Random Thoughts on the Subject of Christmas

I read an article about a YMCA that replaced its Santa with Frosty the Snowman. This was a decision by the local management, not some upper-level YMCA ruling. They said it was because they wanted to make their annual seasonal celebration more inclusive for everyone. I heard earlier from a friend that a YMCA in Pennsylvania was going to let them hold church services in their building, but then decided they shouldn’t. After all, that C in the name shouldn’t be misconstrued as implying that they support Christianity.

But back to the Santa thing. Please tell me when we got to the point that Santa Claus was a Christian symbol in America? I know there are historical roots in Roman Catholicism or Orthodox belief with Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas, but I always thought that Santa Claus as an American institution was pretty much non-religious. Frequently he has quasi-religious characteristics, such as keeping a watch and a list to see about that whole naughty and nice thing, rewarding the good (candy and toys) and punishing the bad (coal and switches), and the ability to travel the world and make his deliveries in a single night.

Some Christians hasten to point out that Jesus Christ most likely wasn’t born in December, that this time-of-year celebration has many pagan roots and elements and is hardly Christian anyway. Even those conservative Christians who are glad to celebrate Christmas have frequently spoken out against Santa as usurping the place of God. They object to Santa taking on some of God’s attributes and crowding out the birth of Christ entirely. Sometimes Christ is allowed to co-exist, but it has always seemed weird to see the nativity set alongside the sleigh and reindeer on so many lawns. The church I grew up in had Santa Claus visit the Sunday School children. That was weird, too.

The true meaning and purpose of Christmas has been leaking out of the American brain for years. I’m going to continue this ramble in a later note, but let me leave you with this thought. Are you just as guilty as secularists and the rest of the confused country of making this holiday, this “Holy Day,” incomprehensible to the world?

Every year there are politically correct government or management decisions to cut out nativity scenes, to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” to stick to non-religious Christmas music, to avoid any reference to the true reason we have this holiday at this time.

More and more, however, Christmas trees are no longer welcome, decorations on desks at work are banned, and anything that reminds us that Christmas is anything but a winter holiday with possible time off from work is taboo. It’s okay to display lots of commercialism starting sometime in October, to go nuts with the lights and lawn displays, to max out the credit cards buying stuff. It’s also okay to make fun of Christmas, to emphasize that it’s totally mythological. Santa and Jesus are equally fairy tales.

The TV show “Bones,” about a forensic anthropologist and an FBI agent who solve crimes, apparently loves to do Christmas shows. One had a murdered temp agency Santa who seemed to be the “real” Santa. He refused to work on Christmas Eve, designed toys, and wore real ermine on his suit.

Another one had Dr. Brennan (Bones) expounding on how she takes a trip out of the country at Christmas to avoid the whole ridiculous celebration. She is reluctant to even enable her incarcerated father and brother to celebrate Christmas together.  Brennan objects to lying to her brother’s adopted children and pretending he is not in prison, just visiting his father. Booth (the FBI agent who is a practicing Roman Catholic and very badly represents the faithful) states that to make all this happen they are going to have to practice deceptions, and that you have to tell lies at Christmas. It’s part of the deal, apparently.

Secular Humanism has been taking aim at Christmas for years. They’d like to wipe it out of existence. Kwanzaa seems to have been invented to further that purpose. Every year you see t-shirts and bumper stickers proclaiming “Festivus for the rest of us.” (If I understand it right, Festivus is some sort of celebration invented on the TV show “Seinfeld” and adopted by secularists as if it were real). Winter Solstice is another great one to bring up. Pagans can celebrate their holiday, but not Christians.

Hannukah seems to have been squeezed almost into non-existence as well. When we delivered to Michaels craft stores in Jewish areas they complained that management never sent them any Hannukah supplies. Nothing even remotely connected with Christmas or the true God in the minds of Secularists can be permitted. Every year they push the envelope further. Sometimes people push back. Even Jews want the trees, they want Santa, but do they want the true God or Christ?

The movie “Charlie Wilson’s War” deals with a congressman who, in one scene, speaks to a constituent who wants to keep a creche (nativity scene) at a firehouse. There is opposition and the man wants Wilson to make the opposition stop. Wilson says to him, with the wisdom of Solomon, knowing his people and his towns so well, that he should move the creche to a nearby church lawn, and adds, “everybody lives.” Wilson is depicted in the movie as a hard-living, hard-drinking, womanizing reprobate, but a man who still takes his political and social responsibilities seriously. And he wants to keep Christ out of secular life, over on the church lawn where He belongs.

So, see, in a way, this incident with the YMCA kicking out Santa means secularists are trying to attack Christianity when they attack Santa, and trees, and Christmas carols. I guess our culture is so warped now that we may have to consider Santa an ally, though I’m not necessarily ready to fight to keep him in Christmas celebrations.  I am ready to point out that this is another attack by Secular Humanism, and we should take it seriously.

I’d lots rather fight to keep the creches at the firehouses (the town I grew up in had one for many years), the wise men and the star up on the hill near Arizona State University in Arizona. I’d like to see stars or angels on treetops and along city streets (though the depiction of angels is a whole other subject). Now and then someone speculates that maybe the reason we give presents is because the wise men gave gifts to Jesus. I’d fight to keep that in too.

We read the Christmas story with whatever family we can gather at Christmas. The whole thing, from Zacharias to the return from Egypt, out of the Bible, not a Bible Story Book. I would definitely fight to keep that. That’s the most important thing to keep, honoring and recognizing the importance and authority of the Word of God. We should do it all year long, but maybe if you haven’t really studied the Word of God and accepted its authority in the past, this is a good time to start. To keep Christ in Christmas and in America we have to keep the Word on our lips, in our minds and in our Hearts.

Intellectual Reasons for Belief

We, as Christians, as often asked by people who believe that they are intellectuals why we believe what we believe. I am not aware of any brief list which is not woefully inadequate. The following list could easily be expanded, but it is a good ready reference. (Please note that many of these points are dealt with in Antidisestablishmentarianism.)

I. Evidence from reason

A. The Design of the universe demands a Designer

B. Life begets life; no scientific evidence of any form of spontaneous generation

C. Thermodynamics

1. 1st law of thermodynamics: matter and energy are interchangable and can neither be created or

destroyed.

2. 2nd law of thermodynamics: (entropy) all energy transformations are in a downward direction.

The universe is gradually deteriorating from a position of greater complexity and order to an

eventual end of complete disorder with the simplest elements, probably only hydrogen, motionless

at a uniform temperature.

II. Evidence from ancient writings

A. The value of oral tradition: many cultures disdain writing (Thoth/Plato)

B. All of the oral traditions and writings which are mentioned here are pre-Christian

C. New Zealand: The Lore of the Whare-wananga; or the teachings of the Maori College

D. Egyptian: History of Creation

E. Mayan: Popol Vuh and The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel

F. Mexican: Origin de los Indias

G. Japanese: The Kojiki

H. Babylonian/Assyrian: Enuma Elish: The Seven Tablets of the History of Creation and Another

Version of the Creation of the World by Marduk

I. Greek: Hesiod Theogony, Plato Critias

J. Roman: Ovid Metamorphoses

K. Norse: The Poetic Edda, Voluspp

L. Hopi

M. Cherokee

N. Persian: Zoroastrianism Bundahis

III. Evidence from the Scriptures

A. The authority of God

1. God existed before the material universe and everything material was created by God. John 1:1-3,

Col 1:16, Heb 1:10

2. God upholds the material universe today Heb 1:2,3

3. The material universe is temporary. Heb 1:10,11 Matt 24:35 2 Peter 3:10, Rev 20:11, 21:1

B. The origins of the material universe

1. heavens and earth Gen 1:1

2. “the earth was formed out of water and by water” 2 Pet 3:5

3. “the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit  of  God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Gen 1:2

IV. Evidence from the material world: What we can know from our senses.

The following scientific facts do not prove the Bible or the Biblical timeline to be true. While each of these scientific facts work within a Biblical framework or timeline, they tend to discredit the possibility of Uniformitarianism.

