Rejected State Mottos

You'll not soon find these on any license plates! I stumbled across these in an ancient e-mail I'd saved.

• Minnesota: 10,000 Lakes... And 10,000,000,000,000 Mosquitoes
• Wisconsin: Come Cut The Cheese
• Alabama: Yes, We Have Electricity
• Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's (For Most Tax Brackets)
• Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedy's Don't Own It Yet
• Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States
• Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru (Death To Mainland Scum, But Leave Your Money)
• Illinois: Please Don't Pronounce the "S"
• Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes ... Well Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good
• Arkansas: Literacy Ain't Everything
• Mississippi: Come And Feel Better About Your Own State
• Oklahoma: Like The Play, Only No Singing
• Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It
• North Dakota: We Really Are One Of The 50 States!
• South Dakota: Closer Than North Dakota
• Michigan: First Line Of Defense...From The Canadians

And last but not least...

• Texas: Si' Hablo Ing'les (Yes, I Speak English)

Shakespeare

I still remember wading through "The Merchant of Venice" in ninth grade English. At first, I was wishing it came with sub-titles. After a week of hating this foreign language, I found myself actually understanding what was going on and caught up in the story. After college, my mandatory with Shakespeare came to an end.

Then came my boys. Encouraging them to be well-read was one thing. Being well-read was something else. As such, I figured I best practice what I preached and about ten years ago, I began to reacquaint myself with the Bard.

All that to say I have just finished "Henry V" and what a story! If you haven't waded through Shakespeare in awhile, H-V has it all, drama, intrigue, combat, betrayal, love, courage, and best of all a hero who is worthy to be called a hero.

As an enticement, it is from H-V that Stephen Ambrose got his title for "Band of Brothers," a history of one US Army company during WWII. A number of stirring speeches by King Henry make getting back into synch with Queen's English worth the while.

Thanks, Neal.

Last June I believe it was, Neal left his family to begin training for an extended deployment to Afghanistan. He spent three months away from his family, returned home briefly, and then departed for the other side of the planet to serve his nation. Today, Neal came home.

Even as I type, I imagine the kids are still bouncing off the walls and the laughter won't subside until deep into the night. Daddy's home.

Neal's a pharmicist tech by trade. Who totes an M-16. And wears kevlar. There was a time that the Air Force's combat personnel consisted almost exclusively of its officers for they were the pilots and weapons officers and navigators. Not any more. My friend, the pharmicist has seen more life threatening situations in his last five months than I have now seen in twenty-three years.

Thank you, Neal, for serving our nation. Thank you for taking care of your family like a man so that they would be prepared to handle life without you for such a long time. Thank you for your sacrifice.

When I got their family Christmas pictures, I wept. Trish got herself all spiffied up and got the kids to all smile at the same time. It was a picture that was sent to lots of folks, but it was a picture truly intended for just one man. Her man. Neal, Santa-hat and AF shirt, returned his photo. Together they melded into the richest family portrait I have ever seen.

Thank you, Trish, for serving our nation. You have sacrificed immeasurable in allowing your man to travel to far away lands for something greater than yourselves. You knew the risks. You knew that life apart for the better part of a year would be harder than most anything you've had to deal with. Thank you for your sacrifice and for being an example of trusting the Lord to be for you what your husband could not in his absence.

A mutual friend of ours, Stephen, just returned from Iraq. His daughter was a babe when he left in August of 2006 if memory serves. He returned home just before Christmas. Stephen, Ashley, thank you for the incredible burden you shouldered on behalf of our nation.

Justin recently left his wife Heather and two children for the same pinpoint on the map where Neal found himself. Joshua, young man of eighteen, just left his mom, dad, brothers and sisters for Iraq.

In honor of my friends who have served, in honor of the men and women who continue to battle the forces of darkness on foreign soils, I would like to encourage you all to read Thomas Paine's small pamphlet titled "The Crisis." It bolstered and rallied a nation during the bleak winter of 1776. Our fight is a long way from ending. We must not give up. Here is the first paragraph of "The Crisis" in honor of Neal, Stephen, Justin, Joshua, and all those who are currently sacrificing so much on our behalf:

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

The punctuation above is as Paine wrote it.

