The Southern Baptists Are On The Right Track

According to a story posted by Allie Martin of Agape Press, the Southern Baptist Convention will be presenting resolutions supporting an "exit strategy" from public schools.

Those who know me personally know that I have been promoting something similar to this for quite some time. The public school system is broken beyond repair. Not only are the children of America not being properly educated; they are being actively indoctrinated into a secular, humanistic, narcissistic worldview that is completely antithetical to a Christian worldview.

Why Christian parents continue to send their little lambs to the slaughter is completely beyond me. Various reasons and excuses are given, such as finances, convenience, or just plain ignorance. Regardless of what the reasons are, the bottom line is that the children are still poorly educated and heavily indoctrinated.

Christian parents must realize that they are directly responsible for the education of their children. At one time in our nation's history Christian parents could send their children to a public school and still fulfill their parental responsibilities, because the schools were considered extensions of the home. School teachers were directly accountable to parents for what they taught the children. This is no longer the case, and it has not been for many, many years.

Many Christian parents began noticing the problem in the public schools back in the late seventies and mid-eighties, and the modern home school boom was started. Those parents took their responsibilities seriously, and in many cases paid a high price for their convictions. All home schooling parents today owe a debt of gratitude to those early pioneers of the movement.

It will be interesting to see what develops in the Southern Baptist Convention regarding the public school exit strategy. Will the church put their money where their mouth is, and begin subsidizing private and home schools? The public schools receive federal and state tax dollars for each child that attends, sometimes on the order of $5,000 to $10,000 per child per year. Parents who take their children out of the public system still have to pay those taxes, and do not get the benefit of the money.

What American Christians need to do (ALL Christians in America, not just parents of children in school) is to 1) begin supporting private and home school education in deed, not just in word; 2) lobby the state and federal government for tax breaks, educational vouchers, or a combination of the two; and 3) support the initiatives of the Southern Baptists as they take seriously the biblical mandate to educate their children in the ways of the Lord, providing them with a solid, well-rounded education in the process.

Three Hundred Million?

http://www.vdare.com/misc/061012_carter.htm

There was much media excitement recently as American celebrated the birth of her 300 millionth American - or did she? Maybe not, if Dr. Virginia Abernathy of Vanderbilt University is correct in her recent paper, “Census Bureau Distortions Hide Immigration Crisis.” According to this paper, the real population of America is now closer to 327 million, and America passed the 300 million mark about six years ago. Whether or not the Census Bureau is “fudging the numbers” to hide immigration statistics is beyond my ability to prove or disprove, but Dr. Abernathy’s report is worth reading.

Regarding our population, however, I would like to draw attention to something. Regardless of whether the current population is 300 or 327 million, what would our population be if we had not destroyed over 50 million of our own children during the past thirty-three years?

Only God knows the impact those children would have had on our society, for good or ill. I sometimes wonder how different our country would be now, with an additional 50 million inhabitants. Would we be a better nation? Would one of those children have grown up and discovered the cure to cancer, heart disease, or diabetes? Only God knows.

Hitler’s Third Reich put nearly twelve million people to death. Stalin’s purges killed upwards of thirteen million. The Khmer Rouge slaughtered millions in the killing fields of Cambodia. Mao Ze-Dong’s “Great Leap Forward” and “Cultural Revolution” resulted in the deaths of nearly fifty million, and only God knows how many babies have been, and continue to be, murdered in China due to their “one child only” policy.

We Americans like to take pride in the fact that we are a “Christian” nation, a “shining city on a hill.” Compared with the number of innocents killed by other countries, we do not look quite so shiny. In fact, we have just as much, or more, blood on our hands as do the despotic regimes of the twentieth century.

The Real Cause of School Violence

With the recent wave of violence against children in schools, people at all levels of society are clamoring for someone to find a quick solution to the problem. Gun-control advocates are demanding laws to restrict the private ownership of firearms. Others are calling for armed security guards to patrol the hallways and playgrounds. Still others have suggested arming schoolteachers.

These are not really solutions, though; they do they address the root problems that lie beneath the violence. We need to identify the real problems, because only when the root causes of violence are recognized can we begin to develop real solutions.

