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The Zeitgeist May Be Changing

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Zeitgeist = Spirit of the Times.

Why do I think that?

I just read a preview for a new hard-cover novel scheduled for release on August 5 by John Ringo, entitled The Last Centurion. Here’s the two-sentence blurb:

“In the second decade of the 21st century the world is struck by two catastrophes, a new mini-ice age and a plague to dwarf all previous experiences. An American Army officer struggles to prevent the fall of his homeland – despite others’ efforts to stop him.”

Thank about that. An author thinks a surprising, but plausible plot line for the near future is the occurrence of a “mini ice-age.” It’s a delicious premise, of course. It has all sorts of possibilities for skewering the elites and marveling at their surprise and come-uppance. I can just imagine the dialog: “How much good are your compact fluorescent light-bulbs doing you now?”

Sounds like a good summer read. . . (while contemplating Global Warming!)

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Hell Freezes Over

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Der Spiegel – the German weekly news magazine, comparable to Time or Newsweek here in the USA – has just posted a story praising the remarkable progress that has been made in Iraq.

This is the equivalent of the New York Times praising President Bush for his leadership and communication skills and his masterly command of US foreign policy.

How long will it be before the US media must finally admit that the surge has succeeded? And further that Bush’s foreign policy in Iraq has actually worked?

I’m not holding my breath, but if Der Spiegel is forced to admit the truth . . . then anything is possible.

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A Father’s Day Meditation

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I noticed a blog entry at StandFirmInFaith the other day which included the text of 20 resolutions that Cotton Mather had made as a parent as he reflected on his responsibilities towards his own children. I was surprised (though I should not have been) to find that they do not at all fit the stereotype of a stern, mirthless Puritan autocrat. In fact, as I read and re-read them they stimulated in me a desire to renew my own commitment to my own children.

On another level, they also prompted me to consider that the tender, deep, passionate commitment which Mather portrays is also a picture of God the Father’s love for each of us. These wonderful things which Mather resolves to do for his children (1. I will resolve to do all I can that my child may be the Lord’s. 2. I will encourage my child to every day cry to God that He would be the child’s Father, and Saviour, and Leader. 3. I will pray for my child daily.) are also things that God is doing for each of his children.

God reveals himself in profound and deep ways in the nature of human relationships. Father and son. ADOPTIVE father and child. Bridegroom and Bride. The best things that our fathers do for us are a reflection and a model of what God wants to do for us: provide for us, sacrifice for us, see us grow up and to acquire a godly wisdom and maturity.

I’ve laid out Mather’s Resolutions as a little 8-page booklet. It’s available for free by clicking here. Feel free to download it, forward it, print it out, or otherwise distribute it. I plan to give copies out at church on Sunday. Rev. Mather’s original text is in the public domain, and I like to think he would approve of its being read again 280 years after his death.

Here’s my summary of his 20 resolutions:

  1. I will resolve to do all I can that my child may be the Lord’s.
  2. I will encourage my child to every day cry to God that He would be the child’s Father, and Saviour, and Leader.
  3. I will pray for my child daily.
  4. I will read the Bible to my child and tell the stories of the Bible to them.
  5. I will teach my child to memorize Scripture.
  6. I will teach my child the Catechism.
  7. I will teach my child to pray.
  8. I will teach my child to be kind.
  9. I will teach my child to read and write. I will direct their reading and talk with them about what they have read.
  10. My yoke will be light.
  11. I will teach my child to love Christ.
  12. I will encourage my child to speak with me about the state of their soul.
  13. I will be careful about my children’s companions.
  14. I will discuss the sermons we hear with my child.
  15. I will use the opportunities of Days of Humiliation, Days of Thanksgiving, and particularly birthdays to talk about the works of God.
  16. I will use the opportunity of trouble, sickness or pain to remind them to be mindful of CHRIST and eternity.
  17. I will teach my child a trade or business.
  18. I will show my children that their main end must be to acknowledge the great God, and His glorious Christ; and bring others to acknowledge Him.
  19. I will oblige the children to retire sometimes, and ponder on that question: “What shall I wish to have done, if I were now a-dying?”
  20. I will endeavor to see my child espoused to the Saviour first, then I will help them as I can for their best accommodation in the married state.

Download the 8-page booklet here.

– Rob Shearer
Director, Schaeffer Study Center
Publisher, Greenleaf Press

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Federal Judge rules ‘Meet Me at the Pole’ constitutional – ACLU, Media claim victory anyway

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U.S. District Judge Robert L. Echols issued his ruling yesterday on the ACLU vs. Wilson County Schools (aka Lakeview Elementary). The Tennessean headlined their story this way:

Prayer group can’t get special access at school

Judge says Wilson public school supported religious activity

The ACLU, predictably , claimed victory. The Tennessean linked to Judge Echol’s 59 page MEMORANDUM, but NOT to the Judge’s four page ORDER. It’s easy to see why when you read them. In the MEMORANDUM, the Judge identifies a number of impermissable incidents, where the Lakeview School System may have crossed the line, largely by inaction and giving too much leeway to the group, “Praying Parents.”

But if you read the Judge’s ORDER, what is remarkable is the affirmation of the wide range of activities conducted by the “Praying Parents” that the Judge ruled were acceptable and protected under the 1st Amendment “Free Exercise of religion” clause.

Here are the significant points:

(3) The individual Defendants and their successors and all parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys acting in concert or participation with them are hereby permanently enjoined, restrained, and directed as follows:

3(b) The Praying Parents group may meet on Lakeview School property in the same manner as other groups are allowed to meet on Lakeview School property . . .

3(c) The Praying Parents group may have direct access to the Lakeview School teachers’ lounge and the mailboxes of Lakeview School administrators, teachers and staff in the same manner as other groups . . .

3(d) The Praying Parents group may distribute materials about their activities and advertise their activities through flyers, posters, “Eagle Eye” notices, and announcements in the same manner and to the same extent as other groups are allowed to distribute materials about their activities . . .

3(e) Lakeview School kindergarten teachers may include in their instruction about the origin and history of the Thanksgiving holiday and the culture of the Pilgrims a short, generic prayer blessing as an example of the type of Thanksgiving prayer that may have been said by the Pilgrims . . .

3(f) Lakeview School kindergarten teachers may include a nativity scene, accompanied by the singing of religious carols, in the annual Christmas program . . .

3(g) Lakeview School may permit the See You At The Pole™ event and the National Day of Prayer event to take place on school property during non-instructional hours . . .

This is not exactly the “victory” that the ACLU and the plaintiffs sought. In each of those six areas, the ACLU and the plaintiffs had sought to have the activities of the “Praying Parents” and Lakeview School prohibited. In fact, Judge Echols ruled in a clear and direct fashion that the activities were permitted.

I shall be praying that the ACLU secures many more such “victories” as this one. They can have the headlines. The “Praying Parents,” regardless of what the Tennessean might say, have had their activities affirmed and protected by a federal judge. Well done, Judge Echols!

– Rob Shearer
Director, Schaeffer Study Center

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TN Department of Education declares church-related schools’ diplomas to be “worthless”

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Kay Brooks has a great post summarizing the story so far: Good enough for UT, Vandy, Harvard...

The Tennessee Department of Education seems intent on picking a fight with church-related schools in general and homeschoolers in particular. They’ve been “educating” other state agencies for some time now about the fact that so-called “Category IV Schools” in Tennessee are unaccredited and that their diplomas are “worthless.” This has led to the demotion of a police officer who had completed the police academy with a 4.0 average and the forced firing of a daycare worker (from a daycare run by her grandmother!), lest the daycare lose its state license for hiring a child-care worker without a “valid” high school diploma.

One of the good guys, Rep. Mike Bell, is attempting to reassert legislative control over education policy decisions. He’s co-sponsoring a bill, HB1652, that would require the state to recognize Category IV high school diplomas as valid. Alas, he’s meeting resistance from the Department of Education. They’ve countered with an amendment to the bill that would prohibit private, church-related schools from hiring ANY instructor for grades 9-12 who did not have a baccaluareate degree recognized by the State Board of Education.

Below is the message I just sent to the members of the House Education Committee.

Rep. Bell’s bill is scheduled to be heard by the full Education Committee today at 3:15pm central time.

