose from. Incidentally, if you live in or near a city with a
large Greek-American community, you may be able to find Greek newspapers and
magazines. Or you might have dinner at a Greek restaurant and ask the owner how to get
hold of Greek newspapers and magazines. He may have some back issues, which he will
gladly let you have instead of throwing them in the trash.
Once you have mastered the Greek alphabet, then you must learn the language and how
its words are pronounced. I found that my local public library has a half-dozen Greek
language programs with cassette tapes and books. Also, I’ve noticed several vendors at
home-school conventions that specialize in foreign language programs. They no doubt
have audio programs for Greek. Check them out.
Since tourism is very big in Greece, the Greek Tourist Bureau may be able to help you
find the materials you need. Again, the Greek Consulate in Washington is a good place
to start.
A link to the Sam Blumenfeld Archive where the above article and much more can be found: https://campconstitution.net/sam-blumenfeld-archive/
The Weekly Sam: The Marlowe-Shakespeare Connection
While the late Sam Blumenfeld decidcated most of his adult life to warning the American people of the delebarate dumbing down of America and promoting intensive phonics, he long believed that Christopher Marlowe was the author of the plays of Shakespeare. While we at Camp Constitution don’t a position on the subject, we think Sam made a good case for it in his book:
http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/Books/Marlowe-Shakespeare%20Connection%20(editor).pdf
Constitution Day September 17, 2022 “A Republic If You Can Keep It.
Constitution Day September 17, 2022 “A Republic If You Can Keep It.
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention September 1787, Mrs. Elizabeth Powel, a friend of George and Martha Washington, asked Benjamin Franklin, the oldest delegate to the convention “Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy.” Dr. Franklin replied, “A republic if you can keep it.” How well have we done in keeping that republic. A glance at the current occupant of the White House as well as the majority of members of Congress leads me to conclude that we have done a poor job of it.
Is the U.S. Constitution an outdated relic?
Critics and detractors of the United States Constitution believe that it is an outdate relic of our agrarian past which may have served us well 200 years ago but needs to be replaced. Back in the mid-1990s, I was a guest on the Al Diamon Show- a talk show in Portland, Maine. Mr. Diamon, and the vast majority of his audience did not share my worldview to say the least. I had a very interesting conversation with one of his college age callers. This young man told me, in no uncertain terms, that the U.S. Constitution was outdated, and should be replaced. I asked him if it was written in 1848, would it also be an outdated relic. He replied in the affirmative and I told him that the Communist Manifesto was written in 1848 but oddly we never hear people on the Left demand that it be repudiated. I then asked him if he believed that the 1st Amendment-the one that protects the right of free speech, the press, and the right to peaceable to assemble among other things be abolished. He said that he wasn’t in favor of its repeal. I followed up with asking him about the 4th Amendment that protects us against unlawful search and seizure, the 5th that protects an accused from self-incrimination the 6th that guarantees us a speedy trial judged by impartial jury and the 8th that protects us from being drawn and quartered. He didn’t think that these amendments be repealed either. This caller, like too many American like him are victims of a clique-potentially a dangerous one, that if enough Americans believe, could lead to the end of the liberties we take for granted.
I contend that the U.S Constitution which granted few, defined and specific powers to the United States Government is just as relevant today than when it was first ratified. As King Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” While we went from horse and buggy to the space age and the quill pen and the broadside to Twitter and Facebook, human nature stays the same. Our Founders were learned men who knew history and understood man’s sin nature. This is why they gave us a constitutional that granted limited powers to the U.S. Government.
The U.S. Constitution has a preamble, seven articles and 27 amendments.
Article 1 established the legislative branch, qualifications for office of members of Congress, and grants certain powers including the power to borrow money and declare war.
Article 2 concerns the executive branch which grants very few powers and duties to the president. Being “the most powerful man in the free world” is not one of the duties granted to the president. Nowhere in Article 2 do we read that the president is the most powerful man in the free world.