Agony

The serpent has claimed another victim. He chomps up and spews out men and women with a macabre and a disinterested glee.

In C.S. Lewis’ “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” the lost Eustace Scrubb stumbles upon a dragon carcass as he wanders further and further from his friends. Cold and damp drive him to move pass the horrifying mass and into its nearby cave for shelter where he finds the beast's enchanted cache. Eustace cannot resist the treasure’s allure and he begins to think of his future, a future where his friends are no longer necessary and where he will have mastery over them. He slides one of the golden bands upon his arm, and with his doom sealed, drifts off to sleep.

He awakes to discover that his lust (the treasure) has turned him into a dragon. Another one bites the dust.

On this side of reality, Heath Ledger has tragically become the serpent’s latest victim. Names like Presley, Joplin, Morrison and Hendrix, Hemingway, Monroe, Phoenix, and Anna Nicole litter the wake of this demonic juggernaut. “He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).

Each of these names weeps the cry of the cosmos. “Why am I here?” they scream. “Is there anybody out there?” beckoned Pink Floyd. “Why does this hurt so badly when it’s all I ever wanted?” they choke and sob. They have come to the point where they “have no fear of drowning; it’s the breathing that’s taking all this work” ("Work" by Jars of Clay).

In rebelling against his Creator, the one in whom he is meant to find deepest intimacy and in whom he is meant to find his purpose, Man has set himself adrift. His relationship with God broken, he finds his relationship with his fellow man broken, too. And his relationship with the world around him. And his relationship with himself. Man’s rebellion encases him in the skin of a lizard and destroys any hope he might have had in finding peace in the cosmos.

Eustace tried to abide his dragon’s skin but found only misery and loneliness. Flight was pleasant for a time and power for the moment, but what he longed for was returned intimacy with his friends. No longer able to relate to his kind, he escaped to the mountains. “He realized he was a monster cut off from the whole human race.”

And so the agony sweeps over Man. Unable to come to terms with reality, he makes his escape with the encouragement and applause of the serpent. Whether the false intimacy of sexual relationships, whether the numbing dream of drugs and alcohol, or whether the deceitful hope of false religions or Joel Osteen Christianity, man attempts to blunt reality by vaulting into what Francis Schaeffer calls non-reason. “He is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Many cannot handle the reality any longer and venture to the precipice. Death entices with lying tendrils. If not utterly destroyed , Man ends in despair, a wreckage of his God-intended stature. There he abides.

Lindsay Lohan. Paris Hilton. Brittney Spears. “Do you know what I mean when I say, 'I don’t want to be alone?'” ("Work"). Hope is gone. And we on the outside stare in, gaping, waiting for the train wreck.

And then the Lion appears. The terrible, mighty, powerful, ferocious Lion. “I wasn’t afraid of it eating me,” Eustace said. “I was just afraid of it – if you can understand.” The Lion encourages him to remove his skin. Like a molting snake, Eustace the dragon sheds a complete layer of skin. And then another. And then another still only to find more dragon beneath.

Only when Eustace submits himself to the terrible claws of the Lion is the dragon flesh ripped away. “It hurt worse than anything I have ever felt.” And, behold, all things were new. Eustace, once again a boy, finds he is able to relate truly to his friends to whom he had been such a ninny earlier in the story. Only then does Eustace enjoy the voyage. Only then does Eustace Scrubb come to know and to love the Lion.

For the Heath Ledger’s of history, it is sadly too late. They rode their despair away from the One who would heal their agony through His own. They rode it to their doom. Eustace in fantasy, and many others in reality, parked their despair at the cross of Christ and found true restoration.

The Twisted and Deformed Heart of Humanism

Mike Adams wrote a commentary on an essay by a married professor who wrote about how her abortion brought her and her husband closer together. It's chilling. Click here to read Mike's article. His style is often sarcastic. He's toned it down a bit in this piece and let the professor speak for herself.

