History
History is nearly forgotten today - in education, in public, and in many cases in private. When asked who was our ally in World War II, over 50% of high school seniors got the answer wrong. It was a multiple choice question. The options were: Germany, Italy, Japan, or Russia. Now if 50% of high school seniors (who were supposedly just taught this very recently) could not get this basic history question right, you can know that something is not right.
“Not to know what happened before one was born is always to remain a child.” ~ Cicero
History is a forgotten discipline. History has lost its importance in American culture. History in cultures overseas in many many places is very important. People die in other countries because of what their ancestors did. Our children could not even tell you what happened ten years ago no less what their ancestors did. To no fault of them, we are simply not teaching them their history. We don’t see the point in it. We ourselves (in many cases) do not know our history or why it would be important to know.
“Without this historical knowledge, this memory of things said and done, his today will be aimless and his tomorrow without significance.” ~Carl Becker
I have never understood the common mantra, “Ignorance is bliss.” If you place a live toad into boiling water, it will jump out of it to save itself, but if you place it into cold water and slowly heat it, it will not jump out but will slowly die not knowing it was being killed. How can ignorance be blissful? What is really being said by the phrase “Ignorance is bliss.” is that bliss is not caring about anything because if nothing matters, then there is nothing that is important and you can feel whatever you want to feel because no matter what happens, it doesn’t matter so it might as well not have happened and if it didn’t happen then there is nothing to get upset over.
“Everyone needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” ~Saul Bellow
Historical Relativism - This is what is happening to history in our country. Because history does not have the scientific certainty that, say, physics or chemistry does, it cannot be objective in the same sense that the scientific disciplines are. History then becomes a point of concern. Can it be trustworthy? Is it true that history is written by the victors? Do historians not read into history what they want to see? Is it not a matter of interpretation? How can we truly know what happened back then? If we cannot know for certain then is it that vital that we know it?
A Senator, Roger Wicker, once asked some high school students (seniors) in an advanced-placement class to name their unalienable rights. He was quoting from the Declaration of Independence. The students couldn’t name one. The senator tried to help them out by starting it out for them. He said, “Among these are life, and...” One student finished for him, “Death?”
With Historic Relativism becoming commonplace, something else has happened that is even more tragic. Historic Revisionism. Historic revisionism is the “reinterpretation” of the historic facts that we use to know to be true. If you have read a history text book in the last 30 to 40 years, more than likely you have read a historic revision. Now don’t get me wrong, if new evidence leads to the logical verdict of a new interpretation, then it should be warranted, but in many cases historic facts are being forged, forgotten or manipulated to say what the historian wants to say. This does not prove that history is relative. No, it is those historians who believe that history is relative that are using that belief as rationale to forge, manipulate or change history.
To forget where you came from is to forget who you are. Who you will be, well now that is up to you.
History is vitally important. History is the memory of the past. To forget history is like to forget your own memory. Much is lost in the process. If you forget what has been done you cannot know what can be done. If you do not know what has been done, you cannot know what should not be done. Can you know yourself without your memories? Can you know what humanity is if you have abandoned humanity's past? And if you do not know what humanity is, can you truly know yourself?
If you change the past, have you then changed the future? If you change what people think about where they came from, can you change the way they look at themselves? If you lie to someone who does not remember who they are, can they tell that you are lying?
Please, I beg of you. We need to wake up. Remember!
To ignore the future is to walk into a brick wall, but to ignore the past is like walking into the brick wall...again.
Jared Williams
“Not to know what happened before one was born is always to remain a child.” ~ Cicero
History is a forgotten discipline. History has lost its importance in American culture. History in cultures overseas in many many places is very important. People die in other countries because of what their ancestors did. Our children could not even tell you what happened ten years ago no less what their ancestors did. To no fault of them, we are simply not teaching them their history. We don’t see the point in it. We ourselves (in many cases) do not know our history or why it would be important to know.
“Without this historical knowledge, this memory of things said and done, his today will be aimless and his tomorrow without significance.” ~Carl Becker
I have never understood the common mantra, “Ignorance is bliss.” If you place a live toad into boiling water, it will jump out of it to save itself, but if you place it into cold water and slowly heat it, it will not jump out but will slowly die not knowing it was being killed. How can ignorance be blissful? What is really being said by the phrase “Ignorance is bliss.” is that bliss is not caring about anything because if nothing matters, then there is nothing that is important and you can feel whatever you want to feel because no matter what happens, it doesn’t matter so it might as well not have happened and if it didn’t happen then there is nothing to get upset over.
“Everyone needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” ~Saul Bellow
Historical Relativism - This is what is happening to history in our country. Because history does not have the scientific certainty that, say, physics or chemistry does, it cannot be objective in the same sense that the scientific disciplines are. History then becomes a point of concern. Can it be trustworthy? Is it true that history is written by the victors? Do historians not read into history what they want to see? Is it not a matter of interpretation? How can we truly know what happened back then? If we cannot know for certain then is it that vital that we know it?
A Senator, Roger Wicker, once asked some high school students (seniors) in an advanced-placement class to name their unalienable rights. He was quoting from the Declaration of Independence. The students couldn’t name one. The senator tried to help them out by starting it out for them. He said, “Among these are life, and...” One student finished for him, “Death?”
With Historic Relativism becoming commonplace, something else has happened that is even more tragic. Historic Revisionism. Historic revisionism is the “reinterpretation” of the historic facts that we use to know to be true. If you have read a history text book in the last 30 to 40 years, more than likely you have read a historic revision. Now don’t get me wrong, if new evidence leads to the logical verdict of a new interpretation, then it should be warranted, but in many cases historic facts are being forged, forgotten or manipulated to say what the historian wants to say. This does not prove that history is relative. No, it is those historians who believe that history is relative that are using that belief as rationale to forge, manipulate or change history.
To forget where you came from is to forget who you are. Who you will be, well now that is up to you.
History is vitally important. History is the memory of the past. To forget history is like to forget your own memory. Much is lost in the process. If you forget what has been done you cannot know what can be done. If you do not know what has been done, you cannot know what should not be done. Can you know yourself without your memories? Can you know what humanity is if you have abandoned humanity's past? And if you do not know what humanity is, can you truly know yourself?
If you change the past, have you then changed the future? If you change what people think about where they came from, can you change the way they look at themselves? If you lie to someone who does not remember who they are, can they tell that you are lying?
Please, I beg of you. We need to wake up. Remember!
To ignore the future is to walk into a brick wall, but to ignore the past is like walking into the brick wall...again.
Jared Williams