A. Genetics

1. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to daughter

a. estimates of the rate of mutations were made based on uniformitarian assumptions and mitochondrial Eve was estimated to be 144, 000 years old.

b. a 500 year old sample was taken; the calculated results show mitochondrial Eve to be approximately 6,500 years old (Nature Genetics vol. 15, April 1997 pp. 363-367. )

2. Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon DNA samples are both well within the range of modern homo sapiens.

3. Lucy and other proposed links between homo sapiens and animals have DNA samples well within the range of modern animals.

4. RNA

B. Dating methods

1. potassium/argon

2. uranium 235

3. Carbon 14: it becomes such a small amount that it is almost unnoticeable after about 60,000 years and disappears entirely after a little more than 100,000 years. All fossils which have been tested have C14.

4. all dating methods have an unknown point of origin

C. Ammonites

1. extinct marine creatures

2. wide dispersement

3. intact

4. on top of Mount Everest

D. Rock layers put in place while still moist

1. sharp bends, folds following matching contours

2. massive sections at unusual angles

E. Volcanism

1. modern lava flows have dates compatible with lava flows dated as ancient

2. physical appearance of recent eruptions shows multiple layers laid down

in minutes or seconds

F. Sea levels

1. salt content; no evidence of constant flow

2. massive recent rise in sea levels

3. Hudson river canyon

4. Niagara river canyon

G. Antarctica

1. evidence that Antarctica was once warm

2.  ancient maps with the land mass of Antarctica visible

H. Starlight

1. uniform background radiation

2. uniform red shift

I. Fossils

1. fossils not formed today: require unusual conditions to make fossils

2. massive fossil beds; billions of creatures, died in agony

3. creatures which do not exist today

4. very large creatures; very different climate

5. petrified wood

6. coal

J. Entombed creatures younger than fossils

1. different from fossils: different creatures and a different climate

2. usually frozen

3. ivory still usable

4. huge numbers

K. Lake Titicaca

1. salt content, marine life; highest lake in world (12,507 ft.)

2. tilted

3. city under water

4. existing city now far from water once a port

L. Massive stone structures

1. thousands of buildings and ruins of buildings

2. everywhere on earth

3. how they were made; either

a. poured in place like cement

b. floated into place

c. used a technology of which we are unaware

4. why they were made

a. to impress (who?)

b. protection from earthquakes

c. public works projects

d. unknown reasons

M. Insects in Amber

N. Diamonds can be manufactured

1. less than a year to make

2. are currently being manufactured in quantity

O. salt content of oceans

1. inconsistent flow rate: we do not know how much salt was

coming into the oceans as little as 3,000 years ago.

2. using ocean salt levels for dating is circular reasoning: assuming constant flow proves age; age is proved by salt levels

P. varves

Q. ice cap layers

1. assumption made that each layer represents one year

2. missing squadron

 

Conclusion: Many books are written to explain each subpoint. Few people, however, will stay around to listen. This list is a good starting point, however, for honest people who are legitimately seeking the truth.

So What Do We Expect From A Presidential Candidate?

Certainly not perfection. A good Presidential Candidate must understand and have deep respect for the Constitution of the United States. Second, he must understand what that means and have the character to implement the principles it contains. Last, he must understand that the US Constitution is not a “suicide pact.” On rare occasions a Commander-In-Chief must make decisions which he believes are necessary for the survival of the United States but will call his loyalty to the Constitution into question. Lincoln, FDR and other Presidents faced these kinds of decisions.

Our position on taxation is: no income tax, no estate taxes, no corporate taxes, no deficits and no delays in implementation. The 16th Amendment was never ratified, so any type of direct taxation by the federal government is unconstitutional. (The Law That Never Was by William J. Benson) Only governments are eternal, so estate taxes will eventually transfer all property to the government. Corporate taxes are double taxes on individuals, while few large corporations ever pay the tax.

America has tried tax reduction in the past, but debt is our biggest enemy. Past tax reductions have not been coupled with spending reductions. Entire Departments, such as the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, are clearly forbidden in the document written in English, the Constitution of the United States (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.) Other Departments, such as the Department of Energy, while not openly unconstitutional, are extremely unwise and need to be abolished. Once these spending reductions are brought into line with the greatly reduced federal revenues, the economy will once again grow and the increased tax revenues will pay for our existing debt. Spending must be flat as revenues increase to pay off debt.

The worst character fault is revealed in the men who promised these things, but failed to implement them once in office.

The concept of “separation of Church and State” has elevated Secular Humanism to the position of America’s establishment of religion. This established religion has used its enormous power to ruthlessly attack any who oppose it. We need to return to the religious neutrality of Washington and Lincoln.

The existing Republican Presidential candidates as of November, 2011, all have serious faults in one or more of these areas.

Michele Bachmann did not know that her entire New Hampshire campaign staff quit on the same day. They contacted her national organization, which failed to pass the information on to her. Who actually runs her campaign? Her proposed fiscal policies look good, but as a congresswoman, why has she never presented any of these proposals as bills?

Rick Santorum has good ideas but little support. Without three or four times as much support, his campaign will be one of the first to collapse.

Herman Cain has proposed a new tax (sales) that he claims is revenue neutral. He has no plan for massive cuts in spending. His handling of the sexual harassment charges against him seems weak and flawed. Though he cannot be expected to know everything, we must know who will supply the information he so desperately needs. Who will his advisors be?

Rick Perry pushed for a bill to give illegals in-state tuition at state schools. He attempted to require Gardasil vaccinations for all Junior High girls. This is big government at its worst. He seems to take multiple sides on important issues. He has offered no explanation for his public speaking problems, which would probably make him unelectable in the general election.

Mitt Romney seems to be the most liberal of the Republican candidates. He pushed for and signed into law a state form of Obama’s healthcare which is bankrupting the state of Massachusetts. He has no plan to reduce the size of government. His only positive feature seems to be his ability to create jobs while raising taxes.

Newt Gingrich’s long tenure in Washington has enabled him to become an extremely well paid lobbyist. Many of his clients are organizations which need to be abolished. He is easily the most articulate of the Republican hopefuls and knows the most about foreign policy.

Ron Paul has the most fanatical support for his libertarian principles of any candidate. Without his lukewarm support, George W. Bush would never have been elected. He is the only candidate to seriously propose massive reductions to the federal government. He proposes the most serious tax reductions of any candidate. He also seems to misunderstand how dangerous a world we live in with his proposed military cuts. He co-sponsored a bill with Barney Frank to legalize marijuana.

It seems that once again we are left with a series of choices that boil down to the “least bad.”

What Is “Seasonally Adjusted?”

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(This is the source of the image above. They have some fantastic things!)

Most of us hear the phrase “seasonally adjusted” with a vague idea that we know what those words mean. Since they have different meanings in different contexts, it can be very confusing. While a complete definition of “seasonally adjusted” can be an entire course in a MBA program, a general understanding will make living in America a little easier.

