The Melting Pot Part 5

quizlet.com

 Also From a website called AMERICAN THINKER

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/09/the_judeochristian_values_of_a.html

The following are the Judeo-Christian Values embraced by the American Republic and People.

 
I (Ronald Cherry) am indebted to Dennis Prager who has listed Judeo-Christian Values and elaborated on this subject long before I took it up; and those who know his work will recognize many of his thoughts.
 
1.  Our sense of right and wrong and our sense of wisdom come from the use of reason and common sense, but also, and importantly, from the Bible which, by faith was considered by our Founding Fathers to be God's inspired text; and not just from the mind or heart of man.  This faith lead to the mottos: "In God We Trust" and "One Nation under God."  Our Founding Fathers were believers in the God of the Bible, even if some were not orthodox Christians, and they put that faith into the Declaration of Independence, into our laws, into our national monuments, and into our culture.  Faith is a part of American Culture, something Atheists, Secularists, Humanists and those of other religions should acknowledge and accept as historically accurate truth.  To remove the results of Biblical Faith from America is to undo what the Founding Fathers have wrought.
 
2.  Truth is Sacred; there can be no liberty or justice, and little happiness without it.  Jesus connected truth and liberty when he said "the truth shall make you free."  In the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible God describes Himself:  "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth..."   In Deuteronomy God is described this way:  "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice."  Listen to King David in Psalm 25:  "Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me your paths.  Lead me in Your truth...";  and in Psalm 51:  "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom."
 
3.  Human life is the first gift of God, and it is of infinite value since man is made in the image of God.  Judeo-Christian Values have lead to a culture of life in America, not a culture of death.  Americans with Judeo-Christian Values will defend innocent God-given life.
 
4.  Our Liberty is a gift from God and stated so in the Declaration of Independence.  It is also stated in the New Testament Christian Bible:  "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty."  Americans with Judeo-Christian Values will defend their God-given Liberty from tyranny and terror.
 
5.  Human creativity is also a gift from God and is not to be unjustly suppressed by totalitarian, tyrannical or excessively taxing government.  The work ethic is an important part of Judeo-Christian Values since honorable work is a reflection of God-given human creativity.  Human reason is also a part of God-given human creativity, and it has led to scientific knowledge and technological progress.  Reason and science are important aspects of Judeo-Christian Values.  Human creativity is central to the pursuit of happiness, but does not guarantee it; totalitarian systems such as Communism or Islamic Sharia Law guarantee utopian happiness, but don't deliver it.
 
6.  "Establish justice."  This is commanded repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible.  This is how it has been done in America:  Honor Life, Liberty and Creativity.  Liberty in practical terms means: Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, no established or state-supported religion, right to bear arms and act in self-defense, uninterrupted elections and the division of powers into its three branches.  Where our culture is now headed in the wrong direction, in my opinion, is to provide special rights for certain groups of people.  Our Founding Fathers acknowledged these basic rights for all people, and our Civil War enforced it for the American slaves when they were denied their God-given Liberty.
 
7.  "Hate Evil".  This is commanded three times in the Hebrew Bible; this is from the book of Proverbs: "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil."  Hear the Prophet Isaiah: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness...."  Americans with Judeo-Christian Values, as opposed to Europeans, still believe in the death penalty for pre-meditated murder, and America is still the nemesis of terrorists and tyrants - see the seal of the state of Virginia.
 
8.  "Love your neighbor" - commanded in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles.  "Love your enemy" - commanded in the New Testament Christian Bible.  Generations of Americans, starting with our Founding Fathers, have had to square the values of "Hate Evil" with "Love your enemy."  This has been done by hating the evil within the enemies of God-given Life and Liberty, but not hating the evil-doer him/herself.
 
9.  In the Judeo-Christian Value System there is a natural and common-sense balance between compassion and courageous confrontation of evil.  This can be seen metaphorically as a natural balance between femininity and masculinity; both good and necessary.  The secular culture of Europe and of many in the United States today have unwisely suppressed the masculinity of Judeo-Christian American Culture, and this has put our society out of balance.
 
10. From Many, One:  e pluribus unum.  Ethnicity and race don't matter, but values do matter.  We Americans should consider ourselves blessed to live under God-given Liberty in the same melting pot; and we are privileged to pursue happiness through creative work and play, unencumbered by excessive government.  Those things that divide us, such as race or ethnicity, can be viewed metaphorically as our various styles; and are not very important.  Those things of lesser importance should melt into what is very important and which should unite us: our value of Life, Liberty and Creativity - those rights defined by the Declaration of Independence, and rightly identified as the gifts of God.
 
