George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our sasety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

"The evidence that those who surrender the doctrine of inerrancy inevitably move away from orthodoxy is indisputable"

-Harold J. Ockenga

the opposite of legalism is licentiousness

Intellectual Honesty and the Border

There has been a lot of talk about the border with Mexico lately in political circles. Our President Bush, Senators Kyl and McCain, and Congressman Hayworth among many others have come forth with plans to shore it up. There even a lot of talk of building a wall (or more likely a fence or fences) along the entire border. I have no beef with these plans and am not even convinced that a wall is beyond the fray, but I do object to some of the rationale given lately.

Since 9/11 a large focus has been put on the border due to the possibility of Islamist terrorists using it to gain access to U.S. soil. Now, I recognize that possibility and obviously believe that we should take strides to limit the possibility. But many have glommed onto the possibility in order to advance the agenda of border security when the real goal is to protect America not from terrorists, but from Mexicans. Now, here too I don't deny the right the U.S. has to control it's own immigration, but I think to use terrorism to persuade support for immigration reform is a scare tactic and is wrong.

According to the Border Patrol, in the three years following 9/11, some 946 people from seven Muslim countries (Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan and Syria) were apprehended trying to enter the country illegally. Of those only 320 of those were caught at the Mexican border, 472 were apprehended at the Canadian border, and 154 were apprehended in the Miami, New Orleans and Puerto Rico regions of the Border Patrol. If we decide to build a wall to protect ourselves from terrorism then we must recognize that doing so will only deter, not eclipse the likelihood that happening.

I don't oppose border control. I don't oppose protecting ourselves from terrorism. But I do think we need to avoid intellectual dishonesty when advocating, or opposing, either.

Meanwhile, In Jordan

forfeiting rights, pt. 1

In case you missed it:
The venerable San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court's ruling that parents had no right to object to questions posed to their children on a "psychological survey". "Schools cannot be expected to accommodate the personal, moral or religious concerns of every parent," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for the panel. "Such an obligation would not only contravene the educational mission of the public schools, but also would be impossible to satisfy"

The following questions were on the survey, and added only after the questionnaire had been sent to parents beforehand. The parents of students as young as seven years old, had no prior knowledge that these questions were going to be asked:
students were to rate the following activities as to how often they think about them (often, rarely, etc.)
8. Touching my private parts too much
17. Thinking about having sex
22. Thinking about touching other people’s private parts
23. Thinking about sex when I don’t want to
26. Washing myself because I feel dirty on the inside
34. Not trusting people because they might want sex
40. Getting scared or upset when I think about sex
44. Having sex feelings in my body
47. Can’t stop thinking about sex
54. Getting upset when people talk about sex

As the parent of a soon-to-be seven year old, the idea that my daughter (who would be unable to answer most of the questions above due to naivety) would be confronted with this subject without my foreknowledge is outrageous and maddening. As maddening though is the courts opinion, which includes;

"In summary, we hold that there is no free-standing fundamental right of parents 'to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs' and that the asserted right is not encompassed by any other fundamental right. In doing so, we do not quarrel with the parents’ right to inform and advise their children about the subject of sex as they see fit. We conclude only that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on that subject to their students in any forum or manner they select."

They are worried about contravening the educational mission of the schools? So am I. So am I.

Meanwhile, In France