– Rob Shearer

************************************************************

‘rep.leslie.winningham@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.tommie.brown@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.joe.towns@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.barbara.cooper@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.john.hood@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.ulysses.jones@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.mark.maddox@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.michael.mcdonald@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.larry.turner@legislature.state.tn.us’; ‘rep.john.windle@legislature.state.tn.us’

To: the honorable members of the House Education Committee

cc: Claiborne Thornton, President of THEA, Doug Fraley, President of MTHEA, and other interested parties:

As the Vice President of the Tennessee Association of Church Related Schools (TACRS), I have a few thoughts on the current controversy around Category IV non-accredited privates schools, their diplomas, and the amendment proposed by the Department of Education to HB1652.

This crisis is the result of the Tennessee Department of Education’s decision to arbitrarily treat category IV high school diplomas as “not worth the paper they are printed on.” The decision by the Department to declare thousands of high school diplomas issued over the past sixteen years as invalid for employment or certification is without precedent, without legal foundation, and without any evidence of any problem associated with those diplomas. When a police department and a day care center are told they must discharge good employees, with excellent records and qualifications, because the Department of Education does not deem their diplomas to be valid, we have a real problem.

This outrageous decision by the Department of Education MUST be (and can only be) overturned by the legislature. The legislature has a duty to correct foolish, capricious, and wicked policy decisions. Make no mistake, the Department has engaged in a raw bureaucratic power grab. There was no act by the legislature adopting this policy. The legislature must act to rein in the Department and reassert its role as the proper policy maker.

For all these reasons, the amended version of HB1652 proposed by Rep. Mike Bell deserves swift passage by the legislature. If the legislature does not act, then a gross injustice will continue to be done to thousands of Tennesseans. The legislature must act to reassert the principle that the department does not make education policy, the legislature does.

As to the draft amendment which has been circulated by the Department of Education, which seeks to impose departmental oversight over teacher hiring by Category IV schools – it too is a raw bureaucratic power grab. There is no crisis. But the Department is suddenly and unilaterally seeking to assert oversight over who can be hired by church-related schools.

The Department, in its proposed amendment, asserts that ALL instructors for grades 9-12 should have a baccalaureate degree from a college recognized by the State Board of Education. Leaving aside the bureaucratic nightmare of the State Board of Education reviewing college diplomas from schools around the country, this assertion is also bad public policy.

Why should ALL teachers instructing grades 9-12 have to possess a college diploma?

Does the Department have statistical, anecdotal, or research evidence to support this policy change?

What evidence does the Department have of any problems which have arisen as a result of instruction in grades 9-12 by private school teachers without a college degree?

A) Is there a problem? If so, can it be defined?

B) Is their proposed solution the right one? Will it fix the problem? How do they know?

If questions A and B above cannot be answered in some detail, then the Department’s amendment is suspect for being arbitrary and capricious.

I can think of dozens of examples of excellent high school instruction which has been and is being given to high school students by teachers who do not have a college degree.

What about a shop class by a skilled artisan/mechanic who does not have a college degree?

What about an art class given by a gifted and accomplished artist who does not have a college degree?

What about a creative writing class being taught by a published author who does not have a college degree?

What about a home economics class being taught by a master chef who does not have a college degree?

What about a computer programming class being taught by a highly skilled and highly paid programmer who does not have a college degree?

What about a course in personal finance being taught by a successful local business owner / entrepreneur who does not have a college degree?

What about a course in military history being taught by a military veteran (also a published military historian) who does not have a college degree?

What about a course in a foreign language being taught by a bilingual instructor, whose native tongue is the language being taught, but who does not have a college degree?

I could go on, but I think you get my drift…

Parents who choose a category IV school for their children’s education know what they are choosing. The legislature has rightly separated private church-related schools from the oversight of the state Department of Education. The Department is prohibited by state law from regulating church-related schools with respect to “the selection of faculty or textbooks or the establishment of a curriculum.” I see no reason to breach that separation, especially on this issue.

If passed, the Department’s amendment would entail a requirement for reporting to and inspection by the Department of all church-related schools. The Department of Education will necessarily want to see detailed records of all classes and all instructors at all private schools in Tennessee to insure that no one without an approved baccalaureate degree has done any instruction. It does not take much imagination to think of the many points of contention and conflict which will result.

