David Gelernter: To the Inglewood airheads

David Gelernter is professor of computer science at Yale. He is the author of books including Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion, Judaism: A Way of Being, and, most recently, America-Lite: How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered in the Obamacrats). Last week he contributed the still timely post “How to talk to liars.” Today Professor Gelernter writes in response to the news that Halloween has been called off at the Inglewood Elementary School because it has “religious overtones.”

Of course Halloween is “religious,” you officious airheads of Inglewood Elementary School! And so is Valentine’s Day, and Thanksgiving far more so! And so is Christmas! And who on earth ever told you that this was an atheist nation? Who ever told you that “religious” things were forbidden in American schools? Such an idea is breathtakingly ignorant, staggeringly destructive.

This nation, created by devout Christians, derived its creed of liberty, equality and democracy straight from the Hebrew Bible. The flag of this biblical republic stands for “one nation, under God.” Do you Inglewood Airheads know more about what’s good for this nation than Abraham Lincoln did? “Under God” is his phrase; he was profoundly religious, and lived his whole life close to God and the Bible.

This nation learned tolerance from the Bible!–“The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God!” (Leviticus 19:34). America the biblical republic invited agnostics and atheists, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, pagans, to live here. Welcomed them all. This is the most tolerant nation on earth. But the day it no longer tolerates its own proper self, the day it allows public school know-nothings to suppress religion, is the beginning of the end of American toleration.

Americans, please: do not permit it. Do not let this stand!

UPDATE: At last word, it wasn’t standing.

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