During WWII, American soldiers were issued a Bible with a message in the front from President Roosevelt. American leaders during that time of national crisis knew that the faith and character of our soldiers and citizens were as important as our bullets and bombs. A lot has changed in America.

The American Civil Liberties Union is now threatening to sue the U.S. Naval Academy unless it abolishes its daily lunchtime prayer. Nine midshipmen have complained to the ACLU saying that they feel pressured to participate.

Other branches of the military have already caved in to the pressure by eliminating officially sponsored prayers. The Air Force responded to accusations of proselytizing by issuing guidelines that discourage public prayer at most official events. Unfortunately, we have learned that when prayers are reduced to whispers, character and values are reduced to nothing.

The Naval Academy has said they will not eliminate their traditional lunchtime prayer, and all Americans should applaud their willingness to fight the infamous ACLU tyranny. The academy issued a statement saying that some form of prayer has been offered for midshipmen at meals since the school’s founding in 1845 and that it is “consistent with other practices throughout the Navy.”

Go Navy! Thanks for standing tall and not whispering.

Free speech must include the right to say that some things are wrong. The California Supreme Court has overruled the right of its citizens to say that gay marriage is wrong. They have taken away the right of Californians with traditional values to protect and esteem marriage as society’s most important institution. The people of California had established a law that protected marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. The Court determined that they had no right to believe that traditional marriage was right and no right to say that gay marriage is wrong.

Restoring our right to say that some things are wrong is the purpose of the book Why We Whisper. If you have any doubt about the implications of the California Court decision, all you have to do is look at what has happened in Massachusetts since their courts made the same decision. The legalization of same sex marriage has become a government endorsement of the homosexual lifestyle. Public schools now teach the “normalcy” of homosexuality even to kindergarteners. Parents who have objected have been arrested for “breaking the law.” Their freedom of speech has been muzzled.

When government endorses and promotes destructive behavior and takes away the right of Americans to say that it is wrong, we destroy our culture and our hopes for the future. Why We Whisper will give you the ammunition you need to fight back. A link to Amazon.com is on the home page of this site.

The major theme of Why We Whisper is the loss of freedom of speech for Americans with traditional values. When government aggressively promotes a secular worldview, it tramples on the basic rights of people of faith and the principles that made our country great. In April, a high school principal in Massachusetts, Michael Jones of Lexington High School, demonstrated again how government is aggressively fighting to silence traditional voices.

Jones, who is well known for promoting homosexuality to students, set aside a full day of school to promote the gay lifestyle and to make students aware of the “discrimination” suffered by homosexuals. In a letter to parents, the principal warned that students who expressed a different opinion would be violating “hate speech” restrictions and would be subject to legal constraints. This has been a consistent theme in the Lexington school district. Homosexual groups have been allowed to distribute anti-religious material to students, but those who believe that homosexual behavior is wrong have been reduced to whispers.

One family group reports that “the homosexual club will be distributing pamphlets, stickers, and other materials. Can other groups do so? No. Only groups that are properly registered with the administration and which have approval of the administration can distribute literature.”

As a government institution, this public school is advancing a secular agenda by threatening and intimidating those with traditional views. This is not compassion or tolerance. It is simply government taking a position against traditional values and common sense. Americans will pay a high price if they don’t speak up. It is time to stand up and speak out. No more whispers!

I want to thank all the visitors to this site who have given us their stories. We have received too many stories to post them all, but will continue to select and post the accounts that represent the wide variety of threats to free speech that Americans face. We will use this blog to keep our visitors up-to-date about responses to the book, as well as current events that relate to the themes of Why We Whisper.

Interviews with dozens of radio talk show hosts have provided me with new clarity to obstacles that face Americans with traditional views. As I have answered questions from hosts and callers, it has become increasingly apparent that traditional Americans must learn to make the distinction between a secular government and a government that promotes valueless secularism throughout society.

