Opus 2012-55, Truth and Facts

Children do not like history.  There are exceptions.  I was one, but the majority find it a boring chore.  There are a number of reasons for this from boring teaching to that fact that history requires more mature thinking than any other subject.  In elementary math there is one answer and often one way to find the answer.  It is very clear if you are right or wrong.  People like that.  English is a skill you can often pick up by listening and there is a vast range of imagination that is allowed.  Science is taught as if there are clear answers and the kids get to play with objects while looking for the answers.  That may not be accurate but it is what they experience.

History, on the other hand, requires reading, thinking and evaluating.  Even such a simple thing as the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence brings up questions.  One of the big issues is the nature of truth in history as opposed to science.  Modern, western science became strong on experiments and gathering evidence.  You try something, write about it, have others try the same thing, compare results and keep trying until you come to what is accepted as fact.  It may be a long process, but it is doable.  It is called the Scientific Method.  For now we will ignore the evidence that modern science has abandoned this process to advance political positions.  The theory is sound even if the current practice is questionable.

In history you can’t go back and re-run the Battles of Lexington and Concord to find out who fired the first shot.  Obviously a first shot had to be fired, but there is no way to know who did it.  And the “who” makes a difference.  This is difficult for people who want simple answers.

Historical facts are different than scientific facts.  History is not as cut and dried as science.  Science demands that facts be observable, measurable and repeatable.  History can only ask for the most reasonable.  You experience this every day when you drive.  Consider the simple traffic light; red, yellow and green.  Traffic lights are useful not because they are infallible but because they are based on reasonable faith.  We assume people will not run the read light.  An occasional tragedy does not invalidate that assumption.

That is the best we can do for historical fact.  On the other hand take someone who drives through a red light because the statistics say that the odds are no one is coming through the other way.  They can go a long time without a problem.  They can also cause their death and the death of an innocent party. 

Can we know the true and complete answer to the motivations of the American and French Revolutions?  No.  Can we see differences in the causes and results?  Yes. 

Life is not simple.  Issues are complex.  Our information is limited and often biased.  That is why it is so important to look at the values of the source.  When two people give me different accounts of an event I must look at the whole picture.  One, the Christian, believes that God knows all and that liars are destined to an eternity in the fiery pits of Hell.  The other, a non-Christian or what the Bible calls a “so-called brother,” does not believe there is any consequence if he lies, even if he gets caught.  Which one has more motivation to tell the truth?  Which one will I chose to believe?  I would think it would be obvious.

To steal and adapt a line, “Thinking.  Don’t leave home without it.”  I guess we should not stay home without it either. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-54, Teaching Reading

You may get tired of hearing about Alistair Begg but I find his preaching to be a constant challenge.  I don’t always agree with him when he gets off on his Calvinism or expresses his total rejection of the Catholic church, but for the most part he takes the Bible and forces me to see its truth.  Often he says things that get my mind going on a tangent.  I am about half a year behind the current broadcast but that is the joy of I-Poding.  It is there when you are ready for it.

Recently Begg made a comment about being a child looking at comic books.  He shared how you could look at the pictures and even if you did not read the captions you could figure out what was going on.  You did not need to be able to read to figure it out.  This is a point that modern educators do not want to admit.  Comic books make it possible for students to reject reading.

And comic books have been promoted.  They are no longer comic books.  They are now “graphic novels.”  Our libraries are stocking them instead of the real thing.  The reasoning is that if we can get them reading anything then we might be able to trick them into reading.  I will grant that there will be an occasional success story with this theme, but it is not the norm.  How many children will pick up their own clothes if mommy will do it for them?  How many children, or adults for that matter, will scarf on vegetables when turned loose at the local buffet?  When I go to the Mongolian Barbeque I notice that it has a salad bar but I don’t waste my time there.

In the same way, you can’t get most people to read by letting them look at pictures.

People are different.  They respond differently.  When my son was seven he could not read a word.  We were not worried.  He was not ready.  Not forcing the issue was one of the reasons we home schooled.  A year later I found myself checking each night to make sure he was not reading under the covers with a flashlight. 

Some people take to reading like a duck to water or even like a fish.  You don’t need to worry about them.  They will get it.  Others take to reading like a cat to water, some like a rock to water.  A cat can swim and will swim, but just enough to get out of the water.  They can, but they refuse.  It brings them no joy.  Let people be cats.  They are ready to face life

The rock readers present a real problem.  This is where we should be putting our effort.  This is the challenge.  These are the people we are ignoring.  We need to take a long hard look at the problem.  Do they fail to read because they are incapable, because they are lazy or because they had a genuine disability? 

