CNN reported on a study today that demonstrates a high level of abuse amongst teens who've had sex. According to a poll by loveisrespect.org, "Sixty-nine percent of teens who had sex by age 14 reported some type of abuse in a relationship, with slightly more than one-third saying they had been physically abused,"
Original article here.
The study describes the finding as surprising, and I admit, I didn't give much thought to the idea that sexually active teen relationships would involve abuse. But it makes sense that people who engage in one foolish activity, acting on destructive passions such as that in sex outside of marriage are likely to involve themselves in other foolish activities, such as abuse.
The report went on to discuss what legislators in Rhode Island have done to address the problem which primarily involves educating teens on abuse.
That's all well and good, to treat the symptoms. The root of the problem is that we don't view persons as sacred, and we've failed to teach younger generations of the sacredness of sexuality and the importance of entering that sort of relationship under the most sober agreement and with intentions to preserve that relationship and the dignity of the other unconditionally before God and society (and that is what marriage is about).
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
What Causes Homosexual Orientation -- Words of Julie Harren, PhD
This lady has come to the same conclusions as I. That there ARE things that parents and society do to influence sexual orientation--and that there is hope for any who want to change. If bonds with parents are often influential on orientation, then gay marriage and parenting should be discouraged (like divorce should be discouraged) --because boys, especially, will not have that male role model they need. It is my view that states ought not make legitimate an institution that handicaps children who optimally fare best with both a mother and a father in a happy, loving, functional home. Of course, I believe that Christian faith and principles are the greatest aid to family life, in combination with common sense. (We all know of some Christian homes that do not apply scripture or common sense --and we also know that carnal nature with free will can mess up the best of homes--it's that Satan factor, tempting since the Garden of Eden.)
Julie Harren, Ph.D., LMFT wrote about origin of homosexuality, published at NARTH website :
....While environmental factors may include experiences of sexual abuse or other traumatic events, a common contributor to same-sex attractions is a disruption in the development of gender identity. Gender identity refers to a person's view of his or her own gender; that is, his or her sense of masculinity or femininity. Gender identity is formed through the relationships that a child has with the same-sex parent and same-sex peers.
The process of gender identification begins approximately between age two and a half and four. For boys, it is during this phase that they begin to move from their primary attachment with the mother to seeking out a deeper attachment with the father. For males, the relationship between a boy and his father is the initial source of developing a secure gender identity. It is through the father-son relationship that a boy discovers what he needs to know about being male, including who he is as a boy, how boys walk, how they talk, how they act, and so forth. As the father spends time with the son, shows interest in the son, and gives the son affirmation and affection, the father imparts to the son a sense of masculinity. The boy begins to develop a sense of his own gender by understanding himself in relation to his father.
When the child reaches the age of five, he begins to face another task, that is, to begin to attach to same-sex peers. At this age, he starts school and begins to look to the other boys to answer the same questions that his dad has been answering. He looks to the other boys to discover how they walk, how they talk, how they play, and how he measures up in relation to them. He seeks to be included, accepted, and acknowledged. Through the relationships he forms with other boys, he continues to gain a sense of masculinity, discovering more about others boys and therefore more about himself as a boy.
During the early years of elementary school, children are not usually very interested in playing with members of the opposite sex. They desire to spend time with members of the same sex. This is a very necessary stage of development, because a person cannot be interested in the opposite sex or in others, until he or she first understands himself or herself.
Eventually, after many years of bonding with members of the same sex, the boy enters puberty. At this time he begins to turn his attention to the opposite sex. He becomes curious about the gender which is different from his own, the female gender. With the simultaneous emergence of puberty, this curiosity becomes a sexual interest and a desire for romantic connection with the opposite sex.
Conversely, for the child who will develop a homosexual orientation, this process does not happen. So, what happens in the development of gender identity that would lead a child to have same-sex attractions? Typically, for this child, there is something that prevents him from attaching to the father. Either he doesn't have a father or a father figure, or he doesn't have a father who he perceives as safe and/or welcoming. Of course, there are many children who grow up without fathers and yet do not develop a homosexual orientation. In addition, there are many children who have loving fathers, yet still become homosexually oriented. This is due to the fact that there are various factors that contribute to a homosexual orientation. Human development is very complex and includes events, as well as perceptions about the events.
Perceptions are very important. Perceptions are more powerful than what actually happens, because perceptions become that person's reality. Perceptions are influenced by temperament. For example, a child with a more sensitive temperament might perceive rejection even when rejection is not intended. Temperament is the biological contributor; however, temperament alone is not enough to create a homosexual orientation. The temperament type must be met with the right environmental factors in order to produce same-sex attractions. Typically the child who will later develop same-sex attractions is naturally sensitive, observant, intelligent, and is sometimes more artistic than athletic. This child often tends to personalize and internalize experiences and observations.
So, if a child perceives that his father does not want a relationship with him, that child might try a few times to connect with his father, but will eventually retract in self-protection. This is called defensive detachment. Upon sensing rejection, the boy chooses to reject the father in return. He detaches from the father and even what the father represents, which is masculinity (Nicolosi & Nicolosi, 2001). Typically at this point, he will stay connected to the mother and will instead soak in femininity. Usually he is also surrounded by other female figures, such as, a sister, an aunt, or a grandmother. So at a time when he is craving masculine input and seeking to understand himself in terms of his male identity, he instead receives feminine input and begins to develop a sense of the feminine.
By the time this child enters school, he often has a difficult time relating with other boys. Either he is just more comfortable with the girls, who are more familiar to him, or he is intimidated by the boys. Often this child sees himself as different from the other boys. So he may hold back from bonding with them. If he has developed any feminine mannerisms, he might also be rejected by the other boys and quite possibly even ridiculed. He is craving acceptance from the other boys and continues to need this acceptance, though the need goes unmet. The boy watches the other boys from afar, he longs to be noticed by them, and included by them, yet he remains with the girls, further gaining a sense of the feminine while deeply craving the masculine.
This child typically spends his elementary school years learning about femininity while craving to understand masculinity. Specifically, he desires to understand himself in terms of his own masculine identity. Yet, he does not assimilate with the same-sex parent or same-sex peers, so he does not acquire a masculine identity. He associates with the feminine, which is his primary source of input. He does not develop a secure gender identity. So by the time this child reaches puberty, the craving for male input has grown and intensified. At this time in his life he is not curious about or interested in the opposite sex. He already knows all about the opposite sex-- they are quite familiar to him. What he is craving to know about is his own gender. He still deeply longs to know about boys. He longs to experience connections with males. This emotional need, the need for same-sex love, which has gone unmet, now begins to take on a sexual form. His unsatisfied cravings for male love become romantic cravings with the emergence of puberty. (Satinover, 1996).
To this child, it feels very natural that he longs for male love. In fact, he typically thinks that he was born that way, having craved male love for as long as he can remember. Indeed, he has craved this love most of his life. However, initially it was not a sexual craving. Instead, it was an emotional craving, a legitimate need for non-sexual love, an emotional need that has become sexualized.
The female development of homosexuality is a bit more complex. As with the male development, there are a number of factors that can contribute. For some women who end up with same-sex attractions, the development is similar to the male development previously described. For others, negative perceptions regarding femininity may lead to an internal detachment from their own femininity. For example, if a girl watches her father abuse her mother, the girl might conclude that to be feminine is to be weak. At an early age she might make an unconscious decision to detach from her female identity. She might detach from her own gender in an effort to protect herself from the perceived harmful effects of being female.
Sexual abuse is another factor that can contribute to a homosexual orientation. In these cases men are seen as unsafe, and lesbianism becomes a way of protecting against further hurt from a male. For some there might be a disconnection from the mother, and lesbianism becomes a search for motherly love. For others, same-sex attractions may not initially be present, but may later develop as a result of entering into a non-sexual friendship which becomes emotionally dependant. An emotionally dependent relationship is one in which two people seek to have their needs met by one another. It is a relationship in which healthy boundaries are not in place. The absence of appropriate emotional boundaries can then lead to a violation of physical boundaries.
For any of these reasons listed above, and in combination with other factors, same-sex attractions may develop. To the one who has these feelings, they are very real and very strong. There are many people who find themselves attracted to members of the same sex and yet do not want those attractions. For those who are dissatisfied with their sexual orientation, it should be noted that change is indeed possible. Research studies have revealed that change of sexual orientation does take place (see Spitzer, 2003; Byrd & Nicolosi, 2002). It is not a quick or easy process, but as with any other therapeutic issue, varying degrees of change are achievable through therapy and other means.
The inaccurate concept that homosexuality is solely biological is extremely misleading. Many therapists tell their clients that homosexuality is biological and therefore unchangeable. These therapists encourage their clients to embrace a gay identity, even when such clients are seeking change for their orientation. In doing so, therapists negate clients' rights to self-determination. Clients have the right to choose their own goals for therapy and should be allowed to pursue the path they desire. Clients should not be discouraged from pursuing change when change is what they seek. In order for clients to have the options made available to them, it is vital that therapists as well as clients become better educated on this issue.
References
Anastasia, T. (1995). New evidence of a gay gene. Time 146, 43.
Byrd, A. D., & Nicolosi, J (2002). A meta-analytic review of the treatment of homosexuality. Psychological Reports, 90, 1139-1152.
LeVay, S. (1996). Queer Science, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Nicolosi, J. & Nicolosi, L. A. (2001). Preventing homosexuality in today's youth. InterVarsity Press.
Satinover, J. (1996). The gay gene? The Journal of Human Sexuality.
Spitzer, R. L. (2003). Can some gay men and lesbians change their sexual orientation? 200 participants reporting a change from homosexual to heterosexual orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32:5, 403-417.
Whitehead, N. & Whitehead, B. (1999). My genes made me do it: A scientific look at sexual orientation. Lafayette, LA: Huntington House Publishers.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 5, October 2003, pp. 403-417
Updated: 9 April 2008
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"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Obama, Beware of Hillary as Veep!
Obama definitely should not have Hillary as his running mate. It could be hazardous to his health. There are so many mysteriously dead people surrounding Bill Clinton and his presidency. He has underworld connections through the drug kingpin of Arkansas and his little brother's drug problems. "Things happened" in the Clinton years --too many things to seem coincidental.
How badly does Hillary want to be president? VERY badly. Enough to have hubby arrange something? Who can say with authority that it couldn't be possible?
How badly does Hillary want to be president? VERY badly. Enough to have hubby arrange something? Who can say with authority that it couldn't be possible?
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
"Thomas," His Child's Father and Birth Mother
I saw "Thomas," the transgendered male, on Oprah again and caught more of the show, a re-run.
It was interesting that she was a striking beauty and model in her youth --but her boyfriend of 3 1/2 years dumped her because he didn't think she was feminine enough for him when he coached her to her black belt in martial arts and said she could fight like a man. What I didn't know before --that her mother had died when she was quite young? I missed the part about her death --and she only had brothers and father.
So what happened to her is the same thing that NARTH says happens to the gender identity disordered males raised in female households without close fathers. They know the world of whatever sex they are raised in --the other is an alluring mystery to them. They identify with the sex of the people surrounding them. If the guy peers don't make a niche for them, their need for a father's love and approval, for a man they can admire who will mentor them, is such that their interest in the same sex may become sexual/eroticized at some point. They crave what they are denied--or perceive that they are denied --same-sex love of parents and peers. They are more comfortable around the opposite sex socially during the years when they should have preferred the same sex for friends --during childhood and adolescence.
