Millie

This is Mildred all tired out after a long session of ignoring me.

Still in the Parallel Universe

In an AP story published in the Bristol Herald Courier on Friday 6/17 related to yesterday's post, Houston lawyer Bruce Shortt (a sponsor of the proposal to encourage Southern Baptists to take their children out of public schools) is quoted as saying that "churches should look into whether schools are teaching acceptance of homosexuality":

"Much of this is deceptively labeled as anti-bullying, diversity, safe schools, AIDS/HIV awareness," Shortt said. "For those who care to investigate, homesexual activists with their agenda are moving through the public schools like freight trains. It's a problem I think too many denomination leaders don't understand."

According to the AP story, Bobby Welch, SBC President and a Daytona Beach Florida pastor, does not support the proposal. He says:

I believe that public schools offer the greatest mission field....We are put on this planet as change agents. It seems contrary to me we would draw back from the opportunity to make a change. Public schools are a great place to make a difference."

The story also quotes Robert Parham, executive director of the nonprofit Baptist Center for Ethics:

[Parham] said many SBC leaders fear a backlash from public school teachers and an "awakening within churches about the extremism of their world view."

Does this mean that he believes that the ordinary lay member Southern Baptist should sleep on and not trouble their mind about what the church is doing? Or that the Southern Baptist public school teachers (of whom there are many) might not like being called "godless"? He continues:

"These SBC leaders who are resisting the resolutions engage in the worst sort of moral duplicity," Parham said. "They oppose the anti-public school resolutions while they send their own children to Christian academies or homeschools."

Working around the multiple negatives of opposing the anti-public school resolution being a moral duplicity, it appears he believes that the resolution should be supported in spite of the risk of awakening and backlash.

This is going to be an interesting conversation.

Where do these people live?

Okay, the Southern Baptists are shrinking away to nothing, their children leaving the church in droves, as liberal education leads them astray. No, wait. I heard they were growing by leaps and bounds, controlling more and more areas of business and politics -- even elected one of their own to the highest office in the country, where he has appointed other like-minded faithful to high offices.

It occurs to me that there may be two realities, and I am caught in one of those Star Treck episodes with a parallel universe....

Southern Baptists eye exiting public schools By Julia Duin in THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A resolution urging Southern Baptists to remove their children from public schools has been proposed by an Alexandria man for the denomination's annual convention in Indianapolis next month.

Thomas C. Pinckney, a retired Air Force brigadier general and former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Bruce Shortt, a Houston lawyer, co-submitted the resolution on April 29.

"It dawned on us that academics were going downhill," said Mr. Pinckney, who edits the monthly Baptist Banner newspaper, which he said has a circulation of 20,000. "That was the beginning of our awakening."

The resolution urges Southern Baptists to "remove their children from all government schools and see to it they receive a thoroughly Christian education." It also instructs the denomination, which is the nation's largest non-Catholic sect at 16.2 million members, to "counsel parents regarding their obligation to provide their children with a Christian education."

It notes that public school students receive "an anti-Christian education," that public schools teach the acceptance of homosexuality and that student-run clubs friendly to homosexuals are spreading in public schools.

Quoting a biblical passage comparing children to "arrows in the hands of a warrior," the resolution notes: "Just as it would be foolish for the warrior to give his arrows to his enemies, it is foolish for Christians to give their children to be trained in schools run by the enemies of God."

If SBC's Resolutions Committee decides to present the resolution to the full convention (June 15-16), it will need a simple majority to pass. If the committee rejects it, Mr. Pinckney can still introduce it on the floor, but it would need a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

He [Mr. Pinckney] said many Christian parents eventually will boycott public schools.

"Some public schools are doing a good job, as are some teachers who are Christians," he said. "But they are in a system that is officially and legally godless."

Mildred ignoring me

This is a photo of Mildred ignoring me. She does not pay much attention to me unless she wants brushed, wants the water turned on in the bathtub, wants Arby's roast beef (her favorite food) or, of course,if I am sitting in her chair. If I am nearby and she thinks I might want the chair, she makes it a point not to notice me, even if I have the camera.