11. The natural resources of the Earth, including the animals, along with the rest of creation should be honored and well cared for, but also used and enjoyed; and never worshiped.

Melting Pot Part 4

 OUR FOUNDING FATHERS

history.com

Same article continued with Quotes from our Founding Fathers

 From a website called AMERICAN THINKER

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/09/the_judeochristian_values_of_a.html

Some of the words of our Founding Fathers will illustrate American Judeo-Christian Values and our separation of church and state, but not the separation of God from state, and provide grounding for our understanding of social justice.
 
Thomas Jefferson wrote:
"all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ...." 
 
Jefferson also wrote:
"God who gave us life gave us liberty.  Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?"  He also wrote:  "Almighty God hath created the mind free.  ... All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens...are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion..."
 
He also wrote:
"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
 
Our Founding Fathers wrote the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
 
President George Washington said this when proclaiming our National Thanksgiving Holiday:
"It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God ...."
 
John Adams wrote this:
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.  Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.  Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
 
Later, Abraham Lincoln wrote these words about the Bible:
"In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to men.  All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book.  But for it we could not know right from wrong."
Lincoln also spoke these words at the Gettysburg Address:
"...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
 

The Melting Pot Part 3

 The following article was published in 2007 by a doctor who defined the Values of America. It is a longer read, but it reveals the basic principles of American ROOTS and ultimately MY ROOTS. It is worthwhile to understand the privileges of life, liberty and freedom that we live under today. It's who we are!

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/01/american-thinker-disables-its-comment-section/

From a website called AMERICAN THINKER

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/09/the_judeochristian_values_of_a.html
 

September 15, 2007

The Judeo-Christian Values of America

By Ronald R Cherry

Ronald R Cherry is a medical doctor

 
Judeo-Christian Values have a foundational role in America, beginning with the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..."
Since the pursuit of happiness, as Sigmund Freud surmised, is tied to human love and to creative work and play, the principles of American Judeo-Christian Values can rightly be summarized as the honoring of God-given Life, Liberty and Creativity. This seed of American Social Justice was then fleshed out in the U.S. Constitution through reason and common sense, unencumbered by the dysfunctional religious and secular traditions and laws of Old Europe.
 
Our Founding Fathers separated church from state, but they wisely did not separate God from state; they acknowledged God as the source of our rights, and, in fact, they were careful to place Biblical morality directly into our founding documents and laws, and into our values and culture precisely to help prevent a future of totalitarian or tyrannical rule in America.  The combination of keeping Judeo-Christian religious morality in the state, as opposed to the church it's self; and, additionally, setting up our laws based on reason and common sense has contributed to the American Character, and to what is known as "American Exceptionalism."
 
Our Founding Fathers were religious in a new way, the Judeo-Christian way, and they were the liberals of their day by deducing that our political and human rights come from a power higher than human government; but they were conservative to Biblical morality.  There was and still is a connection between God and Liberty; He is the author of it.  It is ironic that American Conservatives are now the champion of this our most liberal founding principle; and also an irony that most American Conservatives are wholly unaware of their connection with the liberal founding ideas of this great republic.  It is also an irony that many American Liberals have turned a blind eye to the required connection between God and Liberty.  As Thomas Jefferson and John Adams noted, as you will see below, Liberty cannot survive among men without its Divine connection.
 
In Judeo-Christian America one finds the idea of equality before God and the law, but not government forced economic equality.   Modern European culture has stressed the value of economic equality rather than Liberty, and their governments unjustly enforce the principle.  This has led to the failed European inventions of Socialism and Communism.  Socialists in America have been lured into this failed European idea of social justice.  Socialism is a failure in that it unjustly suppresses human creativity by excessively taxing away its rewards, and by foolishly giving economic reward to many who, even though mentally and physically able, fail to honor their Divine privilege and duty to work creatively.
 
Thus, Socialism is a dual insult to God-given creativity.  Communism was much worse in that it also dishonored the sacredness of human life and liberty.  Communism was the inevitable result of separating not just church from state, but God from state.  Communism dishonored God's gifts of Life, Liberty and Creativity.  European cultures have historical ties to authoritarian and totalitarian systems dating back to the Roman Empire.  Even European Christianity was, for a time, contaminated by its links to authoritarian rule.
 