Sometime around the first of January every year most American businesses take inventory. In factories, ordering and shipping new products slows to a crawl. Schools face snow days, use supplies on hand and reduce or stop ordering supplies. Retail establishments try to reduce inventory without ordering new products. Farm work is at the lowest point of the year. Temporary holiday workers are laid off. Nationally, this is the highest unemployment time of the year. Trucking and rail lines ship the lowest volume of the year. This is the busiest season for accountants and for the purchase of winter supplies such as salt, heating oil and snow removal equipment. Many of America’s most productive workers take extended vacations in January and February. Holiday spending reduces ability to buy at the beginning of the next year. In places where travel is difficult, most entertainment and eating establishments have their lowest sales of the year.

As income tax refunds begin to arrive in late February and weather begins to improve in the Southern states, businesses begin to improve. New hires are added and the overall economy begins to improve. Depleted winter stocks are resupplied. If the improvement is good enough, when a new graduating class in May looks for jobs, there will be enough jobs. If there is not enough improvement in the spring then the new graduates will produce a drag on the economy with a boost in unemployment. Late April/early May is usually a small drop from March/early April as businesses attempt to guess what summer will be like.

May/June usually sees the first harvest of early crops, requiring more workers. Those who can, go on vacation, allowing temporary summer workers to go off the unemployment roles. The newly employed usually spend freely, hurting themselves but helping the overall economy. As bills come due, late June sees a slight slowdown economically. August sees back to school spending increase, students drop off unemployment roles as they go back to school and overall demand for goods remains steady.

September is very difficult to predict for seasonal adjustments. Bad weather across the country turns otherwise good indicators into a slightly bad economy. If the economy is very good, like it was in the 90s (Bush 1 and Clinton) early Christmas spending and good harvests can make a huge economic bubble. In a bad economy (Obama), September can be a mini downturn. The major crops are just beginning to be harvested, Christmas spending has not started yet and people are not ordering durable goods.

Beginning in October, crops have to be harvested and businesses begin preparing for Christmas. Even in poor economies, October/November usually sees an increase. Temporary seasonal workers are hired. Winter supplies are stocked. The only real question is how long does this bubble last? In good economies, this increase in demand can last into January with the last few weeks resulting in great rates for shippers, truckers, trains, airfreight, etc. Some companies are so dependent on this surge in sales for a few weeks that this is the only time of the year they are actually profitable.

In poor economies, people do minimal Christmas buying and the annual slowdown actually starts before Christmas.

These fluctuations vary from business to business. For instance, the entire medical profession is virtually immune to these seasonal variations. Others, such as swimming pool manufacturers, see most of their business at a different time of the year, in this case spring/summer.

The important point is that seasonal adjustments are critical to understanding what is really going on, not just accepting the latest political spin. If unemployment numbers are going up or down, does that indicate a serious problem or is that just “seasonal?”

This is a small attempt to help the average American to have a better understanding of the information around him. This will hopefully help you make more informed decisions.

Statement of Belief in Education

Note that we have a general statement of belief for our blog, but we also include this one with specific reference to our education principles. We post this as we complete our series, in preparation for the last few entries beginning tomorrow, in which we will review a number of popular homeschool curricula.

When we use the word believe, we mean belief in the historic, judicial sense of having seen and evaluated evidence and reached a decision based on the facts presented, like a jury at a trial giving a verdict on a case before them.

We believe in the absolute authority of the Scriptures, Old and New Testaments. This is based on an historical, grammatical interpretation. Things mean what the writer of the time period intended them to mean, and that a plain, straightforward meaning is almost always the correct meaning. Scriptures must also be compared with Scriptures, passages looked at in context and subjects as part of a whole teaching throughout the Bible.

The Bible sometimes uses literary devices, different kinds in various places. As one example, In Judges 9, Jotham’s story of the trees seeking a king is not a literal event, though brambles and other trees are literal, real-world objects. It is a parable, and there are other parables. The sword coming out of Jesus Christ’s mouth in Revelation is literal in the sense that it is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, which is a metaphor, another literary device used in many places in the Bible.

We also believe in the Priesthood of every believer, meaning that every believer can pray to God and read His word and that Christ is the only mediator we need. Salvation is by grace through faith alone.

Works are a testimony of salvation, not a way to obtain Salvation. The Church is made up only of professing believers. The Church was created at Pentecost. It is not a continuation of Israel. We believe in the Premillennial position, that is, that the Church age ends at the Rapture. The time we live in now is called the age of grace, although God has always saved by grace.

The Bible is a Book of Science. It is true, accurate, and reliable. It teaches man’s sinfulness and helplessness without Christ’s salvation and God’s power. Secular Humanism is a Religion of Mythology.

As the Established Religion in America it is taught in Public Schools to teach students that they have no sin, that they are perfectible by their own efforts, and that there is no God to Whom they are responsible.

Guest Blogging on My Dream Team of Literary Characters

http://irenelpynn.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/reader-input-requested-mary-findley-guest-blog/#comment-423

Inspired by “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” movie, I want to create my own graphic novel with favorite literary characters, including a grown-up Oliver Twist, Steampunk Inventor, solving mysteries and fighting evil.

Principles of Teaching P.E.

Any form of organized sports will require outlays of time and money. Many communities have youth sports leagues but may require lots of time including fundraising obligations. Sports considered individualized (as opposed to group sports) are sometimes more flexible in scheduling, with lower outlays for time, money and equipment, and less chance of causing offense based on belief. Bowling, golf, tennis swimming, archery, track and field, weightlifting and aerobics may be some options to consider.

Most states require some form of Physical Education. Even if homeschoolers choose not to participate in organized or individual sports, the requirement must be satisfied. Generally something in the way of health is also required. Do not neglect this requirement or you may endanger your whole homeschool program. This is one way in which homeschooling groups can be helpful, by providing other students with whom to do activities, opportunities for documentation of socialization by photos, and chances to share equipment not otherwise available. or simply document church activities like hikes, bowling, or picnics that include volleyball, swimming, or other activities that are done as a group.

Community centers may have sports equipment, fields or courts students can use. If none of these options are available, parents may want to get a video exercise program or ideas on plans to follow online or at the library. Bike riding, the amount of walking done on a paper route, pickup basketball with friends, and many informal activities can count as P.E.

Principles for Teaching Arithmetic and Mathematics

There are only three possible systems to teach Arithmetic and Mathematics. First is to teach without any system. This is poor teaching. It is often disguised as loving, motivating and capturing a student’s interest. While these are admirable goals, much or even most of the subject material will be ignored while a very few things the student finds interesting will be emphasized. Students taught by this method, or rather by these methods, usually find math to be a great deal of fun. However, as a rule, they do very poorly on standardized tests.

Second is the traditional method which everyone is familiar with. It is often called the unit method. A unit with many chapters covers one subject thoroughly, then moves on to the next unit where a different subject is taught. The older textbooks had little or no review of previous units. The more modern textbooks have added more review, usually by increasing the number of problems at the end of each chapter. Following the 1989 Math Standards, this “spiral review” makes traditional math more like the incremental approach. Traditional methods usually produce traditional students. Some hate math, some love math, but most students just view math as something put up with.

Third is the incremental approach. In the United States this has been widely popularized by the Saxon system. Saxon is the system I taught in High School. The incremental system teaches one small concept each day, has just a few exercises on the material taught that day and uses most of the homework time for review problems. The incremental system is difficult to develop for a publisher. It is a great deal of work but produces students with phenomenal math skills. When rigidly followed, the Saxon system produces the highest standardized test scores, but leaves a huge number of students hating math.

The number of exercise problems in the Saxon system is enormous. The way I handled this as a teacher was to encourage my students to work the problems as fast as possible. I graded homework on a pass/fail system. They had to show their work to pass, but did not have to get the answer correct. At the beginning of class students exchanged homework, I gave out the correct answers and the other student grading the papers marked the number correct and number incorrect at the top of the paper. The homework was returned to its owner. Then anyone could ask questions about anything they did not understand. This rarely took more than ten minutes. Then I went over the new concept and students had the rest of the class period to work on the homework. Questions were acceptable at any time. Most students finished the next day’s homework in class. I graded tests on correct answers. If a student was confident that they had all of the answers correct, they only needed to record answers. I had several students like this. If they chose to show their work, I could give partial credit if an answer was wrong but at least part of the work was correct. Partial credit was subjective and not subject to review.

There are three major problems with the Saxon method. The first is cost, but used textbooks are readily available because the system has been in place for decades. Saxon textbooks for each grade level are usually more than $60 new. If you want the answers to the enormous number of problems, then you will also need a teacher’s edition. Saxon also makes slightly more expensive homeschooler packets where a student textbook is supplemented with a teacher packet. Second, the volume of work overwhelms slower students. Third is the lack of problem solving. This was another reason for my emphasis on speed. This gave me one day a week to set the textbook aside and give extra credit problems. This is a major problem for homeschooling parents since they have neither the time to develop word problems nor the financial resources to purchase additional materials, which are often quite expensive.

A possible solution is another incremental approach, the Singapore method. Written by the Singapore Ministry of Education, it was brought to the United States in 1998. Unlike Saxon, Singapore Math begins with problem solving. From the student’s perspective, it is the most interesting approach to math that I know. Also unlike Saxon there is no one book for the entire year. The individual books start at a little over nine dollars and go up to around thirty dollars. You will need several paperback books per year, so if you have several children who could reuse a hardback textbook, the overall cost is likely to be higher than Saxon. Singapore Math is known by a variety of titles worldwide and is translated into many languages.

Singapore Math denies that it is an incremental approach because the term “incremental approach” implies the heavy review of problems of the Saxon system. In fact, the “word problems” build on the previous previous “word problems.” Their system is the concrete >pictorial>abstract approach. It is impossible, however, to progress without understanding the previous lesson. Since massive drill is removed, students who transfer to this system from traditional or Saxon approaches often find they are learning more with less work. Parents who use Singapore Math, however, say the additional drill books in the program should be considered essential, not optional.

Vain Repetition in Math

Most people know something about building a house, even if they have never worked on one themselves. Very few of us, however, know anything about the actual methods used in homebuilding, unless we make our living in the construction trades. We are only interested in the cost, the length of time it takes, how much it inconveniences us and the final results. We do not care that hand tools were replaced by power tools, which were replaced by more efficient power tools. Yet a master builder still must understand and learn the basics of the building trades.

Education in Arithmetic and Mathematics is similar to the building trades. Cashiers who had to add and subtract all financial transactions in their heads are long gone. They were first replaced by adding machines, which were replaced by cash registers which did the adding, which were replaced by bar code scanners tied into a central data base with spreadsheet capacity. Though humans will never match the computational abilities of machines, these machines require human guidance. Without this human guidance, machines will never know what to do with their incredible computational power.

So how much and what kind of Arithmetic and Mathematics do our children need to learn? Unless you are Amish and intend to use hand tools your entire life, spending months or even years learning how to become a master craftsman with hand tools is a waste of time. Some of the Arithmetic and Mathematics skills being taught today take time away from learning other skills. When this happens, teaching Arithmetic and Mathematics is like teaching hand tools to a carpenter.

Though many homeschooling parents want a quality traditional education for their children, this often includes hours of memorization of mathematical functions which a calculator can do in less than a second. Since people do not always have a calculator and standardized tests require these skills, students still need to understand how to do basic arithmetic and mathematics without any type of aid.

The clearest example is the times tables. Every student needs to memorize these, probably up to 12×12. Every student will be faced with real life situations as well as standardized tests where basic multiplication skills without a calculator will be required. However, taking valuable time to drill over and over again until the student can write down these times tables in mere seconds is not only a waste of time, but teaches that math is pointless and boring. The end result will be a student who hates math. And the student who spent far less time memorizing the times tables can still get a perfect score on the test.

Algebra

As a Christian School teacher, I had 11th grade students come to me, saying that they “could not get algebra.” Neither stupid nor rebellious, these students had flunked Saxon Algebra I twice and needed two years of HS math to graduate.

The problem is the way we teach Algebra. Often many elementary school students and preschoolers use Algebra without knowing it. Their introduction to Algebra is usually just fill in the blank, such as 3+_=5. What goes in the space? Though there is only one correct answer, the concept of a blank is a variable, which is Algebra. Add another blank and we now have more than one correct answer, such as _+_=5. Just using whole numbers, the first blank could be a 0, or a 1 or a 2, which would make the second blank a 5 or a 4 or a 3 (answers could be reversed). Many elementary school students who used the fill in the blank, or box or whatever have never heard of the word Algebra.

Ask a group of students if they know what money is. They will usually laugh. Without raising hands, ask if they have any money. If they do not, then ask if they know someone, such as their parents, who has money. Tell them to think about a specific amount of money. Then ask if they would like to buy something. It does not matter what the something is as long as it costs less than the amount of money they are thinking about. If they buy it, how much money will they have left?

I have never talked to anyone who did not completely understand this problem, unless the child was so young that he did not understand money. Many of these same students, even high school students, however, are completely unable to solve x-y=z. The money you have is a variable. If a group of students answers this question, then almost every student will name a different amount of money. What is purchased can be any price and the amount of money left over is a variable. It can be written (amount of money)-(purchase price)=(money left over). This is the same as (BeginMoney)-(Purchase)=(EndMoney) which is the same as BM-P=EM, which is the same as x-y=z. This is both Algebra and problem solving.

The money problem can become much more complicated and most students still handle the problem with little difficulty, even students who are completely unable to handle the simplest Algebra. Suppose your parents help you buy something because you do not have enough money and the item you purchase has several parts. The problem could be written this way: (MoneyYours+MoneyParents)-(ItemA+ItemB+ItemC)=NoMoney. It could also be written(a+b)-c+d+e)=f, so f+(c+d+e)=(a+b). All that means in this example is that the three items you want to purchase have the same value as the money you and your parents have. The answer is textbooks which show how Math is a part of our everyday lives.

“Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.” Galileo Galilei.

Principles of Teaching Fine Arts and Foreign Languages

Historically, the Fine Arts included painting, sculpture, architecture, music and poetry, plus drama and dancing. Lesser arts include book printing, jewelry and clothing design, quilting and home decorating. Computer design, both commercial and artistic, have revolutionized print (or electronic) media, audio and visual productions. Musical creations can be produced without a single “real” instrument or voice, just a person with computer, keyboard and music software.

Fine Arts, being electives, may not be taught at all in homeschool. Coloring papers or paste and glitter craft projects don’t count. Real art instruction should include more. Children need to learn to draw. Drawing should include basic shapes, perspective, proportion. Teach primary and secondary colors, blending, use of charcoal, pastels, watercolor. Crayons and colored pencils are also a good media as long as children learn how to shade and blend colors.

Teach hand and machine sewing, knitting, crocheting, needlework if you can. Use fabric paints to put Scripture verses and biblical designs on clothing and wall decorations. Working the Scriptures into your projects reinforces memorization. In one church women had quilted banners with Scripture and Christian elements, which was a wonderful ministry opportunity.

