“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” — Ronald Reagan
Throughout the Kings and Chronicles, it is amazing how one generation could be so godly, and the next generation could be so evil. This line remains so true: we are only one generation away from apostasy. The same is true of freedom.
I am a freedom sentimentalist. I have walked through the fields of famous battle grounds where the trajectory of history was changed. The grounds of Lexington where the shot heard round the world first rang out and the battle at nearby Concord Bridge followed suit. The Revolutionary Forts at Massac and Vincennes where George Rodgers Clark displayed his military brilliance in pioneer America. I have looked through the glass at the Smithsonian and stared at the flag that withstood the British onslaught at Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem in the War of 1812. First and Second Manasseh. Antietam. Spotsylvania, Shiloh. Vicksburg. And, of course, Gettysburg. All of which scarred the soul of America during the Civil War. The natural beauty of Little Big Horn was sullied by the memory of the massacre that occurred there, marked only by small, individual crosses that identified where members of the 7th Calvary fell, including George Custer. I have watched the oil seep up from the Arizona to the surface of the Pacific Ocean as a reminder of the genesis of World War II. The beaches along the Normandy coastline still have numerous gun placements that serve as rusting reminders of the carnage that happened that day, especially on Omaha Beach. The moon-like craters that remain at Pointe du Hoc along with the heavily damaged concrete bunkers still takes onlookers on an eerie journey through the passage of time in world history.
Then there are the cemeteries. My children have looked at the ancient graves that sit on the steep hillside above Plymouth Rock yards from Coles Hill where Pilgrims were buried that first winter. These tombstones of freedom still trumpet the sacrifices made for freedom from men, women, and even children. At Boston’s Granary Burying Grounds, Revolutionary War leaders like John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere’s monuments still stand as vanguards of freedom two and one-half centuries later, as they whisper, “we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” Of course, the sacredness of Arlington encapsulates almost every war for the American ideal as does the Normandy American Cemetery close to Omaha Beach that is the final resting place for almost ten thousand young Americans who never made it back home.
While many Americans are historically disconnected and adrift from the values of previous generations, it is incumbent on homeschooling parents that we repeatedly tell our children of freedom’s many stories lest they too fall prey to the plague of historical incompetence. Understanding that almost two-thirds (62%) of young adults 18 – 29 hold a favorable view of socialism, our generation’s fight is not with bombs, guns, and tanks, but is against ideologies formed from the indoctrination of ignorance.
Homeschooling represents one of the few bastions of true freedom in America. After the spring session at Springfield, we in Illinois realize this too is under attack, not from enemies throughout the world but from politicians within our own state. Like those Americans who were willing to fight and die for their freedoms, may we rise to the same level of conviction. Fortunately, our battle will not cost us blood, but it will demand time, energy, and resources in varying degrees in various seasons. Our children need to see us fight. They need to see Dad and Mom stand for something more than personal comfort and convenience. They need to see us stand for them, for our grandchildren, and for future generations unseen.
We pray that all the famous battlefields which dot the generational landscapes of American freedom will light the torch of freedom in the souls of homeschoolers everywhere, so that our children will have their own historical reference point to which they can look and tell stories of their parents’ generational battles who knew and embraced the fact that freedom and responsibility were, and still are, inseparable.
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