We live in a culture that glamorizes and extols violence. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to be entertained by violence and immorality. We indoctrinate our children from infancy and desensitize them to violence by using the television as a babysitter. According to research abstracts posted on the web page Children and Television Violence, by the time the average American child reaches the age of thirteen, he or she will have witnessed over 100,000 acts of televised violence, including over 8000 acts of murder! On average, children’s television shows contain about twenty acts of violence each hour. Psychologists Eron and Huesmann, after following the viewing habits of a group of children for decades, found that watching violence on television is the single factor most closely associated with aggressive behavior - more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. For more information about the harmful effects of television violence, see Media Violence is Hazardous to Your Health.

Research has linked pornography with violence against women and children. Consumers of porn view women and children as objects to exploit and victimize, not as human beings deserving of honor and protection. Although we have hundreds of laws against pornography on the books, no one is enforcing them. The citizens of America must not care enough about this issue to make our law enforcement establishment do its job.

The mass media, especially television, has done more to contribute to violence in our society than any other factor. However, recent history has shown that Americans do not really want to deal with the issue – we just want to keep on being entertained. Until Americans turn off the televisions, stop buying the violent video games, quit watching violent and sexually explicit movies, and start demanding enforcement of existing pornography laws, this country will continue to experience more and more violence.

How is it that the Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was able to respond to such horrific violence with love, peace and forgiveness? They have been practicing those virtues for hundreds of years. At the same time, they have refused to be indoctrinated by “American pop culture.” I am not advocating an Amish lifestyle, but I am advocating a lifestyle that says “No!” to Hollywood, the mass media and the purveyors of porn.

No more Dentyne for me!

Dentyne has a new ad on their homepage that is absolutely disgusting. I'm not going to link to it because I don't want them getting any more publicity than they already are. With this new ad campaign, they are pandoring to the homosexuals, lesbians and perverts among us. Of course, they have the right to do that. Of course, I have the right to not purchase their products. I hereby choose to exercise that right.

Big Surprise - Most Americans Ignorant of 1st Amendment Rights

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/freedom_poll

Although most can name at least two of "The Simpsons."

This is just one more pathetic example of how our government-run public school system has failed this nation.

Oh, how I hate the public school system.

I have a new favorite browser

I never thought I would move away from IE, but I'm quickly falling in love with a new browser. No, its not Mozilla's FireFox. At one time I thought that might be a good alternative to IE, but it is riddled with bugs and just gets worse all the time. The browser I'm loving a lot lately is Opera. It has a ton of great features, but the ones I like best so far are:

Tabbed browsing: not a new feature per se, but I love the way they have implemented this. Each tab has its own set of back, forward, refresh and close buttons. Each tab also has its own address bar and search bar. Excellent!

Integrated email, news, rss and all that.

Easy to scale pages larger and smaller - great for reading small text on a large monitor.

Lots more - check it out for yourself!

There are some downsides - a lot of sites are still written for IE only, but I think that is changing for the better. (Note: the Blogger editor seems to be IE only - what a shame).

UK Muslim cleric jailed for inciting murder

Stand up and cheer for the Brits! Hooray!

This guy is bad news, and its about time they threw his Islamo-Fascist butt in the slammer. Now I hope the British extradite this goon to the US to stand trial for his crimes against humanity. The Brits gave him seven years, but over here he could get the ultimate reward - 72 virgins and eternal bliss in heaven - NOT!

Where's the Outrage?

Where's the Outrage over this anti-Christian, anti-Jewish cartoon from a Palestinian newspaper?

Why aren't Chrstians and Jews marching in the streets by the thousands, burning the Palestinian flag? Why aren't Christians and Jews storming the offices of Palestinian diplomats, searching for people to kidnap and hold for ransom? Why aren't they screaming and shouting "Death to Arabs! Death to Muslims!"?

Why? It's not because we aren't outraged by such offensive literature. It is because we recognize something called "Freedom of the Press."

C'mon Muslims, get a clue.

Armed militants threaten Europeans in cartoon uproar - Yahoo! News

"Armed militants threaten Europeans in cartoon uproar "

When you allow a hornets nest into your home, you are bound to get stung.

What Europe has done over the past century or so, and especially in the last few decades, is to reject its Christian heritage and embrace secularism. During that time, it has prided itself on its so-called "tolerence", and has had some of the most liberal immigration laws in the world. That, combined with collective guilt over its colonialist past, has allowed Europe to become a haven for millions of Muslims, mainly from North Africa and the Middle East.

