Worldview 6

What we see, what we hear, what we give our attention to affects our worldview. This is why there is such an attempt to form images, concepts, and ideas in our school children that deny the Christian worldview. Our actions are chiefly the result of what is in our hearts. Thus the attempt to place secular ideas in the hearts of young people even in the preschool age. This is some of what the bible has to say about the subject;

Mat 12:34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure *of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (NKJV)

Luk 6:45 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil *treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (NKJV)

This is not a difficult thing to understand. If you build your life off a foundation of secular values you will have actions and words that betray that thinking. If you build your life off of Godly values then your life will reflect it. In a sense, we are what we eat. If we eat from the secular values we will become secular therefore the attempt to remove anything that has a religious value from the school system. The only problem? Secular values and ideas have consequences that we have seen over the history of mankind. They lead to relativism and thus undermine the foundations of that people group. Here is a graphic to express this idea.

68 Million Year Old Soft Tissue ? Ha!

Soft tissue has been found in the bones of a 68 million ! year old fossil. The only problem is, no reasonable scientist believes soft tissue can exist longer than 10 thousand years. Now lets see... there is no God... life happened by accident over billions of years because anything can happen if you give it enough time... and the silly bible says the earth is only about 10,000 years old.
Now, who do I believe? Do I believe the professors or do I believe my eyes?
Read about it here while time lasts. (Who knows when they might pull this off of their web site? It is already off of the front page for the day. It didn't even stand the light of day for over 24 hours. ) Now days it seems truth decays faster than soft tissue.

Up From The Dead He Arose !

Psalm 22 ... (Question) My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?... (Answer) All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

Jesus did not think He was forsaken. He was quoting scripture. And if you read the entire passage you will also see that Jesus was not forsaken... He was promoted.

Happy Resurrection Day to all who have ears to hear and eyes that see.

Worldview 5

George Barna did research on pastor's and worldviews and found out some startling facts. He defined a Christian worldview as;

1. A belief in absolute moral truth as defined by scripture.
2. A belief in the accuracy of the Bible.
3. A belief in the sinless nature of Jesus.
4. A belief in the literal existence of Satan.
5. A belief in the omnipotence and omniscience of God.
6. A belief in salvation by grace alone.
7. A belief in the personal responsibility of Christians to evangelize.
   

Only 28% of mainline denominations passed the test with the United Methodist coming in dead last at 27%.
Only 35% of African-American pastors passed.
Only 44% of Pentecostal/Charismatic pastors passed.
Only 51% of non-denominational Protestant pastors passed.
Southern Baptists scored the highest at 71% and all the other Baptists averaged 57%
hooray for the Baptists! (I call myself a Bapticostal) ;-)

A tree bears fruit of like kind. But without the above definitions can these churches be called Christian? These are not higher difficulty, extra credit type questions. This what Sears used to call basic/basic items.

If you would like to see how you do on a simple Christian worldview test you can order a copy of the full test on line for $9.95 or a short 20 question test booklet mailed to you for $4.25 by going to the Nehemiah Institute website here. If you want to go through a free registration process you can take the 20 question mini test here at bartlettuniversity.com/courses/ Look up in the top left of the page to begin the online process.

The Nehemiah Institute is doing a great service by waking up Christian schools and families to the demise of a good biblical worldview.

Order a copy for your family but be ready for a shock when you get your scores back. Few Americans realize how far socialism has made in roads into our everyday thinking. You might even find yourself mad at the test and disagreeing to some questions but I assure you the answers are all biblical.

A Great Quote From Ann Coulter

Speaking about judicial activism, Ann put out this one line stinger (ain't she good at them?)

"...people seem a little intimidated by the black robes. From now on we should make all judges wear lime-green leisure suits."

The Last Thing I Am Going To Say About Teri

Please read this post. It will tell you about what I suspected from the start. It also explains why Michael wants to cremate.

Here is the original document. Read it for yourself.


Unless there is an autopsy we will never know. The bone scan was done on March 5, 1991 and was not part of the political circus here at the end. Few people referenced it. Why was this never investigated? Why is this not relevant?

The End Of Terri Schiavo

First of all, and last of all, I would like to thank Terri for adding so much humanity to America. Through your suffering you have awoken much of the sleeping church. What could not be done by legislation, protest, and other non-violent means, you have accomplished through your 15 year long ordeal. The fruit of your suffering is beginning to be harvested and the effect will change the landscape of America for years to come. Your face will always be before us. I am deeply indebted to you. Your life was not in vain.

To Terri's parents and sister and brother, your aches are shared by millions. The welling up of tears in our eyes speaks of your love and faithfulness. The lump in our throat and the dull pain in our hearts is nothing compared to your hurt. We are sorry. We are sorry we could not or did not do more. We are sorry that God chose to not answer your prayers and we know that reminding you of the greater good has little solace in it. We too sat and watched a government that was paralyzed by inaction and double mindedness. You are our hero's. Your nobility in living within the law and not being a law unto yourself was a learned lesson. Your simple focus on what was important and not on the side issues of hate or rage taught us well.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I weep. But as I weep I am encouraged that the fallen ethics and morals underneath the facade of this country have finally been exposed.


Now we can choose to take action or go back to sleep. Please pray for us.

Mother Arrested Trying To Save Daughter and Grand Child

As I wait to get on the overloaded press release site I will report on what is known.


An Illinois mother who works as a bus driver woke her husband who works third shift and was sleeping with a frightening cry. They had to rush to the Granite City Hope Clinic abortion chamber and stop their 14 year old daughter from killing her child. She had been notified that her child was not in school and then found out that she had gone for an abortion. As she was yelling through the abortion clinic reception door "Amanda, Amanda, don't do it," she was arrested and with hands bound lead out of the clinic and into a squad car.

The child's rapist and his mother had phoned the school and the mother posed as the girls parent and got permission for the 14 year old to leave school for the abortion. The police did not arrest the father even though Amanda was only 14 years old. The clinic lied repeatedly that Amanda was not there even though her name was written in the sign in log book and highlighted. Then the clinic lied to Amanda that her mother was no longer on the premises and snuck her dead child's father and Grandma out the back door.