For "Thomas" her homosexual interest didn't occur until she was in her 20's. So "born that way" doesn't seem to apply to "him."
Now "his" child will have the distinction of saying "my father is my mother."
"Thomas" is a likeable personality --who always knew how to walk and talk male --for the absence of a close woman in her life. He is legally a male by transgendering --but never had all the surgery --only the hormones and breast removal.
We need to acknowledge that children need both a father and mother for the sake of their own sexuality--and she is evidence. At least, "Thomas" is evidence that girls need a mom --and we see plenty of real life evidence that boys need a dad. And we already know that children in single parent households don't fare as well (on average, in various ways) as those with a Mom and Dad. Children of the divorced, e.g., are over 90 per cent likely to get divorced themselves.
I predict that objective study will ultimately show that children with gay parents will have more "issues" to deal with and overcome in life than those in functional, happy families with both a mom and a dad --as Jesus recommended:
It was interesting that she was a striking beauty and model in her youth --but her boyfriend of 3 1/2 years dumped her because he didn't think she was feminine enough for him when he coached her to her black belt in martial arts and said she could fight like a man. What I didn't know before --that her mother had died when she was quite young? I missed the part about her death --and she only had brothers and father.
So what happened to her is the same thing that NARTH says happens to the gender identity disordered males raised in female households without close fathers. They know the world of whatever sex they are raised in --the other is an alluring mystery to them. They identify with the sex of the people surrounding them. If the guy peers don't make a niche for them, their need for a father's love and approval, for a man they can admire who will mentor them, is such that their interest in the same sex may become sexual/eroticized at some point. They crave what they are denied--or perceive that they are denied --same-sex love of parents and peers. They are more comfortable around the opposite sex socially during the years when they should have preferred the same sex for friends --during childhood and adolescence.
For "Thomas" her homosexual interest didn't occur until she was in her 20's. So "born that way" doesn't seem to apply to "him."
Now "his" child will have the distinction of saying "my father is my mother."
"Thomas" is a likeable personality --who always knew how to walk and talk male --for the absence of a close woman in her life. He is legally a male by transgendering --but never had all the surgery --only the hormones and breast removal.
We need to acknowledge that children need both a father and mother for the sake of their own sexuality--and she is evidence. At least, "Thomas" is evidence that girls need a mom --and we see plenty of real life evidence that boys need a dad. And we already know that children in single parent households don't fare as well (on average, in various ways) as those with a Mom and Dad. Children of the divorced, e.g., are over 90 per cent likely to get divorced themselves.
I predict that objective study will ultimately show that children with gay parents will have more "issues" to deal with and overcome in life than those in functional, happy families with both a mom and a dad --as Jesus recommended:
Matthew 19:4-6 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'[a] 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'[b]? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Footnotes:
1. Matthew 19:4 Gen. 1:27
2. Matthew 19:5 Gen. 2:24
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Transgendering --It's Mutilation, Dysfunction, Experimentation!
Something surely happens in the life of a child who concludes he's in the wrong body and really IS a girl in "his" essential nature. Or a girl who's really a man. Defending this is nonsensical. Don't we know that there are people who ARE mentally ill? deluded? devoting their whole mental preoccupation to being and acting as people they are not? You talk to someone in the asylum who thinks he's Jesus Christ and try to reason with him and you may conclude he's hopeless. But with boys who think they are girls, etc., many today conclude --"O I guess he really IS a girl. HE thinks so! we'll have to give him risky hormones and surgery to conform his body with his delusion!" and thus guarantee that he/she will NEVER have a really normal or happy life.
It is too likely that others will not fully accept that he is a she entitled to share dorm rooms, bathrooms, dates and marriage to a man--since "her" genes are male. And function will probably be less than normal --and procreation the normal way will be out of the question. YEars of surgery, hormone treatments, and thousands of dollars asked for from employers and insurance companies to help this once normal body, approximate the body of the opposite sex --through surgical mutilation and risky hormone treatments.
If I were the parent of a confused child, I certainly would say, "No thanks!" to that kind of life for him.
I see kids today who are very stubborn about getting their way --and I wonder if for some this gender switch isn't an example of that. And if they had any idea of the pain they were signing up for --would it not be better to reorient one's thinking!?
Why don't we tell kids that God made them male or female for His purposes and that following His way is always the most fulfilling choice to make? I believe we are making a huge mistake to give kids the idea that they have a choice to be male or female and to marry a male or female. It's not their right to choose. And yet it is a choice when they decide to TRY (futilely) to be something they really are not --and to be with people in abnormal ways.
It is too likely that others will not fully accept that he is a she entitled to share dorm rooms, bathrooms, dates and marriage to a man--since "her" genes are male. And function will probably be less than normal --and procreation the normal way will be out of the question. YEars of surgery, hormone treatments, and thousands of dollars asked for from employers and insurance companies to help this once normal body, approximate the body of the opposite sex --through surgical mutilation and risky hormone treatments.
If I were the parent of a confused child, I certainly would say, "No thanks!" to that kind of life for him.
I see kids today who are very stubborn about getting their way --and I wonder if for some this gender switch isn't an example of that. And if they had any idea of the pain they were signing up for --would it not be better to reorient one's thinking!?
Why don't we tell kids that God made them male or female for His purposes and that following His way is always the most fulfilling choice to make? I believe we are making a huge mistake to give kids the idea that they have a choice to be male or female and to marry a male or female. It's not their right to choose. And yet it is a choice when they decide to TRY (futilely) to be something they really are not --and to be with people in abnormal ways.
Genesis 1:27 ~
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Fate or Free Will?? A Good Question
Yankee Doodle wrote:
June 5, 2008 5:34 PM
Blogger Rob R said...
I have a question, and it's not related to this article.
Recently my teacher asked us whether we believe in fate or free will. Honestly, I didn't know how to answer that question. Could you please tell me what does the Bible say about that?
Thank you.
June 5, 2008 5:34 PM
Blogger Rob R said...
Though you've asked ma, This is an issue I've studied a great deal.
The church has taken several positions on this issue. One side has taken the view that God has determined everything that has and will ever happen and the other side has taken the position that God created creatures with significant free will. There are a variety of positions regarding these issues with different nuances and in combination with a variety of doctrines, but over all, there are still two basic sides. Either God has determined absolutely everything, or he hasn't and has granted his creatures a degree of self determinism. (The closest thing to a middle ground is a position called molinism which I may or may not go into in this post)
Both sides use scripture to back up their claims. The determinists (often called "Calvinists" after theologian John Calvin) like to use Romans 9 and Isaiah 45:7 (see the king james version on that second verse)
The indeterminist (often called Arminians after theologian Jacob Arminius, or just free will theists) will often cite 2nd Peter 3:9 or John 3:16.
So both sides use scripture and both sides deal with the "problem passages" for their own perspectives. That is, they attempt to explain away the other position's passages.
There is far more scripture to consider than just these and it's been a while since I've gone into all the different texts. But I'll give you my position and a few important reasons including biblical reasons as to why I hold that position.
I am a free will theist as I find free will is behind some of our most basic intuitions in human thought and behavior, and I find the notion that God completely determined everything including every wicked act from the mildest to the most unspeakable to be repugnant beyond belief. Furthermore, these issues relate to the question of predestination and free will, and the implication of determinism, that God has determined (even by something some Calvinists refer to as "second causes") that some specific people will be damned to an eternal hell (or even just oblivion as some hold to in a position called "annhiliationism" which is a theory about damnation and not necessarily about predestination) is even more grievious.
One of the first passages that I found that I felt could not be explained away by calvinists was 1st corinthians 10:13. This passage explains that if a Christian is tempted, God will provide a way for the Christian to escape that temptation and not sin. If theological determinism is correct, then it really isn't true that a christian who was tempted and sinned could have avoided that sin since in determinism, there is no way to do other than what God has determined.
A calvinist could get around this by insisting that Christians never sin, but this is observably false and a biblical case can be made to the effect that Christians do indeed sin.
So if Christians sin, then free will is necessary as far as 1st Corinthians 10:13 is concerned.
In my studies, I cam across what I believe to be what is absolutely the most important argument against theological determinism (given that the theological determinist believes that God damns people to hell... we'll call this belief "reprobation," that is the combined belief of damnation and theological determinism). If you believe in reprobation, then it is impossible for you to perfectly follow the two greatest commandments as Jesus described them. Jesus said those two greatest commandments were to love God with all of your being and to love your neighbor as yourself.
So if God reprobates people, then most likely, some of the neighbors of any given Christian are reprobated even though the Christian doesn't know specifically who. Now what is the Christian called to do with regard to his neighbor? He is to love his neighbor as he loves himelf. What does that mean. One thing that this entails is that the Christian identifies the needs of his neighbor as if they were his own. What does his neighbor need more than anything? It is the love and salvific grace of God. But according to the doctrine of reprobation, it is God himself who refuses to extend his this grace. Now if God is refusing your most important basic need, can you love him with all your heart? Not at all. According to the apostle John, we love because God first loved us. So without that need met for our neighbor, in consistence with a love for them as if their needs were our own, we cannot be at peace with the idea that they are reprobate. If you really are identifying your neihbor's need as if it were your own, the idea that God himself refuses to satisfy this need that you are now identifying as your own should shake you to the core. You should not be at peace with it. This is so fundamental that it will interfere with one's ability to love God with all of one's being.
Hence if God reprobates, then we cannot satisfy the two greatest commands.
You could still be a determinist and get around this argument by denying that God damns anyone. These people are universalists as they believe that either everyone goes to heaven, or that hell is more like the catholic idea of purgatory so that one day everyone will repent and leave hell.
I hope these ideas and reasonings are clear to you but understand that this is a huge issue and what I've written here is just an introduction which leaves a lot of important information out.
June 5, 2008 7:07 PM
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Sunday, May 25, 2008
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN! WOW!
This Disney film may be too scary and violent and dark for small children. Focus on the Family said as much, concluding it wasn’t a “family film,” NOT a “G”-rated film. It starts out with a woman screaming in labor (of course we’ve seen that on TV) –she is giving birth to a rival for Prince Caspian’s throne.
It helps to have read the Narnia series, and I admit, it’s been a long time since I’ve done that, so I can’t say how faithful the film is to the book, but that is supposedly a goal of the assistant producer, Douglas Gresham, the step-son of C.S. Lewis and heir to the Lewis copyrights.
Our family really liked this movie and thought it even better than the first one. The little girl, Lucy, is such a charmer and will remind you of our own Marta Bersinger in appearance and age. (We thought that in the first film, too.)
Again, the story is about Aslan’s kingdom, Narnia, a metaphor for an earthly kingdom where evil opposes good as on earth. Aslan is the Lion who gave His life for Narnia as Jesus did for the world, but He died and rose again in the first movie –and left the children to rule as kings and queens of Narnia, with this special status because they are the Daughters of Eve and Sons of Adam. The Children know He is their king, but at some point in the stories, they were sent back to London from whence they started, during WW II, until Prince Caspian sounded the horn that would summon all the King’s subjects to Narnia. They find that they, kings and queens that they really are in Aslan’s Kingdom, have a war to win, to help Prince Caspian defeat the evil that would take over the kingdom of men and wage war on Narnia as well.