As Muslims moved into Europe, they brought their religion and culture (which are really inseparable) with them. Now that they have reached critical mass, the Europeans are starting to "reap the whirlwind". The vast majority of Muslims do not understand the freedoms of the West, nor do they want to embrace them. They want freedom to practice Islam, and they want everyone else to practice it (or submit to it) with them. When you defy them, they will make you pay. The Europeans (especially the French and the Dutch) are finally starting to realize that.

It will be really interesting to see how this plays out. American secularists should learn from the mistakes of the Europeans.

Dhimmi Watch: Buy Danish

Dhimmi Watch: Buy Danish

The Danes are taking some incredible economic heat from Islamic countries because of their stance on the free press (http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/009975.php). All freedom loving people everywhere should come to the defense of the Danes against the Muslims! Buy a Danish product to help offset the Muslim boycott of Danish goods.

From the "There is such a thing as stupid questions" file...

STEFAN NICOLA of UPI International asks the question: "Does Europe face a clash of cultures?"

United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - Analysis: Islamophobia rising in Europe?

Study: Most College Students Lack Skills - Yahoo! News

Study: Most College Students Lack Skills - Yahoo! News

I'm shocked! Shocked! This is the most upsetting news I've seen in, umm, about ten minutes.

I am jesting, of course. Why should I, or anyone for that matter, be surprised at a story like this? American public schools are dismally poor at graduating students with even a modicum of traditional skills such as reading, writing and 'rithmatic, so why should those same students fare any better once they get to college?

This quote really makes me cringe:

"Most students at community colleges and four-year schools showed intermediate skills. That means they can do moderately challenging tasks, such as identifying a location on a map" [emphasis mine].

Since when is identifying a location on a map "moderately challenging"? I suppose it is to a fifth grader. The really tough assignments, that require really "proficient" skills, are interpreting a table about exercise and blood pressure, or understanding the arguments of newspaper editorials (oh, come on!) and comparing credit card offers with different interest rates and annual fees. Okay, so maybe that last one is a bit of a challenge, given the abstruse and convoluted way the credit card companies present those offers.

Our public education system needs to be scrapped, or completely overhauled. John Stossel of ABC's "2020" gave an excellent expose of the public system, and demonstrated quite well that where there is competition (in the form of vouchers) that students do much better. I agree. The only way to improve the public schools in this country is to introduce competition into the system. This will weed out the poorer performing teachers and educrats, and then at least some of our students will get a decent education.

Update: here is a great quote by John Stossel that I pulled from The Patriot Post:

"Not enough money for education? It's a myth. The truth is, public schools are rolling in money. If you divide the U.S. Department of Education's figure for total spending on K-12 education by the department's count of K-12 students, it works out to about $10,000 per student. Think about that! For a class of 25 kids, that's $250,000 per classroom. This doesn't include capital costs. Couldn't you do much better than government schools with $250,000? You could hire several good teachers; I doubt you'd hire many bureaucrats. Government schools, like most monopolies, squander money. America spends more on schooling than the vast majority of countries that outscore us on the international tests. But the bureaucrats still blame school failure on lack of funds, and demand more money." [emphasis mine]

Since when do we have a "right" to die?

Court upholds US right-to-die law - World - smh.com.au

The US Supreme Court held that the federal government does not have the right to interfere in the way states regulate the practice of medicine and the licensing of doctors. Basically this means that doctors in Oregon (and soon elsewhere) can dispense killer drugs to people they deem as being "terminal". Supposedly this will only be at the behest of the person who is dying anyway, a kind of "assisted suicide".

My question is this: since when do we have a "right" to die, or more accurately stated, a right to take our own lives?

The last time I looked at the Constitution, I didn't see anything that looked like a right to suicide. There are rights listed there, such as the right to free exercise of religion, the right of free speech, the right of a free press, the right to keep and bear arms, etc. Nothing about a right to die. I guess it's like the right to kill certain persons that the justices somehow "found" in the Constitution back in 1973.

The bottom line for me is this: Only the Creator of life has the right to give it and and take it away. Sometimes he delegates the authority to take life to human governments. He never delegates such authority to human individuals. When one human takes another human's life, and that human is not acting as an agent of a legitimate government, then the act is called murder, or homicide, or something along those lines.

God does not grant us a "right to die". He also does not grant us a right to assist another person in committing suicide. Suicide is murder - the unlawful taking of a person's life - even if that person is you.

The laws of this land are ultimately based on the fact that there is a universal Law-Giver. This remains true regardless of who believes it or is even aware of the fact. This is what makes abortion wrong, and it is what makes suicide wrong, no matter what the Supreme Court says.

