The Lessons of Henry Jackson High by Joe Murray - (AgapePress) July 28, 2006 Category: Education

WORLD-WIDE overturning of values," wrote Georg Lukacs, "cannot take place without the annihilation of the old values and the creation of new ones by the revolutionaries." Lukacs, a Hungarian communist and foot solider of the Comintern, was a prophet of the proletariat. After the Communist Manifesto failed to cause even a flicker in the hearts of the European workers during the chaos of the First World War, Lukacs knew that his comrade in thought, Karl Marx, had overlooked something. Why had the proletariat, the victims of the capitalist machine, stayed loyal to the very institutions oppressing them? The answer, according to Lukacs: Christianity. Antonio Gramsci, devoted friend to cultural Marxism, also understood the psyche of Western man. "The civilized world," Gramsci opined, "had been saturated with Christianity for 2,000 years," and if the mind of Marx was going to become the mind of the West, Jesus was going to have to be shown the exit. The Lukacs/Gramsci model of the Marxist revolution -- corrupt the culture, empty the soul, and control the mind -- is simple in nature, but devastating in consequences. Fast-forward seven decades or so and the seeds of revolution planted by those masters of the Manifesto have not only begun to sprout, they have grown into full-fledged redwoods. Today, America is a shadow of her former self. While her wallet may be full, never mind the fact that a majority of those dollars are on loan from Beijing, her soul is on "E." Prayer among schoolchildren is taboo, while educators laud the practice of having elementary students place condoms on bananas. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are out; Heather and her two mommies are in. And history? Thomas Jefferson fornicated with a slave, the Founders were hypocrites, and the early Americans decimated the "peaceful" Indian tribes. How far we have fallen. All of this brings us to Henry Jackson High School located in Everett, Washington. Just a few weeks ago Everett made national news when the superintendent took the wind out of the band's horns and vetoed the playing of "Ave Maria." To the Everett ensemble the selection of Ave Maria was a no-brainer, for the group had already played Ave Maria at the school's winter concert. But, the buck stopped at graduation. Recognizing that more people would be at graduation than the winter concert, the school decided to give Ave Maria the old heave ho, lest the school take on some holy water. But what was the official reason for Ave Maria's demise? The song, which was to be played without lyrics, was "too religious." But would the musical number, performed without lyrics, be "too religious?" Not according to the history of the song. Over time Ave Maria has been set to numerous musical settings, though the most famous was Franz Peter Schubert's "Ellens dritter Gesang." From Charles Gounod's rearrangement of the "Well-Tempered Clavier" to Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Othello," Ave Maria has taken on many musical shades. The key to listening, therefore, is the lyrics. So how could the wind ensemble's playing of the song, without lyrics, be "too religious?" Unless the audience included Niles and Frasier Crane, how would those in the bleachers know what they were listening to? And even if the lyrics were sung, how many in attendance would be fluent in Latin? Furthermore, if the audience wasn't sure what it was listening to, what religious beliefs would the school be advancing? How could the school let the song play for the winter concert, but shut it down for graduation? And why was superintendent so quick to mute the music? Some might say that this is part of a conspiracy of educators to undermine Christian beliefs by removing them from the schoolhouse. This author thinks not. The conspirators of the culture war, those that resembled the likes of Lukacs and Gramsci, are either dead and buried or flying on fumes. Those in positions of power today, those like Everett's superintendent, are the "proletarian puppets"; they are the results of a systematically planned attempt to topple America's values from the inside out. They are the products, not the principals, of this revolution. Their concerns are with Carrie Underwood, not the culture war. Doubt this? Just look at America's stats. A Columbia Law School poll discovered that 35 percent of voting-age Americans thought that a cornerstone of Marxist thought, "[f]rom each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," was in the Constitution. Another 34 percent weren't sure. The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum poll further exposed America's cultural Achilles heel. As reported by the Washington Post, "[o]nly one of the 1,000 adults polled in the telephone survey could name all five freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment. Yet more than one in five (22 percent) could identify all five major characters in Matt Groening's cartoon family," The Simpsons. But wait, there is more. Only 8 percent of Americans could name three First Amendment freedoms, while 25 percent could name all three judges -- Simon, Paula, Randy -- on American Idol. Forty percent could name two of the three judges. America's political pulse gets weaker when taken at our high schools. According to another poll, 73 percent of high school students, 50 percent of teachers, and 40 percent of administrators either take the First Amendment for granted or don't know enough about it. The fact is simple -- in the years since the Frankfurt School set up shop in America, a cultural cholesterol has been clogging the arteries of our nation. Our faith has been discredited, our values undermined, and our history trivialized. With the souls of our leaders detached and drained of their Christian roots, should it really surprise us when a song like Ave Maria is given the Rosa Parks treatment? The Christian faith, which has long secured our founding principles, is old school; it's a relic of the past. It is no longer respected in the esteemed learning halls of America. The schools, as well other societal institutions, have fallen to Lukacs' legions. They have lost their fight with Gramsci's cultural cancer. In 1970, Marxist sympathizer Charles Reich wrote, "[t]here is a revolution coming. It will not be like the revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual and the culture, and it will change the political structure only as its final act." What has Everett taught this country? The Lukacs/Gramsci revolution is well under way, and, just as Reich prophesied, the fat lady is taking the stage to a standing ovation. Toss "Ave Maria," add "A Moment Like This." Bart Simpson trumps Ben Franklin, and Patrick Henry can't hold a candle to Paula Abdul. Do we have a culture left that is worth fighting for? Joe Murray (jrm1835@gmail.com) is a civil rights attorney residing in New Jersey. Murray is a former staff attorney for the American Family Association and has also served as national director of correspondence for Patrick J. Buchanan's 2000 presidential bid. Murray has been a guest on numerous radio and television talk shows, including the O'Reilly Factor. More guest columns.