Dueling Messages From the Tower of Babel
Franklin: “Our Republic could not have survived during the Revolution and our beginning years without the presence of a common language, English.” Our founders, all immigrants, understood that communication was basic to their well-being and to the future of our country. Should we sponsor bilingual education and destroy our country?
The Bible: “So God scattered them all over the Earth, thus ending the city and tower. That is why the city was called Babel, meaning confusion, because it was here that Jehovah confused them by giving them many languages and scattering them across . . . the Earth.”
We must exploit our linguistic unity through immersion in the English language, rather than developing a bilingual citizenship. This will prevent the confusion of Babel and will help us grow as a united people.
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