There are very few ( less than five) men on my list of people I admire and respect but I'm fortunate to be related to two of them. One of them is my dad who in all of the years I've known him (44) has never waivered in his integrity. The other is my younger brother, a man I believe who is wise beyond his years. (that's ok, I got the looks)
About a month ago we were talking by email and I was complaining about my life and he very wisely told me "Kip, 50 years after you die nobody will ever know you were here, get over yourself, it's not about you!"
Those words have been banging around in my head for two months now and I think I'm beginning to understand.
Psalm 51:3&4 " For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you and you only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge." This is part of David's prayer after he was confronted by Nathan about his adultry with Bathsheba. The whole story of David and his journey to the throne is not about David. It's about the glory of God. For just a few short moments in history David forgot that the story he was in was not David's story but God's story and as the Author God had the right and was in the right to hold David accountable. God's punishment issued to David was not just correction for sin it was to maintain the glory and the holiness of God. I believe David understood this when he prayed "that You may be found just when You speak and blameless when You judge."
It's not about me. The story that I call my life is not about me at all and God has every right and in fact an obligation to correct what does not glorify Him!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Ok, I think I'm ready to try this again. Are we educating or indoctrinating our children?
In a previous blog I told you of a discussion I had with my daughters science teacher. The end result of the conversation was that Evolution had to be taught as fact in our public schools and Intellegent Design (Creation) could not be presented even as theory. Now, while this seems to be a blog arguing these two points, it is not. I am more concerned about the final result if we do not allow this debate to continue in our schools.
The primary purpose if a school, I believe, is to educate our children. While I firmly believe that the responsibility of education falls on us as parents it is the schools to whom we have delegated this task. I have in essence "employed" the schools to do a job that I am not equiped to do. That makes me the "employer" and the school the "employee". Stick this little nugget in your pocket, we'll come back to it.
Education is more that just teaching facts. A good education gives the student the ability to think critically. One of the things I look for when I have a new firefighter assigned to my crew is the ability to think and reason through a problem. I want to know if he is just full of facts that he learned in the Academy or if he can use those facts to solve problems. I want to know if he has the ability to adapt what he knows to what is happening around him in the real world. I want to same result from the education my children get. I want them to be able to apply the skills they learned in school to the real world. I want them to be able to think and reason.
Where am I going with all this? Well consider these words " We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal..... endowed by thier Creator...". These words offer no proof of Creation but they do offer proof of a core belief common among the men who signed our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. The very documents that formed the foundation that this Nation was built upon. Now, the argument here is not just that these men believed in Creation but they believed that they were subject to a moral standard beyond their own. Regardless of whether they were " Christians" or not, they adhered to the idea that man was subject to God and must govern himself according to the moral precepts layed out in Scripture. The idea that each man would one day give account to God for his own life and that they would also be held accountable for the government they established in an infant nation. They believed that the laws of this Nation must be established on an unchanging standard of right and wrong. That standard is the Bible.
Now, consider this. What if we are just a spectacular result of some cosmic accident. What if we are the result of millions of years of cells dividing, time and time again and adjusting to the changes of the environment. If we adhere to this line of thought then we must believe that, in general, evolutionary change is always for the better. Meaning, that while there are infact abnormalities, evolution will always result in a better outcome. We needed to breathe so we developed lungs, we needed to walk so we grew legs. Evolutionary change is always for the better.
If change is always for the better then it must be accepted that as man continues to change and becomes more self aware then his moral awareness must also improve. This means that our understanding of morality, or right -vs- wrong must also improve for the better. This is where the danger to our Constitution exists. If man is ever improving in intellect and understanding of morality then it must be considered that what was moral or right over 200 years ago can no longer be relevant for today. Therefore, our Constitution is noting more than a historical document of an earlier understanding of right and wrong which must give way to a new understanding. An understanding which in fact must replace the idea that God has anything to do with who we are as individuals or as a Nation. We must therefore rewrite our Constitution to reflect our new morality, or understanding of right and wrong. We must also enact laws that coincide with our improved awareness of right and wrong. There is no absolute standard for morality. In fact morality changes as times change. ( anybody remember World War II ?) This is why the debate has to continue.
