Worldview 11

Some of the founders of humanistic public education in America are;
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) a man who had five illegitimate children and gave them away to foster homes.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746 - 1847) He believed that affection could replace discipline
Friedrich Froebel (1782 - 1851) He believed a child was inherently good, and needed self expression through play. He is the man responsible for instituting kindergartens in America.

Kindergarten teaches a child to expect play and fun at school. It is completely accepted today but was a scandal in 1898. Read this report from Frederic Burk in 1898.



The Puritans brought literacy and education to America. Religion was the first priority in their lives. They had a totally Biblical worldview and understood why this was important. Other founding groups in America did not have these principles. To the Puritans scholarship and Christianity went hand in hand. Since the printing press began making the Bible available to men they immediately saw the need for every man to be able to read. They began Harvard as the first college in America in 1636. Amazingly this was done only 6 years after their arrival in 1630. They passed a law called the Old Deluder Law in 1647. It was designed to frustrate the plan of the Old Deluder (satan) to keep mankind ignorant and unable to read the Bible.

This law required all Puritan villages to raise funds and hire a teacher whenever a village population topped 50 families. When they reached 100 families they were required to do the same and build a school house. These were the first schools in America. They were local, private, and privately funded. There were no school boards. There was no state department of education.

The textbooks used were the New England Primer (1690), and later (1836) the McGuffey Readers (122 million sold). They were full of Biblical examples and virtue. In 1783 Noah Webster published the Blue-Backed Speller. It replaced the New England Primer and sold over 100 million copies. You can do a simple web search and read pages from these books online.
Bible illustrations were used extensively.

At that time America had the highest literacy rate in the world. The average farmer could read at what is now college level. Now we are ranked 49th.

# The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
# The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
# Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).
# "The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78).
# Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere!

This decline in literacy has been stunning and dramatic. It came as a Biblical viewpoint of education slowly yielded to a humanistic viewpoint. More about this paradigm shift next issue.

Want A Laugh?

A school in Clovis NM mistook a 30 inch Burrito wrapped in aluminium foil as a weapon and alerted police who responded in mass. They locked the school down and posted snipers on nearby roofs. No report on how the burrito was distributed.
Read it all here.

Quote

"The Constitution is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please." - Thomas Jefferson, Sept 6, 1819

OMG !

This is from the BBC so it must be true ?
Zombies ? Malaria ? Human hearts restarted after death by unknown causes ?
You gotta take a look at this.

Update.... This is an elaborate fraud. Someone doctored a real BBC page and had a good laugh on us all. http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/zombies.asp

67th Christian Carnival

The 67th Chrisitan Carnival is up and running at Wittenberg Gate. The scheduled host, Revenge of Mr. Dumpling was in an auto accident and the carnival bounced back to Dory. Please pray for Dave (Mr. Dumpling) for the restoration of a car and visit the 60 contributors for this weeks carnival.

Are Christians Haters?

Christians are often called "haters." I think of the bumper sticker, that is clearly pointed at Christians, that says, "Hate is not a family value." I remember when my son used to call me, "Mr. Negativity." I think of how Christians are always being portrayed as aggressive, type A, intimidators and I wonder? Is this really true?

Actually I see most Christians as meek, mild, shrinking violet, types of people. They seem to flee the battle, not run to it. They seem to me to be a people who try to avoid confrontation at all costs. And because of this they seem to me to be destined to loose in the battle of ideas. But yet truth cannot be contained.

I think we need to learn to hate sin even more than we have. I think the reason we handle sin with kid gloves is because we ourselves are compromised. If you need mercy, you are wise to give mercy. But still, we should have a holy hate in our hearts for sin in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Not hate for the person, but hate for the sin. Jesus had a love for the sinner, but never excused the sin.

The world seems to hate the US for its stance that seems to divide the world into, "good and evil." This seems simplistic to them. To them, it ignores some subtle differences that should be included. But is this wise? Is this true? Is relativism legitimate? If things are relative then it seems to me all practical reality of good and evil disappears and only the current person in powers idea of evil will prevail. We need an objective standard. We need to learn to hate sin. Only then will we speak up and see it driven far from our doors.

King David Says...

"You desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being."
Psalm 51:6 (Regarding the time David committed adultery with Bathsheba.)

"The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God you will not despise." Psalm 51:17

A Few Quotes

"... If you don't hate evil, you won't fight it, and good will lose."
Dennis Prager, worldnetdaily.com March 1, 2005

Psa 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

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Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Toxic Baseball

The Twinkies have a new baseball stadium deal. Rich people finally get to sell their dead property at a high price and fans get to breathe the toxic fumes from the garbage burning plant right next door. I never did understand why downtown was a good place to burn garbage but maybe it will help to make the cotton candy more flavorful? Notice how this was never put to any kind of public debate? Notice how it was a site that never was mentioned in the light of day? Can anybody say,"inside deal?" Oh well, what's a mortal bloke gonna do? Actually, it ain't all that bad, I hope. Maybe I should have called this blog "Industrial Baseball?"
Read about it here.

Worldview 10

In my last blog in this series I concluded with the thought that worldviews are not birthed in only one moment in time. They come from a rich heritage of either truth or error. Let me give you another graphic to help you understand what I am trying to say.



Greek Education comes to us from Aristotle and Plato. Hebrew ideas of education come to us from Moses and Solomon. Greek education is centered on building the man. Hebrew education is based upon building the kingdom of God. Greek education comes from an inner faith that is based in reason. Hebrews put their faith in God's revelation to man. The Greeks tried to develop good citizens. The Hebrews tried to develop character and virtue in the man and thus you would have good citizens. Augustine once said, We are to be the best of citizens because we do out of our love for God what others do only because they are required to. The Greeks were focused more on looking good. Style and form at all costs. The Hebrews were focused more on the content or the essence of life. The Greeks thus developed an humanistic worldview. A view of life with man at the center.
The Hebrews developed a Biblical worldview. A view of life with God at the center. These differences lead to two different cities. Only one is the city of God.