God says "You shall not committ murder" in Exodus 20:13. God's law trumps man's law every time.

Did the Chinese Really Discover America?

Chinese map claims to back theory that China discovered America - Yahoo! News

I read parts of Gavin Menzies' book awhile back. He has a very facinating theory that Chinese sailors and explorers discovered America about seventy years before Columbus. According to him, they also planted colonies in various places, but were never able to maintain contact with them due to a changing political climate back home.

Self-help's big lie - Los Angeles Times

From the "I can't believe I'm reading this in the L.A. Times" category:

Self-help's big lie - Los Angeles Times

This is some very common sense, and refreshing, reading. I'm really surprised it made it into such a left-coast newspaper. I only hope that the educrats and teachers who might happen to read this will sit up and take notice.

Present or not, Saddam's trial to continue - World - theage.com.au

What I want to know is, why don't they just drag the man's butt in there and force him to attend the trial? Since when do defendants in a trial get to set the rules? What kind of crazy system do they have over there, anyway?

One More

Here is a nice shot by a birch tree outside our hotel in Green Bay.

Vacation Pics Part 2

Here is another shot:

Vacation Pictures

I decided to take a few pictures while we are here, so I started with some shots of Schatzie. Here is a nice one outside our hotel:

On Vacation

MaryAnn and I are taking some time off for "R & R" - reading and relaxation. Right now we are in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Not exactly your ideal resort getaway spot, but the weather is beautiful and the price was right. Schatzie is along with us, but she doesn't know how to read, so she is just relaxing.

We are staying in a Candlewood Suites hotel, which is ok. The first night we got here, the room air conditioner wasn't working right, so we had to move to another room. Unfortunately, we didn't figure that out until AFTER we unpacked everything, so moving into a different room was quite a hassle. Fortunately, it was just across the hall, so we didn't have to go very far. We also got an upgrade to a larger suite for the same price, so it worked out ok.

We found a neat little used book store / coffee shop called "The Attic". Why they call it the attic, I don't know. There didn't appear to be anything other than the ground floor, and it didn't look like an attic. However, I picked up some pretty good books at a cheap price, so who cares what they call the place! On the window is painted the words "Good Books - Great Coffee". I told MaryAnn that two of the most pleasant sounding words in the English language are "Books and Coffee". If I ever open up a book store, I think I'll call it "B.C.".

Here are the books I picked up:

Faith Alone by R.C. Sproul
The Talmud and the Internet by Jonathan Rosen
Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas ed. by Anton C. Pegis
The Contemporary Christian by J.R.W. Stott
The Matter Myth by Paul Davies and John Gribbin
God - The Evidence by Patrick Glynn
Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson

I've finished reading the book by Patrick Glynn. He is a recovered atheist who posits that we are living in a "post-secular" world. The sub-title of the book is "The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World". I thought it was a good read, although much of the information I have read previously in other books. I'm not very good at book reviews, so if you're interested you can read some good (and not so good) reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761519645/104-2112399-0537549?v=glance

I have started reading The Matter Myth by Davies and Gribbin. I know its a bit outdated (it was published in 1992) but I have seen the book referenced by other authors enough times that I thought it would be a good idea to read it. Read some reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671728415/qid=1124838850/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-2112399-0537549?v=glance&s=books

I'm also reading some books that I brought with me:

The God Who Risks by John Sanders
Encountering Evil - Live Options in Theodicy ed. by Stephen T. Davis
Stone Campbell Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1
Across the Spectrum by Greg Boyd and Paul Eddy
The Canon of the New Testament by Bruce Metzger
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades by Robert Spencer

Another book that I bought to read on vacation, but that I finished before we left, was a book called

Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Levitt and Dubner. This was an interesting book, especially the authors' conclusions about cause of the dramatic decline in the youth crime rate in the 90's. Whether or not his conclusions are true, it is an interesting (and troubling) hypothesis. A recommended read. Here are some reviews: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/006073132X/ref=cm_rev_prev/104-2112399-0537549?%5Fencoding=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=283155&s=books&customer-reviews.start=1

I know that there is no way to get through all of the books I brought along, but if I can knock out a few of them, and get started in the majority of them, I'll he happy. Linc-Up classes at Lincoln Christian College begin the week we get back, so my reading time will be greatly diminished. I have a paper to write while I'm up here in preparation for the first class, so I'd better get started on it.