Off to a Great Start

This semester is off to a great start. We had a wonderful Chapel service on Thursday. The music by The Tim Johnson Band was marvelous, and our President, Dr. Emir Caner brought the house down with his message. (Our children loved the Chapel service!) My classes seem to be filled with students who want to learn. We have quite a few History majors in the program who aren't afraid of hard work, and are engaged in the learning process. They are such blessings!

The Knights Templar

Time for the Medieval/Renaissance class has rolled around again. The class really covers more of a period of time than two distinct eras. We will begin with the conversion of Constantine and end with the Scientific Revolution. My survey students have always loved the stories about the Knights Templar, even before Dan Brown made a mockery of their devotion and service. We will be reading an interesting book about the Templars by Stephen Howarth (The Knights Templar). I think the class will like this work.

So much has been said about the Templars, but really, so little is known. We know that they began as a unique blended order of military and monk. They took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They came into being in the year 1118 in Jerusalem to defend the Holy land and make the way safe for pilgrims who wished to there journey.

They were trusted, but mysterious. They were also, unfortunately for them, very popular with the people. This popularity was a threat to the evil King of France, Philip the Fair (the "Fair" adjective applying to Philip's handsome features, not his disposition). In a single night in 1307, these most noble of warriors were arrested. Over a terrible seven-year period, they were charged with ridiculous crimes, tortured and executed. The leader of the Knights, the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, recanted his forced confession and faced the cruel fires that ended his life. The King watched as his own guilt was reflected in the death-fires of an innocent man.

Many consider Philip the Fair a hero, the first of the modern kings who bent the will of the Church to his own. I see him in no such light. He proved that ambition was his god, and in so doing, seemed to set the trend for many a leader to come.

Freedom of Speech . . . as Long as Your Speech is White House Approved

Oh, dear. Thomas Paine would be so unhappy with the turn of events in our nation this week. Thomas Paine, as most of you know well, was the author of Common Sense, the little pamphlet that for the first time publicly condemned King George III of England. Paine's work mobilized Colonial public opinion and paved the way for Jefferson to declare our independence just a few months later. Our freedom to express our political opinions has always been of paramount importance, to the extent that the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly stood by its characterization of First Amendment rights as enjoying a "preferred position" in Constitutional interpretations. In fact, the Court has ruled that burning the American flag as an expression of political speech is protected by the 1st Amendment(Texas v. Johnson 1989), and "virtual" child pornography likewise enjoys 1st Amendment protection (Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition 2002). These sickening decisions seem more to protect the unpatriotic and perverse side of our culture rather than a right to disagree with the government.



Where are all of those civil libertarians these days as the White House ominously solicits the names of those who disagree with the President's socialized medicine? When I taught at a different college, one of my colleagues routinely made jokes about assassinating President Bush. He was just "expressing his opinion." Wonder how he feels today as the White House characterizes those who are exercising their First Amendment rights in the manner they were conceived? These individuals who show up at "town hall" meetings voicing their discontent are labeled "mobs."



This double standard is appalling, and what is more so is that we are standing still for it. We cannot count on those Napoleon labeled the "Fourth Estate" (the Press) to reveal these inconsistencies. If we do not take a stand for our rights, they will mean nothing in the face of this onslaught as we slowly move toward those same conditions we have seen taking place in Iran these last months, the complete suppression of freedom of expression against the government.

Will Taft

One stop on our vacation this week was the childhood home of Willima Howard Taft in Cincinnati, Ohio. When most of us think of Will Taft, we call to mind this image of the jolly 27th President of the United States. There is much more to this fine gentleman, and he would prefer for us to remember him for his tenure as 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

As President, Taft, who had done everything so well theretofore, seemed to be able to do nothing right. He had three strikes against him: first, he was not TR, his enormously popular predecessor. No one seemed to be able to forgive him for being his own man. Second, Will Taft hated politics. He was oft-quoted as saying "politics make me sick." He didn't like the Machiavellian games that seemed to be in the unwritten portion of the Chief Executive's job description. Third, Taft loved the law, the Constitution, and placed the elements of that great document above politics and his personal opinions. He had always wanted a career in the law, specifically as a judge. But, Will would always answer the call to public service and he always seemed to be pushed in the direction of politics by his beloved wife, Nellie. Nellie knew she had married a man with a Midas touch, one who would do his best at any job.

As Chief Justice, Taft had to referee dynamic and extreme personalities on the Court--Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr. and Willis Van Devanter to name but two. But he thrived in this environment.

I believe that Taft was a fine President and a great Cheif Justice, but the role I admire most from this gentleman was his role of father to his three children, Robert, Charlie and Helen. They all grew into their own accomplishments to our Country. I will post on them in the near future.

Historians and students alike brush by the one-termers. They are seen as "losers" and their single terms are thrown into the back of the book index of former presidents. Taft deserves a second look. The man, the President, the Chief Justice and the husband and father: he did possess the Midas touch in all that he did.