dressed to Adam and Noah. Theynprohibit idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed,nsexual sins, theft, eating from anliving animal, and contain the injunctionnto establish a legal system for thenobservance of the other six laws. Somenscholars view them as a link betweennJudaism and Christianity, as universalnnorms of ethical conduct and as anmeans of determining internationalnlaw and fundamental human rights.nThe Lubavitchers’ devotion to theirnfamily, faith, and community is admirable,nbut what is questionable is anfederal bill honoring them under thenpretext of commemorating Americanneducation. The Mosaic Law honorednby Christians is forbidden to be taughtnor even posted in public (i.e., government)nschools because of the constitutionalnseparation of church and state,nbut it seems that the President andnCongress, in enacting “EducationnDay,” have crossed this very line tonpromote a small Jewish sect that maynwell believe the Messiah is alive andnliving in Brooklyn. Lubavitchers alsonevangelize worldwide, and, accordingnto the commemorative legislation, thenU.S. government has agreed to aidnthem in their efforts by organizingn”appropriate ceremonies and activities”nand by assigning this special daynto “an international scroll of honor,”nall in an attempt “to return the woddnto the moral and ethical values containednin the Seven Noahide Laws.” Isnthis a violation of the First Amendment,nor merely an executive prerogativenon behalf of the “New WoddnOrder”? President Bush and LamarnAlexander have yet to say.nNational holidays and commemorativenevents are the quickest and mostndirect way for politicians to court specialninterest groups and to appeasenthose groups to whom they alreadynowe their political soul. This is why wenhave the many days and weeks devotednto black and women’s history and tongay and AIDS awareness. But thesencommemorative events are also thenmeans by which social engineers attemptnto mold and manipulate culture.nLike Robespierre and the Jacobins whongutted the French calendar and institutionalizedncommemorations of thenGod of Reason, the “new Jacobins,” asnClaes Ryn has termed them, in Washingtonntoday wish to establish a nationalnpantheon of democratic saints whomn8/CHRONICLESnall Americans will be forced by law tonpay homage. Their crowning gloryncame with the declaration of a nationalnholiday for Martin Luther King.nThat this pantheon of saints is to benimposed on us from above—by federalnfiat, with the threat of violence ifnnecessary, as in the case of Arizonanand Martin Luther King Day — isnclear by the deceptive and clandestinenway in which “Education Day” wasnpassed in honor of the RabbinSchneerson. The Jacobin Poupinelnsaid two hundred years ago, “Let usnuse civic pomp to make the peoplenforget their old displays of superstition,”nbut the statement could just asnwell be mistaken for those made todaynby education bureaucrats like ChesternFinn, who several years ago called fornthe institution of a new civil religionnbased on patriotic holidays and thenbirthday of “Dr.” King. If the U.S.nDepartment of Education is to be thenNational Church, then what betternname for a new religious holiday thann”Education Day, U.S.A.”n— Theodore PappasnBLACK MISCHIEF continues tonbubble in the Caribbean, and the ReverendnJesse Jackson, U.S. RepresentativenChades Rangel (Democrat, NewnYork), the American Bar Association,nthe Church World Service, and thenLawyers Committee for HumannRights have demanded that the Bushnadministration grant temporary politicalnasylum to the 14,000 Haitian refugeesntaken off small boats by the U.S.nCoast Guard. The Haitians are fleeingnwhat the administration identifies asnthe economic crisis resulting from thenembargo imposed by the Organizationnof American States pending the reinstatementnof the deposed president.nFather Aristide, and what the ReverendnJackson perceives as “political persecution.”nThe federal judiciary had until recentlynblocked large-scale repatriationnof the refugees and forced the U.S.ngovernment to investigate claims fornpolitical asylum on a case-by-case basis.nTo date, about two thousand Haitiansnhave been granted the favor. “There’snno question,” Rangel has charged, “ifnthey were not poor, if they were notnblack, that we would find some compassionnto let these people in,” whilennnJackson has emphasized what he seesnas a want of consistency in Washington’snpolicies. “If we can restore thenemir to his throne in Kuwait,” heninsists, “we can restore democracy innour own hemisphere.”nIt is ironic that the United States,nwhich is regarded by so much of thenworld and indeed by a vocal minoritynof its own citizens as a historicallynwicked society, should be almost universallynexpected, on account of itsn”idealistic” tradition, to assume a charitablenand self-sacrificing role in everyninternational situation. Set aside, fornthe moment, the suspicion that hadnPresident Bush responded instantly tonthe coup in Haiti by dispatching U.S.nMarines to liberate that island, as Presi- •ndent Reagan did in the case of Grenadanin 1983, the Reverend Jesse Jacksonnwould have been the first to denouncenthe racist, imperialist action by thenAmerican government. The truth isnthat the United States was paid, by thenKuwaitis and others, to expel the Iraqininvaders; that the United States has realninterests, both economic and strategic,nin Kuwait, as do its Western allies; andnthat Iraq was developing nuclear weaponsnwith which to blackmail the rest ofnthe Middle East and perhaps thenworld. But what interests does thenUnited States — or anyone else othernthan the Haitians themselves — have innthe constitutional crisis in Haiti, annentirely insignificant country whosenhistory since the days of ToussaintnL’Ouverture has been one of fecklessnessnand barbarism?nYes, there is violence in Haiti, as thenReverend Jackson claims. There hasnalways been violence in Haiti, andnthere has never been anything properlyndescribable as democracy. The islandnhas had seven governments, includingnthe present one, since 1986 when thenDuvalier dictatorship was overthrownnafter 29 years in power. From 1804,nwhen the country became the firstnblack-led republic in the world, untiln1957 its history has been chiefly anrecord of chaos and bloodshed. Thenline between economic refugees andnpolitical ones is not always clear, but itnis safe to say that if Haitians today arenvictims of political persecution, thennthey have always been such. And notnonly Haitians, but most of the rest ofnthe Third Wodd peoples. Is it the dutynof the United States therefore to wel-n