They Are Forgetting

The English have dropped Winston Churchill from secondary school history curriculum.

Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill has been cut from a list of key historical figures recommended for teaching in English secondary schools, a government agency says.

The radical overhaul of the school curriculum for 11- to 14-year-olds is designed to bring secondary education up to date and allow teachers more flexibility in the subjects they teach, the Government said.

This brings to mind Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, Recessional.  While this poem seeks to remind us of the temporary nature of all regimes except one, it may also prompt us to remember what is great and noble, such as Mr. Churchill.

GOD of our fathers, known of old,
      Lord of our far-flung battle line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
      Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies;
      The Captains and the Kings depart;
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
      An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away;
      On dune and headland sinks the fire;
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
      Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
      Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
      Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
      In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
      And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!

Update: See the comments at NLT.  I particularly like this one:

We can guess, but do we know who/what will replace these political men? I'm inclined to think that this is a move away from giving students the educational background that would come in handy if they would govern themselves. Studying Churchill and Hitler, Gandhi and Stalin, enables students to make distinctions between republicanism and tyranny, to think about empire and independence. But if you're being trained merely to produce, consume, and obey, you won't be needing any such distinctions or thoughts.