A 35-Year Blight

50 million babies have died legally in our country since Roe was enacted by judicial fiat in 1973, 35 years ago today.

Cal Thomas summed up this horror in his TownHall article earlier this week. Follow the link to read it.

Then might I encourage us all to take some time to repent to the Author of life for our national sin?

Great Quote!

I'm purposefully going to omit the context from the quote. It's also from Schaeffer's "Church...20th Century." While the context would add greater depth, the quote still cracks me up all by itself:

"The difficulty with modern theology is that it is really no different from taking drugs."

Conservative No More

A cold and blustery day assaulted my morning as I filled up my second cup of joe in meager defense.

I have returned from a weekend deer hunt where this closing youth weekend saw my only deer-hunting son who hadn't bagged a deer (the other two have held this over him for over a year), nail a sweet doe from 80 yards with raw sights (no scope) ten minutes before sunrise on that first morning. You've got to like it.

Tyler and Bambi (Bambette?)

Anyway, I sat with my youngest son in his deer stand, we saw nothing but cardinals, squirrels and other mid-Texas fauna, all seeming to mock our safetied weapons. With little happening on our stand, I read through Francis Schaeffer's "The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century." It's a twenty-five year old masterful work by Schaeffer which does not stray from the title nor from his typical rigorous adherence to the Bible as his framework.

Much within it caught my eye and you'll likely see chunks of it blogged upon in the days to come. Here's the first:

"One of the greatest injustices we do to our young people is to ask them to be conservative. Christianity today is not conservative, but revolutionary. To be conservative today is to miss the whole point, for conservativism means standing in the flow of the status quo, and the status quo no longer belongs to us. Today we are a minority."

Whoa! As I'd always considered myself conservative (at least since my musings over Jimmy Carter in the sixth grade), I saw the group which I had always considered "conservative" moving further and further away from the biblical convictions I held. It is true. In a post-modern age, the Judeo-Christian ethic of our heritage has become a foggy memory.

Schaeffer encourages the Church to encourge the young to be revolutionary, not in the Islamo-fascist sense and not in the storming-of-the-Bastille sense, but in the Christian sense where no greater love has any man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. This is often revolutionary within the conservative Church.

But even this is cannot be held within the contentless, Kumbaya feel of much of the social gospel. It takes place within the objective content of the entirety of the word of God. That is revolutionary within the liberal churches in America today.

Who'd have thought that Christianity would ever become "revolutionary?" So it has.

A Question for the Dinner Table

Should we (individual citizens) be allowed to fail?

Go ahead. Talk amongst yourselves. I'm not going to answer it in this post anyway. It's late and I need to get some sleep. But the Britney post and the nightmare of the presidential debates keep rattling around in my cage.

Here are a few amendments to that question: Does our government currently allow us to fail? Did they originally allow us to fail? Should they or should they not allow us to fail?

I'll get back to this at another date. I'm off to bed.

Pravda on China...this ought to be good!

Who better to comment on China's one-child policy and subsequent demographic shift than the society known for curtailing personal freedoms from the Tsars through the communists? Russia's newspaper, Pravda, has taken a look at what has become of China since the implementation of its "don't be fruitful, and don't multiply" mandate (link). It's a translated piece so it's a bit difficult to wade through but worth the effort.

And what did Pravda find? Surprise! China has indeed limited its population growth. In fact, Pravda lauds the Chinese for what they have accomplished. Some odd points of praise:

• "The nation's official number of prevented births equals 400 million." Is that a good thing or a bad thing? That's a number large than the current U.S. population.
• "The country evaded (sic) starvation, epidemics, and other social disasters...probably thanks to this program." Can you find the key word in that sentence? I colored it special just in case.
• The "seamy side" of China's policy, according to Pravda, is "unplanned children." Note that it's not what is done with the unplanned children. That would be my vote for "seamy." The travisty in the eyes of Pravda is the children. Yikes.
• They briefly touch on an evil wrought by this twisted policy: sexual slavery. But after a brief touch-and-go, they turn to something they see as more heinous: sexual selection. Excuse me? Okay, it's a bit off color to sell an unwanted child into sexual slavery but it's far more egregious to pick the sex of your child??? That would be like Time Magazine wrestling between Joe Stalin and Adolph Hitler for Man of the Year honors.