Now let me get this straight... The perp who violated a 14 year old girl was not arrested, the woman who falsely identified herself as Amanda's mother was not arrested, and the Mother who sought to just talk to her child was put in cuffs? And the police are sworn to uphold truth and justice and the American way? A 14 year old cannot even get a tattoo or her ears pierced without her parents consent but yet this travesty of justice happened. Why?

Worldview 4

God speaks to man through his word and by His Spirit. He speaks His ways, His wisdom, His principles, and these things have application to all of life. He tells us that it is not the State, or the churches responsibility to teach and educate our children. It is the families responsibility.

Eph. 6:4 "Fathers... bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Also Deut. 6

Education that is void of biblical principles will have its predicted result. Education either has Biblical principles embedded in the curriculum or it has some other belief system embedded. The idea of secular as non religious is foolishness. The secular mindset has a worldview based upon spiritual values of some sort. Even atheism is not spiritually neutral.

Matthew 6:24 says, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other."

God is the creator of the universe and it works by his principles. His pattern and laws rule over all of life.
We can learn quite a bit just by looking at the way God is configured. Here is the classic historical diagram of the Trinity.



Notice how this diagram of the Trinity is similar to the natural diagram of a family.



Notice also how the founders of our country used this same outline to establish the checks and balances of the US Government when it was founded.



It is these sort of patterns or principles that are missing from today's educational system.
They have been removed on purpose due to a "secular" bias. But you can easily see by the above diagrams how not knowing about the trinity can effect your understanding of family and government.

Well, more tomorrow.

The Bible Honors Age, Not Youth

Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost responds to David Wayne the Jolly Blogger about honor, age, and youth. Playing off of a quote from R.C. Sproul Jr. they make the point that the church seems to be too youth oriented. Jeff the Baptist makes the point that we should be all things to all people and Personal Trainer hyperlinks the Jolly Blogger. I would like to add a few insights also.

In my 27 years of youth ministry (building a church out of university students) I have not found the church giving much honor to the youth. They are instead given the staff member with the least salary and a meager budget to go along with the department. Then they are herded into a room painted black with a huge sound system and are subjected to young ego crazed leadership and music.

This is not honor. I know that David Wayne's point was that adults were being subjected to youth oriented ministry but really, most "adults" couldn't handle youth ministy or at least what passes for youth ministry all over this country. We feed our children the leftovers from the table. But I do agree with David Wayne's point. If Grandpa is wants hymns, give him hymns. But you see, that is just it, the church is going the way of the youth because that is where the life is. Yes, as people get older they get wiser and deserve more honor. No doubt !
But as people get older they also loose their zest for life. And nobody wants to join something that is half dead.

What the youth of this country are bringing to the banqueting table of the Lord is life, joy, enthusiasm about the day. There is a sense of adventure. A "risk-taking" type of faith. A careless disregard for self and a desire to be poured out like a drink offering. Very few old folks get this. The world needs God but they are not likely to go look for Him in the grey, safe, measured, world that much of the church has become.

The Kingdom of God is Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit. And true religion is ministering to the widows and orphans, not singing hymns in a church with 3 point sermons.

The youth of America are so hungry for Jesus that they are finding Him on their own and in their own way. This often erupts into a localized revival and results in a big church and then everybody stops by and wonders if what is going on here should be exported to their old church. Smart pastors pick up on this and try to guide the church to this heady, frothy, bubbling, new wine and it just doesn't seem to work. It is as if it has to be set in at the ground level. At the place of first revival and the seed of the new church. Then these church's grow and the cycle begins again.

America ! Give youth a chance. They are a lot of trouble. They make big messes. But where the stall is clean there are no oxen. Oxen make a mess. Give them your time, attention, your hopes, your dreams and love them and guide them. Show them how to get a job. Show them how to finish school. Help them to overcome the neglect of their upbringing. Teach them God's word as applied to every day life. Teach them (from God's word) how to handle relationships. Teach them (from God's word) how to marry. Teach them to get up when they fall down. They are not finished with their training when they graduate from high school, they are just starting it. And it is at this point that most families throw their kids out of the house and thrust them out on their own. Its a jungle out here. Every fifth kid has a disease by the time they get to college. (one out of three for the sexually active) One out of four are taking medication for psychological disorders. Their homes are broken and they are afraid it is going to happen to them. These kids need God ! Actually, I think Joe, David, Jeff, and Jon would agree.

Worldview 3

Here is the third post in my blog series titled "Worldviews And Their Effect On Education."

1. In quick review... What we believe, or our "worldview," greatly effects our understanding of education.
   
2. Education is not a government or even a church responsibility. Education is the responsibility of the family. The family can delegate but must do so very, very carefully. It remains the families responsibility and God will hold the family responsible, not the church or the government.
   
3. As each area or sphere of responsibility yield to God and His will, all will be harmonious and each sphere will be a blessing to the other.
   
4. When one area is out of order it effects all other areas.
   
5. No sphere of responsibility will be a blessing without "internal self government." God works from the internal to the external. Thus the need for changed hearts. "Ye must be born again"

Now we will go into today's blog.



All of life is under God's sovereign government and is directly responsible to Him.
Although there are different sovereign spheres of authority, there is only one God.
He rules over all and is all. His government knows no end.
His government constitution and by-laws are clearly written down for all to read. His Holy Spirit interprets these Words to individuals. Individuals join together and jointly (prayerfully) determine the will of God. Knowing God's will is very dependent upon knowing God's Word.

Knowing God's word is why we must have education and why it is always going to be closely tied to the church. The most common reason people go to college is to make more money, or prosper. But if you do God's will, you will prosper (not necessarily become rich). Everybody can provide for his or her own needs without education. They only need 40 acres and a mule. Thus the public education system becomes a means of making smarter widget makers. The reason for public education becomes productivity and indoctrination.

God's will is more important than man's wisdom. True Wisdom is built off of the "fear of the Lord" not just science. As someone said once, "figures don't lie...Liars figure!"
Outside of God's grace we are all liars. Thus there should always be checks and balances in the fabric of American government, Church government, and the practical working of a harmonious home. (wife working together with the husband)

When the brethren walk in unity, the grace of God flows down from the head to the skirts of the garment. This way each sphere of authority, responsibility or government in it's respective jurisdiction, receives and passes on the grace of God.

Well this is far enough for today. More on Thursday.

