The Tenth Point (of the Communist Manifesto) Part 2

by Al Benson Jr.


Here are some brief observations about the textbook controversy in Kanawha County, West Virginia made in the Summer of 1975 (shortly before we moved to West Virginia). When I originally wrote this, the textbook protest had been going on for something like ten months.

At that point, I supposed in years to come, many books and articles would be written on this topic. I felt some would try the objective approach, which must not be as easy as it seems, because most of what I have read about the protest was anything but objective.

I felt some would write from the viewpoint of the so-called "educational elite" and would seek to tear the book protesters to shreds in print. This has proved to be the case in most instances. Much of the so-called "news" media did exactly that right from the beginning and even decades later continues to do the same thing whenever the subject comes up.

It was, and is, interesting to note that the best efforts of the "news" media still could not keep many of us from finding out what really went on in West Virginia.

I guess it comes as no surprise for me to say that, from the start, I was for the textbook protesters. I made no bones about agreeing with their positon and what they did. I still don't.

I had been in contact, via phone and mail, with them since the Fall of 1974 and was finally able to go to West Virginia the following Summer and spend some time with them. At that point, I thought that the day would come when people all over the country would suddenly wake up and find out what the public, or government, school system they finance with their taxes is doing to their children.

I prayed, (and still pray) that when that day comes that more Americans will have the courage to do what the folks in Kanawha County, West Virginia did. As stated earlier, I originally made these observations in the Summer of 1975, half my life ago. I have seen growth in Christian schools and a surge in home schooling in all those years. I believe that somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-2 million students are now being home schooled in this country and it is now legal to do so in all states. That was not always the case. So progress has been made. However, we still see the majority of Christians sending their kids to what amount to government propaganda factories that we choose to call public schools and wondering why the kids leave the church by the time they leave high school.

In spite of all that has happened, most of the Christians still don't get it. In 1975 I wrote: "Somewhere along the line Americans have got to stand up for their faith, their children, their nation and its heritage or they will lose it all. West Virginia is standing up. How about the rest of America?"

Later, I found out that in 1975 there were something like seventeen separate book protests going on in the country. But, since some of them were not as widespread as the one in West Virginia, the "news" media were pretty much able to keep them under wraps except at the local level. They'd have done the same thing in West Virginia could they have managed it.

Over the decades I have observed the "news" media in action and believe me, for the most part, what they give you is not news, it is spin.

As I am able to in this series, I will comment on the foundations of the public school system in the United Stated and about the "father of the common schools" Horace Mann. But that will have to wait for the next installment.

To be continued.

The Tenth Point

by Al Benson Jr.


Thirty seven years ago this year my family and I became involved in a historic event that was to help to change our lives and that has, in subtle ways, changed the direction this country has gone in.

It was the textbook protest in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Many don't even remember this event. Many others would just as soon bury this event under a pile of liberal verbiage that never has and never will give the protesters' side of the issue. This, unfortunately, is typical of the liberal/Marxist mindset. Their supposed tolerance extends only to those who espouse their views, while everyone else must be suppressed.

That is why the truth about what really happened in West Virginia at that time must be buried or shoved down the "memory hole." But the fly in the liberal ointment is that the truth refuses to be suppressed and it keeps resurfacing. And, if all truth ultimately comes from God, then even the liberals can't stop it.

The book protest in Kanawha County, West Virginia, which started in the Summer of 1974, was about one government school system among many, that sought to, under the false guise of "education" change the values of public school children so they would be more attuned to accepting the anti-Christian culture of the New World Order crowd. Christian culture in West Virginia was under attack, and the New World Order's adherents felt that if they could successfully push their agenda in West Virginia then they could probably get by with it anywhere.

In early October of 1974 my family and I had just returned from a trip to Oklahoma. As I sat reading the Sunday paper while waiting for supper to cook, I came across an article (this was in one of the Chicago papers) for which the headline was "Battle over the books in a Fundamentalist Lion's Den." That caught my attention. As I read the article and ascertained the instant media bias against the book protesters, whom I knew nothing about at that point, I commented to my wife that because of the obvious bias against them in the article "these protesters must be doing something right." Little did I know! However, in the weeks to come I found out. We got in touch with folks in West Virginia and we got involved as much as we could from a distance. The following year we moved to West Virginia.

When we first became involved in this historic event, I thought to write a book about it. I gathered all the information I could. Some folks handed me boxes of news clippings. The more I looked through all the material people had handed me, the more I realized I was just not equal to the task. In our various moves around the country much of this material disappeared. Years went by and I'd had no use for it.