We should insist on a secular government. Our government should not develop laws and regulations based on religion. As citizens and voters, we must support a government that enforces a system of law and order that promotes beneficial actions by individuals and society as a whole. Law, order and equal justice irrespective of race, religion or group affiliation are essential requirements to develop and preserve a free society.

However, we must also insist that our government does not attempt to promote secularism in the private sector or to muzzle the views of those who speak and act based on religious convictions. There is a big difference between a secular government and a government that promotes secularism.

Since the 1960’s, America’s federal government has become an aggressive promoter of a valueless secular society. What was considered wrong by our free society has been deemed right by the federal government: abortion, premarital sex, unwed births, pornography, gambling, homosexuality and other destructive behaviors. Americans who dare to speak out against these destructive activities will likely face the intimidation of politically correct (government-endorsed) government surrogates and government empowered media.

Amartya Sen, a winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, writes in his book Development As Freedom: “Indeed, the freedom to participate in critical evaluation and in the process of value formation is among the most crucial freedoms of social existence. The choice of social values cannot be settled merely by the pronouncements of those in authority who control the levers of government.”

A free people must have the freedom to establish the values that build and protect their way of life. Unfortunately, our government has intervened and is now aggressively promoting valueless secularism in our schools, universities, business, voluntary organizations and even in our churches. Today, when Americans stand up and speak out against destructive secular ideas, they often face the full force of government. For many, the threats and intimidation are too much. Their beliefs become whispers.

Fighting for the freedom of religious expression and standing for traditional American values is not promoting a government theocracy. It is fighting for the freedom to live out the values and beliefs that made America great. No more whispers!!!

If you haven’t read Why We Whisper, please read it. This book will give you the ammunition you need to stand up and speak out.

Amid a candidate visit on campus in the recent presidential primary season, I leaned over to ask a reporter from the National Review, “How is Mr. Buckley?” He paused and said, “Busy,” then glanced away to say, “He will not go quietly into that dark night.”

Yet on Wednesday of this week, William F. Buckley slipped gently away.

Although a product of the achievement of American capitalism, he always stood a bit apart from the country that gave him success. He was a Catholic at Yale, when it was the most Protestant of the Ivy League schools. As a reluctant politician, he ran for mayor of New York, and when asked what he would do if elected, promptly responded: “Demand a recount.” He defended the best of western culture when virtually all the intellectuals of his era were seduced by the ideals of command economies and state socialism.

In time, Buckley became a familiar television personality; his show, Firing Line, aired from 1966 until 1999. With a mischievous, toothy grin, he grilled opponents on issues foreign and domestic, and in the process became a fixture of American politics. The show was virtually the only forum on television where liberals and conservatives confronted one another under the civil rules of debate.

He skied the Alps in Switzerland, and sailed the ocean in various boats, the Patito, which is Spanish for “duck,” being his favorite. All the while, his written output was astonishing. He authored forty-five books, including spy novels and wrote 5,600 columns “From the Right” in National Review. One of his most important books, and still in print, is God and Man at Yale, first published in 1951. Many things in college shaped Bill Buckley for the rest of his life, none more so than his experience as an undergraduate.

At age sixteen he wrote his mother, “Probably, the greatest contribution you have given me is your faith.” What he saw at college was an aversion by professors and students to the precepts of Christianity. “The atmosphere of a college is overwhelmingly secular,” he wrote, “the influential members of the faculty tend to discourage religious inclinations, or to persuade the students that Christianity is nothing more than a ‘ghost-fear’ or some kind of ‘twentieth-century witchcraft.’”

Buckley foresaw the nascent emergence of what would later be called “political correctness” on campus, with a promotion and tenure system that produced Departments of Religion where faculty did not believe in God, economic departments that favored Marxism, and a rhetoric of “academic freedom” to camouflage an ongoing critique of capitalism and Western values. His religious beliefs underlay his outrage at the secular teaching because he saw the Christian faith as the foundation for Western opposition to communism, and the confidence in the unbridled individualism that once characterized American public life. The conservatism he explained and defended was a product of this worldview, much more so than his economic convictions.