American Judeo-Christian Culture, on the other hand, has been linked to honoring Life, Liberty and Creativity from the outset; deriving its wisdom from the lights of reason, common sense, and both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament Christian Bible.  Thomas Jefferson and the great majority of our Founding Fathers explicitly put God into the national life of the United States, by putting the Creator into the Declaration of Independence.  It is important that American Liberty has something to do with God; that is something for students to know and discuss, even if they are not particularly religious.  This does not represent some form of tyranny of the religious majority or an injustice; it was in fact the wisdom of our Founding Fathers to stand in opposition to tyranny and injustice by acknowledging the source of our rights -- those rights originating from God rather than from King George III, or for that matter from the Soviet or Chinese Politburo, or a courthouse, or a legislature.
 
America is a melting pot of diverse people including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Atheists; and from the Judeo-Christian perspective, all are made in God's image.  We have in America a multiethnic society, and that is good.  What would be unhealthy for America would be for it to become Balkanized, something likely to happen with the atrophy of Judeo-Christian American Culture and Values.  Worse yet would be for America to adopt the toxic values which exist in some parts of the world and which are endemic in some foreign cultures.  The values of Fascism, Nazism, Communism or Totalitarian Islamic Sharia Law for example must never metastasize into our American Culture, rooted in Judeo-Christian values.  These values have been with us from the beginning, and they have made us strong and successful.  These Judeo- Christian Values should be kept central to the American Spirit and Culture even as we have become more multi-ethnic.
 

The Melting Pot Part 2

 MY STARTING POINT

THE MELTING POT

By Nancy Quillin Long

Written August 2024

 

America, the melting pot, is the place where people yearn to live in freedom, but many throughout the ages have paid greatly for those freedoms. It should not be taken for granted. It was earned.
 
We live in a time of turmoil, but it only takes a moment to crack open a book of old to realize that there has always been turmoil.  As immigrants pour across our border, I cannot “undo” what is in my blood and has been passed down, generation after generation for over 250 years, to the point where I am now; my thoughts, my culture, my beliefs.  Reaching out to others and understanding their journey is a place of compromise and understanding that no one is better than the other.
 
I learned this best years ago as a young teacher in 1978. It was a quick study to know that as I stood in front of my classroom, the most important thing for me was to look out over the classroom and NOT see race, color, or creed. Though I am Caucasian, the majority of my students were black and Hispanic. My purpose was to educate each human in a place without prejudice or bias. EDUCATE! Not teach them what to think, but how to think. Teach them to read, write, spell, communicate effectively, learn about cultures, history, math…to teach them the basics, not to teach them rewritten history or new math…but the BASICS. With that said, we cannot push aside our American culture, at the expense of a great many to placate a few. It is what it is. (see post on Judea Christian values)
 
 There is a reason why people flock here to the melting pot which is the greatest place on the face of earth to live. We must not lose sight of the basic truths of WHY that is so.
 
I make no apologies for where I stand on my principles because we, as a nation. cannot erase the history that is written in books. As a genealogist, I know that my ancestors were the people who carved out this nation. I have yet to find a branch of the tree that are recent immigrants. With that said, I will go to my grave standing on the principles set forth by my forefathers who fought and died for those values. It is a culture and no amount of trying to erase that from the history books can change the facts. Is it a culture that is better than another? No, not really…but why is it something that is so desired across the globe? We must be careful as we move forward that we protect those values. A nation without borders is not a nation.
 
So, let’s go back to what we know ARE facts. There were all kinds of explorers that reached the new world. These explorers discovered a place rich in minerals with abundant resources and untouched wilderness. They encountered the indigenous people. Battles were fought just as they have been throughout the ages. There was a hammering out of who claimed what territory. As history reflects, it was the Anglo-Saxon who began to settle and civilize the wilderness of the New World. They began making progress. Was it pretty? No! The indigenous people fought for their land, rightfully so. Did those “newcomers” suffer hardships, most definitely. Long story short. It wasn’t the Chinese, nor any Oriental culture, nor the Africans, nor the Siberians that settled this nation. It takes nothing away from those cultures, rich in their own tradition, but facts show who settled this great nation. For that, I am grateful to know and understand my culture. Were there wrongs committed along the way? Yes! Of course, there were. Yet, I can make no apologies for who I am.
I stand with my jaw dropped, then, trying to understand why we are desperately trying to change history. This IS a melting pot. We adapt, change, grow…we’ve grown over the years, knowing that we must fight against prejudice, but we can’t change what is history. Each of those changes has caused us to grow together.
 