We cover Music as a separate curriculum area but it is frequently related to Drama, Poetry and Speech. Memorize poems or play passages and perform them for family gatherings or homeschool groups. If there are several students production chores can be divided up. A sound effects person gets music clips, rice in a tin pan and pair of shoes, a deerspotter spotlight operator, a costume designer, and a set builder, as well as performers. These need not be difficult or complicated, and give an outlet to different talents and ability levels.

A computer opens up worlds of artistic expression and parents should realize the relative simplicity with which their child could create a digital portfolio of his schoolworks or a favorite subject, a slideshow or video clips, captions and titles, recorded narration, music background, and, by the way, a fine arts elective class. Almost every computer includes some type of movie making or slide show creations software with fun effects and a few music background choices.

Many Christians do not believe any kind of dance instruction is appropriate, but we do know homeschoolers who have had their children take ballet. Folk or Square dancing are often considered acceptable. We have seen a performance by a Christian who studied interpretative dance and used it in a church service with Christian music. The Bible does talk about Miriam and David dancing before the Lord. Dance instruction can be physical education and also training in the arts. Parents have to decide how to obey the Scriptures in this matter. Great caution must be exercised to avoid situations where other Christians would consider it wrong. Also, a teacher might introduce elements of dance clearly sensual or suggestive or music that is not appropriate for your child to be exposed to.

Foreign Language is required for almost all High School graduates. If you already speak a language other than English in the home that should not be your foreign language. It should be one the child is not familiar with. Portuguese is a good foundational language and permits easier learning of Spanish and Italian, and to a lesser extent French. It is spoken in a large geographic area of the world, Brazil, for example. Learning Portuguese might be excellent foreign mission field preparation.

Koine Greek and Latin are excellent choices but often ignored because they are not modern. They will give more benefit to an American remaining in America than an unused foreign language. Latin is the basis of many European languages and gives aid in learning vocabulary, spelling and Scientific and law-related subjects. Latin was the language of Scholarship in the Middle Ages in Europe and is still used a great deal in Science and Law. A student might benefit from a study of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Scriptures, a translation through which many have come to Christ. Koine Greek is the language of the New Testament and would aid in study of the Scriptures. Even Classical Greek can be useful in the study of History, Science and Literature. These two languages present difficulties in part because they have alphabets differing greatly from that of English.

Hebrew is also a good language, especially because it is an ancient but still living language. There are many study aids available. It is the language of most of the Old Testament Scriptures, but it is also a very difficult language, reading from right to left. The alphabet has no resemblance to ours, making it even more difficult.

Our daughter is Hard of Hearing, and we taught Sign Language as a language course. This opens many minstry opportunities, and our daughter went on to major in Special Education and is looking at international ministries to the Deaf.

Principles of Teaching Handwriting

The illustration shows ancient forms of writing in the Middle East. It is taken from the Curriculum Introduction included with our Biblical Studies books.

A difficult subject made more difficult by computers. What should be handwritten and what should be typed? Some colleges and companies require a handwritten essay for admission/employment to ensure that it is not plagiarized and to make sure the applicant is capable of writing legibly by hand. The skill is still necessary. No matter how much fun it is, or how much easier it is, to write on the computer, the student needs to learn to write well by hand. The only real question is how to do it?

We recommend traditional handwriting drills used probably for centuries, emphasis on legibility, neatness and consistency. Rough drafts of every assignment should be written by hand, up through senior level in high school. Once again, the skill can be verified, and plagiarism is far less likely.

Handwriting will be more useful and more enjoyable if it is combined with interesting assignments. While beginning writers will need to practice correct pencil and pen holding and formation of individual letters, do all you can to make the activity less dull with entertaining or colorful illustrations they can identify, word games, and perhaps interesting backgrounds for their writing papers. Simple stickers or correlated craft projects, different media in which to practice (chalk slates, wax tablets, clay, sewing cards) , even cutting letters out of paper and gluing them onto cards can help reinforce correct shapes and neatness.)

Older students can correlate handwriting with poetry or essay assignments, emphasizing making the words look attractive on the paper with illustrations and different colors or textures of papers. You might even want them to learn calligraphy or handwriting for mechanical drafting. Though these skills have largely been replaced by computer design programs, they still teach discipline, neatness and beauty in handwriting that can carry over into life.

Sexual Harassment Not That Important???

“We all have stuff in our past that we do that we regret,” says OU senior Alexandra Hedden. “You move on.” She referred to the sexual harassment charges against Herman Cain.

Alexandra Hedden is a student of Oakland University, Michigan, with a student body of 40.000, which hosted the latest Republican debate. According to NetNet with John Carney in a CNBC blog dated Nov 9, 2011 this is the overwhelming majority opinion on not only this campus, but also all across the country. These students wish that none of this had happened, “But we should be looking at other things,” said Dana Hapanowicz, also a senior.

Their major concern they have include whether they will have jobs when they graduate. There seems to be little or no concern about whether these women are telling the truth. To most students on campus, the charges are not very serious.

“Yeah, sexual harassment is very serious,” freshman Koryne McKean says. “I don’t know if I would believe the women.”

The information in this blog is from the Jeff Cox CNBC blog “Debate Big on Campus, But Cain Charges Aren’t.” http://www.cnbc.com/id/45228628

Principles of Teaching Literature and English Skills

English Skills must include Grammar, Composition, Spelling, and Vocabulary. I am an English teacher who hates Grammar, at least the way it is usually taught. Rather than drill on sentence diagramming and parts of speech in isolated sentences, I taught Grammar from Tom Sawyer. The student finds parts of speech in realistic speech, regional, standard and non-standard dialects, and many other grammatical and ungrammatical principles that represent real life situations. Our students learned Composition from Alice in Wonderland, a collection that introduces students to social and political commentary essays in a way second to none. Spelling and Vocabulary came courtesy of Around the World in Eighty Days, a work rich in travel words, technology terms, and especially context clues to help a student learn to read for meaning without a dictionary always at his elbow.

We also included Literary Criticism. We made use of Bullfinch’s Mythology for comparison studies between mythologies and the truth of the Scriptures to examine and understand their similarities and differences. We taught figurative language (special uses of words and phrases in Literature, like metaphors and similes). These English study techniques have important applications in studying the Scriptures, in the instances where secularists will claim that the Scriptures had their origin in more ancient writings. The flawed echoes of Greek, Roman and Norse myths don’t uphold the standard of truth, morality or consistency that the Scriptures present.

Sometimes critics claim the “plain literal sense” interpretation doesn’t fit a Scripture passage. For example, when Revelation 1:16 says Jesus had a sharp, two-edged sword coming out of his mouth, we should say, “Aha! That’s a figure of speech, a metaphor. The Bible uses the same figure, but as a simile, in Hebrews 4:12!”  The Scripture frequently explains its figurative language, and saying there is figurative language does not make an argument for the Scriptures containing errors or not being inspired and authoritative.

In a Christian school, I taught The Merchant of Venice, and we put on a one-hour performance version for which I cut down the play, preserving Shakespeare’s wording and the essence of his story, just cutting extras and combining some characters. A homeschool group could produce a “Shakespeare in an Hour” play, using the exercise of cutting as part of the study. The Faerie Queene Part One is an epic poem, a forgotten treasure of English lit. It is the Christian allegory that inspired Pilgrim’s Progress, C.S. Lewis and Tolkien in their writings. We have a video summary and study of the literary devices used in it on YouTube of this great poem.

The main focus of our literature studies included analysis of various kinds of works, ancient to modern, TV shows, movies, even Video Games and Graphic Novels, with an eye to learning what is good and bad in literature. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you have to put in modern stuff to be relevant or to keep students interested. Use modern stuff because it is relevant to show your students what is good and bad in what they see every day. Our children got tired of analyzing every movie or TV show we watched, but they couldn’t miss the message that nothing is just entertainment for a Christian.

