Joahannes Gutenberg invented the first moveable type printing press. His masterpiece, the Gutenberg Bible, was printed on this day – August 24, in 1455. No longer copied by hand and chained to pulpits, Gutenberg wrote of the Bible, “Let us break the seal which seals up holy things and give wings to Truth in order that she may win every soul that comes into the world.”
It’s fitting on this anniversary that we talk about the profound impact of the Bible on our American history. Important in this discussion is what impact we face at the removal of God and the Bible from parts of the public arena. What changed when the Bible was ousted from the classrooms of America? Everything. The removal of references to God and Christianity in public schools has severely hindered teaching civics and helping students understand the fundamentals of our nation.
A particular missing component is that schoolchildren are now no longer taught about property rights as a Biblical concept. An article by John Anthony at Conservative HQ details the negative fallout since activist judges removed God from public school classrooms. Children educated in today’s public schools are unaware that “liberty and property [are] synonymous.” When we don’t teach students that their rights are “endowed by their Creator,” they are missing the most important concept of civics education!
Violating property rights is a significant way that government controls behavior. As Anthony explains, “When government controls what you own and how you act, you become its servant.” He goes on to explain that “When our Founders wrote the Declaration of Independence, they knew that property rights were essential to freedom and prosperity.” “That is why our Declaration recognizes God as the origin of our rights, to protect citizens from the whims of government bodies.
Perhaps failure to teach these principles in school explains why so many no longer understand freedom of speech, and instead want to limit free speech when they disagree with it. It seems we are due for another “fundamental transformation” of our schools and classrooms, before the next generation’s understanding freedoms and rights is eliminated once and for all.
