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Wrong lesson

Regarding the April 26 Associated Press article “Guard stops 9-11 choir.” This story has troubled me from the time I first read it. The Sept. 11 memorial officials correctly said their guard should not have stopped the school choir from singing the national anthem. Free speech is one of the most precious of the rights of man.

What disturbs me is that the teacher made the students comply with the guard’s unlawful order. She said she turned this violation of our nation’s highest law into a teaching moment. That would be great if she had respectfully stood for what was right. This is what many have done from before this country was formed. Instead, she complied with violating the students’ rights. Perhaps it is time to require teachers to learn the Constitution and swear an oath to defend it.

We have a system of government that was established to protect the people from this kind of abuse. The Constitution of the United States protects certain unalienable rights endowed by our creator. Speech is one of those rights, which that security guard unlawfully restricted.

Instead of teaching the students to stand up for their rights and their lawful authority to do so, she taught them to obey orders, even when unlawful. This is a dangerous lesson.

Throughout time, public servants have claimed they were not to be held responsible for their actions because they were just following orders from their superiors.

But this is untrue.

Time and time again, people have been tried for following orders. And the result is the same. They are guilty of the crimes they commit against others. We are responsible for our actions because the supreme law is the moral law that guides us to choose what is right to do.

The teacher could have taught her students that We the People are the authority in this land. She could have taught them to respect the one giving the unlawful order while at the same time asserting the lawful right to assemble and speak or sing. She could have used this as a civics teaching moment.

I believe the lives of those we memorialize cry out from the grave for that.

The teacher had a duty to protect the rights of her students but she failed to live up to it. Following unlawful rules and orders is wrong. We need to teach this truth across our land, from sea to shining sea. We are authorized by almighty God to disobey anyone who seeks to violate our God-given rights.

This is what the people we remember on Memorial Day died protecting. Let us all remember that as we parade through our towns, open our pools and barbecue our favorite foods this Memorial Day.

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