It is interesting to note that humanists always delight in showing us the external glories of Greece but they never bother to mention the infanticide, abortion, homosexuality, inferior status of women, and slavery that their society was built off of.
But lets look at how these two worldviews affect the way a person reasons or thinks.



Greek thought reasons from life to the truth. Hebrew thought reasons from the truth to life. Greek thought understands in order to believe. Hebrew thought believes in order to understand. Greek thought puts self and independence at the highest source. Hebrew thought puts authority higher than itself at the highest source. The Greeks see education as teaching. The Hebrews saw education as training. To the Greeks the purpose of education was to lead oneself to gain. (Ask most college students why they study and they will answer so that they can make more money) To the Hebrews the highest reason for education and the highest purpose for thoughts were to comprehend God and to thus be transformed in order to serve others more lovingly.

I will cover some of the historical progression of these two paths in the personalities and processes of American education in my next post.

Bizarre New Pro Life/Pro Troops Ornament

If this isn't in the top 5 of the strangest things I have seen come out lately then I am out of touch with reality... Take a look at this.

A Must Read

Here is a very excellent post from Stones Cry Out. You have to read this one.

Bedbugs Are Back

There seems to be an increase in bedbugs in hotels and motels. Search it out on the web or read about it here.

Hill Of Crosses

This is from Joel News. He is quoting from a YWAM newsletter. I am including a picture.

"Some time ago, I visited a fascinating place in Lithuania called the Hill
of Crosses," writes Jeff Fountain, European director of YWAM, in his Weekly
Word. "For over a hundred years, it has been a site of the people's
defiance of oppression."

Under heavy-handed Tsarist rule in the 19th century, a national uprising
was brutally repressed. Many rebels were executed and some were secretly
buried on this hill in the countryside, a site long sacred. A hundred
crosses were set up in memory of the rebels.

During mass repressions of the Soviet occupation, Lithuanians suffered
greatly. Hundreds of thousands were deported to Siberia from 1941-52,
leaving whole villages totally deserted. In 1956 Lithuanians began
returning home. They erected new crosses on the hill in gratitude for their
return, in memory of their torture and suffering, and as memorials for
those who would never return. The hill became a place of prayer for those
still suffering. Passionate and openly anti-Soviet inscriptions often
adorned the crosses, making the hill an open-air museum, a mirror of human
suffering and inhumane oppression.

In 1961, the authorities came with bulldozers to raze the Hill of Crosses
and erase it from human memory. Wooden crosses were burned. Iron crosses
became scrap metal. Stone crosses were buried. The hill was declared a
forbidden place, a place of 'ignorance' and 'fanaticism'. Despite
surveillance, new crosses kept appearing at night; at first small, then
becoming bigger. The authorities tried more drastic measures. Yet projects
to flood the area, block the roads, and turn the hill into an inaccessible
island all failed over time. More crosses just kept appearing: hundreds,
thousands, tens of thousands...

Finally in 1985, the government abandoned their hopeless task. Peace came
to the Hill of Crosses. Three years later the revolution was well under way
to overthrow the Soviet oppression. And in 1991, independence came at last
to Lithuania.

Today this 10-metre high hill is an unimaginable forest of hundreds of
thousands of crosses, some even say millions! The Hill of Crosses is truly
a powerful declaration of hope in the face of tyranny. Like a giant
pin-cushion, it is a monument of folk art with many hand-carved crosses;
some miniature, others five metres-high; some intricate and elaborate,
others crude and simple; most anonymous, and one large wooden sculpture of
Christ crucified, a gift from the Pope.

"Lithuania's Hill of Crosses is a powerful declarion of hope, based on the
historicity of the death and resurrection of Jesus," says Fountain. "And
the hope of restored relationship, with God and with neighbour."

And For The Lunatic Fringe

Some people are losing their everloving minds under a Chicago overpass.
You gotta see this.

The New Pope

Not only has the new Pope taken a name that references olives but he was also at work in stopping Kerry from being elected. Read about it here

For Some It's About Money

This is from a local e-news magazine called Pulse. This is an important read to get the behind the scenes information about gay marriage in Minnesota and its politics. The last line I have included is the one that got my attention.

Spear and Coleman hired a part time lobbyist named Steve Endean to shepherd these gay rights bill through the state senate. There were a number of hearings and amendments before all the ordinances finally settled in. Endean was a piece of work. He was in his early 20ís, a college dropout, and stood only about 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches tall in a chubby frame. Everybody called him ìWeebee.î

By day Endean lobbied at city halls and on Capitol Hill. By night he checked coats at popular gay discosófirst at Suttonís which has since folded, then at the Gay `90s which is still the biggest gay bar between Chicago and San Francisco. After bars closed, ìWeebeeî almost literally lived in the local gay bathhouses.

With all this gay contact, Endean got to know both the important closet gays and the hottest young gay guys. He was great at organizing private parties, hand picking guests from both groups. Some of the more outrageous called it ìpimping.î Those parties rivaled the ones in Larry Kramerís novel, ìFaggots: Drugs, sex and rock and roll.î This was how gay money began to flow into the hands of Democrats back then.

The 66th Christian Carnival

The 66th Christian Carnival is up at Pseudo-Polymath. Mark takes us on a liturgical journey through the best of Christian thought on the web for the third week of April. Enjoy!
You can go to it from here.

Where Are The Men?

