Bryan Fischer
The Supreme Court has turned our schools into war zones
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Feast your eyes on this (emphasis mine):
"A Massachusetts school district has installed new security technology similar to what the U.S. military uses in war zones.
"'Over $20 million dollars of research and development has been invested by the U.S. Government and the defense contractor to mature this capability... [and] incorporates all of the technical lessons learned from real world outdoor use in multiple warfronts and ha[ve] combined that knowledge with thousands of rounds of live fire testing in buildings and schools,' Guardian Active Shooter Detection System says on its website.
"Guardian claims it's the first of its kind to be installed in the U.S., but it's being marketed to other schools and public places across the country in the wake of all the recent mass school shootings.
"'It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure our schools are sanctuaries for learning. From Columbine to Sandy Hook, unspeakable acts of violence have occurred in our schools, and gun violence is now a major concern for our children, our educators and our parents,' said Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.).
"Tsongas made those comments just before authorities demonstrated the technology at the school in Methuen, Massachusetts – 30 miles north of Boston just south of the New Hampshire border.
"While the school was closed in observation (sic) of Veterans Day Tuesday, authorities tested the potentially life-saving new system. A man went firing blanks throughout the school and as that happened police were able to coordinate a swift response to the "crisis." The audience there watching the demonstration could see how the technology traces each shot back to its location using sensors installed throughout the building."
Terrific. That way you can track the path each bullet followed just before it struck and killed your child.
How did this happen? How did we go from an era in which running in the hallway was the main disciplinary problem to the place where getting gunned down in class is now fear number one?
Out of cowardice and weakness, we allowed the Supreme Court to kick God out of our public school system. And in so doing, we have allowed the Supreme Court to turn our once peaceful school campuses into war zones that require the best in military technology just to keep our students from being shot to death.
The Court kicked prayer out of public schools in 1962, kicked the Bible out in 1963, and kicked the Ten Commandments out in 1980.
All of which was flatly unconstitutional, as the Constitution written by the Founders gives absolutely no authority to any branch of the federal government, including the judiciary, to tell schools what they can and cannot do on school grounds.
To make matters even worse, the Constitution flatly prohibits Congress, and by extension the entire federal government, from interfering in any way whatsoever with the "free exercise" of religion. Now when a federal judge tells a school that no prayer or Bible reading will be allowed even if the school wants it, whatever else he is doing, he is prohibiting the free exercise of religion. That's something the Constitution plainly forbids.
In stark contrast to the shriveled understanding of religious liberty we have today, the Founders stated quite clearly their commitment to public education as a means of both spiritual and moral instruction.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (the same year that the Constitution was ratified) established the pattern by which new states could be admitted to the Union. Among its provisions was this: "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." (Emphasis mine.)
According to the Founders, then, schools were emphatically not to be secular, godless institutions but places where the nation's next generation of citizens and political leaders could be instructed in Christianity and its moral principles and standards.
So how did we get from there to the pathetic place we are at today? Once God was kicked to the curb, his protection went with him. God will not go where he is not wanted. And when his moral standards were tossed in the dumpster, a slow and steady process of erosion began which has worn away the very foundational pillars on which public education was intended to rest.
So here is the question that remains: when the Supreme Court told us to throw God, prayer, and the Bible out of our schools, why did we listen?
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
November 14, 2014
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Feast your eyes on this (emphasis mine):
"A Massachusetts school district has installed new security technology similar to what the U.S. military uses in war zones.
"'Over $20 million dollars of research and development has been invested by the U.S. Government and the defense contractor to mature this capability... [and] incorporates all of the technical lessons learned from real world outdoor use in multiple warfronts and ha[ve] combined that knowledge with thousands of rounds of live fire testing in buildings and schools,' Guardian Active Shooter Detection System says on its website.
"Guardian claims it's the first of its kind to be installed in the U.S., but it's being marketed to other schools and public places across the country in the wake of all the recent mass school shootings.
"'It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure our schools are sanctuaries for learning. From Columbine to Sandy Hook, unspeakable acts of violence have occurred in our schools, and gun violence is now a major concern for our children, our educators and our parents,' said Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.).
"Tsongas made those comments just before authorities demonstrated the technology at the school in Methuen, Massachusetts – 30 miles north of Boston just south of the New Hampshire border.
"While the school was closed in observation (sic) of Veterans Day Tuesday, authorities tested the potentially life-saving new system. A man went firing blanks throughout the school and as that happened police were able to coordinate a swift response to the "crisis." The audience there watching the demonstration could see how the technology traces each shot back to its location using sensors installed throughout the building."
Terrific. That way you can track the path each bullet followed just before it struck and killed your child.
How did this happen? How did we go from an era in which running in the hallway was the main disciplinary problem to the place where getting gunned down in class is now fear number one?
Out of cowardice and weakness, we allowed the Supreme Court to kick God out of our public school system. And in so doing, we have allowed the Supreme Court to turn our once peaceful school campuses into war zones that require the best in military technology just to keep our students from being shot to death.
The Court kicked prayer out of public schools in 1962, kicked the Bible out in 1963, and kicked the Ten Commandments out in 1980.
All of which was flatly unconstitutional, as the Constitution written by the Founders gives absolutely no authority to any branch of the federal government, including the judiciary, to tell schools what they can and cannot do on school grounds.
To make matters even worse, the Constitution flatly prohibits Congress, and by extension the entire federal government, from interfering in any way whatsoever with the "free exercise" of religion. Now when a federal judge tells a school that no prayer or Bible reading will be allowed even if the school wants it, whatever else he is doing, he is prohibiting the free exercise of religion. That's something the Constitution plainly forbids.
In stark contrast to the shriveled understanding of religious liberty we have today, the Founders stated quite clearly their commitment to public education as a means of both spiritual and moral instruction.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (the same year that the Constitution was ratified) established the pattern by which new states could be admitted to the Union. Among its provisions was this: "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." (Emphasis mine.)
According to the Founders, then, schools were emphatically not to be secular, godless institutions but places where the nation's next generation of citizens and political leaders could be instructed in Christianity and its moral principles and standards.
So how did we get from there to the pathetic place we are at today? Once God was kicked to the curb, his protection went with him. God will not go where he is not wanted. And when his moral standards were tossed in the dumpster, a slow and steady process of erosion began which has worn away the very foundational pillars on which public education was intended to rest.
So here is the question that remains: when the Supreme Court told us to throw God, prayer, and the Bible out of our schools, why did we listen?
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
