Progressives removed God from schools, replaced Him with a 'forgery': Pete Hegseth

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Pete Hegseth highlights how progressives took over America's schools

Fox News host Pete Hegseth discusses his new book 'Battle for the American Mind,' co-authored with David Goodwin, and the benefits of classical Christian education.

Classical Christian education is an antidote to concerns many parents have about indoctrination and liberal education in public schools, Pete Hegseth told Fox News Digital, drawing on the research and themes of a book he co-authored with David Goodwin titled "Battle for the American Mind." 

Hegseth described how progressives began transforming America’s schools in the early 20th century, removing Christianity from education. 

"What the progressives did, was they knew that … God was the centerpiece of truth and what the Western Christian worldview required, but they knew they couldn’t take Him out of the classroom in the early 20th century, because if they did, parents would have noticed, and they would have revolted, like we’re seeing at school board meetings now." 

Instead, Hegseth said, progressives replaced God with a "forgery."

"In this particular case, that forgery was patriotism, it was Americanism, it was the Pledge of Allegiance, which was actually written by Francis Bellamy, a socialist, and it was intentionally inserted to create a new allegiance away from God toward the state." 

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This realization, Hegseth said, was "jarring" for him and others who love America and the flag, and consider themselves patriots. 

School corridor with lockers. 3d illustration (iStock)

"Now today, when you see the 1619 [Project], all the nonsense in the classroom, they don’t need patriotism in the classroom, they never believed in it in the first place, it was always just a forgery. So they removed that as well, and now they’re going for full on indoctrination and activism." 

The New York Times' 1619 Project is a long-form collaboration that seeks to "reframe the country's history" by bringing slavery and racism to the forefront of the national narrative.

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Hegseth pointed out that nearly everything in education – from social studies classes to the 7-period day – were all the invention of progressives. 

One solution to the liberal takeover of schools, Hegseth said, is classical Christian schools, which is where he sends his own children. Classical Christian schools have "rediscovered that more ancient form of classic education and infused Christianity throughout it," he said. 

There are nearly 500 classical Christian schools around America, Hegseth said, with online and homeschool options for families not near a physical location. 

Fox News host Pete Hegseth (John Lamparski)

"If you’re a parent today, you cannot afford to be sending your kids to a government school," he added. "It’s a bad idea to try to take one day a week in church on Sunday, and a couple of evenings a week at home trying to undo what is 40-hours a week of indoctrination in the classroom." 

Hegseth was skeptical that this kind of education would ever make its way into the public schools, noting that America is "heading in the opposite direction." 

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Empty school room. (istock)

Hegseth also encouraged a system of educational choice, where parents have the options to send their children to the school of their choice. 

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"Our idea is not that we’re going to change the public schools, I don’t think that’s going to happen," he said. "If you create educational choice and give parents options, you can create a scenario where the system starts to recognize it either changes, or it shrivels."

Goodwin, who co-authored "Battle for the American Mind" with Hegseth, is the president of the Association of Classical Christian Schools.