The Dangers of American Education, Part 1

By Roger Anghis

May 29, 2022

America used to have the best education system in the world. To understand this statement we have to look at the original foundation of our education. Our original educational book was the Bible. This book was used to teach all aspects of life, business, math, philosophy, as well as how to conduct their personal lives. The Founders placed such a high importance on education that they enacted laws to ensure that children were educated and they also placed scripture knowledge in the same category. The arrogant fools of the Supreme Court of 1947 believed that the Bible should not be allowed in schools but the Founders believed different. The Founders actually placed a premium on biblical knowledge. In my book ‘Defining American Exceptionalism’, I have a full chapter on education in early America. There are many documented situations that refute the 1947 decision so I would like to discuss a few of them. From this, we will see what the Pilgrims and the Founders believed to be the most important aspects of education. The first laws providing public education for all children were passed in 1642 in Massachusetts and in 1647 in Connecticut and it was called the “Old Deluder Satan Law”. These colonists believed that the proper protection from civil abuses could only be achieved by eliminating Bible illiteracy.

“It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of Scriptures, as in former time. . . . It is therefore ordered . . [that] after the Lord hath increased [the settlement] to the number of fifty householders, [they] shall then forthwith appoint one within their town, to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to write and read. . . . And it is further ordered, that where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school . . . to instruct youths, so far as they may be fitted for the university.”

Note that they put a premium on the ability to understand the Word of God. Many American literacy laws were directed at the necessity of understanding the Bible. A Connecticut law in 1690 read:

“This legislature observing that . . . there are many persons unable to read the English tongue and thereby incapable to read the holy Word of God or the good laws of this colony . . . it is ordered that all parents and masters shall cause their respective children and servants, as they are capable, to be taught to read distinctly the English tongue.” [1]

If you noticed, they placed a premium on a person’s ability to read and understand the Word of God. Today’s education system refuses to do this. In fact, it is against the laws to teach scripture in a public school. You can teach the seven pillars of islam but you can’t teach Christianity, the religion of the Founders, You didn’t see the schools teaching transgendersim, homosexuality, and the perverted filth that we see in schools today. They focused on what should be focused on, education. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and a whole lot of history. Our schools today won’t teach our history, it’s actually illegal because of so much religion involved. This is so interesting because it was the pastors that were usually the teachers and almost all of our colleges and universities were started by pastors to raise more pastors. The 1636 rules for Harvard stated:

“Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies and to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein.”

Harvard was so dedicated to this goal that their two mottos were: “For the Glory of Christ” and “For Christ and the Church”.[2] William and Mary was founded by Reverend James Blair. Ten ministers founded Yale.[3] Dartmouth College was founded by Reverend Eleazar Wheelock.[4]

As our country grew the Northwest Ordinance was established and that ordinance required religion to be taught in any school established in any of the new territories; The next is what we would have to call the most conclusive historical demonstration proving that the Founders never intended what we see today and that is a religion free public arena. This documented evidence is the passage of the “Northwest Ordinance” the Ordinance which legal texts consider to be one of the four foundational or ‘organic’ laws established the requirements of statehood for prospective territories. It received House approval on July 21, 1789; Senate approval on August 4, 1789 (this was the same Congress that was simultaneously framing the religious clauses in the First Amendment); and was signed into law by President George Washington on August 7, 1789.

Article III of that Ordinance is the only section to address religion or public education and it comingles them profoundly declaring:

Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.[5]

I don’t understand the mentality of moving so far away from what our Founders gave us for an education system. We are graduating ignorant students. You can’t blame the students when the system is a complete failure. I firmly believe that kids graduating college would not be able to pass an 8th-grade final exam from 1895. You can see the exam here;[6]

We have seen the massive pushback from the school boards now that parents are demanding accountability. Some cities are worse than others but they are all bad. I have called for the schools to be put back into the hands f the state and the parents with heavy parental involvement. The time to act is now!

E-Mail Roger Anghis: roger@buildingthetruth.org

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