Tomorrow is our day of giving thanks to God. It is officially “Thanksgiving Day.” It should actually be taught in our schools. I remember when it used to be.

Forrest Turpen, a Christian educator said it this way: “It is time we put a stop to the coercive and compulsory bans on religious expression in our public Schools. Those who oppose such expression constantly point to their desire to protect constitutional rights and intents. However, they seem oblivious to the fact that those who wrote and adopted the U. S. Constitution also made frequent reference to the importance of prayer in the public area and the need for moral instruction based on Biblical values in our schools.”

If you doubt this, read the Northwest Ordinance which was adopted along with our Constitution in 1787.

The Cornerstone ceremony for the University of Virginia was held on October 6, 1817. In that ceremony, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, issued a prayer in which he expressed his feelings about education:

“May Almighty God, without invocation to whom, no work of importance should be begun, bless this undertaking and enable us to carry it on with success—protect this College, the object of which institution, is to instill into the minds of Youth principles of sound knowledge, To inspire them with the love of religion & virtue, and prepare them for filling the various situations in society with credit to themselves and benefit to their country.” (“Outline of Cornerstone Ceremonies”, Alexander Garrett, October 6, 1817)