Like people’s skepticism about Christ’s Kingdom, the people of both Caspian’s kingdom and Narnia don’t believe in the old stories of Narnia and Aslan so much anymore -- –but they find out that it really exists –and the evil unbelievers try to overcome it –as do evil people today. Like Lucifer, the Angel of Light, the devilish white queen (formerly queen in Narnia when evil ruled it) tries to tempt and lure the young men into her spell; it is significant that the boy who was once under her spell in the first movie, is now the strongest against her wiles.
Evil rises and rises in this story, in the form of evil soldiers and corrupt leaders who want to usurp Caspian’s rightful throne of his kingdom of men and defeat Narnia for opposing their plan –and it takes 5 very young people to stand against it –and so this is a film where youth are heroes and heroines –even more so than in the previous film –and it is moving and inspiring to see their courage BECAUSE THIS TIME THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE! And they are not afraid to make the ultimate sacrifice if need be –as they are already hundreds of years old –having stayed and ruled in Narnia a long time before their return to England as ordinary school boys and girls.
I love the scene near the start where they are in a train station in their school uniforms –when the magic occurs –the trump is sounded by a Prince Caspian in trouble, and the kids find themselves back in Narnia and are not surprised but delighted.
There is lots of war, lots of fighting with swords, and a most amazing array of creatures and adorable talking animals –all brave because, after all, they are Narnians! And they know that Aslan lives –and so shall they!
It is little Lucy who has the greatest faith of them all – “a little child shall lead them.” Because of her faith, she summons Aslan when all hope appears to be gone.
If the scary issues are dealt with as “make believe,” I think children of school age will find this film thrilling. It will make them want to be brave against evil as daughters of Eve and sons of Adam, as queens and kings in God’s Kingdom. I think I’d show them the first movie first, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of course, it would be great to read the books also.
It helps to have read the Narnia series, and I admit, it’s been a long time since I’ve done that, so I can’t say how faithful the film is to the book, but that is supposedly a goal of the assistant producer, Douglas Gresham, the step-son of C.S. Lewis and heir to the Lewis copyrights.
Our family really liked this movie and thought it even better than the first one. The little girl, Lucy, is such a charmer and will remind you of our own Marta Bersinger in appearance and age. (We thought that in the first film, too.)
Again, the story is about Aslan’s kingdom, Narnia, a metaphor for an earthly kingdom where evil opposes good as on earth. Aslan is the Lion who gave His life for Narnia as Jesus did for the world, but He died and rose again in the first movie –and left the children to rule as kings and queens of Narnia, with this special status because they are the Daughters of Eve and Sons of Adam. The Children know He is their king, but at some point in the stories, they were sent back to London from whence they started, during WW II, until Prince Caspian sounded the horn that would summon all the King’s subjects to Narnia. They find that they, kings and queens that they really are in Aslan’s Kingdom, have a war to win, to help Prince Caspian defeat the evil that would take over the kingdom of men and wage war on Narnia as well.
Like people’s skepticism about Christ’s Kingdom, the people of both Caspian’s kingdom and Narnia don’t believe in the old stories of Narnia and Aslan so much anymore -- –but they find out that it really exists –and the evil unbelievers try to overcome it –as do evil people today. Like Lucifer, the Angel of Light, the devilish white queen (formerly queen in Narnia when evil ruled it) tries to tempt and lure the young men into her spell; it is significant that the boy who was once under her spell in the first movie, is now the strongest against her wiles.
Evil rises and rises in this story, in the form of evil soldiers and corrupt leaders who want to usurp Caspian’s rightful throne of his kingdom of men and defeat Narnia for opposing their plan –and it takes 5 very young people to stand against it –and so this is a film where youth are heroes and heroines –even more so than in the previous film –and it is moving and inspiring to see their courage BECAUSE THIS TIME THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE! And they are not afraid to make the ultimate sacrifice if need be –as they are already hundreds of years old –having stayed and ruled in Narnia a long time before their return to England as ordinary school boys and girls.
I love the scene near the start where they are in a train station in their school uniforms –when the magic occurs –the trump is sounded by a Prince Caspian in trouble, and the kids find themselves back in Narnia and are not surprised but delighted.
There is lots of war, lots of fighting with swords, and a most amazing array of creatures and adorable talking animals –all brave because, after all, they are Narnians! And they know that Aslan lives –and so shall they!
It is little Lucy who has the greatest faith of them all – “a little child shall lead them.” Because of her faith, she summons Aslan when all hope appears to be gone.
If the scary issues are dealt with as “make believe,” I think children of school age will find this film thrilling. It will make them want to be brave against evil as daughters of Eve and sons of Adam, as queens and kings in God’s Kingdom. I think I’d show them the first movie first, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of course, it would be great to read the books also.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Make a Joyful Noise S.S. Class to ‘RAP up in June
Well, no, they aren’t rapping. But my Sunday School class for adults has learned how to navigate through choral music and even follow directions for a calypso rhythm section called the “engine room.” (My daughter taught this one.) They’ve learned about the scales, the pattern of the major scale in half-steps and whole steps, names of keys on piano and names of lines and spaces in music. We learned about musical symbols (sharps, flats, etc.) and note values and counting. We have two performances in June. The course will be offered again in the future. It was great fellowship and a time of learning which will enrich our appreciation and participation in musical worship.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Thursday, May 22, 2008
BOTTLE BAND a BIG BLOW-OUT! ~ CLC Honor Council
At least 65 kids, nursery through 6th grade, attended the annual Honor Council of the Christian Life Club of the Holland Free Methodist Church, last night. And the adults came out, too, whether or not they had children in the program, so we had a nearly full house. The biggest attendance in years.
Most delightful were the songs--"In My Father's House" and the one we got from the Wototo Children's Choir, "Put Jesus Higher/What a Friend we Have in Jesus." All with hand and body motions throughout! The melody of the African song ran through my head all night. I'd wake up and the song would be running!
Another musical highlight was Barb's Bottle Band --I had pre-tuned the bottles, adding and subtracting water in them --and my 15 students played a scale up and back--and then had two chords to accompany the "Books of the Old Testament Song," sung by Chrissy Rohrs. Some of our other children should know this song from Junior Church but we didn't ask them to sing it as they might've been off pitch and drowned out the bottles or made it hard for the 3rd and 4th grade to keep their beat and accompany the song. It sounded really cool as it was, with one singer. Very cute, kids!
Then the students performed pledges and each group recited a memory verse together. Then they were honored for their accomplishments --memorizing one Bible verse per month and attending squad meetings on a theme for each badge and verse. As usual, the kids whose moms work in the program know what's expected and their kids earn their badges. But almost everyone earned at least one badge and got bright blue banners with their names stitched on. Some got their Performing Arts award just for preparing for our bottle band performance. All received gifts from their teachers.
New skills. I think we'll do a rhythm band next year! or learn to whistle a happy tune in a 2-part partner song or a round. I will retain most of my students who will be 4th graders next year.
Other events at CLC include Missions Taste of the Nations Night with tastes of foods from the countries we study during our Missions Month, and also the first annual Talent Show, the annual Harvest Party with games and candy galore, (like an Indoor carnival, actually) and Fun Nights which are physical games (the favorite), and Craft Nights.
The April Talent Show was great with impromptu skits --with Paula the dog in a starring role --a Lego demonstration, a brass and sax quartet (excellent --5th graders), an African song by the bus kids, a Love Round by them and the Trail Blazers, two electric guitar solos, 3 piano solos, one ballet dancer, one recorder solo, two hula hoopers and a skip roper and whatever it was that Lucy did --some kind of thing attached to her ankle--a dazzling physical feat. O, the minister's wife played two flutophones/recorders? --one on each nostril! (She has her clarinet degree from BGSU, after all!)
Our squad, The Trail Blazers, will still have a summer swim party to look forward to. The whole church will be invited to the CLC roller skating party and in June we have the all church potluck dinner to honor the graduates. One family is opening their home for an all church swim party, and we have a week of evening VBS coming up in July. The Teen group is going to a Beach Week Ministry in New Jersey and the Bible Quiz team will go to Spring Arbor College to compete at "nationals."
Most delightful were the songs--"In My Father's House" and the one we got from the Wototo Children's Choir, "Put Jesus Higher/What a Friend we Have in Jesus." All with hand and body motions throughout! The melody of the African song ran through my head all night. I'd wake up and the song would be running!
Another musical highlight was Barb's Bottle Band --I had pre-tuned the bottles, adding and subtracting water in them --and my 15 students played a scale up and back--and then had two chords to accompany the "Books of the Old Testament Song," sung by Chrissy Rohrs. Some of our other children should know this song from Junior Church but we didn't ask them to sing it as they might've been off pitch and drowned out the bottles or made it hard for the 3rd and 4th grade to keep their beat and accompany the song. It sounded really cool as it was, with one singer. Very cute, kids!
Then the students performed pledges and each group recited a memory verse together. Then they were honored for their accomplishments --memorizing one Bible verse per month and attending squad meetings on a theme for each badge and verse. As usual, the kids whose moms work in the program know what's expected and their kids earn their badges. But almost everyone earned at least one badge and got bright blue banners with their names stitched on. Some got their Performing Arts award just for preparing for our bottle band performance. All received gifts from their teachers.
New skills. I think we'll do a rhythm band next year! or learn to whistle a happy tune in a 2-part partner song or a round. I will retain most of my students who will be 4th graders next year.
Other events at CLC include Missions Taste of the Nations Night with tastes of foods from the countries we study during our Missions Month, and also the first annual Talent Show, the annual Harvest Party with games and candy galore, (like an Indoor carnival, actually) and Fun Nights which are physical games (the favorite), and Craft Nights.
The April Talent Show was great with impromptu skits --with Paula the dog in a starring role --a Lego demonstration, a brass and sax quartet (excellent --5th graders), an African song by the bus kids, a Love Round by them and the Trail Blazers, two electric guitar solos, 3 piano solos, one ballet dancer, one recorder solo, two hula hoopers and a skip roper and whatever it was that Lucy did --some kind of thing attached to her ankle--a dazzling physical feat. O, the minister's wife played two flutophones/recorders? --one on each nostril! (She has her clarinet degree from BGSU, after all!)
Our squad, The Trail Blazers, will still have a summer swim party to look forward to. The whole church will be invited to the CLC roller skating party and in June we have the all church potluck dinner to honor the graduates. One family is opening their home for an all church swim party, and we have a week of evening VBS coming up in July. The Teen group is going to a Beach Week Ministry in New Jersey and the Bible Quiz team will go to Spring Arbor College to compete at "nationals."
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Monday, May 19, 2008
THE LAB RESULTS THAT FOLLOWED ME TO CHURCH ONE DAY
Is it a sign? What is God trying to tell me? I was standing in the center aisle of the church yesterday and a friend came up to me with a damp-ish envelope --addressed to me from my gynecologist. She said she found it under the wheel of her car. I had ordered this report last Thursday afternoon and watched the mail for it on Friday and Saturday. I picked up the mail and put it in my car Friday morning after a hair appointment. My son Rob brought in the mail on Saturday. Both times, I had looked through the mail for my lab results and concluded it had not come.
They had told me via phone that because of the results, I probably should have a hysterectomy --though the results weren't cancer or even pre-cancer, necessarily --just atypical in a couple of respects.