In modern education we assume it is a disability.  I would suggest that there are some people who do not have the orientation to read.  It is not a matter of being stupid, although it may look that way.  In theology we have the concept of spiritual gifts.  In education they have the idea of styles of learning.  I find it almost impossible to take a saw and cut a board straight and to the proper length.  I am not stupid.  I am not uncoordinated.  I am unable to the point where I avoid it as long as possible.  I am willing to accept that there are some people who are this way when it comes to reading.

They are not ducks.  They are not cats.  They are rocks.  We need to stop trying to change who they are and get on with the business of life.  If that means that they can only mow lawns then let them mow lawns.  Let them be the best lawn mowers in the world and the world will beat a path to their doors.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-53, Compromise: A Survival Trait of Freedom

Do you get tired of being in the minority?  Get used to it.  I live in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia.  I do not have one federal or state representative that agrees with me on anything important.  Locally I think there is one school board member who might have his head on straight.  I keep voting and speaking up but I am used to being ignored.

We who are believers are always going to be a minority.  In terms of salvation, Jesus said it this way,

(Matthew 7:14 NASB)  "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

I don’t believe the difficulty is actually in finding it.  I think that it is simply a matter of being willing to admit I am a sinner and in need of grace.  In our culture that is offensive.  It offends my self-worth and damages my self-esteem.

The principle of being the “few” applies to more than the Marines.  The political gate is also narrow and hard to find, for the same reasons.  People who believe in eternal values and God’s version of morality will always be in a minority.  If you don’t believe that, listen to “conservatives” talk about what they call “social issues.” 

Minorities have a need to work in coalitions.  I am afraid we are in a position which means we must always compromise and take half a loaf, not in our personal moral behavior but in our political demands.  Until the elites gained control and started trashing the Constitution with impunity, we lived in a form of government that had built in checks to keep the majority from tyrannizing the minorities.  The Founding Fathers were aware they were building such a system.  Maybe because the Founding Mothers told them to make it so.

The purpose of minorities is not to force others to adopt their ways but to maintain their freedom to believe as they believe, in spite of others and in the midst of others.  Therefore there is more diversity when you have minorities that are strong.

So don’t despair.  Don’t give up.  Don’t be a Gloomy Gus.  If you want to know how bad it can be, read the book of Revelation.  Don’t forget to read the final chapters and find out who wins.  You see at the end of the game it is not the team that had the best polls or the most fans that wins.  It is not even the team with the most yards gained or the best looking quarterback.  The winner is the one who has the most points on the scoreboard.

We don’t need everyone doing it our way.  We simply need enough power to keep them from forcing us to do it their way.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-52, Mixed Blessings of Technology

Modern technology and its advances are making us weaker on the personal level.  Years ago you needed to constantly maintain your horse or mode of transportation.  You needed to feed him every day, curry him, check his hooves, etc.  On your wagon you needed to constantly keep an eye on things.  In the early days of autos you had to adjust your breaks, set the points, etc.  All required constant maintenance.  Now we can buy a car and drive it until it drops.  Repairs require a highly trained expert with computer equipment. 

We have allowed that lack of daily maintenance to come over into our personal lives.  Instead of understanding the importance of daily spiritual attention we think that once a month or less will do it.  We have the experts in charge.  In the army we had PM.  That stood for Preventative Maintenance.  You cleaned your rifle to keep it from getting rusty, not to remove the rust.  If it got rusty you had already lost the battle.  To switch metaphors, it is easier to keep clothes from getting musty than to remove the smell later.

We need to turn the clock back.  We need to realize that technology will not replace the daily discipline that makes us better people.  Righteousness is not a one time trip to the smog control station, it is the daily habit of good habits.  I remember a world class violinist saying that if he failed to practice one day, he could tell the difference.  If he put it off a couple of days other musicians would notice.  There came a point, I can’t remember what limit he put on it, where everyone noticed.

How long has it been since you humbled yourself before almighty God?  How noticeable is it?

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-51, Shoud-a-Beens: Big Parade, Not Big Tent

Is the church judgmental and harsh?  It is a common complaint.  Usually it comes from people who need someone to be judgmental and harsh with them.  But that isn’t my focus in this post.  I want to take such accusations and look at politics.  We see the same demands in politics.  We have all heard about the idea of “the big tent.”  The idea is that we need people of many different opinions working together to build strength.  There is a certain bit of truth to that but I think that too often the people who want to make the tent bigger end up pulling it apart at the seams.

We don’t need so much a big tent as a big campground.  I worked in Sequoia National Park one summer in my foolish, young days.  At the time you had a wide choice of accommodations.  You could stay in anything from a full service hotel to the extreme of backpacking into the wilderness.  There was a lot of variety but one thing was necessary.  You had to want to be in the mountains.  If your thing was surfing, you were in the wrong place.