The bible says that the "effeminate" will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

1 Cor. 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor *homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. NKJV

The asterisk next to the word homosexual above references the KJV translation of this word as effeminate. The actual word is malakos (in the Greek) Here is what Strong's concordance says about this word.

1) soft, soft to the touch

2) metaph. in a bad sense

a) effeminate

1) of a catamite

2) of a boy kept for homosexual relations with a man

3) of a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness

4) of a male prostitute

This is tough judgment. I think the first meaning of the word is what is meant here.
Simply put, "soft." A person who is dominated by fear instead of faith.

What Europe and the US is raising today is soft men. Men who have no backbone. Who always take the characterless path of least resistance. This is a failure of the fathers. Fathers that have chosen to forsake their responsibility to train their children and instead have chosen to seek their own enjoyment in life. The Spirit of God is to always bring the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers.

Here is a commentary from Vox Day writing for World Net Daily that really expresses this basic idea in a more secular way.

Monday, April 18, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------
What would John Wayne do?
By Vox Day
------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: April 18, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern


After almost every column or blogpost I've written about the various idiosyncracies of women, some woman writes to complain that I never criticize men. Of course, there's not exactly a shortage of male-bashing in the mainstream media today, to say nothing of chick rags like Cosmopolitan, Ms., Self and other variants on the Me, Myself and I theme so popular with women.

And while there is something about the modern American man that is absolutely worthy of criticism, I don't think it's exactly what these feminists had in mind. For you see, the main problem with men today is that they are not men, but frightened little boys afraid of their bosses, their wives, their girlfriends and their government. They are afraid of their employees, their children and their children's teachers.

They are not men because the hallmark of a real man is one who is not ruled by fear. Consider the real men of history, the immortals whose names we still honor today. Leonidas and his Three Hundred did not run before the Persian army at Thermopylae even though they knew they would fall before the host of Xerxes. Winston Churchill, a military and political failure, did not quail before the might of Nazi Germany, but inspired the nation of Britain to stand with him. And not even years in the Soviet gulags could silence the brave voice of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose iron will enabled him to outlast the very government that imprisoned him.

Can you imagine one of these men meekly submitting to the harsh words of a boss? Can you imagine Cicero cowering before the sharp tongue of a nagging wife, who did not cower before an emperor? Or the Apostle Paul remaining silent for fear someone might take offense to his words?

What men lack today is a defining point separating boyhood from manhood. The mere accumulation of years is not enough, for as the saying goes, a woman is, but a man must become. It is interesting to see the difference between one's friends who enter the Marine Corps and those who enter college four years later, there is seldom a question that the Marine is indeed a man, but far more often than not, the college graduate is simply a post-adolescent version of what he was before.

For the knowledge of manhood is the assurance that one has faced the test and passed. This is not a test of what one knows, but the test of character that only comes from facing your fears. As society has become safer, and in many ways better thanks to technology, it has also eliminated many of the tests that boys of previous generations were forced to face in becoming men.

In my boyhood, I envied my uncle and my grandfather. They were men. The much-decorated Marine veterans of five wars between them, they both survived everything the Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Iraqis could throw at them and no longer feared anything but God. When at 71, my grandfather broke his hand on the jaw of a carjacker who foolishly thought a .38 revolver and a six-inch height advantage should suffice to cow an old man, I asked him if he hadn't been afraid.

He shrugged and said that he figured if Guadacanal and Tarawa didn't kill him, no young buck with a popgun stood a chance.

But too many young men today lack such role models. And yet, they seek to find their manhood as if by instinct, all too often making do with inadequate substitutes such as fraternities and gangs. At the time, I did not know I was looking to test myself when my best friend and I joined our martial-arts dojo after being informed by the Marine recruiter that the Gulf War would be over before we finished basic training and our assistance, while appreciated, was surplus to requirements. In retrospect, however, that's precisely what we were doing.

It isn't until he faces the test that a boy begins to understand that it isn't the absence of fear that's the issue, it's how you accept that fear and face it. It is the boy who gets knocked down ... it is the man who rises again in the full knowledge of what's coming next.

Women are not to blame for the demasculization of the American man. It is men who have allowed this to happen, it is the fathers who shirk their responsibility to their sons and the young men who choose the soft and easy way of leisure over the less comfortable path of discipline who are to blame.

So, young man, if you harbor any doubts in your head about your manhood, let me assure you they are correct. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

© 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vox Day is a novelist and Christian libertarian. He is a member of the SFWA, Mensa and the Southern Baptist church, and has been down with Madden since 1992. Visit his web log, Vox Popoli, for daily commentary and responses to reader email.

Thanks to my friend Aaron Siver at The Silver Tongue for this heads up on the Vox Day article. I am in full agreement that boys today are not taught to conquer their fears and doubts. We are raising a generation of soft men and then requiring them to be soldiers.

Marriage Amendment

I, like a good citizen, have contacted all of my political servants (politicians) about gaining a Minnesota Marriage Amendment. I have heard back from about 6 or 7 politicians. One of the most interesting responses was from Phyllis Kahn. Here is what she had to say in a personal e-mail. (But I caught her personally on the phone and she was almost rude and far from as diplomatic as this letter. Her answer was the equivalent of "no way and never")

April 18, 2005

Thank you for contacting me in support of HF 6, which proposes a
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. I appreciate you
alerting me to your concern.

As you know, some of my legislative colleagues have proposed a
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages in response to court
decisions in other states permitting such unions (HF 6). Apparently,
they are concerned that gay couples from Minnesota will go to those
other states to marry, then return to Minnesota to challenge our state
laws, which ban same-sex unions.

Those laws were passed in 1997. Minnesota Statutes section 517.01
specifies that in order for a marriage to be lawfully valid in the state
of Minnesota, the marriage may only be contracted between persons of the
opposite sex. In addition, Minnesota Statutes section 517.03 prohibits
marriage between persons of the same sex and specifies that a
"marriage entered into by persons of the same sex, either under
common law or statute, that is recognized by another state or foreign
jurisdiction is void in this state and contractual rights granted by
virtue of the marriage or its termination are unenforceable in this
state."

Constitutional amendment proponents worry, however, that the Minnesota
courts will overturn these statutes--hence, the proposed constitutional
amendment.

HF 6 passed the House of Representatives on March 31. However, I did
not vote in favor of it. First, I do not believe we should enshrine
discrimination in our constitution and second, I do not believe such an
amendment is necessary. Even Governor Pawlenty, a constitutional
amendment supporter, has acknowledged that he believes Minnesota's
current laws banning same-sex marriage "will repel any legal
challenges here." Consequently, it is simply redundant and
unnecessary to adopt such a proposal. Current law more than adequately
addresses the issue.

Even if a court were to overturn these statutes, the legislature could
debate the issue at that time. Nothing is lost by delaying action.

Further, there is no reason to take up this constitutional amendment
this session since the measure can't even go on the ballot until the
2006 general election. This is due to a provision in the Minnesota
Constitution (Article 9, section 1). Minnesota's constitution provides
that the Legislature can submit a proposed constitutional amendment "to
the people for their approval or rejection at a general election
(emphasis added). The next statewide general election won't be held
until November of 2006. Many people believe, myself included, that
there is no point in debating constitutional amendments this year when
the voters can't even act upon them until next year.

I believe our limited time this year would be better spent focusing on
the issues of concern to all Minnesotans: education, health care, job
creation, etc. We have an enormous budget deficit that must be dealt
with. That should be our priority.

It is also important to know that the proposed constitutional amendment
goes beyond banning same-sex marriages. It also bans their "legal
equivalent." This is significant because it effectively bans any form
of civil unions, including domestic partnerships. This ban on "legal
equivalents" is written so broadly that it puts hundreds of Minnesota
businesses at risk of being sued for providing certain employment
benefits to gay people, such as time off to attend the funeral of a
partner. I believe most Minnesotans have no objections to these
domestic partner benefits. At a time when we need to help businesses
create jobs, we shouldn't be burdening businesses with the costs of
expensive litigation to defend reasonable corporate policies. Hundreds
of Minnesota companies provide such benefits and Minnesotans don't
object to them doing so.

I am also puzzled by people who think their marriage is threatened by a
stable loving relationship of two other people.

Even President Bush, a supporter of banning gay marriage, supports
civil unions. It is speculated that because Vice President Dick
Cheney's daughter is a lesbian, the President will not oppose
legally recognizing civil partnerships.

Obviously, sometimes there are issues of disagreement. A
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages is one of them.
Although I respect your views and appreciate knowing your opinion on
this issue, I do not believe that Minnesota should move forward with
this proposal.

Despite our difference of opinion, I hope you will continue to advise
me on issues that are important to you. It is only with the input of
people like you that I am able to effectively represent our district,
which is why I value your comments.

Again, thank you for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Phyllis Kahn
State Representative

Supporting a Marriage Amendment in no way excludes civil unions. They will simply just not be recognized as "marriage." But that makes little difference to those who want to live their lives and make their choices with impunity. They don't just want equality, they want our blessing. Her letter is an attempt to make me feel that I am out of step with Minnesotans. She does not have a clue that the clock is ticking. Can anybody say "mainstrain America?"

Happy Moments 'Protect The Heart'

BBC News reports that a team from University College in London have announced research that happiness is directly realated to heart health. You can read the article here.

My only point is that the Bible made mention of that 2500 years ago.

Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

---

Proverbs 15:15 All the days of the afflicted [are] evil: but he that is of a merry heart [hath] a continual feast.

---

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good [like] a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Go Big Orange!

Well! Well! Well! One of the ladies in our church is a refugee from Communist Ukraine and so I have had a real interest in the developments towards Democracy over there in Europe. I must admit, about 10 years ago I had little hope for any revival of Christianity or return to democracy from the Communist or Socialist strangle hold on Europe. I am beginning to believe and hope once again!

This report is from Joel News, a Christian e-newsletter that I have been a part of since its inception. I can't help but wonder why this sort of thing is not reported on in the conservative blogdom on the web. They will speak of democracy but they will rarely speak of its roots in the spiritual lives of the people. I am waiting for revival to hit the conservative bloggers and the end of mere "cultural Christians." "Ye must be born again!" Here are a few quotes from the newsletter.

The most interesting event took place when the Prime Minister took her Oath of Office on February 3, 2005 as President Yushenko listed his agenda for the country. What shocked the whole country was the fact that he took a clear and unprecedented stand against corruption. He said:

a) My government will NOT STEAL! I know it is a fantasy in Ukraine to hear this, but I assure you that this government will not steal anything from the public. I take full responsibility for my government's actions.

b) My government will never give or receive bribes! I demand this standard from every member of this government and I say right now, that if anyone is caught giving or taking a bribe, he will suffer the full penalty of the law. I also would like to say that if you catch any member of this government in bribery or theft, it is your responsibility, as citizens, to please report the situation to me, that I might take immediate action.

c) To the Parliament, I want you to know that we will never use money to shift lobby votes! That practice has ended, as of today! I demand that the principle of openness, transparency and uprightness filter throughout every department and cabinet. No decision should be taken in secret. Everything must be done openly and in public view.

Then the Prime Minister came (she came) to the stand, and made one simple point: "Our government has come to the conclusion that Ukraine can never rise on her feet until she bows down her knees before the Almighty God."

You can read the complete post here.

Talk About Fat !

The obesity problem in the US is greater than I could ever imagine. I have run across some amazing information about this problem today.

It is a public health menace on the order of tobacco. Like tobacco leads to lung surgery, etc. obesity leads to many problems including recently recoginized joint and muscle problems. These problems lead to a speciality surgery called bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery is a procedure that creates a gastric by-pass in the abdomen and thus allows the obese person to shed their life threatening pounds. Over 3,500 procedures of this sort (a 500% increase since 1999) were performed in the Twin Cities last year at a retail cost of $20,000 - $30,000 each. (Insurance companies negotiate a much lower cost of around $14,000 - $17,000. Doctors make about $2,100 per surgery and hospital costs are about $10,000 per surgery. Which leaves the hospital a sweet $3,900 profit even at the negotiated insurer price.

We will begin to see fat chop shops (weight-loss surgery centers) show up where the procedure can be done on a specialized level and thus drive the costs for the procedure down even further. These are some amazing pfat facts ! ;-) And here I sit with an extra 50 lbs. Yet at 60, I still feel pretty good but I have developed some joint problems. But who hasn't developed something by the time they are 60?

You can read about it here.

Worldview 9

We have spoken about how one knows anything. We have pointed out the foolishness of excluding the word of God and a relationship with the Creator in our evaluation of life. If we do this we cut ourselves off from any solid truth. We need a "truth" that is immune to the slings and arrows of time and relativity. But do we ever think about how eternal truth is necessary for governing society?

All laws are moral values. All laws embody someone's idea of virtue. Any eternal values that are left in our society are a remnant of blessing. All modern current and changing values should be suspect. New values and beliefs are at the whim of man. I have prepared a couple slides to help explain this.

Most people simply look to nature and what is around them to make their values decisions in life. Those values become a type of law to them that they evaluate and relate to others with.



But Christians have some more historic and thus unchangeable sources of truth. The truth of the Word and the truth as ministered by the Holy Spirit. Their current and passionate values are tempered by this eternal input.



Many people fail to see this additional source of truth as important. But these ideas (or lack of ideas) can lead people entirely different views of life (worldview. )



These influences of non-biblical values are not just a part of our current dilemma. They have been here and had effect upon man since the beginnings of civilization.



American history and European history have taken two different routes. Although America was influenced by the Greek viewpoint, it was formed out of the Hebrew perspective.

Things are going to pick up now in this series. All of this so far in the first 9 posts is just to lay the groundwork for the meat of what we need to discuss on this topic.

Twin City Wireless Internet

The Minneapolis and St. Paul governments are working to make the Twin Cities a wireless broadcast bubble. If this happens, it means that everybody in the Twin Cities could access the internet on their computers, cell phones, Palm Pilots, etc. where ever they are in the Twin Cities area. (Think about doing your homework on your computer while sitting at a picnic table in the park)

They plan on charging a $22 per month fee for access. But the whiney liberals are already crying foul because the poor will not be able to do this. So their solution? Take money from you and give it to the poor by buying them computers and allowing them access for free ! The liberals are hard to figure out. Why do they feel guilty for having more than others? Didn't they work for it?

The attempt to give computers to untrained, and irresponsible people (of course I am not talking about all of the poor people) is like spitting into the wind. Socialistic thinking always runs into the wall of reality at tax time every year. Did you know that you have to work two more days until all your taxes for the year are paid? Then, finally, after giving up 1/3 of your year to taxes, you finally begin to make money for yourself. Socialistic thought makes it futile to work hard, thus productivity in Socialistic countries lags far behind the US.

I for one am sick of this kind of sloppy caring for others out of guilt for having more than them. Their solution is never to give them more of their own riches out of the fullness of their bleeding hearts. They instead want to take more of our money and give it to them.

Anyhow, I don't think this wireless dream city will ever happen anyhow. Because the result would be the end of communications monopolies. They will fight this with all of their financial reserves. They will bankrupt the cities in the courts to keep this from happening.

You can read about it here in the Minnesota Daily

Throw 'Em A Bone !

The anti-Christians at the U of MN have thrown a bone to Students For Family Values, a student organization. A mere $5000 response to their funding request.

After being stiffed by the fees committee, the review by Jerry Rinehart, associate vice provost for student affairs, yielded a token supporting fund of $5000 during 2005. I am sure that this is hush money for the injustice that the fees committee committed months ago.

There is so much bias against the traditional family (Christian) viewpoint at the university that there is no awareness to the fact that maybe 30% of the students support this viewpoint. This is due in part to active repression of any vocalization of the viewpoint in the public sector and the activist repression and deconstruction of the viewpoint in many classrooms. The PC university believes its own spin of reality to be truth. There is not even a "separate but equal" accommodation of Christians.

$5000 doesn't even keep the lights on. Many, many other secular, non-Christian groups receive much, much more funding. It is hard to find any support for the traditional viewpoint. And opposition borders on violence in the every day affairs of the university.

You can read about it all here.

Update... I forgot to mention that MPAC, the group that brought us Michael Moore and Sex In The City's Candace Bushnell at Coffman was totally refunded at it fees request level by Jerry Reinhardt. Thanks to Marty Wingard for reminding me of this.

Republican MN State Senator Outs Himself

According to "The Raw Story" (a blog type liberal newspaper that sees the sign of the times and understands that the print media is a dinosaur) State Senator Paul Koering has outed himself in the current battle for a marriage amendment.

Read all about it here.

Google Movies Is A Rip Off

Many of you have heard that Google has moved faster than iPod to capture the uploaded movie market. They offer a "free" service... But wait, there's more... Read the fine print....You might owe them your first born son if you are negligent in reading the "terms of service."

