Death of a Heartland dream

David Brooks
The New York Times

Dear Mr. Brooks,

Those snobbish coastal elitists are at it again. This time they've gone beyond merely attacking our livestock-friendly lifestyle. Now, they're targeting our schools.

The Abounding Grace Boarding School for Boys in Lexington, North Carolina was more than just an old shed behind Believers Baptist Church, it was a refuge for the wayward, a shack of salvation for young men with a need to get right with the Lord.

It was also the realization of a dream for its two-person faculty, Stan and Lee Mitchell. I'm sure that there were many who laughed at the couple for pursuing it. After all, Stan's GED serves as the the couple's greatest academic accomplishment. Thankfully, that was enough for the State of North Carolina.

Now that dream is dead. Elitists, who arrogantly reject our traditional child training methods, have closed Abounding Grace School for Boys. The beds where the wayward students once nursed wounds from hundreds of paddle strokes now lie empty. The floor that once served as a table where students ate their own vomit is no longer wetted with the tears of rebellion. And Stan Mitchell now teaches vermin in a jail cell as he awaits to be tried by his peers.

We appreciate all you've done to defend the traditional values of the Heartland against the arrogant secularism of the coastal elites. I pray that you will do it once again by writing a column about this latest assault on Christian education.

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot