School

I've been kicking this idea around for a few days, trying to decide if I really want to hit this topic. I just don't know about stepping on toes...

And y'all know me better than that!

I have heard comments from several different people in the last couple of months that all we need is to put God/prayer back in school and all the problems with education and schools in general will go away.

I get this little twitch in my neck when I hear that said and I bite my tongue and go on (reference "Swine Song" ) . This is something I have thought long and hard about and I'd like to explain exactly why I do not support prayer in school.

I'm married to a teacher. Her mom is a retired teacher. My mother taught kindergarten when I was younger and works as a substitute to this day. My younger brother works in special education. I've got about 47,000 friends from college that became teachers. I've seen education from the teachers' point of view.

I've also seen it from the student's point of view. Most of my influences in life have been either directly or indirectly from teachers. I was taught early on about rabble-rousers and miscreants by a lady named Scottie Bates - (cementing in the foundation of my heroes a bunch of revolutionaries and rebels). Another lady named Sandra Jackson taught me about all the beauty of literature and, in her own far more eloquent words, taught me that all good books have pissed someone off - and so much more. I was taught about mental toughness and teamwork by men named Danny Wiseman, Rick Walker and Allen Gossett.

I went to college and learned about critical thinking, writing and making an intelligent argument from Janet Smart, Steven Whitton and Harvey Jackson. I also did some higher studies in teamwork and mental toughness with Bill Burgess, Jim Skidmore and many others.

And by now you have to be asking what any of this rambling has to do with prayer in school. Well, nothing. That's the point. In fact, out of all the influences I mentioned, I've only seen two of them pray, and that was not in a classroom setting. In fact, several of these people left me in positions to question what I believe...which actually made it stronger. After looking at faith through the eyes of criticism and really asking why I believe what I believe, only then could I make an educated decision on faith. After all, "Mark Twain isn't a sweet old guy in an ice cream man uniform" and "Most of the people in this world didn't go to church with you".

I learned how to pray from my mom and dad as well as influences that I had at church (as well on my own while in drills with Wiseman, Walker and Gossett and working for Burgess and Skidmore). The point in listing my teachers and what they taught me is to say they are busy teaching the subject at hand. With ingenious (read mind-bogglingly stupid) policies like "No Child Left Behind" teachers have to spend the majority of their time teaching kids how to pass standardized tests and teach them actual material if time allows. This is not education, this is test-taking strategy transferal. It is unfair to teachers and students and devastating to our society. So, when exactly are they going to pray with their students?

The other reason I don't support prayer in school is because this is America - a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles, by people who believed in a creator for...well...um...for whoever wants to come here and take a stab at the American Dream. How are Christians going to feel about the Pakistani-American math teacher leading class in a prayer to Allah? Probably about the same as the Indian-American parents are going to feel about the Southern Baptist geography teacher (let's pretend they still have time to teach geography in school) leading students in a Christian prayer. See what I'm saying?

And then there are those that would argue that we shouldn't allow people of "other religions" to teach in our schools. Guys...really...welcome to the 21st century. I want my kids to learn from the best available in the given field. Period. That First Amendment thing is a multi-lane highway that we can all drive on.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that our teachers have enough crap to deal with. Maybe we need to be as adamant about "prayer for school" as we are for "prayer in school". Maybe if we take some time to make the work of our teachers a little easier or just shoot them a note to say we appreciate them...yeah, that sounds good or maybe a note to the governor or the state assembly to tell THEM how much you appreciate teachers.

If you can read this...then you'll know I hate silly cliches...but thank a teacher anyway.

Pass the Tabasco

Time to eat some crow.

I don't know how long it will take but one of these days I'm going to get past all the things in the days before I let my curious nature have a longer leash. As for today, I'll just see if I can make this dead scavenger bird taste a little better.

A few years back, in more closed minded and intolerant times, there arose a stink in this town over a church with a new "pastoral team" a husband and wife that had taken the task of leading a local church together. It wasn't "the pastor and his wife" it was a "co-pastor" situation.

Heretics.