Maybe we should call them Greedle? Wake up kiddies, there is no "free lunch." Just wait until your blog eats up too much band width. The knock on your door may or may not be your neighbor coming to borrow an egg.

Please, please, read about it here before you upload your hours of work in hopes of someone recognizing your genius.

Lawmakers With Relatives On Payroll

Well, well ! It seems that Republicans are not the only ones with family on their payrolls.

1. Of course we all know about Tom DeLay (And as House Majority Leader he should expect greater observation), but how about
2. Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman-Connecticut
3. Republican Rep. Dave Reichert -Washington
4. Democrat Rep. Fortney "Pete" Stark-California
5. Republican Rep. Jerry Lerwis-California
6. Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak-Michigan
7. Republican Rep. Bob Ney-Ohio
8. Democrat Rep. Jim Costa- California
9. Republican Rep. Chris Cannon-Utah
10. Democrat Rep. Lincoln Davis-Tennessee
11. Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert-Texas
12. Democrat Rep. Tim Bishop-New York
13. Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher-California

I know, I know, there is still one more Republican than Democrats....So I guess Republicans are worse?
You can read all about it here.

Free TV

Through BitTorrent technology free TV on your computer is just months away. Here is a list of benefits off of this web site.

This new TV platform is:

• Free to Watch
• Free to Publish
• GPL Code: Free and Open Source
• Open Standards: RSS, XML, HTTP, Bittorrent
• Cross Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
• Community Driven
• Most of all: it's designed to support the public interest and independent media

This ought to get interesting. Sunday sermons for everyone... in the entire world... Oh my!

Day Of Silence

The GLSEN group (Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network) is planning another attempt to force their chosen lifestyles upon the children in the public schools of America. It is being designated a "Day Of Silence." It is meant to draw attention to the supposed silencing of their viewpoint in the school system. You can read about it here.

That day is today ! April 13th, 2005

Why is it that I see this as silly? Far from being silenced, their viewpoint is beginning to seem like a bull horn in the hallway. This dogged and determined political agenda is marching forward and if there is not a rally by the traditional folks it will steamroll its way over the public schools. The only alternative will be to remove your kids from this secular system. Many, many traditionalists have already done that. The next step after that will simply be to eliminate public education as a subsidy for the left wing propaganda machine. Can anybody say "vouchers?"

Christian Carnival 65

The new Christian Carnival post is up. This week it is at Charlie Lehardy's site called Another Think. You can read all of these special posts (sort of a best of the week in Christblogging ) by clicking here.

A Brutal New Non-Smoking Ad By The American Lung Association

Here is a new ad previewed on this website.

Technology Tomorrow At The City Gates

Here is an interesting little web site by Hitachi. After viewing this I was overwhelmed with a quick glimpse of tomorrow. Storage devices will increase capacity 10X This means that my 60 gig iPod now will hold 600 gig. My cell phone/iPod/Palm Pilot will become my connection to the world. All media will be accessible on it. I can download, store, and watch later any sports event, etc. on it. I can have web robots search the web every hour looking for the latest word on any topic that is posted anywhere in the world and report it to me on my cell phone within the hour, from which I can then create my own email or web page and inform others of what I have learned.

The evening news will be 5 hours old before it catches up. The newspaper will be 36 hours old before it catches up and by then the circumstances might have changed or it go unreported. I can download enough music to travel to California and back in my car and not listen to the same song twice and broadcast it to my car radio from my cell phone as I am rolling down the highway and still have enough storage space to put all of my photos from my life into it and watch them refresh every 10 seconds. I would not have then used even one half of my storage capabilities.

No longer do I go to the CD store to buy new music. I simply dial up a favorite music link and download digital music as I discover it, yet not having to purchase all of the other trash music on the same CD. I then link to my computer and burn a hard copy for back up in case I drop my iPod/cell phone/ computer into the lake. I simply attach whatever I like to an email and mail it to my self. Music stores become virtual because it does not require rental footage at the mall or inventory. They are happy because they make a greater profit margin.

I listen to the Bible on my radio (via my cell phone) whenever I get tired of music or audio books. I create a word document simply by opening windows on my cell phone/iPod/ Palm pilot. Then I attach that to an email and mail it to myself and whoever I am addressing.

Are we connecting? Can you see the potential? Instantly, anywhere in the world, as a subject is posted, it comes to you. Who needs Dan Rather? For that matter, who needs "Power Line?"

There is a new web site called "Blogsnow" that is constantly searching the WWW looking for all the news being talked about on blogs around the world in this hour. Have you looked at it yet? You can see it here.

These are the new world wide "city gates." Blogsnow is a web site where the topics that people are talking about at this moment in time are posted. The new city gates is the very place where things are learned, judged, and promoted or sentenced to stoning. We Christians need to be sitting there, for there will not be a vacuum if we are not present. Somebody else will be sitting in our place.

I hope this post has helped to expand your thinking about this subject. If so please comment with any further thoughts you might have. Thanks.

When Worldviews Collide

George Barna wrote a book called Real Teens. In it he says that,

"Seven out of 10 teens say there is no absolute moral truth, and 8 out of 10 claim that all truth is relative to the individual and his or her circumstances."

Yet this same majority also agrees with the statement that

"the Bible provides practical, defined standards by which we should live our lives."

Both of these statements cannot be right. Logically they are mutually exclusive.

We are on a collision course in morals. "Will the center hold?" Think about it... Does 2+2=4 because of absolute laws? Or does it equal 4 because I "feel" like it equals 4? As philosopher J.P. Moreland has said, "Truth does not change. Something either is or is not true." This is the definition of absolute truth.

When I was a hippie I read a series of books written by Don Juan called "Separate Realities". It was about your self being the creator of reality. (On drugs.) I almost bought into it. I had had similar experiences as were being described and was interested in understanding them. A "self" centered universe was very attractive to me. But time has shown me that this is error. God Himself dictates reality.