Article 3 concerns the judicial branch which established “one supreme Court” and gave Congress the power to regulate it. The Supreme Court may be the highest court in the United States, but it is not the highest law of the land.
Article 4 concerns the states. Article 4, Section 4, guarantees every state a “Republican Form of Government and shall protect them against Invasion. Today, it is the official policy of the U.S. Government to aid and abet invasion.
Article 5 concerns the amending process which a made difficult for good reason.
Article 6 makes “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof…. shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”
Article 7 calls for the ratification of nine state before the Constitution will be established. New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify the Constitution on June 2, 1788, making it the law of the land.
The Constitution has 27 amendments but one-the 21st canceled out another-the 18th. The first ten, known as the Bill of Rights were ratified on December 1791. The 27th Amendment, which concerns Congressional pay raises, would have been part of the original Bill of Rights but wasn’t ratified until 1992.
Keeping this republic begins with us. As is my habit, I am offering free pocket copies. If interested in one, Email me at campconstitution1@gmail.com
What to learn more about this incredible document? Why not attend our weekend retreat which runs from Friday September 30 to Sunday October 2 at Camp Sentinel in Tuftonboro
The Weekly Sam: What’s Wrong With Government Education by Sam Blumenfeld
The enormous failure of our government school system was nicely
summed up by a Boston high school teacher in a recent issue of Education
Week (12/9/98). He said:
“I have about 30 kids in my U.S. history class. They come from nine
different countries: most of them can’t read. Even if they can read the text,
they don’t know what it means. How am I supposed to teach U.S. history to
kids who can’t read? I could come in here every day for 20 years and still
not figure out how to do it.”
Obviously, this particular teacher had no idea how these kids got into
high school without knowing how to read. He had no idea what goes on in
primary school that prevents these children from learning to read, and he
had no idea what to do with older students who are functionally illiterate.
Clearly, the teacher himself is part of the problem. His ignorance of how the
system functions prevents him from helping his students get through it in
one piece. In other words, the compartmentalization of teachers explains
why so many of them have no idea of how the total system works and why
the system can lurch from crisis to crisis without any effective change taking
place.
The real blame for the system’s dysfunction, however, must lie with the
professors of education, the state departments of education, and the
administrators who have all conspired to create the functional illiteracy that
plagues the public schools of America — once considered the most literate
and advanced nation on earth. Deliberately induced illiteracy among
students is a vital part of the plan to dumb down Americans so that they will
be unable to resist the imposition of social and political control by an
arrogant universitarian elite determined to create a new world order based
on humanist-socialist values.
This “education” plan is part of the utopian socialist agenda set down
by the progressives at the turn of the century. The progressives were
members of the Protestant academic elite who no longer believed in the
religion of their fathers. They put their new faith in science, evolution, and
psychology. Science explained the material world (matter in motion),
evolution explained the origin of life (organisms crawling out of the
primordial ooze), and psychology explained human nature and provided
the elite with the scientific means of controlling human behavior.
These men were also socialists. Why? Because they had to deal with
the problem of evil. The Bible tells us that evil is the result of man’s innate
depravity, his innate sinful nature. But since the progressives did not
believe in the Bible, they decided that evil was caused by ignorance,
poverty, and social injustice. And what was the cause of social injustice?
Why, it was this horrible capitalist system with all of its inequities. Socialism,
it was believed, would remove these inequities and thereby solve the
problem of evil. By the way, the progressives did not get their model of
socialism from Karl Marx. They got it from an American by the name of
Edward Bellamy whose book, Looking Backward, published in 1888,
projected the fantasy of a socialist America in the year 2000.
And so, the progressives, dedicated to their utopian ideal, decided to
do all in their power to change America from an individualistic, capitalist,
and religious society into a socialist, collectivist, humanist or atheist society.
How were they to accomplish that? Through the education system. They
would change the curriculum and teaching methods in the public schools so
that American children would emerge as young socialists willing to change
our way of life into a socialist one.