The envelope had no glue to seal it shut, so dampened it had become at some point. So it was essentially open. Somehow it had traveled all the way to church, a considerable distance (10 minutes drive at least) --either under my son's or my car --although I didn't park anywhere near this lady if it had been in or stuck to my car and fallen to the pavement when I parked. I parked on the west side and she was on the south. And the wind probably was not blowing from north to south as it would have to to blow something from my car to hers.
So it's really a weird thing.
When I returned from my daughter's spring arts fest --where I was official videographer for her --she takes attendance by the videos and likes a record of their performances to show the students --I found another piece of mail lying on the driveway. So I assume my son (or I) dropped some mail on his (or my) way into the house Saturday and that one piece rode all the way to church stuck to his (or my) car somewhere.
Is that even possible???? All I know is that my lab results followed me to church one day--just like Mary's little lamb.
So is there a message from the Lord here? Of course, I should take the problem to Him and leave it in His hands. But does that mean I have the surgery? or not?
I wish the whole message were clear to me. I admit I haven't wanted to lose the uterus in case they take the ovaries, too, and make me not feel like myself. I was clinically depressed once in my life when pregnant --and I don't like messing with my hormones.
My daughter in law, the surg. tech, however, says, they would look at the ovaries in a hysterectomy and they CAN leave one or both if they have nothing noticeably wrong with them and if they are still viable and doing something for me.
All I know for now is that the gyn. thinks I should have the hysterectomy.
My husband says he wants to talk to him and the pathologist.
Meanwhile, did God make sure my lab results made it to church??? And why??? A matter for prayer and waiting on the Lord for peace and clarity.
They had told me via phone that because of the results, I probably should have a hysterectomy --though the results weren't cancer or even pre-cancer, necessarily --just atypical in a couple of respects.
The envelope had no glue to seal it shut, so dampened it had become at some point. So it was essentially open. Somehow it had traveled all the way to church, a considerable distance (10 minutes drive at least) --either under my son's or my car --although I didn't park anywhere near this lady if it had been in or stuck to my car and fallen to the pavement when I parked. I parked on the west side and she was on the south. And the wind probably was not blowing from north to south as it would have to to blow something from my car to hers.
So it's really a weird thing.
When I returned from my daughter's spring arts fest --where I was official videographer for her --she takes attendance by the videos and likes a record of their performances to show the students --I found another piece of mail lying on the driveway. So I assume my son (or I) dropped some mail on his (or my) way into the house Saturday and that one piece rode all the way to church stuck to his (or my) car somewhere.
Is that even possible???? All I know is that my lab results followed me to church one day--just like Mary's little lamb.
So is there a message from the Lord here? Of course, I should take the problem to Him and leave it in His hands. But does that mean I have the surgery? or not?
I wish the whole message were clear to me. I admit I haven't wanted to lose the uterus in case they take the ovaries, too, and make me not feel like myself. I was clinically depressed once in my life when pregnant --and I don't like messing with my hormones.
My daughter in law, the surg. tech, however, says, they would look at the ovaries in a hysterectomy and they CAN leave one or both if they have nothing noticeably wrong with them and if they are still viable and doing something for me.
All I know for now is that the gyn. thinks I should have the hysterectomy.
My husband says he wants to talk to him and the pathologist.
Meanwhile, did God make sure my lab results made it to church??? And why??? A matter for prayer and waiting on the Lord for peace and clarity.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Thursday, May 15, 2008
CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP ADMONISHES GOVERNOR OF KANSAS
Here follows the subject of an interesting discussion from www.religionclause.blogspot.com
____________________________________
Many writers condemned the Church for bothering the Governor, trying to impose church on state.
MY REPLY:
The archbishop is saying abortion is homicide. He's saying the governor is a disgrace to her church and disobeying God by trying to be on both sides of the fence, expecting the Catholic vote. In fact, the church may not allow her to be on both sides of the fence. They could excommunicate, I suppose. He's at least really scolding her publically for all the church to hear the message.
Indeed, he is telling all the Catholics to vote and live their faith and quit being liberal about the moral issues. He's suggesting to all the church that they not support such candidates just because they have the label, "Catholic."
Granted, so many of the priests are charlatans and I would hope their pro-life support is sincere and not a cloak for, or distraction away from, the closeted homosexuals and pedophiles among their clergy.
The archbishop is trying to get Catholics to consider that their choices and beliefs have consequences --because that's what he believes, what THEY believe, and what the CHURCH teaches. And I agree with them.
Consequences: she should not have the Catholic vote for her pro-abortion stand. She can go to Hell for her unconfessed sin --for disagreeing with God about what is right and what is wrong. The church says the babies are fully human and therefore have a 'right to life' --which right the constitution also recognizes for all human beings.
The issue is the civil law as much as the church law. Do we want our nation's laws to protect life and stand for right against wrong or not?
The church stands for right --we are to be salt and light in the society. That's why the church RIGHTLY seeks to influence legislation and law. If we, the salt, lose our taste, our "saltiness," we lose our "preservative" quality --we fail to save humanity.
The Governor is part of the church --and she has lost her salt! The church rightly rails against such members --and probably ought to kick them out to bring them back to repentance--before God bars their entrance to Heaven. This IS serious. It's no mere threat of dire consequences (as some commentators have said.)
Last Friday's Kansas City Star reports that Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City has told Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius that she should stop taking communion until she repudiates her support for abortion rights. In a column in The Leaven, the official newspaper of the Kansas City Diocese, Naumann indicated that his latest concern was the governor's April 21 veto of the Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act passed by the Kansas legislature. He wrote:
Since becoming archbishop, I have met with Governor Sebelius several times over many months to discuss with her the grave spiritual and moral consequences of her public actions by which she has cooperated in the procurement of abortions performed in Kansas.... I wrote the governor last August requesting that she refrain from presenting herself for reception of the Eucharist until she had acknowledged the error of her past positions, made a worthy sacramental confession and taken the necessary steps for amendment of her life which would include a public repudiation of her previous efforts and actions in support of laws and policies sanctioning abortion.
Recently, it came to my attention that the governor had received holy Communion at one of our parishes. I have written to her again, asking her to respect my previous request and not require from me any additional pastoral actions.
____________________________________
Many writers condemned the Church for bothering the Governor, trying to impose church on state.
MY REPLY:
The archbishop is saying abortion is homicide. He's saying the governor is a disgrace to her church and disobeying God by trying to be on both sides of the fence, expecting the Catholic vote. In fact, the church may not allow her to be on both sides of the fence. They could excommunicate, I suppose. He's at least really scolding her publically for all the church to hear the message.
Indeed, he is telling all the Catholics to vote and live their faith and quit being liberal about the moral issues. He's suggesting to all the church that they not support such candidates just because they have the label, "Catholic."
Granted, so many of the priests are charlatans and I would hope their pro-life support is sincere and not a cloak for, or distraction away from, the closeted homosexuals and pedophiles among their clergy.
The archbishop is trying to get Catholics to consider that their choices and beliefs have consequences --because that's what he believes, what THEY believe, and what the CHURCH teaches. And I agree with them.
Consequences: she should not have the Catholic vote for her pro-abortion stand. She can go to Hell for her unconfessed sin --for disagreeing with God about what is right and what is wrong. The church says the babies are fully human and therefore have a 'right to life' --which right the constitution also recognizes for all human beings.
The issue is the civil law as much as the church law. Do we want our nation's laws to protect life and stand for right against wrong or not?
The church stands for right --we are to be salt and light in the society. That's why the church RIGHTLY seeks to influence legislation and law. If we, the salt, lose our taste, our "saltiness," we lose our "preservative" quality --we fail to save humanity.
The Governor is part of the church --and she has lost her salt! The church rightly rails against such members --and probably ought to kick them out to bring them back to repentance--before God bars their entrance to Heaven. This IS serious. It's no mere threat of dire consequences (as some commentators have said.)
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Michigan State Research on Hyenas --Evolution Speculation Again!
Kay E. Holekamp is studying spotted hyenas in southern Kenya. She sees "profound similarities" with our own human species and concludes --in the words of Zimmer, the New York Times reporter, that "a complex social world has driven the evolution of a big, complex brain." It seems that "primates with a big frontal cortex tend to live in large groups." [Whoopdedo! so this makes animals our ancestors?]
Then notice the speculative verbs in the article: "Primates may be pushed into larger groups thanks to predators or to patchy sources of food like fruit trees. As their numbers grow, natural selection may favor social intelligence. The primates form long-term alliances with each other and compete with rivals. They begin to keep track of a larger and larger social network."
And then, "A boost in social intelligence can lead to an evolutionary edge for primates...." and so on and on.
The good scientist is speculating with an evolutionary bias that STILL doesn't sound like PROOF of anything --except what she can describe --their brains and their activities. Neither of which prove anything about how and when the hyenas came to be the way they are --and no evidence as to which creature was which creatures' genetic grandpa--if any. Most of what they find today is that the lines of the evolutionary "tree" (that is the bio-similarities used as evidence of evolution) aren't proving to be quite what Darwin thought --i.e. the evidence for his genetic lines aren't necessarily there. Of course primates and mammals are similar --they have design features in common because someone designed them to be that way. We have no evidence they were ever anything but socially adept hyenas bearing resemblance to humans in that feature.
Show me the evolution, boys!
Then notice the speculative verbs in the article: "Primates may be pushed into larger groups thanks to predators or to patchy sources of food like fruit trees. As their numbers grow, natural selection may favor social intelligence. The primates form long-term alliances with each other and compete with rivals. They begin to keep track of a larger and larger social network."
And then, "A boost in social intelligence can lead to an evolutionary edge for primates...." and so on and on.
The good scientist is speculating with an evolutionary bias that STILL doesn't sound like PROOF of anything --except what she can describe --their brains and their activities. Neither of which prove anything about how and when the hyenas came to be the way they are --and no evidence as to which creature was which creatures' genetic grandpa--if any. Most of what they find today is that the lines of the evolutionary "tree" (that is the bio-similarities used as evidence of evolution) aren't proving to be quite what Darwin thought --i.e. the evidence for his genetic lines aren't necessarily there. Of course primates and mammals are similar --they have design features in common because someone designed them to be that way. We have no evidence they were ever anything but socially adept hyenas bearing resemblance to humans in that feature.
Show me the evolution, boys!
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Doctor's letter to Blade on Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed, the Ben Stein Film
April 28, 2008
Dear Sirs:
What Expelled tells us about Darwinists is not new. In the 1980’s, a Newsweek article quoted an evolutionist saying he wished he were in something “more intellectually honest –like used car sales.”
In Yonke’s article, Prof. Carroll displays the typical attitude of evolutionists, saying scientists who don’t agree with the establishment can’t be considered “literate.” He refers to great earth age and descent from primates as “facts.” Yet, so much said about origins of life is conjecture with “evidence” interpreted to prop up a theory that life has no designing hand. Yet, many of us marvel at the “irreducible complexity” of DNA –and were doing so even before ID theorists used the phrase.
Debate confusion: those who oppose ID in the classroom wrongly believe the goal is to teach religion. Even atheist Dawkins speculated that aliens could have designed earth-life. Some ID scientists believe in common descent from lower life forms. All acknowledge natural selection within species. All Creationists are ID theorists, believing in an intelligence behind the origin of life–but not all ID theorists are 6-day creationists, Religious Right, or Bible believers. Some believe Darwin describes the Creator’s plan.
Some of us believe that God “spoke” things into being from His “Mind” with knowledge and power that exceed our own–-the way Christ performed miracles-–the way we can activate knowledge with a computer.