Take somebody's car and see if they believe in a relative morality! Ethics are much less in evolution then society seems to claim. "Relative ethics and morals" can be renamed "selfish, self-centered ethics and morals." There will never be peace on the earth if we all follow this logical progression.

"Thy will be done," seems to me to be the only place where we can all come into agreement. As long as we continue in , "My will be done," we will never have peace and harmony on earth.

My (or "our") will be done follows from a politic of power and oppression by mankind. Thy will be done serves a higher power than man.

"Choose ye today who ye will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. "

18 Dead In Hailstorm

A hailstorm hit the Sichuan province of China yesterday and killed 18 people. The hailstones fell for over 90 minutes and were from pea size to the size of big eggs. Over 27,800 homes were destroyed. You can read about it here.

But you ain't seen nothin' yet ! Glory ! Yet our prayers go out for these people. May Jesus comfort them in their calamity. God does not do this stuff. It is the result of a fallen and broken world. But God is capable of doing this sort of thing and He will when the time comes.

Senator Bachmann Attacked

This is from a Prayer Transformation ministries email.

"Friday night Sen. Bachmann was terribly harassed at a town meeting and after, as she was in the rest room, was verbally attacked by two from the gay group who held the door so she couldn't get out. Michele started screaming for help so they moved a side. She was verbally shaken and crying as she left. I say all this to say that she needs much more prayer now than ever. Her husband Marcus also has pneumonia so please lift him up in prayer also.

Things are heating up so let's get our prayer groups together and pray."

It is attributed to information from Dan Hall. Senator Bachmann is the key person on pushing for a public vote about a marriage amendment in Minnesota. She is on the front lines of a very serious battle.

Birth Control Is Not A Gift From God

If Israel is not careful and grateful for the children God gives them, then they will soon find themselves in the minority even in their own land.

You can read about it here

Baseball Bat Abortion

Teen: Girl consented to abortion with bat

Lawyer asks judge to dismiss charge against 16-year-old Richmond boy.

By Jim Lynch / The Detroit News

A 16-year-old Richmond boy could not have assaulted his girlfriend because she consented to being beaten with a miniature baseball bat to induce her miscarriage, his attorney argued Tuesday.

The boy faces a felony charge of intentional conduct against a pregnant individual resulting in miscarriage or stillbirth, which could result in his remaining in custody until age 21.

He is alleged to have struck his 16-year-old Armada Township girlfriend in the stomach over three weeks.

Defense attorney Miranda Massie made arguments to support her request for a dismissal in the case. Judge Matt Switalski is expected to rule later on the argument.

"If you consent, there is no assault, plain and simple," she said, adding, "there is no Michigan law to the contrary."

By asking her "best friend and boyfriend" to hit her with the bat, Massie argued the girl, now 17, was exercising her right to have an abortion.

Therese Tobin, chief trial attorney for the Macomb Prosecutor's Office, said there is no state law that says a person can consent to battery. And she added, "a person is not free to get an abortion at certain stages without public intervention."

The judge questioned whether the girl, at 16, was in a position to offer her consent.

"Did she enter into a valid contract?" he asked. "... In essence, she's getting herself an abortion without availing herself of what the Legislature says she has to do."

Switalski asked the defense to submit answers to a series of questions concerning the consent argument by April 8.

Defense attorneys also plan to use the cause of death as a basis for dismissing the charges. Switalski did not hear arguments on that issue Tuesday.

In January, Macomb County Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz ruled the fetus died of premature birth associated with trauma to the mother.

In a brief filed earlier this month, Massie argued that there is no scientific way to determine exactly what caused the miscarriage in this case.

"Causation of miscarriage and fetal death defies scientific determination more than 50 percent of the time," she wrote.

"In this case, there was no prenatal medical care or observation and no medical care or observation at the time of the miscarriage, making reliable assessment of the cause of (the girl's) miscarriage impossible."

You can reach Jim Lynch at (586) 468-0520 or jlynch@detnews.com.

This article can be found here

Dubai

Do you know where Dubai is? Take a look at this real estate development in that country. This must be the new Florida of the world.
This is a real estate web site for the 22nd century. Take a look at it here.
www.theworld.ae/

Multicultural Vs. Multiculturalism

Certainly another one of the buzz words for the 21st century is the word multiculturalism. You can find it throughout the departments and publications of the University of Minnesota, as well as you can in most state universities. Morris university has an annual spring event on the mall called, "Multiculturalism On The Mall."

To be multicultural is a desired goal. To know about the world and its societies can only work to broaden your own usefulness to your own society and give you an appreciation for different values. But multiculturalism is another thing all together.

Multiculturalism is the view that all societies are culturally equal. That is to say that no one social system is superior to another. After the persecution of the Jews in WWII this idea of equality was an easy sell to a world that could plainly see how Germans considered themselves the master race. But Oh! How things have changed.

Now days, the Jews are again being persecuted, but this time it is because they think their religious values are better than their neighbors. They are just so arrogant as to think God gave them the land.

Ideas, customs, traditions, values, have consequences. Not all are equal. Burning infants to death to appease a sun god is not an equal idea to cherishing all of life. The Hindu custom of burning young widows with their dead husbands when they are cremated is not equal to Jesus example of the value of women.

Multiculturalism is an idea at war with itself. It should not be given any support. It should be vigorously opposed. In the end, it is indefensible. Multiculturalism is a political tool of Socialism which is an inferior idea that is alive and well in our educational systems today. Light needs to be shone on the subject.

I Have An Ogre As A Neighbor

While looking at blogs that are out there on the web I accidentally bumped into this very pleasant review of my blog. I must say that for an Ogre he is really a pretty nice guy. When you get a chance you might like to take a look at some of the stuff he writes about. You can go to his blog called Ogre's Politics & Views here.