I saw this side of Mr. Buckley when he delivered a lecture on Clemson’s campus in the fall of 1989. He filled Tillman Hall, with an overflow crowd. That evening on stage William F. Buckley was witty, histrionic, and satirical. He called the painter Salvador Dali “a dude,” and used Michael Dukakis as an example of liberalism’s empty rhetoric. The next morning I was commissioned to take the speaker to the airport, and I arrived early. Buckley was little like the public person I saw the night before; he was gentle, shy, almost deferential in apology about taking my time as I helped load in travel-scarred leather bags.

On the trip to Greenville, we talked about the conservative movement after the election of George H.W. Bush. He was optimistic. I asked him to mention in his column a forthcoming book a colleague and I had on conservatism. He did, and he even went so far to write the then-president of Clemson about campus restrictions on freedom of speech when some students wanted to protest abortion practices. He was confident that college students at the time would remember that faith in God had toppled communism, not American politicians or our foreign policy.

At the airport the porter came to the car and greeted, “Mr. Buckley” by name as he unloaded the trunk. I saw firsthand as Bill Buckley walked into the airport, and people came over to introduce themselves, how hard it was to be a public person and travel by air in America.

Bill Buckley showed the nation how good it was to revel in the pleasures of a life well-lived-in moral virtue. When he sold his boat, Patito, he summed up his philosophy: “forfeit[ing] all that is not lightly done … it brings to mind the step yet ahead, which is giving up life itself.”

_________________
J. David Woodard teaches political science at Clemson University. His latest book is with U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, and is entitled, WHY WE WHISPER: RESTORING OUR RIGHT TO SAY IT’S WRONG.

Last week I spent two days and a night on the ground in Iraq. I was encouraged by the progress that the Iraqis have made with the help of American Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and civilian support personnel. We took a Blackhawk to a small community about 30 miles south of Bagdad and landed at an American Army outpost. This town had been controlled and brutalized by Al Qaeda until three months ago, yet we were able to walk down the main street and talk to shop keepers who had reopened their markets. Iraqi soldiers were patrolling along with young men, called Sons of Iraq, who were keeping their streets clear of any enemies. Many Iraqis ran out to greet our soldiers. It was heartwarming to see our brave men and women appreciated in such a genuine way.

Back home it was a different story from the Berkeley, California City Council. After millions of Americans expressed outrage at Berkeley’s distorted characterization of our Marines, the City Council backtracked a little, but fell short of a real apology. They also refused to revoke the special parking and megaphone permit that they had awarded to the anti-American group Code Pink.

The “Semper Fi” bill (Semper Fi is the Marine motto that means “always faithful”) that I introduced in the Senate along with many other Republican Senators would strip Berkeley of over $2 million in wasteful, pork barrel earmarks including hundreds of thousands for gourmet organic lunches. The same bill has been introduced in the U.S. House by Congressman John Campbell and dozens of other Republicans. The Democrats in both Houses have so far blocked a vote on the bill, but we will continue to press the issue.

Some have said that I am opposed to free speech by Code Pink. This group has been demonstrating in front of the Marine recruiting office for months. They have every right to speak out, but free speech was not enough for them. They wanted an advantage over the majority of citizens who support the Marines. Code Pink wanted government power behind their agenda and Berkeley City Council was more than happy to provide it. When the city of Berkeley took the side of Code Pink, they took a position not only against the Marines, but against all Americans who believe in a strong national defense and respect for our men and women in uniform.

The City of Berkeley is trying to use their power to intimidate the Marines, potential recruits, and to silence the voices of Americans who love our country and our traditions. But Americans are not whispering! Pro-American and pro-Marine demonstrators have descended onto Berkeley. Conservative bloggers, radio talk shows,and Fox News have made this a big issue. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have written, emailed,and called their Congressmen and Senators in support of our Marines.

