By Jersey Maid
Through political correctness, cancel culture, and censorship, our history is disappearing. The past is important, it defines who we are, and what will happen next. In the public schools, history is no longer taught as it happened. Students are taught a smattering of dates, and a few lists of “important people”. They learn about all the “racist” and bad things that our founding fathers did, and by omitting the best things about their lives, most students grow up learning that history is terrible and uninspiring. Classical history has disappeared from public schools, and I believe that needs to change, if we are to save our country.
The truth is hard to tell because most people don’t want to know the facts. They discredit the truth by calling it fanatical blather, and dismiss the possibility that what they were taught their whole lives, in the public schools, wasn’t the truth. History is not black or white, it is a much more complicated issue and requires both an open mind, and an open heart.
One thing I have learned when studying people in history, is that no man is perfect. People were just as conflicted and imperfect then as they are now. Even though they had their faults, they did great and inspiring things. Knowing who came before, helps us know who we want to be.
Imagine if somebody were to write a biography about you but only wrote about all your faults and left out all the good things about you? You would probably complain and say that it was not an accurate description of yourself. History is taught like this sometimes. The bad things are brought out in front, and the good and great things are left in the background. Then again, if a biography was written about you, but only of all the good things you’ve done, it would be just as incomplete as the first. Only when the whole story is told, can we fully understand who the person was, both good and bad.
Recently I have learned about a very remarkable person in American History. He is often forgotten, and barely remembered as the “Conqueror of the old Northwest.” Most of my friends did not even know who he was. When I explained, they wondered why they had never heard of him before. George Rogers Clark was an extraordinary person, and despite his faults, and shortcomings, I was very inspired by the impressive and heroic things that he did. He once captured a British fort without a single shot fired, and only with the support of a little more than two hundred and fifty men. Soon after this victory, the British realized that the Americans were a force to be reckoned with, and their respect for this American general grew. It became a turning point in the war. Without his efforts on the western front of the revolutionary war, we would not have had victory over the British. This was a very fascinating piece of history to learn about, and I would not have known anything about who he was if I hadn’t decided, that I wanted to know more. Since information is everywhere, nothing is stopping you from going out and learning about whatever you are interested in. One thing that my mom has told me all of my life is that learning doesn’t stop when you graduate. It is a life-long project. Knowledge is power, so the more you know, the more power and influence you will have in this world. One of my favorite scriptures is from the Doctrine of Covenants which reads,
“Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118)
I hope that you will have the desire to learn more, and seek knowledge from the best sources of wisdom. God wants his children to become educated. He loves us, and I know he is pleased when his children seek to understand his works.
– Jersey Maid