Here’s just one example: Make a study of what makes a true hero. Start back with the superheroes Nimrod, Gilgamesh, and Hercules. Check out Joseph, David, Daniel. Take a look at Hector versus Achilles in the Trojan War. Jump forward to Beowulf, Galahad, Siegfried. Go all around the world, all through the ages, and learn what characteristics God values in a hero as opposed to what man values. Then compare them to modern heroes, the characters John Wayne plays, crimefighters in comic books and movies, ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances and how they respond.

Have students read a lot, and have them write a lot. Millions of works are available free on sites like Gutenberg.org. You will find collections of short stories, poems, speeches, biographies and religious writings. Have students read a little of everything, as long as you have a good idea of what it is and that it’s not seriously harmful to read. Don’t think they have to read great long things to be literate. The example project above can be done by reading relatively short excerpts. I had a college English teacher who used to say, in her southern drawl, “I am appalled by what some people have not read!” Well, there’s a lot I haven’t read that “English people” are supposed to have read.

I “Go with my gut” (usually the Holy Spirit’s leading, I hope and pray) when it comes to reading. I haven’t read Clockwork Orange, or Catcher In the Rye, or Lord of the Flies, for example. I’ve educated myself about them, but that’s all that’s needed. I’ve read nothing but excerpts by Cervantes, Dumas, Hugo. I have trouble reading very long works. (I have read Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, which is really long, and really worth it.) Some authors of longer works have short stories and I’ve read them. Tolstoy is an example. School situations don’t really allow for reading very long works anyway. Keep things moving and encourage the students to read longer stuff on their own time.

Writing for a student assignment should be an exercise in self-editing, and figuring out what’s important and unimportant, what’s good and bad in his own writing and in what he’s read, morally and structurally. Can he tell that writers like Dickens got paid by the word? (Yes, he did, whatever people claim. He wrote serials, had to have a cliffhanger of sorts at the end of ever magazine issue, and had to justify what he was getting paid by filling the space allotted. He also loved words and didn’t edit himself for length much.) Have you considered that the translators of the KJV wanted variety in the vocabulary at least as much as they wanted accuracy? (This doesn’t mean the KJV is inaccurate. It just means that it’s a literary translation, striving to elevate the beauty of the Scriptures and the English tongue. Consider doing a study of how many times a different English word was used to translate the same Greek word in the New Testament.)

Principles of History Teaching

History is the opposite of Science.  History curriculum is very common. The question is, are History curricula teaching significance knowledge? The average high school graduate knows very little non-European and non-American history. An abundance of high-quality history books exist.  The real issue is, what is essential to be taught? What do your children need to learn? What is significant?

The average High School requires US History and the history of your state. Nothing more. Students usually aren’t even taught US history. They are taught diversity, pop culture and to hate slavery. Decades ago, History was combined with Geography, producing Social Studies. For the last fifty years the emphasis has been on the social with very little study. As Christians we need a semester, if not an entire year, of understanding the US constitution and the Constitution of the state in which you live.

The easiest way to teach World History is a good solid integration of History with the Bible. Who is Nebuchadnezzar? Who are the Babylonians and Chaldeans, the Aramaeans, Hittites, Philistines? What is Ur?

Our History will integrate Physics with ancient literature showing the beginnings of history with the Creation of the World. We need to emphasize the way people think and research to show how to determine what is historically factual. There is very little disagreement or controversy about historical facts from the time of Christ

to the present. As we go back in time from the 1st century AD there are more disagreements and questions. This is why High School and junior high texts stay away from these areas. Unless a parent is a historian, it is difficult to know whether “facts” presented in a textbook are true. What is the most significant thing? Parent must be familiar enough with the Word of God to evaluate statements in history books and see if they are in conflict with the principles in God’s Word.

Principles of Science Teaching

There are only two ways to teach Science: to teach it as a unified subject or divide it into categories. Unified sounds good but can be overwhelming to students. Subatomic particles like electrons don’t divide themselves into disciplines according to how they behave. In Physics we study electrons in different ways from observing how they behave in Organic Chemistry as electrons generating electrical impulses. By the time they have traveled down nerves and crossed synapses and caused our muscles to move they have gone over into the study of Biology. In fact, a degree in electrical engineering is known as an EEE (electrical and electronics engineer) because electricity and electronics operate so differently on a large and a small scale.

To keep from overwhelming students on high school level and below the sciences are generally divided into different subject areas. In Jr High or Middle School they are simply taught as Physical Sciences and Life Sciences. In High School the subjects are usually broken down into Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Interrelationships are rarely explored in detail because there is no time.

The question often asked about science is, how do you make these subjects Christian? In Life Science, you can emphasize the fact that God created all life, and it did not develop by evolution. We can also study God’s requirements for treating all life, animal, plant, and human. In the hard sciences (those that are testable in a laboratory setting), the Bible speaks just as clearly.  “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible” (Heb 11:3 NASB).

The spiritual created the material. The supernatural can intervene in and change the material world. Job got boils from head to foot from no physical cause. Jesus walked on water and healed people born blind and lame. Elijah was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot.

The material universe is finite, not infinite. Though God is in control, we are responsible as mangers. God will hold us accountable for the way we manage the material world. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26)

The world is relatively young, less than 10,000 years old. It is going to be destroyed by act of God’s judgment because of man’s rebellion. Man cannot destroy the earth.The Bible demands that we have wisdom and skill in handling material possessions but we should not spend all our time efforts and energy developing these things. They are secondary to worshiping God. The material world is not to become our god. We should not become obsessed with seeking material possessions or how to manipulate the material world. How we handle science will determine the quality of our life here on earth. We are limited in what it can do to the material world and it is finite and temporary.

Science is constantly changing, more than any other field. Whatever curriculum a homeschooling family chooses it must be a modern, comprehensive textbook acknowledging the principles God has set forth.

Philosophy of Bible Teaching

We take the historical-grammatical interpretation. “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studies in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise. God in revealing His Word neither intends nor permits the reader to be confused. He wants His children to understand.” Dr. D. A. Waite, in Ephesians.

We have examined the evidence and conclude that the facts teach that the Bible should be treated like any other literature in its proper historical and grammatical context. When it claims to be the Word of God it cannot be interpreted to mean something else and must be accepted or rejected. There are literally thousands of available Bible curricula. The question is, how thoroughly do you want to treat the subject? Also, different curricula emphasize different aspects of Bible study. Some focus on devotional aspects. These tend to include a great deal of commentary and less real study of the Scriptures themselves. Many focus on application, trying to make the Scriptures “relevant” to modern life or “age-appropriate.” These also neglect areas of historical, doctrinal or the strict interpretation of a passage. We teach a unity of Science, History, Literature and the Scriptures. Divorcing the Bible from other subjects allows secularists to put it in a separate category from the “Academic” studies.

The Bible is Scientifically and Historically accurate. It also uses literary devices. Other ancient literature contains similar poetic devices and figures of speech which can aid in understanding the Scriptures. The Bible can be studied doctrinally, chronologically, historically, biographically, by doing word studies, or topically. Many good books on all these approaches are available. If your emphasis is on doctrinal study, Evans Great Doctrines is an excellent resource. We follow Baptist belief that the church is not a continuation of Israel. While the true church is made up only of believers, the visible church may have unbelievers in it because it is not possible for us to know men’s hearts with certainty. While it would be difficult for a student to memorize the entire Bible, Elementary instruction should begin with a strong emphasis on Scripture memorization, with a focus on teaching doctrine. Some good Bible memory programs include Bible Memory Association (BMA only works through a church), Awana and Navigators.