The socialists realized that the transformation might take as much as a
hundred years to complete. In fact, John Dewey wrote in 1898: “Change
must come gradually. To force it unduly would compromise its final success
by favoring a violent reaction.” Dewey then outlined the long-range strategy
which the progressives were to adopt:
What is needed in the first place is that there should be a full and frank statement
of conviction with regard to the matter from physiologists and psychologists and from
those school administrators who are conscious of the evils of the present regime.
Educators should also frankly face the fact that the New Education, as it exists today, is
a compromise and a transition: it employs new methods but its controlling ideals are
virtually of the Old Education. Wherever movements looking to a solution of the
problem are intelligently undertaken, they should receive encouragement, moral and
financial, from the intellectual leaders of the community. There are already in
existence a considerable number of educational “experiment stations,” which
represent the outposts of educational progress. If these schools can be adequately
supported for a number of years they will perform a great vicarious service. After such
schools have worked out carefully and definitely the subject-matter of the new
curriculum,–finding the right place for language-studies and placing them in their right
perspective,–the problem of the more general educational reform will be immensely
simplified.
One hundred years later we can see how successful the Dewey plan
has been in transforming our educational system into one that serves the
needs of the atheist socialist state. Dewey was aided and abetted by a
cadre of reformers that included such luminaries as Edward L. Thorndike,
James McKeen Cattell, Elwood P. Cubberly, George D. Strayer, Charles
Judd, James R. Angell and a host of others. Thorndike, Cattell, and Strayer
ra~ an educational mafia out of Teachers College (Columbia), Cubberly
reigned at Stanford, and Angell became president at Yale.
Change in the curriculum of public education has happened so
gradually that most parents haven’t the faintest idea what is happening to
their children, four million of whom are being drugged daily with Ritalin so
that they can sit in their classroom seats and be socialized without
resistance.
What is truly amazing is the coherence and continuity of the
progressive agenda which is as much alive today at it was when Dewey and
company were pontificating. For example, The Whole Language Catalog, a
sort of bible of the whole-language movement published in 1991, has 15
entries for John Dewey in its index. After citing his debt to Dewey, Kenneth
Goodman, the leading guru of whole-language philosophy, writes:
Whole language picks up where the progressives left off. … [It] takes the
philosophy and positive, child-centered view of the progressive educators and adds
the knowledge of language, of learning, of child development, and of teaching, and
builds a strong scientific base under them. It is this combination of science and
humanistic educational and social philosophy that forms the foundation for whole
language curriculum. … We use the psychological concepts of Piaget and Vygotsky to
underscore Dewey’s concept of learning as transaction: pupils making sense of their
world and being changed themselves in the transactions. (p. 281)
In the early days, the progressives were mainly supported by the major
philanthropic foundations. Today the reforms are being underwritten by
federal and state governments. Three recent federal programs are funding
the massive restructuring of American education in accordance with the
progressives’ plans: Goals 2000 (enacted 3/31/94), School-to-Work
Opportunities Act (enacted 5/4/94), and the Improving America’s Schools
Act, a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (enacted 10/20/94). Thus, the Congress of the United States has
become an accomplice in the progressive plan to restructure American
education in the socialist mold.
Apart from needing the funds to carry out their plan, the progressives
also realized that coherence and continuity of their agenda over a hundred
years was vitally necessary if the plan was to be successful. Thus, in 1901
they created the National Society for the Study of Education, wherein the
progressive leaders would be able to formulate their programs of reform,
debate their effectiveness and pass on the baton to their loyal disciples. By
studying their yearbooks, the first of which was published in 1902, one can
follow the inexorable progress of the socialist takeover of American
education.
