Have you ever heard of, or noticed yourself, that the History taught in schools has little to do with reality? Have any idea who David Barton is?
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| David Barton |
No, it's true. I noticed it myself. My K-12 years taught me whatever was in the History books. Then later in life, through running into historical documents, or a variety of documentaries, people talking who were there, etc., proved some of those History lessons to be incorrect, fallible or out right lies.
I was stunned. But then I was stunned about a lot, having come out of the fantastical 50s and 60s.
Here's a few:
"Duck and Cover" - if a nuclear bomb goes off near you, after you see it, if you're in school get under your desk; if outside, stop, drop and cover; if you are on fire, roll. Okay, well that's wrong.
This is a Christian Nation. Actually, the Founding Fathers for the most part, were not religious and found it distasteful, wanting a separation of church and state. Why is it even mentioned then? Because that was the way of the world back then. If they had created the US now, I don't think they would even have brought it up.
Columbus Discovered the Earth is Round; and discovered America, and was a great and wonderful guy. Well, he bumped into the Caribbean to begin with. Vikings found North America before him, Mongolians made it over thousands of years before he did. In his later years, he killed a quarter of a million natives. Wikipedia: "Under the terms of the Capitulations of Santa Fe,
after his first voyage Columbus was appointed Viceroy and Governor of
the Indies, which in practice entailed primarily the administration of
the colonies in the island of Hispaniola, whose capital was established in Santo Domingo. By the end of his third voyage, Columbus was physically and mentally exhausted: his body was wracked by arthritis and his eyes by ophthalmia.
In October 1499, he sent two ships to Spain, asking the Court of Spain
to appoint a royal commissioner to help him govern. By then, accusations
of tyranny and incompetence on the part of Columbus had also reached
the Court."
Well, I could go on but look it up yourself. History, has been as much fiction as reality. It's been a travesty for decades about History. The old adage that the winner writes the History, is true. Those in power, set what the reality once was. The best way to stay in power, is to change History. I'm not saying our modern Government is doing that, but it has been de rigueur throughout History.
That was partly what I loved about reading "A Distant Mirror, the Calamitous 14th Century" by Barbara W. Tuchman (1978). One of best and at that time, The Best History book I had ever read. Why? because she went back to the actual documents of the time, and found out what the truth was as best as she could find it to be. For instance, History had it that an army left Paris that was huge, 50,000 troops. But in looking over the actual documents of provisions, there was no way that could have been true because they didn't have enough to supply an army on the move. So the inflated story that was told over the years since then, that go into History books, which were then used as sources for later History books, lead to a fallacy being perpetuated for centuries.
Which brings us up to now.
WallBuilders is an organization dedicated to presenting America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious, and constitutional foundation on which America was built – a foundation which, in recent years, has been seriously attacked and undermined. In accord with what was so accurately stated by George Washington, we believe that "the propitious [favorable] smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation which disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained."
WallBuilders' founder and president, David Barton, resides in Aledo, Texas (just west of Fort Worth), with his wife, Cheryl, and their three children. David spent eight years as an educator and school administrator before founding WallBuilders. He has received numerous awards including several Who's Who honors, two Angel Awards for excellence in media, and the George Washington Honor Medal. He has spoken to numerous state legislatures, consulted with both state and federal legislators on various bills, and has written amicus briefs in cases at the U. S. Supreme Court.
This, is an incredible group doing an important thing. Setting History right, based upon hard core documentation and not just sourcing previous books that source previous books that source generally accepted and agreed upon, questionable History.
We need more of this kind of thing. Well, there is one downside, actually.
This is a pro Christian group. Or so it would seem. Using Historical accounts to be pro Religion, without putting it in proper and ancient context, can give a view that could indicate how things should be now, when in reality, as I had said above, were George Washington to be alive today, carrying on the kinds of things he had to do back then, I'm not so sure he would be talking about religion as he did back then. Was that an option open to him considering the climate of the times? Well, not really.
So the sad side of this kind of thing is that to simply expound what was, to now, can give a false impression. But you know what? It's better to have a slightly biased reporting of History, rather than a completely false reporting. So, fundamentally, I do applaud the WallBuilder's efforts and can only hope that more scientific groups will spring up to carry on the effort.
The problem I see is this. People read the Bible. Then they go around telling people what it means, what they think it means, how we should act according to what it says, and then we have what we have now. If however, you were to read the Bible (or the Quaran, or whatever ancient texts) and to study the times and meanings of words and lifestyles, and then talk to people about it all, you would have a very different interpretation of what you have read.
On top of that, to take those ancient's comments and to bring them up to modern understandings of reality, scientific and spiritually, you will come to understand life in a much different way. It's not that ancient religious or spiritual writings and teachings are useless, but they are far more useful if we understand them for what they are, and what was originally meant or intended. Much of what is not done now.
So, we should do the best we can. But we should make sure that we realize, we don't know it all.
