No Truth Is More Evident

How people view the history of the United States will strongly influence whether they see America as a light on a hill or a force for oppression. Noah Webster, the "Schoolmaster of the Nation," had one view of this country's character, while Howard Zinn, one-time professor of political science at Boston University (who described himself as "something of an anarchist,") created a much different view. 

Allan Bloom, who taught at Yale and the University of Chicago, wrote The Closing of the American Mind in 1987. He was not a Christian. Yet, he wrote:

“In the United States, practically speaking, the Bible was the only common culture, one that united the simple and the sophisticated, rich and poor, young and old, and—as the very model for a vision of the order of the whole of things, as well as the key to the rest of Western art, the greatest works of which were in one way or another responsive to the Bible—provided access to the seriousness of books. With its gradual and inevitable disappearance, the very idea of such a total book is disappearing. And fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is for them to be wise—as priests, prophets or philosophers are wise...Contrary to what is commonly thought, without the book even the idea of the whole is lost.” 

While we lost our biblical "vision of the order of the whole of things,” Howard Zinn's book, A People’s History of the United States came along and filled the gap, for many. 

Gilbert Sewall, of the American Textbook Council, has said Zinn's impact on social studies teachers "is prodigious and possibly unparalleled."  Peter Wood, of the National Association of Scholars, has said: "There really is no other history textbook that enjoys the level of enthusiasm among students as Zinn's book enjoys." [Source here.] 

If you want to know why we're a house divided, you might want to take a look at Zinn’s book, which has sold over 2 million copies. But before you buy a copy, bear in mind that over 600 historians voted Zinn's work "the second 'least credible history book in print.'" [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547686/pdf]

While Noah Webster declared “education is useless without the Bible," and, “No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people…”, Zinn viewed U.S. history through the Social Marxist lens of Critical Theory. He was what the Frankfurt School dreamed of.    

While Zinn's book may be bad history, it's influence is deep. That's because today, truth doesn't carry as much weight as it did in Webster's day. What matters now is ideology, whether it's fueled by fact or fiction. 

For Howard Zinn, America's history is a story of exploitation. It's the story of oppressors and the oppressed, starting with Christopher Columbus and moving on to the oppression of native Americans, African-Americans, and the poor of any color. It has been called, "the Zinn Narriative." If you want to understand why more people are speaking poorly of the United States today than in the past, Zinn's best seller, "the second least credible history book in print," provides some answers.   

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