The biblical writer John says Jesus is the Logos through whom all things were created. I didn’t find evidence to contradict that in my science studies. One scientist in the film suffered for saying medical doctors did not have to believe or use Darwin’s theory of common descent to practice medicine. Yet, this is true. It’s also true that the theory lends itself to justify atheism, abortion, euthanasia, and eugenics –as Stein points out.
Sincerely,
Jonathan E. Rohrs, M.D.
_______________________________________
To this, the infamous liberal blogger, expired Catholic, Mud-rake, commented:
Odd that, although I went to a Catholic university and took many biology, chemistry and physics classes, I never found evidence that John was wrong either, Of course, Religious Studies was not located in the Science Building.
Posted by mud_rake at 9:38 AM
To which I replied:
Exactly, Mud-rake. You don't find any EVIDENCE to contradict a designer in your science classes.
--and in fact, the point the medical doctor was making is that the irreducible complexity of the cell is a good reason to conclude there was some kind of designer. Some intelligence had to put that cell together --it couldn't evolve from non-living matter in all its complexity and engineering genius without some intelligent agent.
So we aren't talking about "god" per se, but the scientific evidence for intelligent design behind DNA, the universe, etc.
Now that they've unraveled DNA, objective observers see more SCIENTIFIC evidence to interpret as support for design theory than for pure unguided Darwinistic naturalism. That's why there is a controversy.
The atheistic Darwinists are the hostile ones, fueling the rest of society's anger at those who would dare to question Darwin. Most people have just unquestioningly accepted that science proves Darwin --when, in fact, it does not. They are digging their heels in to suppress dissent and deny that those who question any part of Darwin can be scientists and they call the opposition "know nothings"--in part because so many of the true Darwinian scientists are atheists defending their religion of atheism.
It's not the ID scientists who are hostile to science; they are using it and drawing the only sensible conclusion --that some intelligent agent initiated life. I'm told that many of these ID scientists DO accept common descent of humans from primates as Darwin speculated would be proven by fossils (which speculation has not been proven by the fossil record to date.) They just disagree with Darwin' theory that the process was unguided,unplanned happenstance.
All fossils show is that some extinct creatures shared common design features with creatures living today. Fossils can't really show parentage. And shared DNA of primates and humans cannot account for the vast differences between the two--the fact that primates still beget primates and humans still beget humans--and the fact that nothing seems to be transitioning today --not even slowly. A common designer, however, could explain the shared features of DNA. AFter all, just because you and your pets have eyes and lungs and hearts, etc. doesn't prove you are "related" genetically by intergenerational descent from a common ancestor.
The Bible says each creature was designed to procreate after its own kind. That's what the present-day, observed evidence supports, incidentally.
Dear Sirs:
What Expelled tells us about Darwinists is not new. In the 1980’s, a Newsweek article quoted an evolutionist saying he wished he were in something “more intellectually honest –like used car sales.”
In Yonke’s article, Prof. Carroll displays the typical attitude of evolutionists, saying scientists who don’t agree with the establishment can’t be considered “literate.” He refers to great earth age and descent from primates as “facts.” Yet, so much said about origins of life is conjecture with “evidence” interpreted to prop up a theory that life has no designing hand. Yet, many of us marvel at the “irreducible complexity” of DNA –and were doing so even before ID theorists used the phrase.
Debate confusion: those who oppose ID in the classroom wrongly believe the goal is to teach religion. Even atheist Dawkins speculated that aliens could have designed earth-life. Some ID scientists believe in common descent from lower life forms. All acknowledge natural selection within species. All Creationists are ID theorists, believing in an intelligence behind the origin of life–but not all ID theorists are 6-day creationists, Religious Right, or Bible believers. Some believe Darwin describes the Creator’s plan.
Some of us believe that God “spoke” things into being from His “Mind” with knowledge and power that exceed our own–-the way Christ performed miracles-–the way we can activate knowledge with a computer.
The biblical writer John says Jesus is the Logos through whom all things were created. I didn’t find evidence to contradict that in my science studies. One scientist in the film suffered for saying medical doctors did not have to believe or use Darwin’s theory of common descent to practice medicine. Yet, this is true. It’s also true that the theory lends itself to justify atheism, abortion, euthanasia, and eugenics –as Stein points out.
Sincerely,
Jonathan E. Rohrs, M.D.
_______________________________________
To this, the infamous liberal blogger, expired Catholic, Mud-rake, commented:
Odd that, although I went to a Catholic university and took many biology, chemistry and physics classes, I never found evidence that John was wrong either, Of course, Religious Studies was not located in the Science Building.
Posted by mud_rake at 9:38 AM
To which I replied:
Exactly, Mud-rake. You don't find any EVIDENCE to contradict a designer in your science classes.
--and in fact, the point the medical doctor was making is that the irreducible complexity of the cell is a good reason to conclude there was some kind of designer. Some intelligence had to put that cell together --it couldn't evolve from non-living matter in all its complexity and engineering genius without some intelligent agent.
So we aren't talking about "god" per se, but the scientific evidence for intelligent design behind DNA, the universe, etc.
Now that they've unraveled DNA, objective observers see more SCIENTIFIC evidence to interpret as support for design theory than for pure unguided Darwinistic naturalism. That's why there is a controversy.
The atheistic Darwinists are the hostile ones, fueling the rest of society's anger at those who would dare to question Darwin. Most people have just unquestioningly accepted that science proves Darwin --when, in fact, it does not. They are digging their heels in to suppress dissent and deny that those who question any part of Darwin can be scientists and they call the opposition "know nothings"--in part because so many of the true Darwinian scientists are atheists defending their religion of atheism.
It's not the ID scientists who are hostile to science; they are using it and drawing the only sensible conclusion --that some intelligent agent initiated life. I'm told that many of these ID scientists DO accept common descent of humans from primates as Darwin speculated would be proven by fossils (which speculation has not been proven by the fossil record to date.) They just disagree with Darwin' theory that the process was unguided,unplanned happenstance.
All fossils show is that some extinct creatures shared common design features with creatures living today. Fossils can't really show parentage. And shared DNA of primates and humans cannot account for the vast differences between the two--the fact that primates still beget primates and humans still beget humans--and the fact that nothing seems to be transitioning today --not even slowly. A common designer, however, could explain the shared features of DNA. AFter all, just because you and your pets have eyes and lungs and hearts, etc. doesn't prove you are "related" genetically by intergenerational descent from a common ancestor.
The Bible says each creature was designed to procreate after its own kind. That's what the present-day, observed evidence supports, incidentally.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Anthony Wayne Library Censors
For several years I have subscribed to the popular Campus Life magazine, a Christian magazine for teens, donating several issues to the A.W. school libraries. These magazines are wholesome, deal with topics of concern to youth, and do have a Judeo-Christian worldview --as would many of the students in that school. I learned that the librarians were not making them available to the students --except for one who may not be there anymore. She wrote a thank you note.
So I called the librarian who said to talk to the principal who never called me back. So I called the superintendent who said he would talk to the principal and knew the magazine to be good --and would have the principal call me. He didn't.
So many months later, I called the sup't. again who said he'd talk to the principal again and the principal called me.
He said he thought these would be nice to make available to the Campus Life Club but to have them in the library, the board would have to approve them. I said, I was on the board for 8 years, and I don't remember approving the new purchases or the donations received by the library. And I knew there were things in our library and on our reading lists for students that I and other Christian parents personally would not approve --such as The Invisible Man, the one which starts out with the incest and 3 in a bed. And that dreary book we all had to read before college featuring the debauched and jaded and mixed up Holden Caulfield -- books with profane language. Depressing books with suicide and death themes and occultic themes. I'll bet they have The Golden Compass Trilogy by the atheist promoting atheism to kids. Teachers showed R-rated films to kids under 16 --kids in 8th and 9th grade when my children were in school. Books featuring native American religious beliefs were common.
But when it comes to something wholesome and of the Christian religion, we are more worried about the appearance of state endorsement of that --than about state endorsement of atheism, loss of faith, bad language, immoral conduct, or other religions, etc.
Judy Blume books are in our libraries for children and are an example of themes that Christians object to. There is the one wherein a boy is a peeping tom --and at story's end, isn't sure if he'll quit that behavior or not. "Maybe I will; maybe I won't." And the one where the child is encouraged to "choose" her religion as though religions were just another life option. Yes, religion is a life option, but that's not the way parents who really believe want their children to see it. We devout people teach our children that our religion is Truth. We don't appreciate books and faculty who take our money to undermine or erode our religious teachings. In fact, it's because schools do this that so many parents are either home schooling or sending their children to religious schools, at great personal expense.
The school principal and I agreed that he would round up all the back issues if the library kept them and make them available for summer reading for the Campus Life Club attenders through the club. Meanwhile, I need to write the board of education and donate the magazines to the school library and give them sample copies and reasons why I think they should approve the donation. I think the libraries can rightly have Catholic Youth publications, Muslim Youth publications--or whatever religious youth magazines people want to donate. There aren't so many wanting to do this that it would overflow the magazine racks. And then I'd let the students take them at the end of the school year.
Campus Life helps students deal with real issues like parents' divorce, breaking up with steadies, drug and alcohol abuse and temptation, peer pressure, study techniques, friends, moral issues, fashion, Christian music, religious questions and they provide college guides to Christian schools. They also have a lot of humor and practical helps pertinent to a teen-ager's life.
So I called the librarian who said to talk to the principal who never called me back. So I called the superintendent who said he would talk to the principal and knew the magazine to be good --and would have the principal call me. He didn't.
So many months later, I called the sup't. again who said he'd talk to the principal again and the principal called me.
He said he thought these would be nice to make available to the Campus Life Club but to have them in the library, the board would have to approve them. I said, I was on the board for 8 years, and I don't remember approving the new purchases or the donations received by the library. And I knew there were things in our library and on our reading lists for students that I and other Christian parents personally would not approve --such as The Invisible Man, the one which starts out with the incest and 3 in a bed. And that dreary book we all had to read before college featuring the debauched and jaded and mixed up Holden Caulfield -- books with profane language. Depressing books with suicide and death themes and occultic themes. I'll bet they have The Golden Compass Trilogy by the atheist promoting atheism to kids. Teachers showed R-rated films to kids under 16 --kids in 8th and 9th grade when my children were in school. Books featuring native American religious beliefs were common.
But when it comes to something wholesome and of the Christian religion, we are more worried about the appearance of state endorsement of that --than about state endorsement of atheism, loss of faith, bad language, immoral conduct, or other religions, etc.
Judy Blume books are in our libraries for children and are an example of themes that Christians object to. There is the one wherein a boy is a peeping tom --and at story's end, isn't sure if he'll quit that behavior or not. "Maybe I will; maybe I won't." And the one where the child is encouraged to "choose" her religion as though religions were just another life option. Yes, religion is a life option, but that's not the way parents who really believe want their children to see it. We devout people teach our children that our religion is Truth. We don't appreciate books and faculty who take our money to undermine or erode our religious teachings. In fact, it's because schools do this that so many parents are either home schooling or sending their children to religious schools, at great personal expense.
The school principal and I agreed that he would round up all the back issues if the library kept them and make them available for summer reading for the Campus Life Club attenders through the club. Meanwhile, I need to write the board of education and donate the magazines to the school library and give them sample copies and reasons why I think they should approve the donation. I think the libraries can rightly have Catholic Youth publications, Muslim Youth publications--or whatever religious youth magazines people want to donate. There aren't so many wanting to do this that it would overflow the magazine racks. And then I'd let the students take them at the end of the school year.
