We need to preserve the American way
We need to preserve the American way
Dear Editor:
Several weeks ago, Tamaqua School Board President Larry Wittig was persuading his fellow board members that it was not good policy to allow Tamaqua High School Athletes to participate in Sunday morning activities. He lost that debate 4 to 2 and Tamaqua School Board voted to authorize participation on Sunday mornings.
I knew that I wanted to write a letter to support Mr. Wittig, who is a great leader and a model to other school board presidents, but I did not know exactly what to say. With the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, I came across some of his thoughts that support the efforts of Mr. Wittig.
Scalia, a practicing Catholic, said that we cannot favor one religion over another but we can favor religion over no religion. He went on to say that it is the American way to teach our children about our creator.
When you push the thoughts of God out of the minds of our next generations, you undermine our society. In the past couple of decades that is what we did, and the results are obvious.
When I was a boy God was a much bigger part of our life than that of kids today. My brother who attended public school had prayer in the school. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts both spoke of God. Sunday school, church youth groups and CYO flourished. In 1976 my Lehighton basketball coach started our games with a prayer.
That was the American way. I never thought about it that way, but Scalia was right. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany actively and aggressively took God out of society for adults and even more so with their children. They used sports and nationalism to do so, and it worked for a while. Then it didn’t.
As a CCD teacher (that is Sunday school for my non-Catholic friends) for over 10 years, I know that children love to learn about God. A creator who made the world they live in makes more sense to them than a big bang out of nothing.
It is the world that pushes the thoughts of God out of their minds. We do so at our peril for us and our society. Schools and athletic programs that are meant to help children grow are doing just the opposite by separating children from God.
Bravo to Larry Wittig for standing up for the American way and fighting to keep Sunday morning for learning about and worshipping the creator.
Sincerely
John Meier
New Ringgold