All of this was accomplished by tenured professors of education and
behavioral psychologists, working within a maze of well-funded professional
organizations, publishing journals, writing textbooks, holding hundreds of
conferences, seminars, and conventions each year. None of this has been
visible to the average parent who puts a child in a public school. Parents
assume that their schools are run by local school boards, superintendents,
principals, and teachers. What they don’t see is the invisible hand behind
this constant pressure for reform that keeps recreating the curriculum.
The average teacher may feel that there is some kind of invisible hand
at work, but teachers would rather blame failure on cultural trends,
excessive television viewing, dysfunctional parents, and such student
disabilities as attention deficit disorder and dyslexia.
Obviously, this is a system of education that cannot be supported by
any Christian. Local control no longer exists. It was inevitable that a
government education system would become a federal system controlled
by those who have been leading us toward totalitarian socialism. Do I
exaggerate? To be convinced that the end goal is a totalitarian system, all
one has to do is read the Student Data Handbook for Early Childhood,
Elementary, and Secondary Education (NCES 94-303). This is the official
guidebook for the computerized data-gathering system dreamed up by our
totalitarian bureaucrats. The data will include massive information on
health, family, religion, attitudes, psychological assessments, etc. For
example, the attitudinal test is described as: “An assessment to measure
the mental and emotional set or patterns of likes and dislikes or opinions
held by a student or a group of students. This is often used in relation to
considerations such as controversial issues or personal adjustments.”
All of this sensitive, personal data will be housed in a central computer
in Washington making it easy for “educators” to control just about everyone.
But the question is simply this: does the government of a free people have
the right to collect this kind of information on all of its citizens for its own
political or social purposes? Should the government of a free people record
the attitudes and opinions of its citizens so that it can engineer their
personal adjustment?
The time has come for Christians to realize what has become of the
“land of the free and the home of the brave.” If Christians want to restore
the full measure of our freedoms, they will have to do what they are
reluctant to do: remove their children en masse from the public schools.
What is needed now is not accommodation to the plans of the American
Pharoah but a full-fledged exodus of Christian children. That’s the easiest
and most peaceful way to put an end to the socialist agenda and return
America to its basic constitutional principles. Will Christians have the
courage to do what must be done? That test will be upon us sooner than
anyone anticipated.
Please visit and sign up for the Samuel Blumenfeld Archives: https://campconstitution.net/sam-blumenfeld-archive/
Camp Constitution’s 1st Annual Weekend Retreat Less Than One Month Away
Camp Constitution’s 1st Annual Family Weekend Retreat is less than one month away. It will run from Friday September 30 to Sunday, October at Camp Sentinel in Tuftonboro, NH: https://www.campsentinel.org/
Instructors include Barbara from Harlem, author of Escaping the Racism of Low Expectations, Rev. Steve Craft, author of Morality and Freedom America’s Dynamic Duo, Pastor William Levi, author of The Bible or the Axe: One Man’s Dramatic Escape from the Persecution in the Sudan, Professor Willie Soon, one of the world’s top atmospheric scientists, and Mrs. Catherine White of the Constitution Decoded.
Topics include Celebrating the U.S. Constitution, America’s Godly Heritage, and Refuting the Climate Alarmists. We have a program for junior campers 5-11 taught by Mrs. Edith Craft. Recreation activities include volleyball, basketball, canoeing, and an optional field trip to the Wright World War II Museum.
Cost is $150. per person which includes two nights of lodging, and six meals. A link to the camp application: https://campconstitution.net/2022-weekend-camp-release-form-2/
For more information, please call me at (857) 498-1309 or E-mail campconstitution1@gmail.com
The Weekly Sam: The Great American Math Disaster by Sam Blumenfeld
One of the reasons why Americans are so confused about the large numbers being tossed
around by our leaders in Washington these days, is because of how poorly they’ve been
taught mathematics in the public schools they attended. Numbers in the millions,
billions, and trillions are almost impossible to visualize as anything more than just strings
of numbers. Most Americans can barely deal with thousands, let alone trillions.