Campus Life helps students deal with real issues like parents' divorce, breaking up with steadies, drug and alcohol abuse and temptation, peer pressure, study techniques, friends, moral issues, fashion, Christian music, religious questions and they provide college guides to Christian schools. They also have a lot of humor and practical helps pertinent to a teen-ager's life.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Anthony Wayne T-shirt Controversy and Other Inconsistancies
On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the legalization of abortion, a group of A.W. students wore t-shirts stating, "Abortion is Homicide." They were confronted by the administration 45 minutes into the school day and told to turn their shirts inside out or change them or else --or else they would be suspended for two days without the right to make up the work (taking F's.) When this didn't seem to motivate them, they were threatened with denial of participation in sports, senior skip days, prom, and walking at graduation. So the students caved and flipped their shirts. They said they wouldn't try it again, that their intention wasn't to be disrespectful to the school or facul-stration. (source: the Mirror newspaper, May 08)
Sup't. Granger claims that the school had previously forbidden "pro-choice" students to wear THEIR T shirts in 02. He said it wasn't that the school disagreed officially with their statement. The rationale: the shirts could cause "disruption" to the school day. Because one student had already complained and a teacher took some time to deal with it. Goodness knows, it would provoke discussion on a controversial topic on an infamous day in history --when the Supreme Court legislated from the bench. It would be a good day for history teachers to note this history-making event --when abortion became justifiable, and state's rights were usurped, under the constitutional "right to privacy." (Never mind that privacy had never justified the crime of abortion or any other crime behind closed doors previous to 1973.)
We wouldn't want that historical marker noted in our schools, would we? We wouldn't want them to hear how this Jane Roe in the case was said to be pregnant by rape --when she actually was not. Nor that the daughter born because the decision came too late for an abortion, became a pro-life activist herself because she was, in fact, NOT aborted. What a difference a birth makes!
The outcome: Sup't Granger is looking at a new dress code, and notes that Springfield disallows ALL lettering on shirts other than spirit shirts (I assume that means sports team advocacy.)
I remember when my children wore pro-life and Christian t-shirts to school without any fuss --and at the time, the faculstration was smart enough to see the difference between political or religious statement t-shirts and the drug and beer and nudity t-shirts that were disallowed. Dusney World also disallowed drug and alcohol-promoting t-shirts during those days and may still do so. (I didn't notice any political or religious statement t-shirts there either.)
The irony, in my view, is that the A.W. girls are allowed to dress like "Girls Gone Wild" at the football games. Someone I knew went to the alumni game and had to teach her children that what they were seeing was inappropriate and not right --as the teen girls were exposing their midriffs from below the navel to their sports bras --which is all they wore on top. Must've been a warm evening. So the mother wrote to Jim Connors, the school principal, and complained and got a very less than satisfactory response. He saw nothing wrong with that attire at a school event.
I say, Sup't. Granger, get more strict as you said you did not mind doing. Don't let the girls dress like trollops at any school events --require a belt and pants that aren't falling off of the boys --and disallow all statements on shirts --except support for the team --or school club identification --including religious clubs, drama club, advertising the school musical, choir and band t-shirts, teams, colleges, etc.
It's the fights over such trivia --people trying to dress any way they please --girls in shorts and skirts that barely cover their fannies --that drive a school to embrace school uniforms. It would eliminate the lawsuits and the administrators who won't enforce modesty but will restrict free speech on t-shirts.
I remember with fondness and humor a time when the A.W. school board was asked to approve a committee-created dress code --a committee with a board member, students, faculty and administrators on it --and the board member got the school board to change the skirt length from 4 inches above the knee to 2, reasoning that on short people 4 inches didn't leave much to the imagination. Some were furious whenever the school board actually did what the parents expected them to do and what they were elected to do --set policy --and not just rubber-stamp everything put in front of us.
Sup't. Granger claims that the school had previously forbidden "pro-choice" students to wear THEIR T shirts in 02. He said it wasn't that the school disagreed officially with their statement. The rationale: the shirts could cause "disruption" to the school day. Because one student had already complained and a teacher took some time to deal with it. Goodness knows, it would provoke discussion on a controversial topic on an infamous day in history --when the Supreme Court legislated from the bench. It would be a good day for history teachers to note this history-making event --when abortion became justifiable, and state's rights were usurped, under the constitutional "right to privacy." (Never mind that privacy had never justified the crime of abortion or any other crime behind closed doors previous to 1973.)
We wouldn't want that historical marker noted in our schools, would we? We wouldn't want them to hear how this Jane Roe in the case was said to be pregnant by rape --when she actually was not. Nor that the daughter born because the decision came too late for an abortion, became a pro-life activist herself because she was, in fact, NOT aborted. What a difference a birth makes!
The outcome: Sup't Granger is looking at a new dress code, and notes that Springfield disallows ALL lettering on shirts other than spirit shirts (I assume that means sports team advocacy.)
I remember when my children wore pro-life and Christian t-shirts to school without any fuss --and at the time, the faculstration was smart enough to see the difference between political or religious statement t-shirts and the drug and beer and nudity t-shirts that were disallowed. Dusney World also disallowed drug and alcohol-promoting t-shirts during those days and may still do so. (I didn't notice any political or religious statement t-shirts there either.)
The irony, in my view, is that the A.W. girls are allowed to dress like "Girls Gone Wild" at the football games. Someone I knew went to the alumni game and had to teach her children that what they were seeing was inappropriate and not right --as the teen girls were exposing their midriffs from below the navel to their sports bras --which is all they wore on top. Must've been a warm evening. So the mother wrote to Jim Connors, the school principal, and complained and got a very less than satisfactory response. He saw nothing wrong with that attire at a school event.
I say, Sup't. Granger, get more strict as you said you did not mind doing. Don't let the girls dress like trollops at any school events --require a belt and pants that aren't falling off of the boys --and disallow all statements on shirts --except support for the team --or school club identification --including religious clubs, drama club, advertising the school musical, choir and band t-shirts, teams, colleges, etc.
It's the fights over such trivia --people trying to dress any way they please --girls in shorts and skirts that barely cover their fannies --that drive a school to embrace school uniforms. It would eliminate the lawsuits and the administrators who won't enforce modesty but will restrict free speech on t-shirts.
I remember with fondness and humor a time when the A.W. school board was asked to approve a committee-created dress code --a committee with a board member, students, faculty and administrators on it --and the board member got the school board to change the skirt length from 4 inches above the knee to 2, reasoning that on short people 4 inches didn't leave much to the imagination. Some were furious whenever the school board actually did what the parents expected them to do and what they were elected to do --set policy --and not just rubber-stamp everything put in front of us.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
More Women of Holland Church --two Sisters
We have a family in our church that I call the "gatekeepers in the House of the Lord." If the doors are open, the parents are there --and usually the daughters. They had a son, too, who died in an auto accident last year. And that's where I'll start.
The Conklin family of the Holland Free Methodist Church has been among the most blessed families for the beauty and talents and good character of their kids; their intelligence is unquestionably superior. The boy was an outstanding athlete when he died at 22. They're the kind who knock the top off the national school aptitude tests.
And they are a close-knit family. Which made the loss of their only son and brother especially heart-breaking --which it would be in any family, but these were "close" siblings, who enjoyed Sunday mornings and dinners out together every week. Who hung out together, often choosing family over peers.
Mom is the church custodian, costumer, CLC missions coordinator and crafts teacher, decorator for events, and choir member --putting her college degree in special ed to unique uses! Her husband, a retired engineer, now a courier for a legal firm, is a worship leader, board member, former athlete, and choir singer --they are "pillars" in the church, for sure.
Tim's death was devastating, but the family never pulled out of their steadfast attendance and church duty. They must have secretly asked God "Why?" and "Why, US??" and wondered where He was on that night when their boy drove off a curvy road late at night. But they didn't let it drive them off the deep end emotionally or spiritually interrupting their steadfast devotion--though I'm sure it tried their souls. I can just imagine the dark night of the soul it would be to lose someone so beloved.
Betsy and Andrea, both in their 20's, are both business grads and using their degrees in their careers. Betsy has the MBA --as does her new husband Trevor. Andrea is dating a grad student at U.T., a biologist. Both girls have sung in our choir most of their lives, as have their parents. And they are gifted when we do choreography, both slender, medium-tall girls, very pretty, one blonde, and one brunette. They are among our "core group" of church musicians, with talents for blending, harmonizing, doing ensembles and solos, though they don't aspire to do the latter; they sometimes get pressed into duty and do excellently. Good useful voices with great ear for pitch accuracy. I've no doubt that if they had the inclination and the confidence to pursue vocal training and school choirs, they would be right up there with the pros in performance skill. As it is, they are always a vocal asset in our music program and have loads of talent to keep on developing.
Both girls are working in our Wednesday night programs for youth and children. Betsy and Trevor have committed to the jr. high kids who have some pistols in there! And Andrea to the little children as a co-teacher of 1st and 2nd graders --and they have a huge class with some lively spirits in there as well. They have been faithful and effectual, resourceful and dedicated to Christ and His Church and to the kids they serve.
They are also faithful in Sunday School attendance all their lives, anchoring the young adult/20's class with their Mom and others who share leadership of that group.
We are very fortunate to have such a family in our church and hope that the girls will someday be blessed with children, too, to carry on the heritage and the tradition of a family who says, no matter what, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"
The Conklin family of the Holland Free Methodist Church has been among the most blessed families for the beauty and talents and good character of their kids; their intelligence is unquestionably superior. The boy was an outstanding athlete when he died at 22. They're the kind who knock the top off the national school aptitude tests.
And they are a close-knit family. Which made the loss of their only son and brother especially heart-breaking --which it would be in any family, but these were "close" siblings, who enjoyed Sunday mornings and dinners out together every week. Who hung out together, often choosing family over peers.
Mom is the church custodian, costumer, CLC missions coordinator and crafts teacher, decorator for events, and choir member --putting her college degree in special ed to unique uses! Her husband, a retired engineer, now a courier for a legal firm, is a worship leader, board member, former athlete, and choir singer --they are "pillars" in the church, for sure.
Tim's death was devastating, but the family never pulled out of their steadfast attendance and church duty. They must have secretly asked God "Why?" and "Why, US??" and wondered where He was on that night when their boy drove off a curvy road late at night. But they didn't let it drive them off the deep end emotionally or spiritually interrupting their steadfast devotion--though I'm sure it tried their souls. I can just imagine the dark night of the soul it would be to lose someone so beloved.
Betsy and Andrea, both in their 20's, are both business grads and using their degrees in their careers. Betsy has the MBA --as does her new husband Trevor. Andrea is dating a grad student at U.T., a biologist. Both girls have sung in our choir most of their lives, as have their parents. And they are gifted when we do choreography, both slender, medium-tall girls, very pretty, one blonde, and one brunette. They are among our "core group" of church musicians, with talents for blending, harmonizing, doing ensembles and solos, though they don't aspire to do the latter; they sometimes get pressed into duty and do excellently. Good useful voices with great ear for pitch accuracy. I've no doubt that if they had the inclination and the confidence to pursue vocal training and school choirs, they would be right up there with the pros in performance skill. As it is, they are always a vocal asset in our music program and have loads of talent to keep on developing.