The article did not even address the social Frankenstein China has created by its reproductive tinkering. Even bastions of liberal spin like CBS News and MSNBC recognize the problem pointing to the fact that China has 40 million more men of reproductive age than they do women. The latter have been aborted, abandoned, and enslaved in horrifying numbers.

The population tilt also promises to bring higher crime rates to a nation already struggling with its crime problem. None of this is noted by Pravda.

In case you couldn't think about what to pray, here's a monumental chocolate mess that only an all-powerful and loving God could turn into something beautiful.

Britney...

So how many of you have I lost already? Honestly, I can't believe that I'm discussing the waif, but she happens to be the topic of a CNN poll that got my goat. Regarding her personally, pray for her. 'Nuff said.
As to the CNN poll, the question asked, "Should Britney Spears be forced to get help?" Coercion. Force? What has she done? She's shamed her parents. She's squandered her talent. She's abused her beauty. She's been a self-absorbed, dead-beat parent. Those for starters. Forced to get help??

Force within America's history has been used to restrain the lawless from denting and defacing the law-abiding and their property. Force has not been used to turn the scuzz-ball into a citizen. Therein lies freedom both biblical and American. You can't force personal responsibility or it ceases to be personal responsibility. If an individual will not abide the law, they will find themselves on its punitive side.

Is the derelict derelict? You bet. Has she broken the law? If she has, then she must be punished. Does she need help? In spades!! But if she does not want help, forcing her into it will be as effective as rehab has been for her tabloid counterpart, Lindsey Lohan.

Lex rex. Let the law do its job and our police force do its job. If Brit opts to crash and burn despite the pleas of family and friends, the tragedy will be hers alone. Force? Not so much.

The worst part about the poll was the response. 59% of respondants (50,193 CNN junkies) felt she should be forced to get help. Yikes! We'll be hoisting the hammer and sickle in our lifetime.

Blind Scientists & The Elephant

I have heard the joke about four blind men trying to describe an elephant while each one is stationed at a particular quadrant of his anatomy. The comedy comes from their not knowing it is an elephant they are describing.

A recent article on Fox News about the "Violence of the Universe" provides a real world look at the joke. The problem with the scientists in the article is not that they are blinded but that they have on purpose closed their eyes. What do I mean? Here's an example.

They painstakingly comb the cosmos looking for clues as to the origin of the universe. The article even credits them with "improving their understanding of the basic questions of the universe - such as how did it all start and where is it all going." If the evidence points to God, many scientists will not explode with Psalm 19 but will come up with some goofy and lauditory statement about the universe itself. Here were two from the article:

• "This is the glory of the universe," added J. Craig Wheeler, president of the astronomy association. "What is odd and what is normal is changing."
• "Intellectually and spiritually, if I can use that word with a lower case 's,' it's awe-inspiring," Wheeler said. "It's a great universe."

I am all for following the evidence where it leads. Francis Schaeffer points out in many of his works that knowing the universe is created by a knowable God allows for scientists to venture into the world with the expectation of learning about the Creation itself. In otherwords, the general revelation (the world and heavens around us) will not contradict the specific revelation (God's word).

What many scientists have done is eliminate the possibility of God as cause. We cannot allow the supernatural as an explanation for the natural, they cry. If you begin at the outset by eliminating God as the possible solution and in truth He is the solution, then the scientist will NEVER come to the truth.

They have closed their eyes and, in awe, continue to grope the elephant.

Photos by NASA and Tracy respectively

REAL ID

Frankly, it's a boring read, but here's a link to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) website where you can find an article on the new national ID card. The press release came out today.

Why the push for national ID? Document theft and identity theft are two reasons given. Here are some of the guidelines DHS wants to implement within the card:

"REAL ID will address document fraud by setting specific requirements that states must adopt for compliance, to include: (1) information and security features that must be incorporated into each card; (2) proof of the identity and U.S. citizenship or legal status of an applicant; (3) verification of the source documents provided by an applicant; and (4) security standards for the offices that issue licenses and identification cards."