The Importance of Keeping Records and Cutting Curriculum Costs

 

Before beginning homeschooling, the teacher must realize that he or she is the recordkeeper for each student. As in all government and private schools, there are three types of records. The first is every aspect of a student’s work. In Pennsylvania, homeschooling parents must turn in a portfolio of student’s work every year to an evaluator, who must put his or her evaluation of the student’s progress in writing. Though different states use different terms, this portfolio includes examples of academic work, tests, quizzes, showing progress in learning throughout the year. It also has a brief description of outside activities the student has participated in, including pictures. It will be a thick notebook by the end of the year.

A traditional teacher uses this type of material to evaluate progress throughout the year. These periodic evaluations are called grades and these grades are recorded in a gradebook. Though homeschoolers rarely use gradebooks, relying instead on a pass/fail system, they need to be able to show to an outside evaluator how the student is progressing in each subject area.

The third type of record is a transcript. Up to this point, there could be a great deal of variety in recordkeeping. A transcript, however, needs to include certain things. A certified transcript from a traditional school will be recorded on a paper with a watermark and have a seal from the institution. Homeschool transcripts to colleges and institutions looking to hire a graduate should at least be notarized. The information included in a traditional school transcript will include the courses taken, when and who taught the course, the grade, teacher comments (usually in code), date of graduation, honors and special recommendations, (such as proficiency in foreign languages). Certified transcripts from traditional schools are rarely more than two pages.

A homeschool transcript is required by law to show the same information. Since homeschoolers are rarely graded, this will end up with more than two pages. Without a grade, you must still show what subjects were taken, when, and how well your student did in each subject.

We strongly recommend that you grade your students and keep records of those grades. Whether you choose to record grades on a spreadsheet, a piece of paper or only use written evaluations, backup, backup, backup. Keep a record on your computer, on at least two backups, keep a paper copy and backup offsite. Your student could possibly need a transcript after you have died from old age. Not only do you need to backup your transcripts, you need to notify people where these backups are. These transcripts are so important that their location should be included in your will.

Homeschooling for less than $100 per year per Student

This figure of less than $100 per year is for electronic curriculum. Nothing else is included in this figure. Any extracurricular activities such as music, field trips or sports are extra. Any device to read the e-books is also extra. An Amazon Kindle is the least expensive option at this time at $139, with a stripped down model for $79.

We write questions to go with existing inexpensive e-books, usually $1-5, and write our own books. The total cost for the least expensive option is around $25.

Cain and Politico

 

Here’s a quote from a Politico article from October 31st on the Herman Cain sexual harassment accusations. Did you read the fourth page? Did anybody?

“Revelations about the settlements come as members of the association’s [the National Restaurant Association, or NRA's] board planned to meet this month to talk about ways to use the organization’s clout to boost Cain’s campaign.

Ideas to be discussed included making a donation to Cain from the organization’s political action committee, which typically doesn’t contribute to presidential campaigns, and, more significantly, organizing a fundraiser for his campaign.” ¹

According to Charlie Spiering of the Washington Examiner, in a November 4, 2011 article, online news and commentary site Politico has published ninety articles on the subject since it first “broke” the story. In the 1990s Herman Cain was, to use Politico’s term, “head” of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and the accusations were filed then.

The NRA has lifted the confidentiality restriction to allow at least one woman with whom it settled to speak out on the matter. Her attorney, Joel Bennett, says she has declined to do so. “The woman ‘sees no value in revisiting’ the complaint.” Attorney Bennett told “CBS News earlier that Cain did not sign the initial settlement agreement, and that it’s conceivable that Cain didn’t even know about it.”

The CBS article continues: “The National Restaurant Association ‘can confirm that … in July 1999, Mr. Bennett’s client filed a formal internal complaint. … Cain disputed the allegations in the complaint. The Association and Mr. Bennett’s client subsequently entered into an agreement to resolve the matter, without any admission of liability. Mr. Cain was not a party to that agreement. The agreement contains mutual confidentiality obligations.’”

Corporations are known to quickly and quietly settle such allegations. Radio Shack did the same thing in at least one publicized case in the same time period. Herman Cain not only would not know what was “settled,” he wouldn’t be able to find out. The accuser gets a severance package. Herman Cain has stated that this is all he knows about the matter. Since he denied the accusations, he, perhaps foolishly, thought he was exonerated.

CBS’s article went on to say that “Bennett said he and his client ‘have not asked them [the NRA] to lift it [the confidentiality agreement] beyond making this statement.’ He also expressed concern about violating ‘confidentiality and non-disparagement’ provisions in the agreement.”²

This is lawyer-speak for “We’re afraid of a big company and a big man. We don’t want to get in trouble if we tell the truth” and is misleading and highly inflammatory.

Now let’s hear from Herman Cain. Has he “changed his story”? Has he “given conflicting reports”?

Cain was “asked by [Sean Hannity] if he ever made flirtatious comments to female subordinates or comments such as ‘you look hot’ or anything, Cain replied: ‘No, no, no, I didn’t.’… As a business leader,’ he said, he ‘learned a long time ago’ not to comment on a woman’s appearance. Cain told HLN earlier this week that he has never committed sexual harassment ‘in (his) entire career. Period.’”

Herman Cain noted that a former aide, Curt Anderson, signed on with the Perry campaign shortly before the allegations surfaced in Politico. “These are the facts. Connect the dots,” Cain said.³

Anderson and Perry have both denied any involvement. Cain was certain he had brought up what he referred to as a possible sexual harassment issue with Anderson, and told him that he had “won” the case and the woman had paid his legal expenses.

It sounds like the NRA “handled” the matter, without telling Cain the truth about its actions, and would explain why he might not have the facts in his possession to “come clean” about. Any honest person will admit that sexual harassment is almost impossible to defend against when it is simply an accusation made with no physical evidence. Our society has gone from accusing a woman of “making up stories to get a man in trouble” to the opposite extreme, not even trying to defend against such claims, just paying a settlement. Both are equally wrong decisions.

Finally, let’s hear what Cain’s co-workers and potential witnesses to any of these allegedly “multiple incidents” have to say about him. This is also on the fourth page of Politico’s article, referenced above, where it is just as likely to remain unread. The article includes specific quotes from five top-level NRA members, three of them women. The quotes that follow are representative of all of their views about Cain.

“‘I have never heard that. It would be news to me,’ said Marie Fugo, who runs a Cleveland, Ohio, catering company. ‘He’s very gracious.’

“Joseph Fassler described Cain as treating men and women identically and asserted it was ‘not within his character’ to make unwanted advances.

“Cain was ‘extremely professional “and “fair” to female staffers, recalled Lee Ellen Hayes, an executive at the National Restaurant Association Education Fund. Cain’s treatment of women was ‘the same as his treatment of men. Herman treated everyone great,’ said Mary Ann Cricchio, who was elected to the board of the restaurant group in 1998.

1 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67194.html

By JONATHAN MARTIN & MAGGIE HABERMAN & ANNA PALMER & KENNETH P. VOGEL 10/31/11 9:18 PM EDT Juana Summers and Emily Schultheis contributed to this report.