The theory of evolution is being taught as FACT in our schools today. There is no discussion, there is no debate, as far as our State BOE is concerned we are simply a wonderful accident and we are becoming more self aware as time goes on. When an idea that has as much scientific evidence against it as for it is taught as fact with no room for debate that is indoctrination not education. It will not be long and these kids will become the leaders of this nation and in many cases the only moral standard they will have will be what they learned in school. We are standing with our toes hanging over the moss covered edge of a rain soaked cliff.
Remember the little nugget I asked you to keep in your pocket? Pull it out. Here's the sad part. It's our fault. The employer has let the employee decide what the employers children will learn! I'm guilty! In the past I just looked for an R next to the name on the ballot thinking they probably thought like I did. WRONG! It's time for us to start firing some employees!
In a previous blog I told you of a discussion I had with my daughters science teacher. The end result of the conversation was that Evolution had to be taught as fact in our public schools and Intellegent Design (Creation) could not be presented even as theory. Now, while this seems to be a blog arguing these two points, it is not. I am more concerned about the final result if we do not allow this debate to continue in our schools.
The primary purpose if a school, I believe, is to educate our children. While I firmly believe that the responsibility of education falls on us as parents it is the schools to whom we have delegated this task. I have in essence "employed" the schools to do a job that I am not equiped to do. That makes me the "employer" and the school the "employee". Stick this little nugget in your pocket, we'll come back to it.
Education is more that just teaching facts. A good education gives the student the ability to think critically. One of the things I look for when I have a new firefighter assigned to my crew is the ability to think and reason through a problem. I want to know if he is just full of facts that he learned in the Academy or if he can use those facts to solve problems. I want to know if he has the ability to adapt what he knows to what is happening around him in the real world. I want to same result from the education my children get. I want them to be able to apply the skills they learned in school to the real world. I want them to be able to think and reason.
Where am I going with all this? Well consider these words " We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal..... endowed by thier Creator...". These words offer no proof of Creation but they do offer proof of a core belief common among the men who signed our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. The very documents that formed the foundation that this Nation was built upon. Now, the argument here is not just that these men believed in Creation but they believed that they were subject to a moral standard beyond their own. Regardless of whether they were " Christians" or not, they adhered to the idea that man was subject to God and must govern himself according to the moral precepts layed out in Scripture. The idea that each man would one day give account to God for his own life and that they would also be held accountable for the government they established in an infant nation. They believed that the laws of this Nation must be established on an unchanging standard of right and wrong. That standard is the Bible.
Now, consider this. What if we are just a spectacular result of some cosmic accident. What if we are the result of millions of years of cells dividing, time and time again and adjusting to the changes of the environment. If we adhere to this line of thought then we must believe that, in general, evolutionary change is always for the better. Meaning, that while there are infact abnormalities, evolution will always result in a better outcome. We needed to breathe so we developed lungs, we needed to walk so we grew legs. Evolutionary change is always for the better.
If change is always for the better then it must be accepted that as man continues to change and becomes more self aware then his moral awareness must also improve. This means that our understanding of morality, or right -vs- wrong must also improve for the better. This is where the danger to our Constitution exists. If man is ever improving in intellect and understanding of morality then it must be considered that what was moral or right over 200 years ago can no longer be relevant for today. Therefore, our Constitution is noting more than a historical document of an earlier understanding of right and wrong which must give way to a new understanding. An understanding which in fact must replace the idea that God has anything to do with who we are as individuals or as a Nation. We must therefore rewrite our Constitution to reflect our new morality, or understanding of right and wrong. We must also enact laws that coincide with our improved awareness of right and wrong. There is no absolute standard for morality. In fact morality changes as times change. ( anybody remember World War II ?) This is why the debate has to continue.
The theory of evolution is being taught as FACT in our schools today. There is no discussion, there is no debate, as far as our State BOE is concerned we are simply a wonderful accident and we are becoming more self aware as time goes on. When an idea that has as much scientific evidence against it as for it is taught as fact with no room for debate that is indoctrination not education. It will not be long and these kids will become the leaders of this nation and in many cases the only moral standard they will have will be what they learned in school. We are standing with our toes hanging over the moss covered edge of a rain soaked cliff.
Remember the little nugget I asked you to keep in your pocket? Pull it out. Here's the sad part. It's our fault. The employer has let the employee decide what the employers children will learn! I'm guilty! In the past I just looked for an R next to the name on the ballot thinking they probably thought like I did. WRONG! It's time for us to start firing some employees!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
More to come.