I got over that long ago, as that young teacher standing in front of a classroom. I can’t change the “wrongs” that were done to others, but I can grow and understand their challenges. Yet I will never abandon my core values, my Judea Christian values…as that IS the concept of such a beautiful nation that others across the globe desire.
 
Let us NOT bend and break that culture. We stand on basic principles which seem to be under attack. It seems that these principles have been thrown into my face, as if I should be ashamed of them, and I cannot reason why this is a new trend.  I can only be pushed so far in defending other people’s rights when it feels that the basic American rights are being trampled on in reverse.

The Melting Pot Part 1

The Library at Ephesus
We were there in 1998 

http://www.theviewingdeck.com/2014/05/selcuk-1st-part-strolling-ancient-city.html

TRULY UNDERSTANDING MYSELF

For me, I felt the world fell apart in 2020, as well as in my personal life in 2022. I began to question myself and my belief system, trying to understand why there was such hostility with the Black Lives Matter movement. I truly tried to fit myself into the shoes of a black person, to understand their point of view, to come to grips with what I may be doing to make them STILL feel such prejudice against the white people. In true form, it has taken me several years to sort that out! 

I don't come to conclusions quickly, but over these past few years, all of the above has swirled in my head. With the last election, I realize that I am not alone in standing my ground for what I believe is right and just. In the next few posts, I am sharing why I am the way I am/who I am/my belief system as I have always known it. It is also what I believe is the foundation of our American culture, as well. I can no longer make apologies for that. It goes WAY deeper than me. It's in my ROOTS. 

My Prequel to Judea Christian Values

In the past month, I have read and heard several things that have led me to consider why I have struggled. The answers have become clear to me through written history. Look at our natural world. Humans bring degradation to that. The animals act in a pure and natural way. But throughout the ages, man has been brutal to man. Going back to the beginning of time, we have to understand if man is inherently good or inherently evil. My mother once challenged my husband to determine the answer to that question. It took him quite a while to conclude, which was her conclusion as well, though he didn't know it at the time, that man is inherently evil. Children are born with a clean slate and must be taught what is right and wrong; what is good and evil. Our Judeo-Christian beliefs bring order to the chaos and gives purpose and meaning to life. Without that, there is no hope. So, I have delved deeply into that belief system.

Go back in time and read the history written by the people who lived during those ages - 100 A.D to the present which is what my husband has done; go back to the archaeological sites, visit the museums like my husband and I and his mother have done, read the Bible, another history book written by those who lived in that time. It is there for all of us to understand, to give us hope and light and faith. Never underestimate the power of God. And do not rewrite history.

***********************

Alongside this struggle with black history, family issues compounded my belief system when in 2022, which I dub as the year from hell for my family, all questions of who I am came into play.

As far as reconciliation for my personal family, I pray for strength to stand for what is truth, all the while trying to keep my faith, be kind and gentle and understanding. But once again, there are values that I hold near that I will not compromise. There are evils in this world, one of which is the abuse of alcohol. There was a reason I left that behind years ago, but it has torn asunder the last little family I have left. They continue to imbibe, and it has wreaked havoc on their small family, and as Mother always said, "Nothing happens in a vacuum", so my world has been greatly affected, as well.  I am collateral damage. I may address this more later, but for now, I mention it because it has been another area where I have had to make a stand for my own truths and values at a great cost.

Growing Up In Small Town America Part 22

 

SPECIAL OCCASSIONS

As I got older, I remember having several special occasions each year where everyone wore formals.  Mother often would make my formal, in fact, I don’t remember but a few that were store bought. For Horizon Club, we held the Candlelight Ball at Christmas. This was very formal and we were allowed to ask a boy to be our date.  It was held at the Country Club and we would dance to a live band until midnight.

Our school held a formal banquet for each sport. We wore formals, ate a catered meal in the cafeteria and then the program was conducted form the stage up front to honor the players. Tables were then cleared and a live band was set up and we would dance until midnight. The football banquet was the largest one, but there was also a basketball banquet and spring sports banquet. I was fortunate to be invited as a date each time. 

