Teach Your Children Well
Just like the Israelite covenant, the American covenant cannot continue without parents who pass down its lessons to their children.
And Moses said unto the people: Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage. … And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land … that thou shalt keep this service in this month. … Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall be seen no leavened bread with thee in all thy borders. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day saying: It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
— Exodus 13
America is a covenantal nation; its creed is put forth in the Declaration of Independence. The American covenant was born when Founders pledged themselves in support of this declaration “with a firm reliance upon Divine providence.”
The preservation of the American creed depends upon the perpetuation of the American story and idea from generation to generation.
Civics is critical to that transition. Yet we also must create a society in which we are raising our children to value work and to understand that the previous generations are relying upon them to pass what we believe in to the future.
The lessons of the Exodus are deeply relevant to us as Americans. Perhaps its most important teaching for the future of the American polity is that certain things matter more than politics.
Continue reading at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [subscription required].
Covenants don't endure without parents who pass down its lessons.
Covenants don't endure without parents who pass down its lessons.