If you happen to be following this little blog please don't think I've lost my drive because I haven't posted anything for several days. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact over the last several days I've acqurired some new fuel for my fire! The holidays and the general business of this time of year require that I focus on some other things for the time being. In the mean time Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The debate must continue!
If you are a facebook friend who has decided to come along for the ride I apologize for repeating myself but I think we should start at the beginning.
Let me set the stage. In November of 2005 the Kansas State Board of Education made a decision that passed with a vote of 6 - 4. That decision basically allowed the idea of Intellegent Design to be taught in public schools as an alternat theory to evolution. Included in that decision were five main points. They are as follows:
1. Add to the mission statement a goal that science education should seek to help students make informed decisions.
2. Provide a definition of science that is not strictly limited to natural explanations.
3. Allow Intellegent Design to be presented as an alternate explanation to evolution as presented in mainstream biology textbooks.
4. State that evolution is a theory not a fact.
5. Require informing students of purported scientific controversies regarding evolution.
If you remember when this was going on the new media was going nuts over the idea that Kansas was wanting to teach "Creation" in school. The BOE was blasted not only by local media but even national media outlets. They also took fire from all of the mainstream scientific organizations. Thier biggest argument, apart from the obvious religious implications, was that Intellegent Design should not be taught because there is no way to prove or test the theory.
The decision didn't last long. In 2007 it was reversed after we elected "moderate republicans" to the State BOE.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago. My 13 year old daughter does not like science. She says she doesn't get it. I'm o.k. with that. She is carrying A's in every class but science.
She came home from school the other day frustrated because she and several other students had debated the science teacher over Creation-vs-Evolution. Her primary frustration was "he just won't listen". Now, this was not shocking to me or her. We have told our girls over and over that what they are teaching in science concerning our beginning is simply a humanistic theory that removes God from all aspects of life. So I reminded her of this and then went on my way.
Then came time for parent teacher conferences. Durning my discussion with the science teacher I asked if there was something that my daughter was struggling with specifically that was keeping her grade down. His response was" No nothing specific, there are just some things she refuses to learn. I understand if she has a different belief but if she wants a better grade she will have to learn the curriculum." I asked him at this point whether he allowed the discussion of Intellegent Design as an alternative to Evolution. He told me he was not allowed to. I then asked about the BOE's decision that did allow this. I wasn't aware that the decision had been reversed three years earlier, so it was a bad argument. He brought up the First Ammendment and told me it required the seperation of Church and State. I presented my views on this as well and finally he told " I have an email that says I'm not allowed to teach Intellegent Design."
Before I left I summed up our conversation to make sure of what I had heard. I said to him " Basically what I'm hearing is that it's o.k. if she wants to believe something else but she has to learn and be tested on what she does not believe in order to pass the class." To this he answered "Yes".
I'm going to park here for awhile before I go on to my Constitution thoughts.
Ask yourself this "is this education or indoctrination?'. I'll tackle that next time!
Let me set the stage. In November of 2005 the Kansas State Board of Education made a decision that passed with a vote of 6 - 4. That decision basically allowed the idea of Intellegent Design to be taught in public schools as an alternat theory to evolution. Included in that decision were five main points. They are as follows:
1. Add to the mission statement a goal that science education should seek to help students make informed decisions.
2. Provide a definition of science that is not strictly limited to natural explanations.
3. Allow Intellegent Design to be presented as an alternate explanation to evolution as presented in mainstream biology textbooks.
4. State that evolution is a theory not a fact.
5. Require informing students of purported scientific controversies regarding evolution.
If you remember when this was going on the new media was going nuts over the idea that Kansas was wanting to teach "Creation" in school. The BOE was blasted not only by local media but even national media outlets. They also took fire from all of the mainstream scientific organizations. Thier biggest argument, apart from the obvious religious implications, was that Intellegent Design should not be taught because there is no way to prove or test the theory.
The decision didn't last long. In 2007 it was reversed after we elected "moderate republicans" to the State BOE.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago. My 13 year old daughter does not like science. She says she doesn't get it. I'm o.k. with that. She is carrying A's in every class but science.