On behalf of TACRS, let me state unequivocally that we are strongly opposed to the amendment proposed by the Department of Education.

And, on behalf of TACRS, let me state unequivocally that we strongly urge the legislature to reverse the Department’s arrogant stance that Category IV high school diplomas are “not worth the paper they are written on.” I urge you to pass Rep. Bell’s amended version of HB 1652.

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you choose. I ask only that the email be sent in its entirety and unedited.

I am willing to meet with any member of the Department of Education or the Legislature and/or testify before the House Education Committee, if you think it would be helpful.

– Rob Shearer

Vice President, Tennessee Association of Church Related Schools

Director, Schaeffer Study Center
www.schaefferstudycenter.org
1000 Woodridge Place
Mt. Juliet, TN 37122

“There is only one good reason to be a Christian – because it’s true.” – Francis Schaeffer

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Elizabeth Lee Clarkson Waitt Shearer, 1920-2008

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Elizabeth Lee Clarkson Waitt Shearer 1920-2008

Elizabeth Lee Clarkson Waitt Shearer

Elizabeth Lee Clarkson Waitt Shearer, 87, of Lexington, died Monday, April 7, 2008.

She was born in Washington, D.C., the first-born child of the late Bessie Virginia Clarkson and Lee Massey Clarkson. Lee Massey Clarkson was director of Public Health for the State of Georgia, and later taught public health at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Betty (aka “Betty Lee”) grew up in Atlanta, Ga., graduating from Girls High School in 1938. She attended Agnes Scott College, and worked for Southern Bell Telephone Company.

In June of 1941, she married Robert Graham Waitt, who had just graduated from the United States Military Academy. Graham was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant upon graduation and four years later, in 1945 had attained the rank of Lt. Colonel, and was serving as the Executive Officer of the 652nd Engineering Battalion (topographic) attached to General George Patton’s Third Army. He later served on General MacArthur’s staff in Tokyo during the occupation of Japan. Betty and Graham were very active at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, where they served as co-superintendents of the Sunday school. Betty was also very active in St. Hilda’s Circle. She enjoyed playing bridge with her friends and volunteering in the community. Mr. and Mrs. Waitt had four children: Virginia, Elizabeth, Robert, & Miriam. Graham died in 1960.

In 1964, Betty married Vernon Hill Shearer (Don), after which she became an active member of the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. Shearer died in 1997. In 2000, Betty moved to the Kendal at Lexington retirement community where she quickly made many friends and led an active social life.

Betty enjoyed and excelled at creating a home for her family and was devoted to her children. She took great delight in entertaining her many friends and the friends of her family.

She is survived by her children, Virginia Atkinson Waitt Saunders, Elizabeth Graham Waitt Tomlinson, Robert Graham Waitt Shearer, and Miriam Clarkson Waitt Shearer; two sisters, Jean Theodosia Clarkson Rogers of Atlanta, and Charlotte Sayre Clarkson Jones of Memphis, Tenn.; 19 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Friday, April 11, at 3:30 p.m., at the Lexington Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Virginia. A second memorial service will be held on Monday, April 21st at 12:00 noon in the Atlanta area at St. James Episcopal Church, 105 Church St., Marietta, Ga. A graveside service will follow at Marietta National Cemetery in Marietta.

Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of choice, Rockbridge Area Hospice, the Lexington Presbyterian Church, or Habitat for Humanity.

This obituary appeared as part of the April 9, 2008 online edition of The Lexington News-Gazette.

And also in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on April 13, 2008.

Here’s a link to the guest book (which will stay online for a year) for Elizabeth Shearer.

Here is a photostory of photographs from her childhood in Atlanta, marriage to Graham Waitt, raising Virginia, Elizabeth, Robert, & Miriam; second marriage to Don Shearer; and her final years in Lexington VA. that I have also placed on Youtube.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKIoynIaUoc
Elizabeth Lee Clarkson Waitt Shearer 1920-2008

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What would mummify the skin of a dinosaur?