2 Quick Comments

1. I have not posted anything on the Terri Schiavo case up until now. I expect she will die, or at least be even more damaged, before they get the tube reattached to her. She is now too many days without water. I fasted once for 3 days without food or water but that is the longest anybody should go. Dangerous unrepairable damage is now beginning to grip her body. This terribly frightens the handicapped that I know and relate to. Their hearts are gripped with fear for what is coming closer to the community of people they live in.
   
2. The shooting in Red Lake is another frightening comment on the culture of death we all live in. Ideas have consequences and the consequence of rejecting life as a gift from God is slowly creeping into everything that we hold sacred. The devil is in this.
   

13,751 Worldviews

I got curious. I wondered how often the word "worldview" is used each day in blogdom?
The answer, according to Technorati, is 13,751 times in the last 24 hours. If you add an s to the end of the word you get another 2,416 for a grand total of 16,167 times/24 hour period. This is truly the buzz word of the new century.

I will add more to my blog series about worldviews again tomorrow (Tues.) I am looking forward to another good session. Questions or comments are always appreciated. (And I just added 4 more worldviews to the grand total) ;-)

Where's The Revolution?

I remember when I went to college in the 60's there was revolution in the air. From the "Weathermen" to the "Panthers" and even the "Yippies" it seemed like change was going to come and it was going to be violent. But it is not that way today. Today it is hard to get anybody interested in life beyond lunch.

This is an article from the University Chronicle at St. Cloud State University. It seems that the number one concern of the students there is PARKING ! If life is so good that there is nothing to complain about except parking then I don't think there will be a revolution anytime soon. No wonder the Democrats have lost the adoration of the masses. They need to focus on parking and regain their voter base. No wonder the country is responding to their ideas like a mother to a whiney, spoiled kid. Come on, admit it, life in America is good and getting better. The world is better off today than it was 30 years ago. There is just this persistent problem of terror and wars, but what the heck, they are not happening in my home town.

With this lull in immediate crisis in America, maybe we have time to look at some of the REAL issues that birth these crisis. Things like BAD IDEAS!

Why? Pet Peeve Series

Just a brief post.
I have been a pastor for 27 years but there is just something I don't understand. Why, after all of these years, do I still feel like a stranger in most denominational churches? Really, I just came back from a meeting in a church and I felt like I was from another culture. And it's not just this church, I see it in lots of churches.

In most of life we have two layers of "real." The outer layer is the one that we portray to our social world. And then there is the inner layer that we expose to our families.

But in most denominational churches there is even a third layer. It is the layer that we portray to the church. It is not even the person we are when we are at work or the post office, and it is surely not the person who we are when we are at home. It is another "religious" layer. It makes me feel like something is wrong with me. It makes me feel like 1000 eyes are watching my every move to see if I do something unfamiliar to the small village of people living in that church.

Hey ! Shouldn't we all be like we are at family reunions all of the time? (If there is somthing that you are ashamed of, stop it) Shouldn't we be "real" all of the time? Does every person have to look like the pastor? Can Christians put on personalities like a pre teen girl tries on moods or outfits? Shouldn't Christian adults be who they are all of the time and not some plastic fantastic version of mister "holier than thou?" What are we teaching in America's churches? How to be a hypocrite? How to be a more clever sinner?

I don't cuss, but you know, I have heard the words before. I don't drink, but you know, I have seen drunks before. And I don't fake, but I have seen fakers.
I feel like I have to be super loving to my cousins in some churches because they don't know how much of a stench hypocrites are to God. But how am I ever going to get them into that conversation?

Worldview 2

Today I think we need to set some foundations on some basic issues before we continue with this blog series on worldviews and their effect on education. First I would like to say that governments are Gods idea, as are families and the church. He established them, and He has a proper order for them. When they are in order they are beautiful and fully functioning. Like the universe, they are meant to be harmonious.

Rom 13:1

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God

When these areas of responsibility are out of order they rip and tear at the fabric of society. It behooves us to know what is proper and what is not. But how can we know? Opinions abound. Even highly educated Christians disagree. As a matter of fact, it seems like the more educated Christians are, the further they are from the simple truths established in the word of God.

In each area of responsibility or government God has established authority. Authority in kingdom understanding is responsibility. Authority without responsibility is not a kingdom mindset. It is a fallen, or worldly mindset.

Contrary to popular opinion, the smallest unit of government is not the precinct. The smallest unit is the individual. If the individual does not have an internal government that works in harmony with the principles of Gods word, he will never be able to be helped no matter how much external government is applied to his life. This I will call the principle of the internal to the external.
This is why we have begun to call some societies "pre-democratic" societies. No amount of external government can make a society of out-of-control individuals who have no internal government bigger than themselves, behave and be good citizens. Dictatorships are better than democracies for a society without internal and eternal values. Relative values will also bring down a democracy over time.

Relative values, in street level understanding, come down to "who has the power." If you have the power, you determine the values. If I have the power, I determine them. There are no absolutes. Only relative opinions. Thus the street gansta' becomes a law unto himself. He gets a gun and becomes his own government. He forms into clans and then gangs and eventually armies to establish his values which he sees as equal to anybody else's. It takes a strong oppressive government to hold back this will to power.

But if all authorities established by God are godly and honoring and respectful of each others authority then the different "spheres" of government work harmoniously with each other and complement each other and actually strengthen the whole of the society. Thus it is necessary today to identify three these "spheres" and establish boundaries and recognize their work. Here is a diagram I developed for this.



Notice that the different areas of responsibility/authority/government overlap in a few places.
In these areas of overlap, much caution should be shown in administration of justice. But yet, in my diagram, I show how the larger area of responsibility is relegated to the sovereign that is in authority in that sphere. This is because that sovereign is answerable to God and not to man for his performance in these areas. The US government does not rule over the family any more than it rules over the church. And the church does not rule over the government or the family either. Curiously, I don't think I have to remind most of you about how the family does not rule over the government or the church because those two authorities (government and church) already overstep their boundaries and are out of order.

And it does no good to argue that they are too strong over the family necessarily because the family is out of order. This argument is as spurious as the argument that, if a husband doesn't do his job in the family then the wife has to do it and so this is why she dominates the family.
If the wife does the husbands responsibility, then she simply facilitates his irresponsibility. She has to be willing to let him fall. A failed family is not the responsibility of the government or the church either. The responsibility rests solely on the family.

Well this is just a foundational teaching but I can already feel the crowd gathering stones. I think I will stop here tonight and see if I can add some more tomorrow. I would appreciate your comments, good or bad. You probably won't be able to change me but at least you will give me a chance to correct myself if I said something in a confusing way or if I just lost my head for a moment. We will talk more about the different biblical charges to the spheres of authority in the next blog.

New Blog Series On "Worldviews" And Their Effect On Education

I am going to begin a series that I have had in my heart to do now since I started this blog. I don't think this series is going to define this blog but it is something close to my heart. I will continue to post on other issues as they come up and try to focus on this subject each Monday or Tuesday and then again on each Thursday or Friday. But, as my father used to say, "the world was not built by good intentions."

The subject is "Worldviews." Which up until about 1990 was not a very common term. Now it has become a buzz word that almost everybody has heard about but yet few people know what it is.

My adventure with worldviews began much earlier than most folks. I was familiar with Francis Shaeffer's "How Then Shall We Live?" from my college days in philosophy but never gave it much thought. But my life was going to turn a different way.

I was at one of the first seminars that Gary DeMar ever did. I studied Rosalie Slater's and Verna Hall's books. I read Marshall Foster's stuff. I loved the Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall. Stephen McDowell and Mark Beliles of the Providence Foundation are friends of mine. And this was all before 1980.

I have a copy of Scientific Creationism by Henry Morris in its original edition and was at some of his first seminars. (Before UPC codes were on worldview books.) I have been to Christian Economics seminars. I was on the original board of directors for the Minnesota Family Council. I have spent 6 days in an Atlanta jail and been sued twice for pro-life work. I have started and been the principal of a Christian school. And I am the father of five wonderful children.

Now, I say all of that not to say that I know anything, because you don't know, I might have been sleeping through all of it! I say all of this to simply make the point that I am not new to this subject and probably won't be convinced of conflicting viewpoints very easily or anytime in this lifetime. So, although your thoughts and comments are important, they probably won't teach me the errors of my ways. Anyhow, I really only have about 35 regular readers so I don't really expect to be overwhelmed by the response.

But, where should I start? Oh yes ! Worldviews. One of the best places to gain insight on worldviews is a place called Summit Ministries out in Colorado. Doctor David Noebel holds classes out there all summer for young people and adult training seminars throughout the year, whenever he is not traveling and speaking at the World View Weekends with Brannon Howse. He has written a classic book on this subject called, Understanding The Times.
All of my children have been out to Summit at least once and all want to go again (and again). This is pretty amazing because it is two weeks of classroom lectures. But the lectures are by all of the leading experts and about how the bible applies to all of life.

Now, I know that there is a high road and a low road to take about this subject. That is, there are intellects too big for the universe that talk about this stuff and the result is that only other academics have any idea what they are saying. I am not one of them. I respect them, and they can strain out the gnats. I am going to put all of this into plain language. I would say I will be writing at about the 8th grade level so most of our graduates from our public colleges and universities (like me) should be able to read and understand what I have to say. But from time to time I will probably say stuff that even hillbillies can understand.

I think I will stop here for tonight but I think at least we know where we are going and what the subject is going to be. Please do not bother to comment or email on my spelling, grammar, or punctuation as you will only serve to discourage me. I care little about looking good. But if you do enjoy this series please, by all means, encourage me and I will do the best I can.

Conservative Newspaper Barred From Public School

This from the Students For Academic Freedom web site.

March 17, 2005
For More Information:
Tyler Whitney
PHONE 517-337-9749

East Lansing High School Censors Student Newspaper

Distribution of independent publication prohibitted

EAST LANSING, Mich. – East Lansing High School student Tyler Whitney denounced the censorship of the Right Way, an independent conservative newspaper that students were barred from distributing.

“Our paper featured respectful opinions from well-informed and open-minded moderates, libertarians, and conservatives. It was not disruptive,” explained the Right Way’s editor Tyler Whitney. Whitney faced punishment for distributing a paper, which he considered to be a part of his constitution rights to free expression.

Before the administration halted the distribution of their publication, the writers stood in the hallway and allowed passers-by to optionally obtain their publication. School officials stopped the distribution. After reviewing the material, East Lansing Superintendent Dr. Dave Chapin denied the students their distribution rights. Dr. Chapin informed them that he considers conservative views disruptive.

“Free speech may not always be popular,” Whitney explained, “But it is a right that even high school students have.”

East Lansing High School has prohibited the distribution of underground or independent publications. The Student Press Law Center, a national non-profit foundation, reports that “Although public schools can establish reasonable restrictions as to the time, place and manner of distribution of underground publications, they cannot absolutely forbid their distribution on school grounds.”

Whitney and several others distributed the paper on Tuesday, March 15. Disciplinary action may still be pending.

Cleft Palate Justifies Abortion

This is a little over the top. For as long as man has been around people have been born with cleft palates yet it seems that this quality of life is too low now and warrants killing of the child over in Britian.
This is out of control and in my opinion warrants jail time. But there are no charges filed.
OMGosh ! The century of "self" continues.
Read about it here.

Planned Parenthood's Free Tax Money Increased $10.8 Million Under Bush

Planned Parenthood's finances for fiscal year 2003-4 (June) shows that PP received $265.2 million of our tax money from the Bush administration for that time period. That was a 5.6% increase from 2002. And this is with a Republican congress ! The total increase under Bush totaled $33.4 million dollars. He increased funding for PP every year he was in office! You can read the GAO report here.

Why My Religion Isn't My Fault

A University of Minnesota psychology grad student has reported a genetic link to religion !
Solid scholarship, weird results. I can't help but wonder if this was a multicultural study.
And this would indicate why some people groups are more religious than others?
And (hee, hee, hee) is there an attempt to water down the gene pool?
You can read about it here.

40,000 New Blogs A Day

According to Technorati there are now 40,000 NEW blogs every day !!!

Old Guys Blog

I was poking around the Technorati site and found the founders blog. It has plenty of good info that is both useful and interesting. One of the stunning items that caught my attention is that only .4% of bloggers are 61 and older.

This figures, I guess, when you were born in the days of radio and a bread toaster was an exciting household appliance. Everybody used fountain pens because ballpoint pens were still at least a decade away. My brother bought a VERY expensive 9 transistor radio that worked off of an amazing 9 volt battery at about 17 years old.

Anyhow... Enough of this memory walk. What I want to say is maybe we need to start an "Old Guys" bloglist? We know stuff that you young wippersnappers never even heard of. Like having to drive backwards up a steep hill because fuel pumps just weren't in every car yet and gravity was the way you got gas from your gas tank to the engine. (Well, maybe this was a little before my time) ;-)

Who wants to join my "Old Guys" bloglist? Send resumes and SASE with certified copy of birth certificate.

Minnesota Gambling

There is a new organization working to stop gambling expansion in Minnesota. They come loaded for bear. The name of the organization is CAGE "Citizens Against Gambling Expansion." Here are some of their reasons for not expanding gambling.

We don’t want Minnesota to become the next Las Vegas. Consider these facts:

• Las Vegas has the highest suicide and divorce rates in the nation. (Sperling’s 2004 “America’s Most and Least Stressful Cities” Report)
  
• Las Vegas is ranked #4 in the nation for sexual assault crimes. (The Rape Crisis Center)
  
• The mayor of Las Vegas has proposed legalizing prostitution because it currently occurs illegally, and could generate tax revenue if legalized. (Las Vegas Review Journal, October 24, 2003)
  
• Nevada ranks 39th nationally for its high school graduation rate and dead last for the number of students who go directly to college after graduation. (Las Vegas Review Journal, April 11, 2004)
  
• Las Vegas casino owners are pushing for permission to operate strip clubs inside their casinos. (Time Magazine, “The Strip is Back,” July 26, 2004)
  
• Las Vegas-style political corruption led to the resignation of the Speaker of the House in Missouri, the conviction of 17 legislators and lobbyists in South Carolina, and guilty pleas for six members of the Arizona Legislature who accepted bribes on a bill to legalize casino gambling. (“Gambling in California,”California Research Bureau, January 1997)

• 
  

This is a good start to the discussion. But it is hard to discern who is doing what for what reasons. The Tribal groups that have gambling in MN profit greatly by them but the growth of their industry seems to be attracting many greedy opportunists. Here are some of the proposed growth areas that are in the works. (This also is from CAGE's web site)

Minnesota already has 18 casinos, the lottery, parimutuel betting, a high-stakes card club, and pulltab gambling. Now some people want more gambling – lots more. Here are just a few of the gambling schemes that have been or will be considered by the Legislature or the Minnesota Racing Commission in the next few months:

• A Las Vegas Caesar’s-style casino at the Mall of America
• A state-sanctioned casino at Canterbury Park
• A harness track and casino in the Twin Cities north metro area
• Video slot machines in neighborhood bars
• A joint state-tribal casino in the Twin Cities metro area

(Weird apostrophe glitch in the above post isn't it?)

New Broadband

A new satellite was launched today from Cape Canaveral. It is a private business investment of $1.5 Billion providing broadband to remote areas of the world. The first satellite will cover most of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The second, soon to come, will cover North America. Soon we will have people blogging from the remotest parts of the earth. You can read about it here.

I remember standing on the roof of our house in 1960 and watching the Echo satellite as it went across the skys. Do you remember Echo? You can read about it here. It was Americas response to the successful launch of Russia's Sputnik satellite in 1957. They were years ahead of us in space stuff. Echo did nothing except give a surface to bounce microwaves off of. But it was reassuring to our American sensibilities to know that we also had a satellite and we could "see" it.

The Difference Between Political And Evangelical Blogs

Conservapost, a blog by Dean Bonde, who is actually the owner of a successful business as well as the worship leader of our church, just finished a phone interview with Focus On The Family. They randomly chose him out of the blogasphere for an article they are doing on blogs. It is a modest one man blog that he started about the same time that I started mine. Dean chose to do a political/news blog (he has always been an information junkie) and I chose to do an evangelical blog.

I am not too interested in current events but I am fascinated by what lies underneath the news. What motivates the trends and what do the trends mean to mankind and my family? Thus the evangelical direction. With my degrees in philosophy and psychology and my career as a pastor, I guess what you see is what you get.

I have begun to notice a few trends or comparisons between Deans blog and my blog.
1. It looks like political blogs are more well read than evangelical blogs.
There are more people looking for "what" is going on than "why" it is happening.
2. It looks like political blogs are more reluctant to link and support one another.
Maybe this is the result of competition. You know, the competitive sport of "I know more facts about professional athletics than you do" syndrome. We have all met the guy who knows the box scores for all of professional baseball back through 1910 and wondered how he did that. I think the same thing applies to news. There is a fierce competition going on for information, as soon as it happens, and to report it first. There has to be a limit to this.
3. Evangelical blogs freely link together.
They are a community that enjoys each new addition. You almost get the idea that they might stop by your door with a cake and welcome you to the neighborhood.
4. I think we are just about at saturation point for political blogs and we are about to turn the corner to more philosophical, system analysis, trend reporting types of blogs.
One that just emailed me about their existence today is called "Right Reason" A large sort of think tank type of blog. (Who has time to read so many ideas and opinions?)

There are literally hundreds of newspapers on the streets of Iraq these days. Each home does not have its own computer (yet) so the printed media still is king. But in America, the computer is being coronated as king as I type this.

I guess my point is that opinion, political or evangelical, is common. The source of truth has not been discovered yet. The war of opinion is never ending. The peace of truth is waiting quietly for His day.

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

The Militant Islamic Mindset

Here is a link to a map of the world in the eyes of militant Islam. All elements (denominations) of Islam have some portion who hold to this view. It is no respector of borders or boundaries. Its roots go back to the orgins of its world dominion mindset. It, like many before, intends to rule the world. Therefore it, like many before, must be stopped.

The Fight Against Pornography

It looks like the new Attorney General Roberto Gonzales is taking the fight straight to the porn industry early in his tenure. He is wasting no time in going after the source of what has quickly becoming this nations major cancer. Not only are the sexual offenders stacking up like cord wood in our countries jail (only to be let back out in the streets again with almost a 100% chance of repeat offending) but one of the major reasons that militant Islam hates America is because it is the worlds source of perverted images and behavior. You can read about it here in a post from broadcasting cables site.

Another Good Reason To Brush Your Teeth

The link between hard hearts and tooth decay finally revealed here.

