Adventure, Heroes, and Heritage

A Treasury of Epic Stories: Making History Exciting and Relevant

 Dinner Topics for Tuesday

Dinner Talk Question: How do you make history exciting and relevant? We have before us the splendid adventure of exploring with our families the vast treasure trove of fascinating forgotten epic stories in our rich American heritage. The heroes and villains, as well as events put into motion by the choices of these individuals, are as thrilling as any popular fantasy of today.

 How do you make history exciting and relevant?

Recently a teacher called in to a radio talk show and informed us that history was being removed from school curricula. It seems that history is being sacrificed for political agenda. I thought, how sad. Now our kids are going to be more detached than ever from their heritage. But then, years ago, when I was in school (and I am a grandmother), the history books were boring anyway. Moreover, they were loaded with falsehoods. It is past time that we parents and grandparents reclaim our rightful role as conveyers of our heritage and values to our children, and not just the young ones. Young adults have also been deprived of facts about the epic heroes in our heritage. Most of the great epic heroes were taught privately or at home, anyway. And some very great brains were kicked out of school.

Voices from the Past Teach Us Today

So we have before us the splendid adventure of exploring with our families the vast treasure trove of fascinating forgotten epic stories in our rich American heritage. The heroes and villains, as well as the events put into motion by the choices of these individuals, are as thrilling as any popular fantasy of today. In fact, when you learn how much these voices from the past can influence your future, all the pulp fiction will be languishing in the dustbin.

Where to begin? First of all, we’ll start collecting banned books. That’s already starting to sound exciting. What kinds of books are banned by the State Religions (atheism and Islam)?

1) The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and any other forms of Judeo-Christian scripture.

2)  Accurate biographies of the Founding Fathers, because those men were (ahem) religious.

3) Any classic literature that teaches the values we cherish

These and many others did not make it past the cutting room floor of moral relativism in government schools. Let’s create an ongoing book list of the fascinating forgotten epic stories.

Epic Heroes in Training

So, Parents, as mentors of the rising generation, how do you make history relevant? As exciting as these stories are, if we don’t learn how to apply them to our day, then we can’t be the epic heroes we need to be, and rescue our sacred and endangered heritage. We’ve got to think!

Here is our strategy. Truth will be our headlight, so we can see to lead the train of rising generations down the right tracks into a future of peace and liberty. In the vast treasury of epic stories that comprise history, select and examine meaningful events or “moments” in ancient, early American, and modern times.   You will see patterns emerge.

Yes, history does repeat itself, because human choices, good and bad, have consequences.  Find the heroes (who promote liberty), and the villains (who destroy freedom). Compare the consequences of choices by individuals from each era, then do an analysis based on the causes and effects of the events given. Don’t underestimate the imagination and intelligence of young adults to connect the dots. They love a challenge and a puzzle. This is great practice in problem-solving, and builds effective leaders. Hang on, here we go!

Copyright 2011 © by Christine Davidson

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Epic Stories for Character Education

College Student Questions Obama's Funds

Female Obama Voter Questions President Obama's Funds while a Student

Where did the money come from?