Viagra And Blindness

My mother always warned me that if I messed around sexually that I might go blind...
Now we find out she had always been right.
Read about it here.
And to think, it was first reported from the University of Minnesota. Hmmm?

Worldview 8

How do we know anything? How do we discover truth? This is not just an esoteric question.
How we discover truth is very important to our understanding of truth. To a modern student I think the answer to the question of, "how do I know truth?" would be, "through science." But is that the only source of truth? Isn't all of science based on assumptions? I don't know about you but I require a little more solid of a rock to stand on than just somebody's observations based on assumptions.

Not even the accumulated knowledge of mankind, (assuming that we could access all of that knowledge) is sufficient for truth. And now days we are accumulating knowledge faster than we can process it. Truth needs to be much more than just an accumulation of "facts." We need the "truths" of virtue more than the truths of math, or science. Both can help us to live together successfully in this world but the truths of virtue are far superior to success than math or science.

The truths of virtue cannot be measured. But they can be agreed upon. But, as my original question states, how do we know those truths. Here a couple of diagrams that might help in thinking this through.





The second diagram is how most people "know" anything. They simply observe what they see in life and make decisions about it based on nothing more than their values and assumptions.
If they were to be honest, they care little about what other sources of truth there are in life. This is truly the, "if it feels good believe it" type of virtue. I have actually taken surveys out on the University of Minnesota campus and asked the students, "how do you know something is true?" Their answer was almost always, "I feel good about it in my heart." Thus, if it feels good do it.

Unfortunately, this approach to truth does not fare very well over time in any educational environment. Yet this is how truth is established on our "secular" educational institutions. God has almost completely been eliminated.

Iran Has Cruise missiles

This is from the Debka file website.

Ukraine president Yushchenko confirmed in Washington that criminals sold dozen Kh-55 strategic cruise missiles to Iran during previous regime in Kiev.

DEBKAfiles military sources reveals fresh intelligence reaching America that some of the 12 were defective. Iranians used their components to assemble operational missiles. They successfully tested one.

If Iran goes nuclear the entire prophetic clock begins to accelerate like a table fan. Israel will not allow the threat to its people. America, at this time, will help Israel, but not for long if this steps up to a nuclear showdown.

Worldview 7

You hear many of the offended traditionalists, who have children in the public schools, advocating for simply teaching the three R's. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are seen as the main purpose of education. But that idea stands in stark contrast to early thinking of education in America.

Early America knew that the process of education was to be mainly concerned with instilling virtue into the children. They saw that wisdom follows from the foundation of virtue. The goal of education was to give a person the foundation for them to deal justly with their neighbors. The mechanical processes of reading, writing, and arithmetic are seen as secondary to virtue but none the less important for the conduct of commerce.

One of the first influences upon our Declaration of Independence and the source of some educational ideas as seeds in America was the philosopher John Locke. He was writing about this subject when Harvard was 56 years old. His 1692 book was called Some Thoughts Concerning Education. In this book he said this,

"I place virtue as the first and most necessary of those endowments that belong to a man. As for the foundation of this, there ought to be very early imprinted on his mind a true notion of God, as of the independent Supreme Being, Author and Maker of all things, from Whom we receive all our good, Who loves us, and gives us all things. And consequent to this, instill in him a love and reverence of this Supreme Being."

To say this sort of thing today in the schools of America would be anathema. Yet it does remain that this is the vital ingredient for any countries success. But who defines and what determines "virtue?"

Well, let me simply say this, somebody or someone will always define virtue. There is no such thing as a moral vacuum. Someone's morality will always be displayed and demonstrated. A "secular" morality is simply a morality without God. Or should I say, with man and his fickle opinions as God?

There is no law without morality. All laws are moral laws. It is always a question of who's morality will be empowered? "Atheist" does not mean "neutral." In fact, by definition, "atheist" (say "secular") is in direct opposition to Godly virtue. How long can we pretend to not know these things? If virtue is to be taught as the foundation of a successful life then what better place to do such a thing than in the home? The family is the foundation of a nations virtue. If the family does not teach these things to the household, someone else will. This is why God has given this responsibility to man and not the government. (Read Deut. 6)

Why? Pet Peeve Series II

I do not drink. It is not because of some legalistic tortured interpretation of the word of God, nor is it because of some tradition of a denominational bent. It is because I was a drug abuser and drunkard for over 16 years of my life. Then I was born again, and I was no longer that man. Old things had passed away and all things became new. I no longer sought to escape life, I was alive for the first time.

However, I did develop the taste for a cold beer on a hot day and now there are some really great zero alcohol beers out there on the market. So how is this a pet peeve, you ask? Well, it seems like everybody just wants to believe that they put an ounce or two of sinful evil in each beer that is manufactured. Think about it, the evil is not in the beer! Beer is a beverage. It is not evil. And now they make beer without alcohol. What could be better than that?

But no-o-o-o! There must be something wrong with drinking it? One of the first things they say is, "it has some alcohol in it." Well so do apples and bread. By law, they must declare some alcohol in it so they say that there is anywhere from 00.1% to 00.5% This is less than one proof. But really, there is less than that. If you drank a twenty four pack you would have no more of a buzz than if you were drinking orange juice.

It is produced by brewing beer and then putting it through a reverse osmosis purification process. There is no alcohol remaining because the alcohol molecule is too big to pass through the membrane. This, by the way, is a very expensive process and only the biggest breweries can afford to do it.

Well, the summer is coming and I will be once again diving off into the decadent world of having a zero alcohol beer or two after mowing the lawn. Please pray for me so I won't have three.