She came home from school the other day frustrated because she and several other students had debated the science teacher over Creation-vs-Evolution. Her primary frustration was "he just won't listen". Now, this was not shocking to me or her. We have told our girls over and over that what they are teaching in science concerning our beginning is simply a humanistic theory that removes God from all aspects of life. So I reminded her of this and then went on my way.
Then came time for parent teacher conferences. Durning my discussion with the science teacher I asked if there was something that my daughter was struggling with specifically that was keeping her grade down. His response was" No nothing specific, there are just some things she refuses to learn. I understand if she has a different belief but if she wants a better grade she will have to learn the curriculum." I asked him at this point whether he allowed the discussion of Intellegent Design as an alternative to Evolution. He told me he was not allowed to. I then asked about the BOE's decision that did allow this. I wasn't aware that the decision had been reversed three years earlier, so it was a bad argument. He brought up the First Ammendment and told me it required the seperation of Church and State. I presented my views on this as well and finally he told " I have an email that says I'm not allowed to teach Intellegent Design."
Before I left I summed up our conversation to make sure of what I had heard. I said to him " Basically what I'm hearing is that it's o.k. if she wants to believe something else but she has to learn and be tested on what she does not believe in order to pass the class." To this he answered "Yes".
I'm going to park here for awhile before I go on to my Constitution thoughts.
Ask yourself this "is this education or indoctrination?'. I'll tackle that next time!
Rattling in my head
Over the course of the next several months I hope to post those pesky little thought that keep rattling around in my head. I'm doing this,in part, to try to get them out of there so I can move on to something new but also I hope to provoke some thought. I must make it very clear that my intention is not to try to win anyone over to my way of thinking. I hope to recieve some feedback with an altermate point of view, not for the sake of argument but for the purpose of seeing the whole picture. If you stand behind an elephant and never look at anything but his butt then your perception of that creature will only come from one point of view. However, if you walk around the animal then your point of view,or opinion, can involve the entire elephant.
So to set the playing field let me first lay out what I believe.
1. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
2. I believe in a literal creation of the universe that took place over the course of six 24hr periods (days).
3. I believe in the depravity of man (man is not as bad as he can be but as bad off as he can be)
4. I believe in the virgin birth of Christ
5. I believe that Jesus Christ was deity on earth
6. I believe that Christs crucifixion was payment for my debt of sin
7. I believe in a literal Heaven and Hell
8. I believe in the coming judgment of man
9. I believe we will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell
So there you have it in a nut shell. Each one of these points deserves some discussion, which I hope to get to at some point, but the purpose of me posting these is so when I present my view you understand where I'm standing in relation to the elephant.
Let me say one more time before I go, I understand there are many out there who do not share the same core beliefs and that's fine. I'm not the preacher on the street corner shouting "The end is near, Repent!". But, here lately it seems that each one of these "Christian" beliefs has come under violent attack, either by religions extremists or in the media and I don't fully understand the justification behind it. Next post," The debate must continue!"
So to set the playing field let me first lay out what I believe.
1. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
2. I believe in a literal creation of the universe that took place over the course of six 24hr periods (days).
3. I believe in the depravity of man (man is not as bad as he can be but as bad off as he can be)
4. I believe in the virgin birth of Christ
5. I believe that Jesus Christ was deity on earth
6. I believe that Christs crucifixion was payment for my debt of sin
7. I believe in a literal Heaven and Hell
8. I believe in the coming judgment of man
9. I believe we will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell
So there you have it in a nut shell. Each one of these points deserves some discussion, which I hope to get to at some point, but the purpose of me posting these is so when I present my view you understand where I'm standing in relation to the elephant.
Let me say one more time before I go, I understand there are many out there who do not share the same core beliefs and that's fine. I'm not the preacher on the street corner shouting "The end is near, Repent!". But, here lately it seems that each one of these "Christian" beliefs has come under violent attack, either by religions extremists or in the media and I don't fully understand the justification behind it. Next post," The debate must continue!"
Friday, November 12, 2010
What am I doing?
I suppose there are thousands of reasons why people blog. So, why am I doing it? Seems kind of silly, or maybe more correctly, arrogant to think that someone out there may be interested in what I'm doing or thinking. My life is no more interesting that anyone else's and my challenges are no more dramatic. So why am I sitting here typing on this stupid computer? I guess ultimately my goal is to provoke thought. My thoughts as well as yours and perhaps a debate or two. So, there you have it. See you soon.
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