Funny but both CNN and FoxNews went out of their way to emphasize there would be no microchip involved (unlike the military ID card). You can see them purposefully shying away from anything that smacks of 666. That's almost too easy a comparison, so I'll avoid Mark of the Beast ramblings.

With regard to freedoms and liberties, would a national ID card limit personal liberty? Would we be like the Germany of Hogan's Heroes where every where you went, you'd have to "show zem your paperz?"

And if such a critter came down the pike, wouldn't it be more convenient anyway to have it put under your skin where you might never lose it. Wouldn't it?

Theodicy

My mom lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Earlier this week, they had three days of fog and an exponentially higher factor of accidents on the nearby interstate due to it. Sadly, two died. More recently, four died due to massive accidents caused by fog in Florida.

Have you heard about the January tornadoes in Wisconsin and throughout the United States?
Today I caught wind of a volcano down in Ecuador that scientists say is on the verge of an enormous eruption (the Tungurahua volcano - AP photo).

Is it my imagination or are the out-of-the-ordinary natural disasters on the upswing? Or do you think the quantity has always been this high but because of a more world-wide media they are brought more to our attention? It seems to me things are ramping up. But why? I think the Luke 13:1-5 bears heavily upon the things we are seeing:

There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Are we getting a wake-up call? Is a merciful God extending His hand to those who do not know Him?

Trivial Pursuit

While I was at work today (and should have been paying attention to what was going on around me), I noticed a map on the wall, and my eye caught the nation of Eritrea. I was slightly embarrassed within my distraction that I had, prior to that moment, no clue as to where Eritrea was.

If you had a map of the world without the nation's listed, could you put your finger down within a thousand miles of Eritrea? I couldn't.

A Humane Death Penalty?

In keeping with the oxymoronic theme of late, I couldn't help but double-take a reference to an upcoming case before the Supreme Court (SCOTUS). At issue is a case regarding Kentucky's means of execution, 3-chemical lethal injection. The consternation? Pain-free execution, humanely terminating our nation's worst criminals in a manner that exudes tender loving care.

I'm not advocating drawing and quartering. I'm not recommending Mel Gibson's version of William Wallace's demise. Neither do I think that we should institute crucifixion, but when did it become necessary that execution become no different than taking a nap? I have to nod to Justice Antonin Scalia's query, "Is that somewhere in the Constitution?"

This issue ranks right up there with abortion on its ability to divide the most cohesive of groups, but that is why it is vital for us to understand of what we speak concerning capital punishment.

I won't go exhaustive or I'll put you to sleep at your keyboard. I'll get you started but you'll have to go the rest of the way yourself. Or maybe I'll ramble more later.

First, anchor yourself in Genesis 9:5-6. "And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."" God handed this down to humanity. The Mosaic covenant is not involved here. Because God created man in His image, man has an inherent sacredness. To willfully and wantonly take a human life, such a one has trod upon the image of God, and at God's direction, that one's life is forfeit at the hand of man.

Notice that it is not intended as a deterrent for society. It is punitive against the one who destroys the on created in God's image.

Will the executioner not be guilty of violating Genesis 9? Good question, and it takes us to the second point. The implementation and understanding of Genesis 9 speaks of man general and not man specific. It is the difference between vengeance (God's prerogative) and civil justice (delegated to man). That is the understanding of Romans 13:4, "For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

This should raise a thousand yeah-but's and what-if's, but our foundation must start in Genesis 9 (Genesis 1, really), and flow through the entirety of God's word...in context...picking up Romans 13 along the way. Biblically, the issue was not a painless (humane?) execution, but ensuring man had a proper understanding of the importance of human life.

As SCOTUS addresses Kentucky's case, I pray that we would be wise and informed about how justice is administered in our land.

The Irony of Pravda

If you were to read an article about the scientific possibility that all humanity descended from one man and one woman, specifically Adam and Eve, you'd suspect you had picked up The Fundamentalist Times. And most of the time, you would be right. Secular American science seems to have no place for God in their search for the "truth."

