The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1178794
C-8 Wednesday, October 23, 2019 The Press-Dispatch OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Well, it's that time of the year when it gets dark earlier and sun- rise is getting later. So far, the weather has been calm and I just truly get thrilled at appreciating many days with blue skies and few clouds. Then as I scan the surroundings to look at the trees and the remaining flowers still in bloom, I feel a sense of hard to ex- plain joy about the earth we live in. Yes, yes, I know what's com- ing in the next few months. The cold weather and fewer days of sunshine. We all have complained about these year after year but the cycle will go on, regardless. I ad- mire those I meet who relate they love cold weather and winter. My tropical bones love sun- shine, beaches, palm trees and day dreaming which I go through these emotions year after year dur- ing winter time. I forgot to mention, some leaves have now started to turn colors, and more deer and squirrels and skunks and raccoons are be- coming road kill. So, whether we like it or not, it's coming. Old man winter is just around the corner. So lets enjoy the fall season first. • • • I have a friend who I truly am amazed by his positive attitude. He relates at the end of the day, he goes through 10 things he is very grateful for, and I have taken his advice to heart. So let me see, there's food we all have in abundance, a roof over our head and warm clothes to keep us comfortable. We have vehicles that bring us places, re- sources to pay our bills, medical care that is second to none, wa- ter and electricity that is practically uninter- rupted, comforts and conveniences half of the world is longing for. Let's not forget fami- ly and friends we are surrounded with who uplift our hearts. Well, there are also those that may not necessarily make us hap- Something newsworthy? Give us a call— 812-354-8500 Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond Forsaking God My Point of View by Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Switching seasons Minority View by Walter E. Williams Intolerance in academia Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9 If you need an accurate update on some of the madness at the na- tion's institutions of higher learn- ing, check out Minding the Cam- pus, a nonprofit independent orga- nization. John Leo, its editor-in- chief, says that the organization's prime mission is dedicated to the revival of intellectual pluralism and the best traditions of liberal education at America's colleges and universities. Leo's most re- cent compilation of campus mad- ness leaves one nearly breathless. In a USA Today op-ed, Emily Walton, a sociology professor at Dartmouth University, said that all college students should take a mandatory course on black histo- ry and white privilege. She says that by taking her class, white students "come to understand that being a good person does not make them innocent but rather they, too, are implicated in a sys- tem of racial dominance." Walton adds, "A fter spending their young lives in a condition of 'white blind- ness,' that is, the inability to see their own racial privilege, they be- gin to awaken to the notion that racism has systematically kept others down while benefiting them and other white people." This is inculcating guilt based on skin color. These young white kids had nothing to do with slav- ery, Jim Crow or other horrible ra- cial discriminatory acts. If one be- lieves in individual responsibility, he should find the in- doctrination by Wal- ton offensive. To top it off, she equates the meritocratic system of hard work with white discrimination against minorities. If you thought inte- gration was in, check out the University of Nevada. Based on a report in the College Fix, John Leo describes how integration on that campus is actively dis - couraged — and at taxpayer ex- pense. The university provides separate dorms for different iden- tities including Howell Town for black students, Stonewall Suites for LGBTQ students, the women- only housing of Tonopah commu- nity, the Healthy Living Floor for tofu and kale lovers and study-in- tensive floors for those who want to graduate. According to a New York Post report, New York City school ad- ministrators have been taught that pillars of Western Civilization such as objectivity, individualism and belief in the written word all are examples of white suprema- cy. All school principals, district office administrators and super- intendent teams were required to attend the anti-white supremacy training put on by the city Depart- ment of Education's Office of Equity and Access. They learn that a belief in an "ulti- mate truth" (objectivi- ty) leads to a dismiss- al of "alternate view- points or emotions" as "bad" and that an emphasis on the writ- ten word overlooks the "ability to relate to others" and leads to "teaching that there is only 'one right way' to do something." Administrators learn that other "hallmarks" of white supremacy include a "sense of urgency," "quantity over quali- ty" and "perfectionism." Richard Carranza, New York City school superintendent, says the work- shops are just about "what are our biases and how we work with them." Michael Bloomberg, former New York City mayor, says that political rage and increasingly po- larized discourse are endanger- ing our nation. Americans used to move forward productively after elections regardless of which side won. Now, we seem paralyzed by absolute schism and intolerance. Bloomberg pointed to colleges as a prime example of a rising level Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker Will the Supreme Court decide for education freedom? It's a middle class boom How much of the monetary gains from the Trump economic speed-up have gone to the middle class? If you ask Democratic sen- ators and presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Har- ris or Bernie Sanders, the answer to that question is … almost none. Trump's economy is great for billionaires, not for working peo- ple," Sanders likes to say. Mean- while, House Speaker Nancy Pe- losi grouses that under the Trump agenda "the rich get richer, and everyone else is stuck paying the bill." Uh huh. That's been the stan- dard liberal riff for the last couple of years as they try to explain how a president who they said would create a second Great Depression has created boom times with the lowest inflation and unemploy- ment in half a century. But not a word of this is true, according to new Census Bureau data on the incomes of America's middle class. This study by for- mer Census Bureau researchers and now statisticians at Sentier Re- search has found gigantic income gains for the middle class under Trump. The median — or aver- age income family — has seen a gain of $5,003 since Trump came into office. Median household in- come has now reached $ 65,976 – an all-time high and up more than 8 percent in 2019 dollars under the Trump presidency. Under George W. Bush the household income gains were a lit- tle over $400 in eight years and un- der Barack Obama the gains were $1,043. That was in eight years for each. Under Trump, in less than three years the extra income is about three times larger. These gains under Trump are so large in such a short period of time, I asked the Sentier Research team to triple check the numbers. Sure enough, in each occasion the income swing was $5,000. This is a bonanza for the mid- dle class