News From The Campus

We all know the story of the Colorado campus, where a fake native American (who has issues with the country he lives in so he gives treasonous speeches for $$$$$ to whoever will listen paid by taxpayers dollars and) who is supported by 900 of his fellow academics in the university...Whew!...But! Not as many know the story of the evangelical Christian history instructor at the same university that is being fired because he had the nerve to add textbooks to his reading list, that were not cleared by the local communist committee of department heads. (Even though they are perfectly relevant to the subject matter) But did you know that the Colorado campus is not as liberal as the University of Minnesota?

Jed Smock, the 30 year veteran of ministry on all the university campuses of the US makes a strong point when he says that the liberal BIG THREE are Berkeley, Madison, and Minnesota.

The U of MN is oh so very careful at sounding and looking nice. But they screwed up this time. Big time. It is funding time for student activities and groups at the U. The students each have to pay large fees to the University who then through some mysterious process disburses those monies to various "worthy" groups. Students for Family Values is one of those student groups. They asked for $80,000 but they got nothing, nada, ziltch. But they did get a great tape recording. And the university is going to get a big headache.

"What is the content of the tape," you ask? Nothing less than a total exposure of the fully biased and bigoted process of funds disbursement. In spades. It seems that the group called "Students for Family Values" is seen as a cancer that needs to be cut out of the U.
And for what? Family Values? Non acceptance of evolution? Bad manners?

If you look at the chart of how the money was disbursed you can see that not all money is accounted for with its own place on the graph. The graph is only selected examples. What was not put in the graph? And why not? Every liberal idea and program gets funded and the conservatives are called a cancer !!!!!

You can follow the story here and here

Concluding Log From Keegnan's

Well the Patriot showed up and the trivia contest began. The obviously brilliant teamed up in small predetermined groups of four while those who were not familiar with the drill found themselves working with the people across the table from them. The outcome was determined more by genetic gifting then by any amount of pre contest cramming of facts and information. A great time was had by all.

I must admit I felt pretty small and insignificant in the large scheme of what was happening around me. If it had not been for the generous kindness of the MAWB Squad, who allowed me to sit at their table, I think I would have felt rather out of place. Thanks ladies. After 27 years of ministry I don't think I fit that well into adult secular America. They were all really nice folks having a good night out but I really fit better with young people seeking for answers. I didn't feel that my presence or lack of presence would make much difference so I left.

It was a joy to meet everybody though. I will have to do it again because I am sure it will take some time to put faces with all of the blogs. Pretty cool though. Some of the finest minds and actively concerned citizens in the upper Midwest all in one place. Heady stuff.

More From Keegan's

KQRS is here and giving away t-shirts. If I get one I will be sure to pass it on to some worthy person. So far, 1 refrigerator magnet, 1 key chain. But my name is in the box for the drawing.
So much excitement I have never seen. ;-)

Live From Keegan's

Well I am here and waiting on my burger. I notice that the M.O.B. women show up first and the men come later? Looking forward to a night of good conversation and comaradrie. Of course I don't get to bars very much and kinda feel like a fish out of water but a couple of Kaliber's should hold me well for the evening. (no Sharps or O'Doul's) Hope I can put all the faces to the aliases as the evening progresses.
I will add more later.

Good Quote

"When public virtue is gone, when the national spirit is
fled . . . the republic is lost in essence, though it may
still exist in form."

-- John Adams, 1808

Reply From Aaron

Here is a reply to my previous post from my friend Aaron down at Mankato State University.
You can see his blog called The Silver Tongue here

O, but Bruce, you're forgetting that this is standard operating procedure for the Self-Anointed liberal elite in Phase 2 of their typical 4-phase answer to social problems as espoused by Thomas Sowell:

(1) Say that there is a problem. Even if the evidence shows that there is no problem or that the problem is in decline, that doesn't matter. The Self-Anointed say there is a problem, so there is.

(2) Propose a typical, naive Self-Anointed solution to the problem. The Benighted of the Right will now quickly point out why this solution will just make things worse. And the Self-Anointed will resort to standard answer #1: "You're just simplifying things too much. The problem is more complicated, nuanced, and subtle then you realize. Don't worry; our plan will work."

(3) If allowed to proceed, the Self-Anointed solution will be initiated and, like clockwork, will fail with the 100% prophetic accuracy of the Benighted of the Right.

(4) The Self-Anointed will now proceed to explain to the Benighted why the new situation would have been that much worse had their plan not been initiated. So thank them for their wisdom.

Don't you see, the writer of your wonderful article is busy condescendingly patting you on the head and telling you that the problem of a pluralistic and multicultural society is far too subtle and nuanced to be simplified the way you're simplifying it. You just need to trust him and let him in his wisdom make the decisions.

NOT!!

Two key example given by Thomas Sowell of this pattern in action:

(1) Problem: Alleged problem of rising teen pregnancy, etc. in the 60's. Solution: Sex education, teach the kids all about sex. "If they knew the consequences and the dangers and exactly what behaviors caused these problems, then surely they would avoid the situations. Telling kids all about sex won't make them obsessed with sex, it will make them reluctant and afraid of sex."

(2) Problem: Increase in crime, particularly violent crime in the 60's. Solution: Abandon penitentiaral thinking for correctional thinking. "Criminals aren't evil and selfish and need not be broken and repentant; they're ignorant of how they're hurting others. If they were educated about their actions, they wouldn't commit crime."

Have a great day. :)

All Ideas Are Not Equal

The opinion page of the Minnesota Daily today out did itself. I find myself closing my eyes in exasperation. Here is the headline.

Ideas on diversity, multiculturalism and their value to our culture

We must realize our personal struggles are interconnected -- Multiculturalism is necessary until we have equality

OMGosh ! Multiculturalism is necessary until we have equality? LISTEN ! IDEAS AND CULTURES ARE NOT EQUAL. Some are just plain dumb and lead to the extinction of people. Ideas have consequences. Have we learned nothing in our 6000+ years of history?

Here are some quotes from the articles;

...The work of the left now is to unlearn our internalized oppression, which has been built into the very structure of our society so skillfully that it is virtually invisible to those who don’t personally experience it...

...Minorities would not demand equality if the dominant race has not shown acute signs of differences and superiority...

Do you see what we are up against here? If oppression is "virtually invisible" then is it oppression at all? Or is it just that nice folks disagree with you and don't want to help you hurt yourself? If all that these folks can come up with in the way of oppression is writing on the walls of bathrooms then I don't see any sense of protecting them with laws, institutions, and tax money.