The basic problem is that American children are no longer being taught arithmetic. They
are taught math, which includes more than our simple counting system. Arithmetic deals
with quantity. Math deals with relationships and uses complex symbols. When you
submerge arithmetic in mathematics, without making sure that the children have mastered
their counting skills, you get math failure. And this is nothing new. Back in 1991
Newsweek magazine reported (6/17/91):
How bad are eighth graders’ math skills? So bad that half are scoring just above
the proficiency level expected of fifth-grade students. Even the best students did
miserably; at the top-scoring schools, the average was well below grade level.
Hardly any students have the background to go beyond simple computation, most
of those kids can add but they have serious trouble thinking through simple
problems….
What’s really frightening about these results is that the alarm has been ringing
since the 1983 publication of “A Nation at Risk,” the federally sponsored study
that highlighted vast problems in the public schools. Yet despite years of talk
about reform–and genuine efforts of change in a few places–American students
are still not making the grade and remain behind their counterparts in other
industrialized nations.
All of those kids who did miserably in math in 1983 and 1991 are today’s voting adults in
their thirties and forties. And let us not forget the disaster called the “New Math” which
swept through America’s elementary schools like a hurricane during the 1960s and ’70s,
creating today’s math illiterates among Boomers in their fifties and sixties.
The educators blame the problem on traditional arithmetic, which hasn’t been taught in
years, but is a perfect scapegoat. They complain that too much time is wasted practicing
adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. The solution? More calculators and
computers.
The real problem is that our educators really don’t know the difference between
arithmetic and mathematics, and if you don’t know the difference, you will not know how
to teach either.
Our arithmetic system is an ingenious method of counting, keeping track of quantity. It
uses 10 symbols and place value for all of its notations and operations. As such it is one
of the greatest achievements of the human intellect, an invention that permits human
beings to perform any counting feat with mere pencil and paper.
But the key to its proficient use is memorization of the basic arithmetic facts. If you
don’t memorize the facts, then you are stuck with unit counting and you might as well
learn to use an abacus. Memorization requires rote drill, which is forbidden in today’s
schools, even though it is the easiest way for a child to learn anything. When educators
think that children can learn to compute without memorizing the arithmetic facts, they are
deluding themselves and cheating the children.
Why is it important for children to memorize the arithmetic facts? Because
memorization will give them mastery of the system. And once the arithmetic facts are
memorized through drill and practice with pencil and paper, they will later be able to use
calculators and computers with accuracy, spotting errors when they make them, always
able to do the calculations on paper if necessary.
Why did eighth graders do so poorly even in wealthy suburban schools? Because of bad
teaching. Obviously, when even the richest and brightest fail, one cannot blame it on
rote memorization when we are told that memorization is what makes the Japanese
student so much better than the American. If teachers do not even know how to teach
simple arithmetic effectively, how can we assume that they know how to teach algebra,
geometry, trigonometry, or calculus effectively?
Besides, very few of us will need to use algebra, geometry, trigonometry or calculus, but
all of us will need to use arithmetic–in doing tax returns, figuring out mortgages,
balancing our checking accounts, using credit cards, making change, planning our
retirement. So if everyone must use arithmetic in order to survive economically, why
don’t the educators emphasize the need to develop good arithmetic skills?
Back in 1983, John Saxon, the celebrated author of superb mathematics textbooks used
by home-schoolers and private schools, wrote:
“For the last twenty years, these [mathematics] experts have worked unwittingly to bring
matters to a point where only the brilliant can learn mathematics. They have tried to
teach advanced concepts and a general overview before the student has learned the
basics….In an important sense, these authors are experts neither in mathematics nor in
education. They do not know which mathematics topics must be mastered at which level
and have no understanding of the capabilities of the average student. Their books are
visible proof that they do not know how children learn and assimilate abstractions.”
(National Review, 8/19/83)
Until rote learning is restored in our primary schools in the teaching of arithmetic, we can
expect math failure to plague American public education for the foreseeable future.