Recently I quizzed a public school class about their method of learning. I wanted them to realize what I already knew, that most young people today don't learn the same way we older folks once did. We read books. They watch videos.
I listed several learning methods and asked the pupils to score how they learned best. The kids chose "watching" (visual or video) as number one, followed by reading, listening, doing, and writing. But visual learning topped everything by a wide margin. Fifty percent of the students thought they learned best by watching something on a TV, iPhone, computer or movie screen. Reading a book or listening to a teacher? Way back in the list!
Most of us adults learned by reading a book or listening to a teacher. Is it any surprise that this modern generation is almost totally ignorant of the great truths that built our society? TV shows or movies don't talk about the Bible, the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, or the amazing things our pioneers fought for to give us this legacy, the great experiment we call America.
Patrick Henry literally gave his life to take a stand, to insist that we have freedom of speech. He died fighting an authoritarian tyranny. What would you have done? Dietrich Bonheoffer in Germany, under Hitler's reign, resisted that evil government and was imprisoned. Would you have stood for morality, for truth? For his freedom of conscience, for saying what was right, he died resisting the boot of Nazi thugs.
During our Revolutionary War period, a hero of the nascent United States, Patrick Henry, wrote, "The Constitution is not a document to restrain the people; it is an instrument to restrain the government." When our government uses its authority without restraint, when our police use weapons unnecessarily, when the legal apparatus of the state constrains the liberty of citizens without due process: tyranny is the result. People rise up against oppression. Just before the British hanged Patrick Henry, he made this famous statement, "Give me liberty or give me death!" The British immediately gave him death. What would you have done?
I picked Patrick Henry as my subject for a speech and won first place in a statewide contest in Florida. I still believe in the freedom of speech, whether by Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or Donald Trump. They have a right to speak. Our U.S. Attorney General is giving consideration as to whether or not law enforcement agencies of the federal government can arrest anyone who speaks up to disagree with climate change. Really? Will she arrest the "Flat Earth" people, too?
I believe that freedom of speech is our right, that it's sacred. Just like God gives us the right to choose sin or to rebel, to disbelieve, so our American system of liberty - plus our responsibility - gives us the right to dissent with our government.
Therefore, I can state here and now my belief: that the U.S. Congress has stolen from the American people for generations in order to protect the elite, privileged class. Taxes, banking rules, investment regulations, national debt, and every kind of government action are strongly biased in favor of the wealthy and the powerful.
Without free speech, we have no freedom of religion. Real freedoms all disappear if we are not free to express our thoughts. Liars, manipulators, swindlers, phonies; they all take advantage of free speech. But we must defend the right of everyone to express a differing viewpoint, liberal or conservative, even if we disagree with them.
I guess I have become a visual learner also. I've learned by watching. I've seen what our political leaders have done. For decades now, for the sake of greedy gain, or to retain selfish power, I've seen them bend our laws. I've seen them weaken the fabric of our nation, and sow social disintegration upon our two-parent families.
RON WOOD IS A WRITER, TEACHER AND MINISTER. EMAIL HIM AT [email protected] OR VISIT WWW.TOUCHEDBYGRACE.ORG.
Editorial on 04/27/2016