The Junior Senior Prom was a huge banquet designed and created by the Junior class for the Seniors. Sophmores were pulled in to participate in the servers at the banquet. I remember our theme when I was a junior was “Three Coins in a Fountain”, complete with a large fountain in the middle of the cafeteria. This fountain was created from a large aluminum stock tank with a tiered fountain in the middle. A pump was used to circulate the water.  After the banquet, things were cleared for the dance.  This was always a fun activity for 3 different grade levels during high school

Growing Up In Small Town America Part 21

 CHRISTMAS WITH EXTENDED FAMILY

Most Christmases, we would go to Granny Hart’s (Merphia Ewing Quillin Hart) house on Christmas Eve to celebrate with Daddy’s family and exchange gifts. Granny would serve a meal and all the cousins would perform a Christmas play. I have some hilarious photos of this Family Christmas Pageant.

Bryan Quillin is narrating from the Bible. Patricia Whitworth is playing the piano. I'm the halo over Mary's head, aka Paula Quillin, and David Carver is Joseph.

Cousin Beverly Carver is singing

We are nearer to Christmas morning, so Bryan is now Santa. I'm sure Paula is prompting me, as I am only 3 years old. (1959)

We would go home and Santa would come to our house. And on Christmas morning, we would go to Mimi and Pappy’s home in Crowell where there was a very large extended family gathering. Mimi would serve the traditional meal and the afternoon was spent again with a Christmas play by the children and the exchange of gifts. It was such a large family that we would draw names at Thanksgiving so that each person was only bringing one gift for a cousin. Of course, everyone gave Mimi and Pappy a gift…and I believe that they in turn gave everyone a gift. How in the world they afforded it, I don’t know.

Cousins in Crowell (1960) Left to right: Me in the center, 4 years old. Second Row: Carolyn Jones, Patti Jackson, Bob Martin Lynch, Bill Lynch, Jr. Bryan Quillin, master of ceremonies. Back Row: Debrorah Jones, Pam Jackson, Paula Quillin,

 Later on, as our extended family moved farther away from one another, my immediate family began to stay in Vernon. We would have grilled steaks and baked potatoes on Christmas Eve and then have our tree (open gifts) that night. Christmas grew to be rather large at this time, with Daddy being a great gift giver. On Christmas Day, Mother put together the traditional Christmas meal and we hung out watching football all day.

1973 - The first Christmas for Paula and Bill were married on 18 July 1970. This may be the first time they came to Vernon for Christmas because Bill served in the U.S. Airforce. 

Pal (my dog and first love) Bill Ford, Paula Quillin Ford, Nancy Quillin

Growing Up In Small Town America Part 20

 CHRISTMAS BREAK

On the day that school would turn out for Christmas, we were released early to go to the downtown parade where Santa arrived on his very own trailer. They set up an igloo on the courthouse lawn where Santa would take in the children to hear their requests. I remember it being very dark in the igloo and probably would not have wanted to do this, but Santa always gave large lollipops that were completely different from anything that could be bought. I loved them, so I endured the igloo. Our church would host a Christmas party in the basement for age appropriate children where we brought a gift to place in the gift exchange. I sang in the youth choir and we would rehearse many of the Christmas hymns leading up to Christmas.

Return to Jones / Seales Family Research

texasescapes.com

New information is coming to light

My lineage in the Jones family

Carolita Jones Quillin < Joe Carroll Jones < Martin Harmon Jones < Martin Ervin Brooks Jones < Martin Jones b 1816

I have been contacted by two serious genealogists with some new information about the wife of my great great grandfather Martin Ervin Brooks Jones's wife's family Her name was Manerva Jane Seales (1840-1909) Her father was Abraham Seales (1794-1873). His wife was Clarissa (Clarrisy)...last name unknown.

I have posted minimally on the research that I have on Martin Harmon Jones and his wife Matti Bell, with some of my documentation. There is much more.

When my beloved Uncle Martin Frank Jones passed away in late 2022, many of my posts for the Jones family were tributes to him and his blog, so those posts were his recollections. He was in his 80s and suffered from macular degeneration and this blog gave him purpose and added meaning to his life at that time.  He loved family history, and he wanted to know more about Martin Jones born1816. I, in no way, want to discredit Martin Frank Jones, but some of his recollections were hearsay from what others had told him. Some of my research discredits those thoughts. He had no access to true documentation.

I will begin giving more detailed information and sources about Martin Harmon Jones and Martin Ervin Brooks Jones which will tie me into the Seales family with Manera Jane Seales.

Stay posted as there is much more to come.