Both girls are working in our Wednesday night programs for youth and children. Betsy and Trevor have committed to the jr. high kids who have some pistols in there! And Andrea to the little children as a co-teacher of 1st and 2nd graders --and they have a huge class with some lively spirits in there as well. They have been faithful and effectual, resourceful and dedicated to Christ and His Church and to the kids they serve.
They are also faithful in Sunday School attendance all their lives, anchoring the young adult/20's class with their Mom and others who share leadership of that group.
We are very fortunate to have such a family in our church and hope that the girls will someday be blessed with children, too, to carry on the heritage and the tradition of a family who says, no matter what, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Clearwater Beach --Still Pristine!
We spent our last Florida Day at Downtown Disney, followed by a ride to Clearwater Beach on the Gulf Coast. We got there in bright sun at 3 pm and the first thing that happened: we were swarmed by black flying bugs on the sidewalk as my daughter was smearing sunscreen on the boys. Maybe the bugs liked the sunscreen, because we didn't have any problem thereafter. But at this point, the boys felt like victims in the movie The Birds --and were getting hysterical about these black flying insects who were relentlessly seizing on us --no stings that we noticed. The exasperated mother stuck the boys in the van all slathered with sunscreen.
Eventually, we all got to the water's edge on what my husband says the Travel Channel calls the whitest sand beach in the world. They had sales booths on the nearby boardwalk dock, and acrobatic break dancers, a big inflated water? slide, cabanas for rent and a cloud right over us much of the time --which I didn't mind for it was so BRIGHT with sun and sand and water. Even I got into the ocean where the waves were just big enough to be fun but not so powerful as to knock me down as I was trying to come out of the water.
There were some scenes to be sighted, a couple of beautiful girls like magazine models in bikinis, self-consciously strutting their stuff --and a couple of gals in their 70's at least --who were BIG, obese women in TEENSY bikinis --preening and strutting --well tanned --very leathery, wrinkly, saggy and frankly, REALLY unattractive. And we wondered WHY such tiny suits --why such un-self-conscious display? I think they may have been from a nudist camp, so free were they. Not that I looked better for being a few years younger than they --but I cover up what's far from ideal on me! And recommend it. But to each his own, I guess.
Eventually, we all got to the water's edge on what my husband says the Travel Channel calls the whitest sand beach in the world. They had sales booths on the nearby boardwalk dock, and acrobatic break dancers, a big inflated water? slide, cabanas for rent and a cloud right over us much of the time --which I didn't mind for it was so BRIGHT with sun and sand and water. Even I got into the ocean where the waves were just big enough to be fun but not so powerful as to knock me down as I was trying to come out of the water.
There were some scenes to be sighted, a couple of beautiful girls like magazine models in bikinis, self-consciously strutting their stuff --and a couple of gals in their 70's at least --who were BIG, obese women in TEENSY bikinis --preening and strutting --well tanned --very leathery, wrinkly, saggy and frankly, REALLY unattractive. And we wondered WHY such tiny suits --why such un-self-conscious display? I think they may have been from a nudist camp, so free were they. Not that I looked better for being a few years younger than they --but I cover up what's far from ideal on me! And recommend it. But to each his own, I guess.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Disney Highlights --Journal Finale
Besides the ones I already mentioned, other "must sees" are here in my final installment.
Soarin' --Soaring --Flying is what it's like! 7 people sit in a ski lift chair with feet dangling. They provide a space under your seat for loose shoes and other belongings. You are swung forward over what must be a gigantic, seamless screen--and you are "flying" at various speeds over beautiful scenes --and you feel the sensations as though you really were speeding up over a mountain top --over trees and water, cities, forests, etc. You feel you need to lift your feet or they'll drag into the tree tops! A fabulous thrilling ride.
But too short! (Did I already mention this one? think so)
You want to get fast passes for this one --as the line was very long without the pass. Again, being disabled was another way to go in sooner. I don't know if our fast pass was necessary or helpful or not. One way or another, we didn't wait long.
Another event was an interactive comedy show, bringing in people from the audience on screens. The Laugh Floor by Monsters, Inc. My grandson laughed really loudly on this one, because they had a laugh-o-meter --and he wanted to help them reach the top.
Micky's Philharmagic --(like Philharmonic) This is a delightful 3D movie in the Magic Kingdom with a music/orchestra theme --good old Disney movie stuff.
It's Tough to be a Bug --inspired by A Bug's Life --was in the Animal Kingdom --this one is the one that scared the kids but was enjoyable for us adults.
Downtown Disney is a shopping area that's quite fun to visit. They have a big LEGO Store with a huge Lego dragon out front, a family with cameras, and lifesize dogs --all made of legos. There is a classic toy store with some of the older toys still available.
We went to see the Country Bear Jamboree which used to be a must-see event but seems a little "dated" now. Perhaps we were seated too close. Also General Electric's Carousel of Progress at the Tomorrowland side of Magic Kingdom. I still enjoy that one and think it is instructive about the development of electrical use in homes, etc. It was first seen by me and my family at the NY World's Fair in 1964?--along with It's a Small World and the Hall of Presidents.
My husband tells me that Kruschev saw It's a Small World at the World's Fair and determined that he would want to go to Disney World.
My son-in-law and the boys most loved the Buzz Light Year ride in The Magic Kingdom. ON that ride there were video game shooters for every rider to "man" and you could accumulate points for shooting at certain X targets --My son in law was really good at it and into the hundreds of thousands of points compared to my 20,000.
Dinosaur --in the Magic Kingdom was a ride in the dark with lots of scary creatures leaping at you. This scared the boys, too, and was when our grandson said he just kept telling himself Grandma's words, "It's just pretend! It's just pretend!"
Another EPCOT ride also featured dinosaurs, The Universe of Energy, featuring Ellen Degeneres as a comedic guide. It did explore the various sources of energy and the various advantages and problems of each. I didn't think it demonized any groups as liberals tend to do on this subject. It said our minds were unlimited resources and suggested hope for our energy difficulties would come through human ingenuity.
The Swiss Family Robinson tree house was climbed by the others in the family.
Regrets would be that we didn't take time to watch any parades and we didn't stay for the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom. But we did see the closing light show at EPCOT which is worth seeing --but a good idea to hug the fence around the EPCOT lake to reserve a place with visibility--as some of the light show is at lake level. We were also warned that it could get pretty smoky from the fireworks if you watched them downwind --which we did not.
Two reserved restaurant dinners planned by my daughter, our excellent tour guide --were the Liberty Tree Tavern at noon in the Fort Wilderness area of the Magic Kingdom --which is an early American tavern in an early american village with paddle wheel boat to ride and a train into the frontier --neither of which we did this trip. The Bear jamboree and one of the roller coasters is here.
And also a French Restaurant in the evening at EPCOT --which was very pricey with what seemed to me to be rather Americanized French food. We had a table with a view and it was a nice way to finish the day before the fireworks.
Soarin' --Soaring --Flying is what it's like! 7 people sit in a ski lift chair with feet dangling. They provide a space under your seat for loose shoes and other belongings. You are swung forward over what must be a gigantic, seamless screen--and you are "flying" at various speeds over beautiful scenes --and you feel the sensations as though you really were speeding up over a mountain top --over trees and water, cities, forests, etc. You feel you need to lift your feet or they'll drag into the tree tops! A fabulous thrilling ride.
But too short! (Did I already mention this one? think so)
You want to get fast passes for this one --as the line was very long without the pass. Again, being disabled was another way to go in sooner. I don't know if our fast pass was necessary or helpful or not. One way or another, we didn't wait long.
Another event was an interactive comedy show, bringing in people from the audience on screens. The Laugh Floor by Monsters, Inc. My grandson laughed really loudly on this one, because they had a laugh-o-meter --and he wanted to help them reach the top.
Micky's Philharmagic --(like Philharmonic) This is a delightful 3D movie in the Magic Kingdom with a music/orchestra theme --good old Disney movie stuff.
It's Tough to be a Bug --inspired by A Bug's Life --was in the Animal Kingdom --this one is the one that scared the kids but was enjoyable for us adults.
Downtown Disney is a shopping area that's quite fun to visit. They have a big LEGO Store with a huge Lego dragon out front, a family with cameras, and lifesize dogs --all made of legos. There is a classic toy store with some of the older toys still available.
We went to see the Country Bear Jamboree which used to be a must-see event but seems a little "dated" now. Perhaps we were seated too close. Also General Electric's Carousel of Progress at the Tomorrowland side of Magic Kingdom. I still enjoy that one and think it is instructive about the development of electrical use in homes, etc. It was first seen by me and my family at the NY World's Fair in 1964?--along with It's a Small World and the Hall of Presidents.
My husband tells me that Kruschev saw It's a Small World at the World's Fair and determined that he would want to go to Disney World.
My son-in-law and the boys most loved the Buzz Light Year ride in The Magic Kingdom. ON that ride there were video game shooters for every rider to "man" and you could accumulate points for shooting at certain X targets --My son in law was really good at it and into the hundreds of thousands of points compared to my 20,000.
Dinosaur --in the Magic Kingdom was a ride in the dark with lots of scary creatures leaping at you. This scared the boys, too, and was when our grandson said he just kept telling himself Grandma's words, "It's just pretend! It's just pretend!"
Another EPCOT ride also featured dinosaurs, The Universe of Energy, featuring Ellen Degeneres as a comedic guide. It did explore the various sources of energy and the various advantages and problems of each. I didn't think it demonized any groups as liberals tend to do on this subject. It said our minds were unlimited resources and suggested hope for our energy difficulties would come through human ingenuity.
The Swiss Family Robinson tree house was climbed by the others in the family.
Regrets would be that we didn't take time to watch any parades and we didn't stay for the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom. But we did see the closing light show at EPCOT which is worth seeing --but a good idea to hug the fence around the EPCOT lake to reserve a place with visibility--as some of the light show is at lake level. We were also warned that it could get pretty smoky from the fireworks if you watched them downwind --which we did not.
Two reserved restaurant dinners planned by my daughter, our excellent tour guide --were the Liberty Tree Tavern at noon in the Fort Wilderness area of the Magic Kingdom --which is an early American tavern in an early american village with paddle wheel boat to ride and a train into the frontier --neither of which we did this trip. The Bear jamboree and one of the roller coasters is here.
And also a French Restaurant in the evening at EPCOT --which was very pricey with what seemed to me to be rather Americanized French food. We had a table with a view and it was a nice way to finish the day before the fireworks.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Disney Disappointments --Eisner Changes?
Maybe it was their CEO --one Disney employee told us that Eisner didn't like Figment of the Imagination event in EPCOT. So he had the ride re-designed to exclude Figment. NOw, Figment is back, but the ride is not restored to its former glory, music, etc.
Another disappointment for my husband was the change in music of the Peter Pan ride in the Magic Kingdom and he says the experience of flying out the window was missing. We thought the ride was better with that experience and the former music.
Small World and the Pirate rides seemed the same to me --though he thinks they backed down the traditional music on the pirate ride. They've added Captain Sparrow to the scenes for a comic touch.
The Tiki Bird pavillion announced itself as "under new management" --and it was irritating to hear Gilbert Godfrey's grating voice throughout and you couldn't understand the dialogue very well. They omitted the original comedy and music for a whole new approach and it just fell short. Previously, the music built in intensity more effectively and had a more native flavor --instead of the jazz. I guess they tried to make it more contemporary and they probably think people will come to see something if it's new. But it wasn't BETTER --it fell flat. They didn't do as much with the totem poles, etc.