But such an article exists...and in a location that screams "Oxymoron!". Russia's premiere newspaper, Pravda (which, adding to the irony, means "the truth") regularly carries articles in its science section about the validity of the Bible in the scientfic realm. A Bob Jones University graduate, Babu G. Ranganathan, has somehow found an inroad onto Pravda's pages and has done a marvelous job exposing a nation that has shunned God to the reasonableness of the Bible. Finding such an article on Pravda's site would be like Oprah's magazine dealing with the details of gutting a deer.

Here's a link to "All the races come from Adam and Eve?" Please use caution. Being e-news from a secular society, there are some sidelinks to be avoided.

Perhaps Russia has passed through its long night of hostility toward Christ. Considering Vladamir Putin's posturing, it will be interesting to watch the tension between his communist passion's and his nation's thirst for living water. This at a time when secular America is doing everything in her power to rid herself of Jesus presence.

Jeremiah's Frustration

Despite the soft-pedaled Christ so prevalent in this election season, God seriously and severely deals with the nations that do not follow after him.

In Jeremiah 18:1-12, the prophet aches because Israel ignores his pleas, and so God tells him a story.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD.

We could pour another cup of coffee at this point and change channels thinking, "This is about Israel and doesn't concern us." Time to squirm. Read on:

The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

Ouch. Simply: God deals with nations even today. God will continue to deal with nations. Ah, but Israel was an enlightened people. They had shaken the silly notion that God-following was necessary in the new political environment. Notice Israel's strut and see if it looks familiar:

And they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart.”

America certainly has that attitude mastered. The verses that follow describe the fierceness of God's wrath being poured out upon the nation. Our land is not immune to the discipline of God's hand.

That we would again become a repentant people. Oh God, that it would begin with me.

Kenya

Kenya is coming apart at the seams. News accounts list 300 dead in the aftermath of recent elections.

Some things to note. First, Kenya sits in the heart of Muslim east Africa. While the news is reporting tribal conflict, the issue of religion has not been addressed. The steely fist of socialism is also in play. Pay attention to the news reports and see if you can get to the heart of what is causing the violence. Is it political persecution? Religious persecution?

Second, take a moment to thank God that in 231 years our nation has never seen such violence after an election, even when the change of power has occured between two bitter rivals. We have no promise, though, that we won't see the horrors of Kenya lap upon our shores. As our civility decays toward one another, so decays our civilization.

(Map from www.world-atlas.us/africa.htm)

Parental Responsibilities

Fifty years ago, parents had nothing to fear when they sent their child to the movie theater on a Saturday afternoon. Gathering around the television was easily a family affair because all of the programming was family fare.

Today, TV, movies, and video games have become an area where parents have to be wise as serpents. I came across an article by Rebecca Hagelin entitled "Now Playing: Family Entertainment Central" on Townhall.com where she reviews a site that reviews each of these modes of entertainment. What Family Entertainment Central (FEC...click on FEC to go to their site directly) does is bring together three other organizations that are already screening these media for parents into once central location.

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for a means to assess whether or not I want to expose my family to something we have heard recommended. Here now is another voice. "Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established" (Proverbs 15:22).

The Games People Play

My sons turned the family on to a new game this Christmas season. "Apples to Apples" is one of those simple, delightful, and quick games that a family can play together and enjoy a good belly-laugh. Chalk it up with "Settlers of Catan" as one of our favs.

War is an Ugly Thing

Let me be the first to wish you and yours a very Happy New Year!

My eldest son read a poem to me this morning that brought to mind a quote by John Stuart Mill. While I wouldn't encourage anyone to adopt his worldview, the quote should slap most of America out of its comfortable complacency.

I post this quote not to address current US foreign policy. That's another discussion. I post it to spur us toward reconsidering our lethargic assessments of issues in our home, communities, and spanning the globe (a tip of the hat to WWoS). Here it is...

"But war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a nation can suffer. War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice – a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice – is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other."

(from his essay "The Contest in America")