Can't we see that these are spoiled, over the top, kids who have now become adults and they want the game to be played their way and if it isn't they want to cause problems?

Look at this quote.

Safe spaces exist for marginalized groups, not to segregate, but to allow for community building around shared experiences of identity and oppression, and yes, to build self esteem and reinforce pride in ourselves and our cultural backgrounds and histories.

Safe spaces? Because people are trying to hurt you? People are out to get you? So you need safety islands in the big world of bullies who write on walls? Did you ever think that the group might be "marginalized" because it has ideas that are proven over 6000+ years of history to be less than world changing?

Why do the real, true, liberals always sound like whiners? If you whine too much you defeat the very purpose for which you strive. You loose all credibility. Nobody wants to play with you. You will never get picked for the team.

But I guess this sort of talk only oppresses you.

If anybody left out there wants to read the entire opinion piece you can read it here

Why Christians Spank

I used to tutor Behavior Theory classes when I was a junior at Memphis State University. Another name for the class was Learning Theory. You know, this is the class where you learn about Pavlov's dogs?

Behavior conditioning, behavior modification, operant conditioning are all other terms for this general area. B.F.Skinner was the current darling of the experimental psychologists at that time. He was so... well... how can you say it? Measurable ? (And he was from Minnesota)

But the point is, how do we learn? How can we develop good behaviors and extinguish unwanted ones in man? Can we raise humans like we do animals? Do humans and animals learn the same way? I think not.

You can get a dog, through a series of rewards, to simply sit perfectly still for very long periods of time, overcoming its flesh and all of its instincts. If you try to get a dog to do these things through punishment you cannot expect these results. As a matter of fact, the dog will cower and draw away with its tail between its legs. In order to achieve good results you have to make it fun and rewarding.

Can you train a human child effectively this way ? I think not ! A child raised that way will turn out to be a miniature mass murderer and totally take over the house. Why is this? Have you ever stopped to think about it? A dog can learn to control his appetites through rewards but a child rarely if ever learns to overcome its desires that way. You have to give it what it wants... Food and affection... In that order.

Children are made in the image of God. But they are fallen. So they think that they are God from the day they are born. I remember when I had my first child and she could barely sit up in the high chair by herself. I discovered that at that age she was already learning her powers. If she would drop the spoon, dad would pick it up. It was a neat game to her and a frustration to me. Even if I told her "no" and "stop it" she would just drop the spoon again. I could give her something else to distract her but that didn't solve the spoon problem.

To train her to stop negative behavior it had to be painful. First just a startle response would achieve it. Later it had to be a little sting on the hand. Still later it escalated to spanking. I remember one night of particularly excessive rebellion, in which I cried out at God, "why do you have me beating my baby?" Of course I was not beating her but I was totally frustrated with having to spank in order to train.

The goal of our training cannot be the same as the goal of training dogs. We are not trying to "condition behavior." We are trying to change hearts. Hearts that were made in the image of God but are fallen with their own definitions of good and evil. In a word, rebellious hearts. Independent hearts. Selfish hearts. We are born that way and we must be born again in order to solve the problem. (And even then we have to learn to agree with God's definition of good and evil slowly over the rest of our lives.) But at least we have a starting point. A point at which we say, "not my will be done, but thy will be done." And with His will in our hearts we learn to overcome our flesh.

But, you ask, "you titled this 'Why Christians Spank' what's your point?" Well my point is that only pain teaches us what the right thing is. It makes no difference if we are infants or adults. How many times do we have to hit ourselves in heads with a hammer before we realize stopping is good? Now don't get me wrong. God still loves us but He is trying to get us to put down the hammer. While we were still broken head bangers He died for us.

Pain focuses us on what is important. Yet many of us spend all of our lives refusing any form or sort of pain. People reject God at the first sign of pain. They want a god who takes away pain and if he won't then they figure that they will just remain god until they find one who will do their will.

Why does the word say "count it all joy when you fall into tempation?" Because we are going to learn what is valuable from learning what has no value. Righteousness has value. It is a valuable free gift. Have you learned that lesson yet?

To the dog, food and affection are the things most valuable. To a human it is not so clear. We can have food and affection and still engage in self destructive behavior. What is the most valuable thing to you?

I suggest, that the most valuable thing in life is a living, real, and vibrant relationship with the Holy Spirit of the Living God, who is happy with us and enjoys us. He is trying to get our attention. Are we listening?

The pain in our lives is not to punish us for bad behavior. It is there so that we can be trained in righteousness and dwell with our Holy God. If sin did not have consequences then there would be no need for a God to save us. He saves us by changing our hearts with His beauty.

Do You Reason From The Bible?

Although my background is in science, I fear that science has become the god of the new age. Science is, after all and in my opinion, mans attempt to know God. But man attempts to establish God in his own image instead of the other way around. So he develops all kinds of theories or should I say unsubstantiated hypothesise about what he sees based upon his own bias.

Often I am asked, "are you a liberal or a conservative?" I usually answer, "yes." But really, I am neither. I am a man who reasons from the Bible. I have accepted the bible as interpreted by
(1.) Itself and,
(2.) Communion with the Holy Spirit
as the center truth of my life.

Scary isn't it? But I have staked everything on it and if it fails, I fail. But God cannot fail.

I have used the bible to interpret everything in life. Politics, economics, relationships, history, science, etc. And I just sort of blindly believe it (I admit this freely). But I didn't start this until I was 32 years old and had seen every other system of "knowing" fail and fall.

The question, "Are you liberal or conservative?" needs to be closely looked at. Yes the liberals base their reasoning on man and mans institutions but so do conservatives. "If the blind lead the blind they both fall into the ditch."

Ok, let me get to my point. Do you reason Biblically or as a conservative / liberal? Or even worse, as a republican / democrat? Maybe you ought to take a test and find out. It is a test that was developed by the Nehemiah Institute.

You can take the test here. This test is called the Peers test and it will shock you. It is comparing historical biblical reasoning vs. current socialist type reasoning. Give it a try.