But I recently came across one file of old notes that I had made while I was laboring trying to put a book together. Somehow they had survived all our moves and travels. These notes are now thirty seven years old and I have never had them in print. They are handwritten observations of what I saw (no portable computers back then). They are observations of what I saw, heard, and was told by the people who had experienced some of what happened. My family and I were involved in the protest for three years, one year while still living in Illinois and the other two years living in West Virginia, so my personal knowledge of all the events is limited. Yet I feel, having been there, that my thoughts and observations might, in some small way, help to contribute to the whole picture.

At this point, the most comprehensive work yet written pertaining to this critical period has been done by a man who was a public school teacher in Kanawha County, West Virginia all the while the protest continued. He has spent his life in West Virginia and so is acquainted with the area and its people much more than I.

His name is Karl Priest and he has written a book called "Protester Voices--the 1974 Textbook Tea Party." His book covers the protest, the reasons for it, and the personalities involved quite thoroughly from a Christian perspective. Having read his book, I highly recommend it. Whatever else you read about this protest (and there is now material on the Internet about it) balance it off by reading Karl's book.

It can be obtained from him by contacting him at 141 Karmel Lane, Poca, West Virginia 25159. The book, plus shipping cost is $19. If you care enough to find out the truth, it is worth the money and then some.

To be continued, Lord willing.

"Conservative" news outlets ignore Ron Paul

by Al Benson Jr.

As we head into the presidential debate season I have been watching what the so-called "Conservative" news outlets, at least many of them, seem to be doing.

They are trying to set up a situation where the "conservative" candidates running for president are limited to Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, both of which would be acceptable to the Internationalist crowd. Most of your headlines spotlight these two paid-for 'conservative" turkeys while studiously ignoring Ron Paul and what he has to say about the economy.

You can tell that the Republican Party establishment is not about to let Ron Paul anywhere near the Republican presidential nomination--anyone but him! That being the case, you have to realize that Republican pretensions to conservatism are a sham.

The Republican Party started out in the late 1850s as a radical party, leaning to the left, while the Democrats of that day were the conservatives. Lincoln was no conservative. He was a friend and supporter of the leftists, who infested his armies and the Republican Party.

If you want proof get a copy of the book Donnie Kennedy and I wrote "Lincoln's Marxists" just recently published by Pelican Publishing. Check it out on Amazon and learn the real truth about the so-called "party of small government."

More Obama BF (bovine fertilizer)

by Al Benson Jr. Obama's popularity ratings are sliding, the economy is in a shambles due to his "efforts" to supposedly improve it--and this Thursday evening he is going to take care of it all--he will give yet one more speech. You have to wonder how often he will use the words "I" or "me" in his upcoming presentation. One of his favorite expressions when he gives a speech is "It's not about me" (when in his mind it really is). No matter what he says you have to realize that it is not his own agenda he is promoting. It is the agenda of George Soros and the Council on Foreign Relations crowd. Obama is a Marxist and his job while president is to so alter our economy that we can be successfully merged with the third world countries of the world. In other words, the agenda of his masters is to destroy the US economy while appearing to try save it. You must admit that, so far, he is succeeding admirably. So, Thursday evening, September 8th, he will get up and spout whatever words have been put in his mouth. I don't believe that, outside of patting himself on the back verbally, he even really cares what he says. It's not his script anyway. As long as he continues to follow the One Worlders' script they will allow him to remain in office. Should he ever deviate from that and think he can do his own thing, his real birth certificate (or lack thereof) will hit the headlines in the prostitute press and he will be gone in a flash. Anyone remember Nixon and Watergate? For awhile Nixon forgot that he was Rockefeller's man and began to think was really the president. Watergate was the result of that foolishness and eventually Nixon was gone. Obama is no Nixon. He won't last even that long if he refuses to tow the party line. He's not his own man and never has been. He is a New World Order mouthpiece, a political shill, and nothing more. Now this fact is even becoming apparent to those on the far Left. The more he rants about being "different" and wanting "change" the more he sounds like a lefitst version of George W. Bush and the more the agenda he has been given ti implement sounds like Bush's. We were supposed to be out of Afghanistan when??? If you expect anything other than the usual line of bovine fertilizer on Thursday you will be sorely disappointed. Comments welcome as long as they are polite. If you disagree express your thoughts in a courteous manner.