and the extra income in the pockets of tens of millions of Americans is getting spent. Con- sumers are king today in Ameri- ca and fatter wallets translate in- to more store sales. Home Depot and Lowes recently recorded huge sales surges. The tax cut also added an addi- tional $2,500 to a typical family of four's after-tax incomes. So after taking account of taxes owed, in- comes for most middle class fam- ilies is up closer to $ 6,000 in the Trump era. Memo to Nancy Pelosi: That ain't crumbs. Ronald Reagan used to talk about the importance of real take- home pay. He asked voters in 1980 if they felt "better off than four years ago" when Jimmy Carter was elected. Thanks to high tax- es, high inflation and high unem- ployment in the late 1970s, the an- swer to that question was clearly no. Ronald Reagan won and Jim- my Carter lost. Trump should begin asking Americans if they are better off than four years ago. Today, the an- swer to that question is clearly yes. It's the economy stupid. Everyone — especially the middle class — is sharing in the fruits of the Trump boom. Stephen Moore is the Distin- guished Visiting Fellow for Project for Economic Growth at The Heri- tage Foundation. The Supreme Court, in its new term, will hear a case that could re- move a major barrier that stands between what our nation is today and what it can and should be. The case is Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. It's about whether states can block use of public funds that par- ents use to pay for their children's education in a religious school. We have already been down this road at the federal level. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled in Zel- man v. Simmons-Harris that there is no constitutional obstacle to par- ents accessing public funds avail- able for education to pay for reli- gious education for their children. The logic was crystal clear. The constitution prohibits government from mandating or establishing a particular religion. But if pub- lic funds for education are avail- able for use by parents and par- ents choose to use these funds to send their children to a religious school, it's the parents, not the gov- ernment, who make the decision. This cleared things up at the fed- eral level. Now Espinoza can clear things up at the state level. Thirty-seven states have as part of their state constitution language known as the Blaine Amendment. Blaine Amendments prohibit the use of government funds for religious activity. They have been a major obsta- cle to state programs that wish to provide vouchers or tax credits to finance scholarships that can pro- vide parents funds for any educa- tion they want for their children — including religious education. In the Espinoza case, the state of Montana enacted a tax credit pro- gram in 2015 that gave taxpayers credits for contributing to schol- arship funds for parents to pay for education. The Montana Department of Revenue blocked use of these funds for religious schools, claim- ing that it violated Montana's Blaine Amendment. The case made its way to the Montana Supreme Court, which threw out the whole program, claiming that allowing any of the funds provided through tax cred- its to go to religious schools violat- ed the state constitution. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. A decision concluding that Blaine Amendment prohibitions blocking public funds for paren- tal choice in education violates the U.S. Constitution's protection of religious liberty will have huge nationwide repercussions. It will open the door to put free- dom and responsibility for the ed- ucation of children where it should be — with parents. The First Amendment of the Constitution is about protecting religious liberty. It is not about banning religion from American public life. Too often, in these con- fused times, it has been interpret- ed as the latter. Disproportionately, it is low-in- come minority children who have been the victims of absence of re- ligious liberty in education. They are the ones most likely trapped in failing public schools with no way out. But this is about more than providing competition to public schools. It is about freedom. Parents should be able to decide what their children need and how they should be educated. I cannot think of anything more un-American than telling a parent that it is illegal for their children to learn the Ten Commandments in school, or learn that marriage is a critically important sacrament be- tween one man and one woman, or that life is sacred from the be- ginning of its journey in the womb. And I cannot think of a more de- No nation in the history of the world has endured without a con- nection to some form of religious virtue. The Bolsheviks of Russia tried it and they lasted 75 years. Though some may point to China, their nation is still enmeshed with Confucius and Buddhism. The scripture has much to say about a nation and people who for- sakes their God. The prophet Jer- imiah wrote "Has a nation ever changed its gods?( Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols…"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cis- terns that cannot hold water. It is difficult not to consider the application of Jerimiah's lament to our own nation as we watch the po- litical battles as candidates try to define themselves, and in so do- ing they rip away any façade of re- ligious liberty. A lot has been said about abridg- ing gun rights, instituting gun buy- back programs, national health- care, and other unattainable prom- ises aimed at enticing the populous for their vote. Though some may argue that Climate Change, or ecological sus- tainability, or Corpo- rate malfeasance is the most pressing is- sue, in reality it is the political attack and dismissal of God that is the most serious is- sue confronting our nation because what it entails for our long- term viability. Just one election cycle ago [2016], a political par- ty voted down the insertion of the words "God-given" in their plat- form. What does that say? Recently, the same party passed a resolution criticizing the First Amendment's provision for re- ligious liberty. The caucus stat- ed that religious liberty is used to "justify public policy that has threatened the civil rights and liberties of many Americans, in- cluding but not limited to the LG- BT community, women, and eth- nic and religious/nonreligious mi- norities." What does that say about God and national morality? Don't hold your breath question to be raised by any candidate on how he/she feels about religious liberty, because it seems [religious liberty] is, as Lathan Watts writes " no longer a freedom worth protecting, and is, in fact, a threat to civil rights." How far down the path of disaffiliation with the Christianity are we? In a recent fo- rum, Beto O'Rourke was asked "Do you think religious insti- tutions like colleges, churches, charities should they lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage? " His reply was "Yes, there can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone, or any institution, any organization in America, that de- nies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us. And so as president, we are going to make that a priority and we are going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans." For O'Rourke, there is no right to religious liberty and free speech if it challenges a protected class of people. Christians are not marching to Continued on page 9 Heritage Viewpoint By Stephen Moore