Orwell’s statement should give us serious pause. Are we being effectively destroyed because we have either been denied the truth about our American history or that history has been essentially obliterated by our educational system and our media or both? Are the current generations prepared to pass a brightly lit torch of liberty on to those coming behind them?
America’s history is not all good, grand and glorious. Those seeking to be faithful and truthful in talking about and teaching our history can ill afford to acknowledge that truth. Slavery was an abomination. Our treatment of Native Americans was too often wrong, marked by violence and greed. Assassinations of presidents and other high-profile leaders, riots, and political graft and corruption in high places are vivid reminders that America hasn’t always gotten it right, has not always reflected good morality and ethics in our national life.
However, our negatives are not the sum total of our history. Today, too many want us to believe the ugly parts of our national history consummately define us. Revisionist historians have no qualms about misrepresenting, omitting or fabricating aspects of our history. Unfortunately, rev ...
