Little changes chip away our identity

What if one day you awakened to learn that everything you thought you knew was no longer true? What if those who want to revise history simply changed the rules and right was wrong, up was down, left was right? What if a lifetime of learning was instantly wiped out and those who advance political correctness won the day?

If you pay attention - and I pray you do - you'll recognize that there are those who actively seek to change the very fabric of this great nation. Little by little, in steps so small they are often overlooked, much of what we hold precious is being questioned and changed. Yet that slow erosion of values held for generations will eventually damage the foundation of our society and I fear what will remain.

The latest example of this erosion may seem petty to some. But tradition and values are often interchangeable and when we sit by silently and allow these "minor" changes, we'll someday wake to a nation we no longer recognize.

Republican John Loudon of St. Louis County has offered a bill in the Missouri Senate this session that requires the dating standard for our state to include the initials A.D. and B.C., which we hope you know stands for Anno Domini and Before Christ. In language we can all understand, these simply initials stand for before Christ and after Christ. It's our nation's way of denoting the time before and after the birth of Christ.

But there is a national move under way to replace these initials with a secular version of C.E. and B.C.E., which stands for Common Era and Before Common Era.

If these secular advocates have their way, textbooks and all other materials will someday date history as C.E. and B.C.E. In short, Christ will have lost another battle, albeit a small and symbolic one but a loss nonetheless. And everything that we thought we knew we no longer know.

Rudy Pulido of the St. Louis chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State says Loudon's bill is a waste of time. He says if the bill is approved it will end up in the courts and more important matters will be ignored. Well, Mr. Pulido, perhaps right now there are no more important matters than this small intrusion you seek to make in our lives. Pulido says the bill reflects "insensitivity" to Missouri's growing religious diversity. Well, Mr. Pulido, you can shove your diversity where the sun don't shine my friend. How about protecting the sensitivity of the overwhelming majority of Missourians who believe in the Bible and the scriptures? Where and who is out there to protect our rights Mr. Pulido?

There may be more important bills than Loudon's in the upcoming session of the Missouri General Assembly. But then again, perhaps there is no bill more important. Perhaps this is a foundational issue that forces all Missourians to recognize how there are those who want to erode our values. And maybe, just maybe, it's time we picked a battle against those foes.