The Berkeley City Council action is a good example of local government taking action against traditional Americans, but the response from millions of Americans is also an example of how Americans can fight back by speaking out.

ACLU Sues to Stop Positive Government Action:

On another front in the culture war, the ACLU is suing a city that is trying to encourage positive behavior and personal responsibility. The city of Davenport, Iowa passed an ordinance that fines parents up to $750 if their child is guilty of three legal offenses including drug use, gun possession,or curfew violation. Parents get a warning after the first offense. Parenting classes are required after a second offense. A third offense will result in fines from $100 to $750.

The ACLU has a history of fighting to take rights away from parents who hold traditional views (many of these are documented in Why We Whisper), but they apparently believe parents should have the right to be irresponsible at everyone else’s expense. The fact is that government at all levels has encouraged irresponsible parenting. The city of Davenport should be commended for attempting to encourage parental responsibility. Unfortunately, Davenport now has to endure another ACLU SLAPP lawsuit along with the expense and media intimidation that accompanies it. Hopefully, Davenport will stand up and fight.

The city government of Berkeley, California recently voted to evict the Marine recruiting office from their downtown office location. They called the Marines “unwelcome intruders.” For weeks the city has encouraged the intimidation of the Marines by the anti-war group Code Pink. The city has given Code Pink protesters a reserved parking place in front of the Marine recruiting office, and given them a permit to use a bull horn to shout their insults at all those who may enter.

This is another obvious case of government-sponsored advocacy of the secular worldview while attempting to intimidate those with traditional views. The people of Berkeley should have the freedom to protest the war (even though only about a dozen protesters usually show up to shout at the Marines), but they need to realize that they wouldn’t have the right to speak
freely and protest without the sacrifice of generations of Marines and millions of American service men and women who have been willing to fight under the flag of the United States.

The City of Berkeley believes in the freedom of speech of anti-traditionalists such as Code Pink, but they do not believe that traditional voices have that same right. They give a few protesters a parking place and a bull horn to shout down our Marines while passing a law to evict the Marines from the city.

We’re fighting back.

I will introduce legislation to wipe out what I believe are illegal earmarks to Berkeley totaling over $2 million from a recent spending bill. We have helped to generate hundreds of press stories across the country accusing the City of Berkeley of insulting Marines and all freedom-loving Americans. I will also call on the President to hold back some federal funds from Berkeley until they reverse their decision.

We’re not whispering, and the City of Berkeley will feel the heat. One final thought: I don’t think anything pink is going to intimidate any Marine. Semper Fi

Over the last week, I have been invited to talk about Why We Whisper on over 50 radio talk shows all over the country. The response has been very positive. Many talk show hosts have read the book and believe that it is important and timely, especially considering the 2008 election.

I have encouraged listeners to come to this website and give us their story. Hundreds have responded, and we have posted a few of these stories for your review. We will also continue to keep you updated on national news that is related to the intimidation of traditional Americans.

One such story comes from San Diego where the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are pushing the San Diego school board to end the long standing policies which require parental notification when students are pregnant and contemplating abortion, as well as parental consent before students leave campus, including trips to abortion clinics.

The ACLU and Planned Parenthood have sent a letter to the school board claiming the policies “violate the privacy rights of students” and must be changed. They also claim the policies that give parents the right to make decisions on behalf of their children are “antiquated and dangerous.”

Fortunately, the Pacific Justice Institute is fighting back on behalf of traditional voices. They sent a letter to the school board which stated that, “Parents are morally and legally responsible for their minor children, so it is just common sense that they should be aware of their students’ whereabouts, particularly if they are being subjected to life-altering medical procedures such as abortions.”

PJI president, Brad Dacus stated, “Contrary to ACLU and Planned Parenthood propaganda, parental responsibility is not antiquated or illegal, it is indispensable to a decent society. We urge the San Diego School Board not to cave in to pressure from radicals who ignore common sense and distort constitutional principles.”

