The United States Is Not a Nation!

[Patriot]

So, you went to a public school.  Read the following and then follow the link if you dare.

I have often required my students on the first day or two of class to use the Oxford English Dictionary and define the following words: nation and state. Most do not follow my directions and submit a modern Webster's or online distortion of the word, and those who use the Oxford often fail to provide the etymology of either word. I can't fault them for that, because they have probably been taught since first grade in the public "school" system to submit the first definition they find.
Brion McClanahan, Ph. D.

Read the entire article:  http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/the-united-states-is-not-a-nation/

[Diane Amberg]

How dare that man crush the individuality of those students who chose not to follow his directions or chose a different dictionary. He is indoctrinating them into his mind set and his way of thinking.....Isn't he?     Well maybe not, but every parent whose kid got it "wrong" could demand that that guy explain himself. The thinking is too "different." How dare he try to get those kids to THINK!  That's one of the problems, too much time is spent worrying about the grade and how a child can snare a good one and not enough time is spent on thinking, pondering and deciding the merits and pros and cons of ideas. Parents want questions that have absolute answers, yes or no, no "maybe's" allowed.That can make doing critical thinking tough. Teaching probability is even tougher.  I also don't recall dictionaries with multiple entries being used in first grade. Most kids can't read that well yet.

[Patriot]

I suspect that the point here was that the Oxford definitions more closely align with the generally understood meanings of the words at the time when our country was founded vs the cultural changes in definitions that have taken place over time.  Let's face it, 'crack' has some considerably different applications today than it did 200 years ago.  We see this problem with 'modern' interpretations and publications of Biblical texts as well.  Well meaning folks try to understand the translations (or worse yet) publish new translations using the interpretation of words as they might be used today and not as they would have been understood when the original texts were written.  These time & cultural changes can lead to serious misunderstanding of the original meanings.

In the same way, we constantly hear people talk about our 'democracy' and our need to find 'democratic' solutions.... all while our country is NOT a democracy.  It's a representative republic.  Democracy is simply mob rule with a ballot.  And one that seldom takes into consideration the corporate memory of all the history involved with the issue 'du jour'.

[Diane Amberg]

Yup, tis so. People don't really pay attention as much as they think they do. I'm sure you are exactly right about the Oxford dictionary. But teachers better be prepared to "explain themselves." I have been very interested in the history of the Biblical translations over the years and the books that weren't included, etc. But I have had my head handed to me by a few who can't tolerate the idea that the Bible, for as great as it is, might have been manipulated by man for the benefit of those who stood to gain from it at the time. Gets me in all kinds of trouble.
If we just pay attention to our flag salute, that says it all about ourselves. We are pledging to an important piece of cloth that represents a republic.