Come on, really?!

I mean, who would have thought that a US Senator would get it wrong – and so completely wrong. US Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) was quoted in an AP article today. I am not surprised that he opposes Judge Samuel Alito as a nominee to SCOTUS. What is amazing (though, I guess it should not be) is how condescending he is in his opposition. Ron Fournier, writing for the AP and picked up by the Minneapolis Star, quotes Reid.

"The Senate needs to find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people."

Too radical for the American people. Who does Reid think he is? What does he think the Senate is? What, to him, does it mean to be a Democrat? It sounds like a parent, telling their children, “Too much candy is not good for you.” Maybe he is just in the Halloween mood, but since this sound like his normal approach, I tend to think he really believes that he, and his fellow Dems are the definers of what is “too radical.”

You know, maybe he’s too liberal for the American people.

Little Red Hen and Company

An old childhood story of a red hen came to mind this week. The hen tried to get help to make something; I really cannot remember what it was. But no one was willing to help. But, when it came time to eat, everyone wanted to share in the fruit of her labor. It appears that this story is being played out by some members of the Republican Party. They want votes, but the voters must not make life difficult on them.

Recently, former Senator John Danforth, Republican from Missouri, jumped on what must be a very fashionable bandwagon when he blamed the conservative evangelicals for the divisiveness in Washington. Evidently, you cannot have strong beliefs in his Republican Party. Evidently, you are allowed to vote him into office, but you are not allowed to work to see the positions you espouse brought to the front of the debate.

Mr. Danforth needs to remember that if conscientiously held beliefs and positions are out of bounds in the Republican Party, then the conservative evangelicals, the religious right, will leave. And if they leave, the Mr. Danforths of this world won’t stand a chance. There are not enough moderates to accomplish anything. Most everyone feels strongly about their position. And the conservative evangelicals, the religious right, will not give up their ground just to make life a little easier for the politicians.

There is still a culture war being waged, and when there is war, there is conflict, divisiveness. You cannot be on both sides, Mr. Danforth. Choose today, unless you have already chosen.

Maybe it's not ADHD!

Parents of children diagnosed with ADHD! It might not be ADHD, but sleeplessness. A new study out of Israel links ADHD symptoms with sleeplessness in children. Go to the link and check it out. If this is the culprit, dealing with the real issue would be better than unneeded medication. The study was done by Dr. Giora Pillar of the Pediatric Sleep Lab in one of Israel's largest hospitals. The study was sponsored by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Still watching!

I am watching with interest the controversy swirling around Harriet Miers, President Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court. If you are interested, check out the WorldMag blog. You might have to go back a couple of days to get it all.

One more thought

This post and the previous one were originally posted on SharperIron.

I am sitting here musing, with some sadness, at how things have changed. Here we are discussing whether a book about the Bible should be in the Public Schools - the same public schools which, in former times, had the mandate, with the church, of passing on the values of the community. Now it appears the values of the community are no longer relevant.Of course, that may be the issue after all. They never really were. For years the public system was cloaked in the values system of its teachers and leadership, but as time went by, it successfully rubbed off the barnacles of religious faith. This seems to be inherent in a man-made organization that seeks to be neutral. Neutrality is impossible. We are on the wrong side of the battle. As Christians, we are on the side that seeks to instill a biblical world view, and a knowledge of the teaching of God regarding the world. The rest of the system is aligned against God, by its very nature. To be neutral is to be anti-.

Will it work?

I have been thinking recently about a new textbook that is being considered for the Public School system. The purpose of the book is to teach the student the how the Bible has influenced culture. Some see this as a giant step forward.

I am not overly confident of this. This is not a Bible re-written for use in the PS system, it is a survey written for the PS system. As such it approaches the Bible like the Illiad.

The Bible and Its Influence) is the first designed to meet constitutional standards for public school use and be subjected to extensive review by scholars. It is also the first high school textbook to provide comprehensive coverage of the Bible’s influence on literature, art, music, and rhetoric.

Besides, I am not sure that "designed to meet constitutional standards" really means anything. It assumes that all the ACLU has been waiting for is for us Christians to come into alignment with the Constitution. I do not for a moment believe that to be the case. The resistance is not about "constitutional issues" it is about rejection.I am skeptical. I can see only two alternatives. One - this won't work. Two - the text will so water down the true nature of the Scriptures that the kids will get about as much out of it as Lord of the Flies.

Like I say, I am skeptical!