Legitimate Questions This election has me very worried. So many things to consider. I voted for Obama. McCain was a Washington insider and we don’t need any more of them. I have changed my mind three times, since then. I watch all the news channels, jumping from one to another. I must say this drives my husband crazy. But, I feel if you view CNN, and Fox News, you might get some middle ground to work with. I started thinking "where does all the money come from for President Obama"? I have four daughters who went to College, and we were middle class, and money was tight. We (including my girls) worked hard and there were lots of student loans. I started looking into Obama's history for my own peace of mind. Around 1979 Obama started college at Occidental in California . He is very open about his two years at Occidental, he tried all kinds of drugs and was wasting his time but, even though he had a brilliant mind, did not apply himself to his studies. "Barry" (that was the name he used all his life) during this time had two roommates, Muhammad Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, both from Pakistan. During the summer of 1981, after his second year in college, he made a "round the world" trip. Stopping to see his mother in Indonesia , next Hyderabad in India , three weeks in Karachi , Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family, then off to Africa to visit his father's family. My question - Where did he get the money for this trip? Neither I, nor any one of my children would have had money for a trip like this when they were in college. When he came back he started school at Columbia University in New York. It is at this time he wants everyone to call him Barack - not Barry. Do you know what the tuition is at Columbia? It's not cheap to say the least. My girls asked me; where did he get money for tuition? Student Loans? Maybe it’s none of my business? After Columbia, he went to Chicago to work as a Community Organizer for $12,000 a year. Why Chicago? Why not New York? He was already living in New York. By "chance" he met Antoin "Tony" Rezko, born in Aleppo Syria, and a real estate developer in Chicago. Rezko has been convicted of fraud and bribery several times in the past and in 2011. Rezko was named "Entrepreneur of the Decade" by the Arab-American Business and Professional Association". About two years later, Obama entered Harvard Law School. Do you have any idea what tuition is for Harvard Law School? Where did he get the money for Law School? More student loans? His family has no money that’s for sure. After Law school, he went back to Chicago. Rezko offered him a job, which he turned down. But, he did take a job with Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. Guess what I discovered? They represented "Rezar" which is Rezko's firm. Rezko was one of Obama's first major financial contributors when he ran for office in Chicago . In 2003, Rezko threw an early fundraiser for Obama which Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendelland claims was instrumental in providing Obama with "seed money" for his U.S. Senate race. In 2005, Obama purchased a new home in Kenwoood District of Chicago for $1.65 million (less than asking price). With ALL those Student Loans - Where did he get the money for this property? On the same day Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased the adjoining empty lot for full price. The LondonTimes reported that Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born Billionaire loaned Rezko $3.5 million three weeks before Obama's new home was purchased. Obama met Nadhmi Auchi many times with Rezko. Now, we have Obama running for President. Valerie Jarrett was Michele Obama's boss. She is now Obama's chief advisor and he does not make any major decisions without talking to her first. Where was Jarrett born? Ready for this? Shiraz, Iran! Am I going nuts or is there a pattern here? On May 10, 2008, The Times reported, Robert Malley advisor to Obama was "sacked" after the press found out he was having regular contacts with "Hamas", which controls Gaza and is connected with Iran. This past week, buried in the back part of the papers, Iraqi newspapers reported that during Obama's visit to Iraq, he asked their leaders to do nothing about the war until after he is elected, and he will "Take care of things". What the heck does that mean? Oh, and by the way, remember the college roommates that were born in Pakistan? They are in charge of all those "small" Internet campaign contribution for Obama. Where is that money coming from? The poor and middle class in this country? Or could it be from the Middle East? And the final bit of news. On September 7, 2009, The Washington Times posted a verbal slip that was made on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos. Obama on talking about his religion said, "My Muslim faith". When questioned, "he made a mistake". Some mistake huh? All of the above information I got on line. If you would like to check it - Wikipedia, encyclopedia, Barack Obama; Tony Rezko; Valerie Jarrett: Daily Times - Obama visited Pakistan in 1981; The Washington Times - September 7, 2008; The Times May 10, 2008. Now the BIG question - If I found out all this information on my own, Why haven't all of our "intelligent" members of the press been reporting this? These are legitimate questions for our president.

American History and Public High School Students

See this Sad Video: High School students can’t answer basic Civics questions

Every so often these types of videos pop up, but this video is one of the more stunningly sad you’ll ever see in this genre. From thinking the Vice President of the United States is Bin Laden to naming a country that starts with the letter U (‘Europe?’) this video is shocking – namely because these are the kids who will one day be running America. Scary.

“I think there’s a problem in this nation. We keep talking about we’ve got to fix our schools. No, no. We have to have a real frank conversation with what our schools are really like,” Glenn said. ” This is from Washington State. This is one of the students saying, what I wanted to do is I wanted to see if — how dumb my fellow students were. Did anybody have any idea about American history at all?”

Why aren't students learning history?

Watch this vimeo to learn why. See the documentary!