My daughter and my husband rode on the test track for cars, a high speed ride. Afterwards, they concluded we could have all gone, but we didn't because Disney's promotion so emphasized the negatives as though some would not enjoy it but find it frightening, bad for heart and health. They felt it did not match the benefits of the former Motion building which it replaced --which was about the history of transportation and quite entertaining and educational.
The Spaceship Earth was much as we remembered it and a great experience.
At the Imagination building there is a 3D movie that was based on the theme of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" --using those actors --only they shrunk the audience. This was a lot of fun, I thought
Another disappointment for my husband was the change in music of the Peter Pan ride in the Magic Kingdom and he says the experience of flying out the window was missing. We thought the ride was better with that experience and the former music.
Small World and the Pirate rides seemed the same to me --though he thinks they backed down the traditional music on the pirate ride. They've added Captain Sparrow to the scenes for a comic touch.
The Tiki Bird pavillion announced itself as "under new management" --and it was irritating to hear Gilbert Godfrey's grating voice throughout and you couldn't understand the dialogue very well. They omitted the original comedy and music for a whole new approach and it just fell short. Previously, the music built in intensity more effectively and had a more native flavor --instead of the jazz. I guess they tried to make it more contemporary and they probably think people will come to see something if it's new. But it wasn't BETTER --it fell flat. They didn't do as much with the totem poles, etc.
My daughter and my husband rode on the test track for cars, a high speed ride. Afterwards, they concluded we could have all gone, but we didn't because Disney's promotion so emphasized the negatives as though some would not enjoy it but find it frightening, bad for heart and health. They felt it did not match the benefits of the former Motion building which it replaced --which was about the history of transportation and quite entertaining and educational.
The Spaceship Earth was much as we remembered it and a great experience.
At the Imagination building there is a 3D movie that was based on the theme of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" --using those actors --only they shrunk the audience. This was a lot of fun, I thought
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
Monday, April 28, 2008
Disney Delights and Slight Disappointments
GREAT WEATHER --sunny, slight breeze, 70's and 80's, but lots of shady places to retreat to throughout the week.
First Day was the Wild Animal Kingdom. A Sunday, but the crowds were less than the other two parks. We went on the Jungle Safari --which was really great. Wheel chairs and scooters went through the lines like everyone else, same wait, but were ushered in to the ride separately. With many rides in the older parks, the scooter/wheelchairs are assets, because they do accommodate you in separate and much shorter lines--and they keep your family together.
On the safari, we saw animals "in the wild" --or seemingly so --elephants, giraffe, cheetah (a rare sight the driver told us), gazelle, hippos, rhinos, flamingos and other birds, and many other "wild animals" in the Disney Nature Conservatory --or whatever it was called. Really a fun ride with REAL animals, pretend poachers and nearly disastrous bridge --but not so wild that you needed seat belts in the big lumbering African-style (I assume) safari trucks.
IN that park, we saw a walking vine --really a girl on stilts with two extended stick arms --all green with a green painted face and we thought it was animated at first --as she would lean on a building and then come to life with her long limbs and hug the trees and maneuver steps into the woods --very fun to see.
The scenic Mt. Everest or Kilmanjaro or whatever it was --with the Buddhist temples in the foreground with fruit and vegetable offerings gave us opportunity to have a little Sunday School lesson about man-made idols that can't eat the offerings made to them --this was part of Asian section. They showed the baskets of laundry by the river, too. Africa featured grass thatched roofs and native music, drums for kids to play.
The mountain houses a roller coaster that my daughter did twice with her husband and once with her dad. They are not for me. I feel panicky and want out of those rides.
There was a kids' playground that enabled them to climb up rope net bridges as though from tree to tree, hanging on to a rope fastened at both ends --entirely safe but took some bravery and gave a feeling of "manly" accomplishment --then they'd slide down a chute.
The Lion King musical show was fantastic, a colorful, joyous "must -see", sort of "under the Big-Top." It's not the story as seen in the Broadway version--but a show featuring stilt walkers who were amazing and death-defying --considering all the dancing feet around them and the high speed movements. There were trapeze artists as comedic monkeys who put on a great show. Music and live singing from the movie and musical.
The Nemo musical on a stage with characters duplicating the roles of the fish puppets they maneuvered as they performed the songs --was also delightful. A shorter version of the movie about a father losing his little gold fish son to an aquarium.
We ate in a Rain Forest Restaurant --with furry animated animals about, and starry sky, complete with storm.
There was a 3D bug movie with characters from A Bug's Life? (Correct me, Steph, for the archives!) --I think it was in this park--and it was the first of the 3D experiences for the boys --with their seats activated and water sprinkled on them from these ferocious angry looking bugs and it scared the kids --and not just ours. I think they would have been ok had they seen some of the other 3D events first. So I started to talk to the boys about "it's just pretend --just make believe scarey --not really dangerous." We went on another ride and Jacob closed his eyes and said, "it's just pretend --just pretend!" We got into so many good rides that some of them have run together in my own mind, and I can't tell you which ride that was. They began to feel good about their ability to withstand scary things --and did better the next two days.
Their mom had planned our days and knew about the Fast Pass? tickets you get which tell you to come back to the popular rides at a designated time when you will get on quickly. They give out so many of these tickets in the early part of the day at the rides to spread the crowd out. Without them, you wait a designated amount of time which changes according to the length of the lines (we saw times ranging from 20 to 90 minutes) --though the handicapped scooter was another way to disperse crowds and get in sooner than one might otherwise. I think the newer park features where they made room for it, have the scooter families wait along with others until the end where they are split off --to discourage people from using scooters needlessly. It wasn't needless on my part. I couldn't begin to walk a place like this. It's one time when a disabled family member is a real asset!
This was supposed to be a low attendance time at Disney, but you couldn't tell at the other parks. We know some of the northeastern schools were on spring break --met some Vermont people who were, e.g. There were tons of little kids and strollers --way more strollers than scooters and wheel chairs. I felt sorry for some people who looked like they needed a chair or a scooter but didn't have them. My daughter had an umbroller stroller to carry a little cooler with drinks and treats.
I was amazed at how my family has such stamina --the boys, ages 8 and 6, didn't whine or fuss or ever ask to be carried --or beg to sit and rest at any point --and my daughter said she was doing fine. IN fact, they opted to walk home from Epcot rather than riding the ferry, and stood to watch a magician-entertainer on the way home. There were always these circus-type-clown-magician acts on the boardwalk at the Epcot Resort Area --hired by Disney.
In fact, for all that is said about obese Americans, it seemed that the vast majority at Disney were NOT terribly out of shape --and doing quite well at walking the huge parks all day long. Granted, the events give a sit down respite.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
First Day was the Wild Animal Kingdom. A Sunday, but the crowds were less than the other two parks. We went on the Jungle Safari --which was really great. Wheel chairs and scooters went through the lines like everyone else, same wait, but were ushered in to the ride separately. With many rides in the older parks, the scooter/wheelchairs are assets, because they do accommodate you in separate and much shorter lines--and they keep your family together.
On the safari, we saw animals "in the wild" --or seemingly so --elephants, giraffe, cheetah (a rare sight the driver told us), gazelle, hippos, rhinos, flamingos and other birds, and many other "wild animals" in the Disney Nature Conservatory --or whatever it was called. Really a fun ride with REAL animals, pretend poachers and nearly disastrous bridge --but not so wild that you needed seat belts in the big lumbering African-style (I assume) safari trucks.
IN that park, we saw a walking vine --really a girl on stilts with two extended stick arms --all green with a green painted face and we thought it was animated at first --as she would lean on a building and then come to life with her long limbs and hug the trees and maneuver steps into the woods --very fun to see.
The scenic Mt. Everest or Kilmanjaro or whatever it was --with the Buddhist temples in the foreground with fruit and vegetable offerings gave us opportunity to have a little Sunday School lesson about man-made idols that can't eat the offerings made to them --this was part of Asian section. They showed the baskets of laundry by the river, too. Africa featured grass thatched roofs and native music, drums for kids to play.
The mountain houses a roller coaster that my daughter did twice with her husband and once with her dad. They are not for me. I feel panicky and want out of those rides.
There was a kids' playground that enabled them to climb up rope net bridges as though from tree to tree, hanging on to a rope fastened at both ends --entirely safe but took some bravery and gave a feeling of "manly" accomplishment --then they'd slide down a chute.
The Lion King musical show was fantastic, a colorful, joyous "must -see", sort of "under the Big-Top." It's not the story as seen in the Broadway version--but a show featuring stilt walkers who were amazing and death-defying --considering all the dancing feet around them and the high speed movements. There were trapeze artists as comedic monkeys who put on a great show. Music and live singing from the movie and musical.
The Nemo musical on a stage with characters duplicating the roles of the fish puppets they maneuvered as they performed the songs --was also delightful. A shorter version of the movie about a father losing his little gold fish son to an aquarium.
We ate in a Rain Forest Restaurant --with furry animated animals about, and starry sky, complete with storm.
There was a 3D bug movie with characters from A Bug's Life? (Correct me, Steph, for the archives!) --I think it was in this park--and it was the first of the 3D experiences for the boys --with their seats activated and water sprinkled on them from these ferocious angry looking bugs and it scared the kids --and not just ours. I think they would have been ok had they seen some of the other 3D events first. So I started to talk to the boys about "it's just pretend --just make believe scarey --not really dangerous." We went on another ride and Jacob closed his eyes and said, "it's just pretend --just pretend!" We got into so many good rides that some of them have run together in my own mind, and I can't tell you which ride that was. They began to feel good about their ability to withstand scary things --and did better the next two days.
Their mom had planned our days and knew about the Fast Pass? tickets you get which tell you to come back to the popular rides at a designated time when you will get on quickly. They give out so many of these tickets in the early part of the day at the rides to spread the crowd out. Without them, you wait a designated amount of time which changes according to the length of the lines (we saw times ranging from 20 to 90 minutes) --though the handicapped scooter was another way to disperse crowds and get in sooner than one might otherwise. I think the newer park features where they made room for it, have the scooter families wait along with others until the end where they are split off --to discourage people from using scooters needlessly. It wasn't needless on my part. I couldn't begin to walk a place like this. It's one time when a disabled family member is a real asset!
This was supposed to be a low attendance time at Disney, but you couldn't tell at the other parks. We know some of the northeastern schools were on spring break --met some Vermont people who were, e.g. There were tons of little kids and strollers --way more strollers than scooters and wheel chairs. I felt sorry for some people who looked like they needed a chair or a scooter but didn't have them. My daughter had an umbroller stroller to carry a little cooler with drinks and treats.
I was amazed at how my family has such stamina --the boys, ages 8 and 6, didn't whine or fuss or ever ask to be carried --or beg to sit and rest at any point --and my daughter said she was doing fine. IN fact, they opted to walk home from Epcot rather than riding the ferry, and stood to watch a magician-entertainer on the way home. There were always these circus-type-clown-magician acts on the boardwalk at the Epcot Resort Area --hired by Disney.
In fact, for all that is said about obese Americans, it seemed that the vast majority at Disney were NOT terribly out of shape --and doing quite well at walking the huge parks all day long. Granted, the events give a sit down respite.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
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