Adulthood

I just wanted to add a comment about the recent Supreme Court ruling on the death sentence.
It is crafted from the reasoning of Europe and is fabricated out of nothing in our legal history.
I want to remind everybody of the historical roots of our law. It does not come from the tyranny of Europe's past. It comes directly from the Word of God. The truth of Jewish history puts adulthood at the age of 13. Bar Mitzvah. (Or Bas(t) Mitzvah for women)

The frivolity of American culture has set back adulthood and maturity to about 25 for all intents and purposes. People don't finish changing and grow up until about that age. This is a reproach. The bible says that it is "good for a man to bear up the yoke in his youth." We just give them video games and an allowance. But God holds them accountable.

Christians Are Not Nice !

Well, here I go again. Making trouble. My title is a little deceptive. Christians are kind, gentle, patient, loving, etc. but they better think twice about getting into the icy competition of being nice. Some of the most anti-God folks I know are nicer than most Christians I know. I guess it is about time we begin to define nice.

Nice is the game that the world plays. You know... happy face, "Have a nice day," "lets do lunch."
Some people are so good at being nice that they could get a gold metal at the nice Olympics. With events in "caring more than others," "remembering your birthday," "generosity," and other prime time events. The greatest event of all though is of course, "never ever being rude."

But it is not a game that I play well at. I will never get a metal. I am busy getting my mini van scratched up helping people move. Or sitting up all night with people going through some sort of psychological crisis. Or counseling someone for the 8th time on how to overcome their flesh. Or just mowing my lawn and taking care of my family.

Yes, if Christianity is about being nice then I think most of them will loose in the end. I know some really good Christians that I don't think will ever be nice. They will love, but they are terrible at being nice.

You see, Christians are to love. And not just love to get something back, but love in a selfless way. And love is not always nice. It is always kind and gentle and patient, but not always nice.
Love can say no. Love can say "that's a mistake." But nice never can. Nice can only say "have a nice day."

Love can walk through the hardest part of your life with you. Bearing your burdens and sharing your load, but nice only sends a card. Love points to the straight and narrow way, but nice only knows "do whatever you like." (The first commandment of the satanic church is simply, "do whatever you will, that is the whole of the law." )

Love bears all things, endures all things, is patient with all things. Love never fails.

Oh Lord, give me the grace to be tolerant of the tolerant. To be kind and gentle to the self-actualized. To be patient with smoke and mirrors. And to always be loving.

Is Bulimia conquered?

This item is about a recent breakthrough in working with Bulimia. Bulimia and other eating disorders are effecting many students at the University. We run into it often in our work with students. Gettting these young people restored is always a very difficult process. We have seen good success with love, and serious counsel but I think we are not even getting a shot at the really severe disorders. If this work with the vagus nerve proves to be valuable I will be very blessed. It is simply a device that gives a slight stimulus to the vagus nerve at periodic interveals. The complete story is here.

HOUSTON, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cyberonics, Inc. today announced promising initial pilot study results from a study of VNS Therapy in patients with bulimia nervosa at the University of Minnesota’s Neuroscience Research Center. The pilot study is designed to evaluate whether or not VNS Therapy reduces the episodes of binging and vomiting that are the hallmark of bulimia by reversing the physiological changes that occur in the function of the vagus nerve. The National Institutes of Health provided a $300,000 grant to the University of Minnesota to fund the study. To date, six patients have been treated with VNS Therapy. All reported significant reductions in episodes of binging/vomiting.

Outrage in Wisconsin

Since when does a pharmacist, doctor, lawyer, teacher, loose their job because they refuse to do something immoral or unethical ? How can a free society tolerate this sort of thing? There are other pharmacies that this prescription can be taken to. This is pure intimidation to squelch religious freedom. It is an outrage.

Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) -- A judge ruled Monday that a pro-life pharmacist in Wisconsin should be reprimanded for refusing to fill a customer's prescription because he believed the drug causes abortions and violates his moral beliefs.

Administrative Law Judge Colleen Baird suggested that pharmacist Neil Noesen have his license restricted for two years for the July 2002 incident, in which he refused to fill the birth control prescription of a University of Wisconsin-Stout student.

Noesen also would not transfer Amanda Phiede's prescription to another pharmacy.

Judge Baird said Wisconsin law prohibits pharmacists from actions that pose a "danger to the health, welfare or safety of a patient or public.''

He said Noesen put the student "at risk for an unwanted pregnancy" by his actions and required him to take ethics classes to continue employment as a pharmacist. Noesen would also have to inform future employers of the drugs he would not dispense and be required to pay for the legal proceedings.

The Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board will issue a final decision in the case in April and is under no obligation to follow Judge Baird's recommendation.
Complete story here

SCSU Student Finance Committee Resigns

This from the St. Cloud State University Chronicle newspaper.

Due to internal conflict among some student government members, the entire student finance committee resigned Feb. 17.

SCSUScholars blog says;

Paraphrasing P.J. O'Rourke, giving student activity money to unchecked student government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

Blacklisting Conservatives On Campus

This is an article I found that I thought was worth sharing to a larger audience. If you don't know the political intrigues on the campus you would think it to be all to be benign. It is far from benign. It's more on the order of advancing killer bees. Here are some exerpts from the article. And here is the website.

(look in the right sidebar for "The Campus Blacklist")

The Campus Blacklist
By David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 18, 2003

The most successful and pervasive blacklist in American history is the blacklist of conservatives on American college campuses, their marginalization in undergraduate life and their virtual exclusion from liberal arts faculties, particularly those that deal with the study of society itself. Because it is a blacklist enforced by academics, there has been no academic study of the problem. Consequently, the evidence regarding its mode of operation and the extent of its impact is anecdotal or confined to research that is incomplete. Nonetheless, its reality is undeniable....

... Tulane Law School – one of the institutions I visited this spring -- has not a single Republican or conservative faculty member; the Duquesne Law School – where I also spoke -- has one. The students I met at the University of Michigan could not identify a single conservative on their faculty, although they could name several Marxists. At Bowling Green, conservative professors were isolated in a research center that has no teaching responsibilities. Out of 15 professors in the Department of Political Science at the University of Richmond, a private school with a decidedly conservative student body there is one Republican. The only school where there seemed to be even a handful (a literal handful) was at the University of South Dakota, a state which Bush carried in the 2000 election by 26 points....

... The absurd under representation of conservative viewpoints on university faculties obviously does not happen by random process. It is the result of a systematic repression (and/or discouragement) of conservative thought and scholarship at so-called "liberal" institutions of higher learning....