We could also put it another way:  We don’t need a big float as much as a big parade.  Not everyone will fit on one float.  Not every float has the same design.  At the same time, certain things are necessary to be part of the parade:  Be there at the right time, at the right place, follow the same route.  There are limitations on the size of the floats and laws of the land, such as bans on nudity.  Within those parameters there is room for an incredible amount of “diversity.”  We need to know what is necessary within those bounds. 

So what makes a political party?  What is necessary to be a Republican or a Democrat?  What are the key issues?  It is a question people don’t want to answer and both parties are worse for it.  If you believe abortion is wrong, why are you registered as a Democrat?  If you believe that a woman has the right to choose to end the life within her, why are you a Republican?  (Guess where I stand.)  Each party has clear, agreed on, documented positions on key issues.  There are also many areas of diversity. 

So let’s have a grand re-alignment.  If you are in favor of traditional marriage, the right to bear arms, limited government then join the Republicans.  If you think abortion is always acceptable, that we are the world’s biggest bully, and that we need open borders, then switch to the Democratic Party.

There, that wasn’t so hard was it?

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-50, Tax Dollars at Work: Teacher Haters

For you teacher haters out there I thought I would try to enlighten you to some of the more worthy concerns of teachers.  Okay, it isn’t the teachers’ concern but the concern of the unions.  On our district we received an update from our union under a title of “Bargaining Matters.”  I am not sure if they are clever enough to actually mean that as a pun, but let’s hope for the best.

Their first concern is what I want to share with you.  The union is upset that our district is saying they no longer have funds to send teachers to “Unconscious Bias Training” at a time when they would be needed to be paid extra to attend.  They are still planning the training.  They are planning on doing it during the time that is already set aside for training.  They have money for that, but not as an extra time expense.  And it will cost money.  There will be some kind of printed material.  There will be consultants.  There may actually be money for substitutes as selected individuals are sent off to be trained.  They never tell us how much this costs, they just say they don’t have money for books, lay off janitors and close down the library.

I am sure that you will be glad to know that teachers are going to be trained to deal with their “unconscious bias.”  Some innocent soul said to me, “Isn’t it good for us to realize that we just don’t like some kids for no reason?”  I guess that would be okay but what does that have to do with “unconscious bias?”  I am sure that in the last 25 years there have been a few students who remind me “unconsciously” of someone else.  It happens.  Deal with it.  That is not what this is about.  This is about digging out the hate crimes in our hearts against homosexuals.  It is to weed out those people who hide the thought in their hearts that there might be truth and that Jesus might have actually been God.  It is designed to chop off the weeds that dare to let their heads rise above the well cut lawns of the Progressive movement.  It has been going on in industry for years under titles like “Diversity Training” and “Sensitivity Training.”  And it is coming to a school district near you.

George Orwell would have called it thought control.  The Founding Fathers would have called it tyranny.  The Church should be calling it anathema. 

I am a teacher.  I never vote for more money to be given to education.  We have more than enough but we waste it.  It is not for the children.  It is for the elites who want to control our thinking and our children.

Have a nice, unbiased day.  Pay your taxes.  Vote the suckers out.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-49, Key Scriptures: On Death

Death is on my mind today.  It has come at me in a couple of ways.  I find it serious but inspirational.  You see, I am a believing Christian and I take seriously what Paul had to say,

(1 Corinthians 15:55 KJV)  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

I am working through the Confessions of Augustine.  It is slow going.  I have a free download on my Kindle and it is an old, cumbersome translation.  Today I was reading about the time in Augustine’s life when his mother died.  She was not worried about it.  He responded with eternity in mind.  He was very close to his mother, yet he was able to rejoice in the knowledge that she passed on knowing that he would follow her to an eternity with the Lord.

A second fact is that it has now been a year since my older brother died.  He was only 64, which is young by current standards.  He was the biggest, strongest and most robust of the siblings.  Blood cancer brought him down.  It was hard to stand by his bed as he breathed his last.  At the same time there was the joy of knowing that he was a believer who was simply going on to a better life. 

Death is serious.  So is life.  Separation and pain are real.  So is the assurance we have as believers.  We tend to get so focused on the daily grind that we forget the hope that is in us.  It makes a difference.

Do I worry about the Chinese becoming a major nuclear power?  As an American with children, yes.  As a believer, not particularly.  If they launch a missile at my home I will get to read about the follow through in the New Jerusalem Times.  Do I worry about terrorists blowing up an airplane I am on?  Not particularly.  It will simply mean I won’t need to empty the dishwasher when I get home. 

If you are going through a loss, I feel for you.  I am not untouched by our mortality.  I have lost both parents, some wonderful uncles, a brother and friends.  Most of them have died as believers.  I miss them but I try to look at it from their point of view.  For them the good times have begun and they wonder what is taking us so long.  For those who died unrepentant I can do nothing except try to share the hope that is in me with those who still remain.

Remember, from the world’s point of view, death is the end.  They fear it.  From our point of view it is the beginning. 

homo unius libri