This was right in the middle of the "Baptist Faith and Message 2000" which was essentially designed to be the proverbial straw breaking the liberal camel's back. It was the knockout punch that the conservative branch of the Southern Baptist Convention had been hoping for. The conservatives played the good guy role in that they were "supporting Scripture" and that they were not running anyone off "if they leave on their own, that is too bad". The liberals were arguing that they were not breaking any Scriptural rules and that they could not in good conscience stay under an umbrella that had drawn such a decree against them. And looking back, who could blame them?

There was this young, naive, blond-headed kid standing over there with the cons. Yeah, I wish I could go back and shake some sense into that kid. Maybe I wouldn't be here plucking a nasty crow.

Enough background.

I opened up the website of our local newspaper today looking for a particularly pertinent news story and instead found a story about the very church that sparked the controversy in the above paragraphs. Turns out that they are the new recipients of a grant from their new found denomination. The money is going to go to serving the distressed neighborhood that surrounds the church. They are going to offer GED training (complete with childcare for the pupils), SAT and ACT training, medical and counseling services, they are going to be providing access to prescription medication for HIV/AIDS patients in their neighborhood and starting a support group for area children that have lost a parent.

Not bad for a bunch of heathens that need to be run out of town, huh?

I'm not in agreement with a lot of what goes on at this particular Baptist church or any Baptist church for that matter. However, when I see a group that I had been convinced were wrong, wrong, wrong loving their neighbors in such a way, I am reminded of another anathema, one from Scripture. I am reminded of a Samaritan, scum of the Earth that he was, that stopped and helped a wounded man and didn't leave his side until he was sure the man was in a good place. This story reminds me also that there were others, the conservatives, that were too busy being conservatives, being holy and being right to stop and do what the teachings of Jesus Christ compel us to do. What a testimony. Thank God for the Samaritan churches in this world!

Umm, ummm, this sure is a tasty crow!

Speaking for the Trees

I'd be remiss if I let the anniversary of the birth of the great Dr. Seuss go by without at least a mention. I know that the ol' Doc had at least some impact on me as his work was some of the first I ever read on my own. While "The Cat in the Hat" was early in the reading list and it seems that you cannot attend a graduation these days where the valedictorian doesn't quote that poem that I once loved to hear, there is another Seuss book that comes to mind today.

I don't make a lot of bones about the fact that I am a capitalist, a proponent of private property rights and a believer in progress of a reasonable and healthy development of society. I'm not really what you would call an environmentalist.

Ok, by now you have caught on to the fact that my favorite Seuss book of all time is The Lorax.

To me, matters of environment and conservation are just common sense. As long as they remain matters of common sense, I stand behind them. Although I tend to be more judgemental of the environmentalists, I want to admit that there is a serious need for a lot of what they say.

So here is what I really want to say. The ol' Once-ler went belly up because he had no restraint. There was no planning for the future - just lop Truffulas as long as they are there and worry about the rest later. Yeah, he made a lot of money while the getting was good but he fouled up his surrounding and lopped himself out of a living. It is a basic struggle between waste and responsibility.

So, I look at this struggle through my eyes and see what the Lorax taught me. I like to recycle. I don't see it as some crusade that I have to stick to but the fact is, there really is no "away" to throw things. If we just keep filling up landfills and finding new ones, we are using up habitat for many animals...AHEM!...many of the game animals that we like to hunt. Any of you guys try to find a good place to hunt lately? What about all that junk that winds up in the water? Do you really want to eat that fish?

Practically speaking, many conservation efforts make practical sense to everyone. And that is why I don't mind pondering "UNLESS". I know that the story takes the issue to the extreme - like I've never done that to prove a point. I know that it is impressionable to the young children that make up its targeted audience. That is why we have to be there to balance the message and to make sure that the message does not become fulfilled prophecy.

I could go on and on about how many innovative products can be made from petroleum (making the combustion of it sort of silly) and how many different fuels could actually propel our vehicles. I could ramble about wasting space, wasting material, putting too much nasty smog in the air and, most important to me, all the noise, noise, noise! But there is no need to go to extremes.

So don't let the governments and the Al Gores of the world make the determinations about environmental issues. Let's look at waste vs responsibility for ourselves. I don't think the Lorax would be as excited about Kyoto or Copenhagen as he would be about me and the decisions I make in Georgia and you and the decisions you make where you are. Know what you are using, buying, discarding - where it comes from and where it goes. It matters.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss. Thanks for all the stories and the memories.