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The AP reports today on what amounts to the holy grail of paleontology: “a nearly complete dinosaur, skin and all.”

The fossil of a duck-billed dinosaur, found in 2004 in North Dakota, is being painstakingly extracted from the surrounding sandstone at the state museum in Bismarck. They’re working carefully and slowly because the fossil is not just of bone, it is of the entire carcass of the dinosaur.

Here’s the intriguing paragraph:

“Animal tissue typically decomposes quickly after death. Researchers say Dakota [the dinosaur] must have been buried rapidly and in just the right environment for the texture of the skin to be preserved.

‘The process of decay was overtaken by that of fossilization, preserving many of the soft-tissue structures,’ Manning said.”

What kind of an event would have caused a thirty-foot long dinosaur to be buried rapidly?

Class? class? anyone…?

Hint: It might have something to do with Ben Stein’s new movie, Expelled.

– Rob Shearer
Director, Schaeffer Study Center
Publisher, Greenleaf Press

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Pope Gregory vs. Julius Caesar or Why can’t reporters do simple fact-checking?

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Today’s Lebanon Democrat carries a story claiming that Tennesseans should “thank a sixteenth century pope” for an extra day’s grace on property taxes this year.

Last-minute Tennessee taxpayers will get a little bit of help this year from an unlikely source – a 16th-century pope.

Property taxes usually come due on Feb. 28, but with 2008 being a leap year, that deadline is pushed back a day to Feb. 29, the day added to the calendar every four years, as the result of a 1582 decree by Pope Gregory XIII, when he instituted the calendar that bears his name.

While its nice to see a daily newspaper acknowledging that everything isn’t MTV, Youtube, and current events, it would be even nicer if they’d spend 10 minutes using the internet to do some elementary fact-checking. Pope Gregory XIII is not responsible for giving us the practice of adding a leap day in leap years. The author of that innovation was Julius Caesar.

The Julian calendar was a significant reform instituted by the Julius Caesar in 46 BC. Julius had spent a year in Egypt and hadn’t wasted ALL his time with Cleopatra. The Egyptian astronomers demonstrated to him, convincingly, that the calendar year was actually 365.25 days long. It was Julius’ idea to regularize this observation into a calendar that was 365 days long and added one day every four years.

Julius got it almost right. The calendar year is almost 365.25 days long. Its actually 365.2425 days long. That slight difference accumulated over time under the Julian calendar, and by 1582, the dates of the equinoxes and solstices had shifted by 10 days. This was especially troubling to the church when it came time each year to calculate the date for Easter. So Pope Gregory instituted a calendar reform in 1582 that dropped 3 leap days every 400 years. Under the Gregorian Calendar, century years are NOT leap years unless they are divisible by 400. And to correct the drift of the calendar in the 1600 years from Julius Caesar to Pope Gregory XIII, the Church decreed that in 1582, October 4th would be followed by October 15th.

Protestant countries thought this was a popish plot and refused to go along – for about 170 years. Britain and the British Empire finally adopted calendar reform by an act of Parliament in 1750. Parliament gave everyone two years to prepare for the adjustment. By the New Style Act of 1750, Wednesday September 2, 1752 was followed by Thursday, September 14, 1752. George Washington (and many others) adjusted the date on which they celebrated their birthdays, in order to accurately reflect when they really were celebrating the anniversary of their birth. Washington was born on February 11th, 1732. When the calendar was adjusted in 1752, he adjusted his birthday 11 days as well and ever after celebrated it on February 22.

Russia, being neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant, wanted nothing to do with such shenanigans. The Czars were never persuaded. It took the Russian Revolution and a communist dictatorship to reform the calendar in Russia. Wednesday January 31, 1918 was followed by Thursday, February 14, 1918.

Historians of the 17th century & 18th centuries, when trying to synchronize dates and correspondence between various catholic and protestant countries have been known to go mad.

Irresistible footnote: The “October Revolution” in Russia occurred on October 25, 1917 – in Russia. It was actually November 5, 1917 everywhere else in Europe.

But don’t thank the Pope for an extra day before your taxes are due this year. Thank Julius Caesar.

– Rob Shearer
Publisher, Greenleaf Press
Director, Schaeffer Study Center