2 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57318924-503544/herman-cain-accuser-stands-by-complaint-wont-go-public/

CBS News POLITICALHOTSHEET November 4, 2011 4:54 PM By Brian Montopoli

3 http://www.news4jax.com/election-2012/Cain-accuser-stands-by-sexual-harassment-complaint/-/1875986/4445738/-/item/1/-/ho70utz/-/index.html

Author: By Tom Cohen and Alan Silverleib CNN Posted On Nov 04 2011 12:52:35 AM EDT  Updated On Nov 04 2011 06:44:29 PM EDT

Important Points Which Must Be Covered in Education

I. The Bible is the authoritative foundation for science, arts, literature, math, history, geography, geology, physics, chemistry, medicine, biology and all other academic disciplines. Anything which contradicts the Word of God either directly or by ignoring it, is in error.

II. The Material universe was created out of the non material world.

III. The Original Creation was water.

IV. God worked on the first six days of creation. That is, God supernaturally used power that is not being used today. God’s creative power cannot be measured with scientific instruments. There were no human observers.

V. All men have souls. Both men and animals are more than material creatures.

VI. There is good and evil.

VII. Adam was created good but by his own choice became evil. This sin nature is passed to all men.

VIII. Time is part of the original creation. There was no time before God created. The entire universe is less than seven thousand years old.

IX. Four rivers flowed out of the garden in (not of) Eden. The only way this could be possible is that the entire earth was only one continent.

X. All technology, arts and science were fully developed soon after creation, before the flood.

XI. Noah built his ark on a mountain. The draft of his ark was fifteen cubits. When the ark floated off the mountain, every mountain on earth had to be covered. It also means that the highest antediluvian mountain on earth was low enough to build an ark on. It had to be much lower than Kilamanjaro or Mount Everest today.

XII. Men immediately after the flood were technologically advanced. They had ships which could navigate throughout the entire earth.

XIII. Nimrod and the tower of Babel is a true historical event.

XIV. Genealogies are accurate.

XV. The table of nations is accurate.

XVI. Ancient documents which support the Scriptures are accurate. Ancient documents which do not support the Scriptures are in error.

XVII. The Ice Age was immediately after the flood and probably ended while Joseph was in Egypt. This is a time after the flood of worldwide geologic upheaval. The great mountains were created suddenly at this time.

XVIII. Though our modern Gregorian calendar is inaccurate, Adam was thrown out of the garden about 4000 BC and the Exodus took place about 1446 BC.

XIX. Written documents are the records of observers and therefore accurate scientific records. Artifacts unearthed by modern scientists have many problems and are of secondary value.

Homeschooling

Every homeschooling family must have a curriculum. There are two extremes in curriculum which every homeschooler is familiar with. The first extreme is a curriculum which does everything for you. There are video teachers, online help, directed chatrooms (emphasis on directed), integrated textbooks and teachers to grade the student’s work. Many parents believe that this is the best of all possible worlds. While these are excellent curricula, there are two severe downsides. The first is cost. Most of these programs cost more than a thousand dollars per student per year, in addition to the cost of the equipment to make the programs work. Extracurricular activities, such as music or sports can easily end up driving the total cost to over $1500 per student per year. Even many parents who can afford these costs are asking themselves, “Should we?” Might some of this money be better spent on missions or even the general fund at church?

The second objection is not so obvious. Parents who have someone else do everything for them loose valuable interaction with their own children. At first this does not sound so bad.

The other extreme is not spending any money and building a curriculum from scratch. To anyone who has actually homeschooled, this sounds like a nightmare and anyone who would think such a though is insane.

Almost all homeschooling families are somewhere in the middle.

President Herman Cain

An unidentified man won a bet on the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series with 999 to l odds. Long shots can win whatever the odds. This also applies to elections. It’s not over until the last vote is counted. At this point anything can still happen. But the outcome of the 2012 Presidential election is already almost certain.

Gambling houses exist because the odds favor the house. The odds in politics heavily favor the status quo. Our son has asked in despair what he could do to end political corruption, but he didn’t like the answer. If you really want to make a difference, learn accounting and stay out of debt. Follow the money trail to find out who the real good guys and bad guys are. Then learn the system to understand how to make the bad guys pay and help the good guys win.

This would take a lifetime of effort, which is why bad guys often win. It’s too much trouble to stop them. The best example I know of this is the original TV Series Law and Order, Season 8, Episode 21, “Bad Girl.” The DA’s office has decided not to ask for the death penalty in this particular case. Robert Vaughn plays a representative of the police union. He meets with D.A. Adam Schiff in a closed-door meeting and tells Adam that they want this girl, who killed a police officer, executed. Regardless of the rest of the storyline, this is how the real world works. The rich and powerful call a closed-door meeting where they tell others what to do. This is what the current Occupy Movement claims to hate, yet their very tactics support that system. It is this very lack of understanding of the system that will allow Herman Cain to become our next President.

In a grossly oversimplified view, there are three basic types of primaries. Caucuses have party members who have earned the right to vote (usually by just showing up). They vote in a closed meeting. Though the average nonparticipating voter can vote for a representative, he does not directly vote for the candidates. Next are closed primaries. In a closed primary, only voters who register for the party holding the primary can vote. Last are open primaries where anyone can vote, just like a general election.

In states with a caucus system, you campaign to a small number who will vote. In states with a closed primary, you campaign to your party’s base. In states with an open primary, you campaign like a general election, emphasizing your party’s issues.

In the 2012 election, if Obama wins the Democratic nomination, he will almost certainly lose the general election. Yes, the St. Louis Cardinals beat 999 to 1 odds and something could cause Obama to win re-election. But the house usually wins and the house is against Obama. So the Republican nominee will probably win the general election. The odds are massively in his or her favor.

The Republican Party is split between conservatives, generally known as the TEA party movement, and more liberal members. Within the Republican Party, conservatives have more votes and liberals have more money. Several strong conservatives on principal have split the conservative vote. Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are vying for the same voters. Normally, that would leave the only strong liberal candidate, Mitt Romney, with the nomination.

In spite of what the liberal news pundits keep telling us, there are several reasons why Romney is not gaining support and pulling ahead. One is Ron Paul’s campaign. Even if Ron Paul is not the nominee, and his nomination is very doubtful, many of his policies will become part of the party platform. These policies are anathema to Mitt Romney and liberals like him. As various campaigns run out of money and collapse, the votes pledged to those candidates forced out of the running will be transferred to someone else. Historically, those votes go the candidate with the best chance of winning whose views are closest the candidate who dropped out. Of the conservative candidates, Herman Cain has the most support and the most money. Without any support from Mitt Romney and his followers, if Herman Cain picks up the votes pledged to Michelle Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, he will have a majority.

The major reason I believe Herman Cain will win is that he is the most liberal of the conservative candidates. His economic program is to simplify the tax code, but keep it “revenue neutral.” That is, no massive reduction in the bloated federal government. Though he says that he is pro-life, he wants to end Roe v Wade and let the individual states decide on abortion. He wants to stop illegals from coming into the US, but he has not spelled out how. Herman Cain is the only conservative that can take votes away from Mitt Romney.

Herman Cain is also likable and honest. His lack of political experience, at least for now, is a plus. The only other candidate that comes across as completely honest is Ron Paul. People are horrified by Ron Paul’s attempts to legalize drugs and close all foreign military bases, but they respect his honesty. Even Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann hedge their statements, which Republican voters are tired of. Even when I disagree with Herman Cain, I know why. Neither of the Bush presidents could claim as much honesty or clarity in their statements.

But in the end it is a numbers game. In the 2008 general election John McCain had 59,934,814 votes and Barack Obama had 69,456,897 votes. About 18 million voted in the Republican primaries, but most states had only a few thousand who controlled the delegate selection process. Probably the most telling sign is in the polls which show Herman Cain ahead of Rick Perry in Perry’s home state of Texas.