Good Schools, Geoff -- Darwin and Evolution

SELECTED
CONTENTS:

"...every group that wishes to see conflicting interests resolved reasonably, or is wise about the conditions under which it enjoys its own freedom, must be profoundly concerned with the state of freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of inquiry and teaching, freedom of press and other forms of communication, freedom of cultural opportunity and development. For in large measure intelligent moral choice depends upon them."
--Sidney Hook (1902-1988), disciple of John Dewey, and champion of pragmatism and democracy

Frequent writer "Geoff" catches Goodschools in a mistake.

Recently I received a letter from "Geoff" citing what he perceived to be a mistake in the pages of Goodschools. Geoff opened by quoting my words from a Goodschools article:

"'...French Historian Alexis DeTocqueville, trying to capture the
secret of America's success, wrote in the first part of the past century something like this: "America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." '

Thinking cap, please, Mike... exactly where or when did Alexis
DeTocqueville say or write that statement? Please provide me with the source, if you can. Book, chapter, and page number would be helpful."

My response:

Geoff's words here are quite correct. While the words I wrote are frequently attributed to Tocqueville, no one seems to be able to provide the original source. Notables such as Presidents Clinton and Regan both quoted them, Clinton directly attributing them to Tocqueville, while Regan pointed to a "wise man" as the source. The fact is, there is confusion as to the actual source of the quote.

Some think that they were the words of Tocqueville, but that somehow the original hardcopy source of them was lost, or that it was actually in the form of the "oral literature" surrounding Tocqueville. At any rate, Geoff is right. I should not have attributed the words to Tocqueville without hardcopy proof.

I have amended the original to read more like President Regan's rendition, than Clinton's. I have not stopped trying to track the quote down, but until I do, I will cease attributing the words to Tocqueville.

Thanks, Geoff. You have succeeded where all others have thus far failed -- you have caught me in what certainly appears to be a mistake in the pages of Goodschools.

Postscript:

After original publication, I received the following letter regarding this issue. I print it here without comment, and without prejudice:

Dear Mike,

I, too, have not been able to find the original source for that quote. Two things, however, are important to keep in mind. 1) de Toqueville supposedly wrote four volumes instead of the two which are known as Democracy in America. We are still trying to find the other two. 2) Even if we can not document the quote, it is very consistent with his other writings. As correctly quoted in The Making of America you referenced, de Toqueville attributed the greatness of America to its religious influence, talked about the role of the clergy and warned that if America ever looses its moral and religious foundation, she would crumble. These are undeniable conclusions of de Toqueville, even if we cannot find the desired quote.

Best Wishes,

Earl Taylor, Jr.

(Would you like to read a little more about this matter? Click here to check out "The Tocqueville Fraud," by John J. Pitney, Jr., appearing in the Weekly Standard, November 13, 1995.)

Would you like to see related letters and my comments?

--Mike Carrier (MA, NYU--Graduate School of Arts and Science)

This site features a frank presentation of issues facing parents, taxpayers and schools in reforming schools in the twenty-first century. Good Schools promotes good schools, and explains what is necessary to achieve good schools. We are convinced that good schools can be obtained only with sound curriculum, which does not include the teaching of Darwin's theory of origin, or Darwin's theory of evolution. We believe that local school boards need to be empowered, and the influence of teachers' unions ought to be limited to labor-related issues. Teachers' unions should have no say in curriculum.

We are convinced that the teachings of Darwin, particularly Darwin's teachings on evolution, and Darwin's theories on origins, ought not be taught as fact. Darwin and Darwin's theories are not generally accepted by contemporary physicists and cosmologists, and, therefore, Darwin and Darwin's theories ought not be accepted whole-cloth by our schools of education, and ought not be presented as fact in public schools.

Because Richard Dawkins has set himself up as the number one defender of Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, we will go to some length explaining Dawkins' Darwin defenses, and we will do our best to explode Dawkins' Darwin defenses.

We seek to show from Darwin's own hand that Darwin, and Darwin's theory of evolution, are racist at the core. Darwin was a racist, Darwin's theory of evolution is racist, and Darwin's theory of origins is racist.

We further seek to show that Darwin's theory of evolution is not scientific. We show that racism, more than science, was behind Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, and Darwin's theory of origins.

Some of the terms commonly used on this site are: Darwin, Dawkins, schools, public schools, education, gun control, teachers, John Dewey, Littleton, racist, racism , school choice, African American, Sidney Hook, evolution, and Mike Carrier.

Bottom line--good schools require work. Good schools do not just happen. We need good schools, if we are to have a good nation.