Hopefully, the school board won’t cave. We’ll let you know.

Jim

The sons and daughters of “The Greatest Generation,” our parents’ who survived the Great Depression, won the Second World War and then built the most prosperous economy the world has ever seen, have become accustomed to attending military funerals. A moving part of each ceremony is when a young serviceman or servicewoman folds the American flag and then gives it to a family member saying, “please accept this on behalf of a grateful nation.”

In thousands of military burials, Veterans Administration volunteers have folded the American flag thirteen times, and recited the significance of each fold to survivors. The eleventh fold glorifies “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The twelfth glorifies, “God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost.” After one complaint in California, the Veterans Administration banned the flag-folding recitations at all 125 national cemeteries.

The complaint was filed with the White House over the recitation, and the government quickly back-tracked to allow the flag-folding recitation providing “survivors of the deceased provide material and request it to be read.” In short the ceremony can proceed only if the family fills out the paperwork requesting the ceremony.

This is yet another example of one anti-Christian secularist who wants anti-Christian bigotry to be the law of the land.

Welcome to the Why We Whisper website. I hope you have had the opportunity to read our book because it will give you the information you need to join the battle for our culture in America. Why We Whisper gives many examples of how our own government is promoting costly and destructive behavior. By encouraging and protecting destructive behavior by our citizens, our government has made it “right” to act in ways that hurt our culture and our country. Effectively, our government has taken away our right to say that some things are “wrong.” This is a clear violation of the freedom of speech for Americans who hold traditional views. And this is why we whisper when we say that some things are just plain wrong.

Our book suggests a number of solutions, including encouraging Americans to speak out when government or their surrogates try to muzzle our freedoms. One recent example of an American standing up and speaking out was Andrew Larochelle, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout from Ohio. Andrew asked that a flag be flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of his grandfather. He also requested that the accompanying certificate read, “This flag was flown in honor of Marcel Larochell, my grandfather, for his dedication and love of God, Country, and family.”

When Andrew received his flag, he was alarmed that “God” had been omitted from the certificate. Instead of whispering, Andrew and his Congressman, Michael Turner, took on the government. When the dust settled, Andrew was in Washington presenting the flag and the corrected certificate to his grandfather in front of a national media audience. And the government changed their policy about censoring “God” and religion from flag certificates.

That’s just one of thousands of stories of the government, the ACLU or other para-government groups trying to intimidate Americans with traditional values. WE WANT YOUR STORY. Please use the website to log your story of intimidation or of Americans fighting back against intimidation. We will share many of these stories regularly on this website.

When the Declaration of Independence was finally completed, the Continental Congress asked that it be read in “houses of worship” on the following Sunday. Throughout the Revolutionary War, the British referred to pastors as the “black brigade,” opposing the mother country.

How things have changed. Today the “houses of worship” are seen as something antithetical to government, education and social enrichment.

Take, for example, what happened at Clemson University this fall.
Clemson’s football coach, Tommy Bowden, has a policy of employing a team Chaplin to counsel the young men who play for him. He also has a habit, each August during two-a-day drills, of taking the entire team to church one Sunday. “Church Day,” is a part of his policy of encouraging the young men he coaches to seek more substantive enrichment than that offered on a Saturday afternoon in the fall.

This fall the ACLU found out about “Church Day,” and wrote a letter to the president of the University threatening a lawsuit if the church visits continued. This time the SLAPP tactic didn’t work. The university attorney investigated and found out that “Church Day” was entirely voluntary and several student-athletes had opted out in the past without reprisal.

We are left to wonder what the ACLU will do next fall, when the Clemson team again participates in “Church Day.” This victory might prove short-lived. Think what effect an ACLU lawsuit might have on a high school football coach, or any coach who encourages his athletes to seek guidance in places beyond the athletic field. Americans have whispered as prayers before athletic contests were eliminated because of attacks by the ACLU. It’s time to stop whispering. Our thanks to Clemson for standing tall for freedom.

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