Supporting Organizations and Charity

If you are following the developing story about the charitable vs. the tax advantage aims of Supporting Organizations, Philip Cubeta at Gift Hub has a good anecdotal definition of the issue.

The government issue paper (.pdf untitled document) is at http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/ Government/ 2005%20Issue%20Papers/05_FOTH_ Supporting_Org_-_ FINAL.pdf. (That's the kind of URL that makes you appreciate links.)

And if you have 10 million dollars (minimum) you can find assistance in setting up an SO at National Philanthropic Trust.

Florida Shooting

So did that pizza delivery person in Florida who was shot and still went on delivering the rest of his pizzas before he went to the hospital have medical insurance? Maybe he needed the money from the next few pizza deliveries to pay the hospital.

Tipi

This is the exhibit tipi at the Native American Festival at Sycamore Shoals State Park today. We could get into the entrance far enough to see the interior, but we could not walk in. For this shot I just held my camera at arm's length and shot toward the top of the tipi.

While we are watchin the news ...

Dick Cheney said during the campaign that more people are keeping more of their money due to the Bush tax cuts. Have you noticed that a lot of state and local taxes are going up and medical insurance costs and cost shares are going up to compensate for lost federal funding? You may have to check your local newspaper (if you still have one that is not a subsidiary of THE NEWS INC), or talk to your neighbors to get a feel for this as a trend. When it happens to you, you may think it is local and not a trend, because THE NEWS INC skims over or just neglects to report it nationally.

As I noticed back in August 2004 when Cheny made his statement, the people keeping more of their money must still be the ones on the far right end of David Chandler's L Curve, because it is not happening around me. Below the picture of the L Curve are a few short paragraphs of text, under the title "What are the implications of this picture?" While we are watching the news, we need to remember this one:

The mainstream media has been bought up by people in the "vertical spike." The primary channels for information and expressed opinion are controlled and filtered by a small, powerful group on the vertical spike whose interests are not representative of the majority of Americans. Even when there is no direct political message the programming is tailored to the perspectives and sensitivities of large corporations. The business of media is to sell advertising. Programming is simply the hook to hold an audience until the next commercial. Serious examination of ideas of any kind is seen as counterproductive because it may alienate or bore part of the potential audience. The result is nonstop sensationalistic binges of O.J., Princess Di, Monica, and Elian. The growing media monopoly dilutes and distorts the national dialog, and thereby destroys the basis for democracy. We must find ways to rebuild community and learn to talk to each other directly.

Watchin the News...

With the cover of Time hitting the real news -- the weight loss potential of Americans who restrict their diets in various ways not imposed by war or poverty -- it is easy to forget the violence going on in Iraq.

We had to be reminded of it continually to keep us afraid so we would vote to continue George W. Bush in office in November. Now we need to be directed to other urgent and more local matters so we do not regret our decision and question the continuing and escalating war in Iraq. Apparently the appointment of Bully Bolton to the U.N. is not enough motivation to pump up the fear factor on his behalf, so the distraction policy is still working.

After all, there are real concerns to distract us. These include things like Social Security reform and the price of oil. And have you heard any figures lately on creation of jobs other than jobs at Wal-Mart? On the really local front, has your job gone offshore or been outsourced? Have you been given extra work with no extra pay? Has your job been down-graded to a lower income or grade of benefits? Have you delayed your retirement because you see that you can't afford your medical insurance if you don't keep working? Or have you taken an extra job to make ends meet? Do you see the economic slow-down around you that I see around me?

Meanwhile, back at the war, in Suicide Attacks Rising Rapidly, a story today by Carol J. Williams, Staff Writer at the L.A. Times, we read: "Suicide bombings have surged to become the Iraqi insurgency's weapon of choice, with a staggering 90 attacks accounting for most of last month's 750 deaths at the militants' hands." I scanned back over that to make sure that I read "last month's 750 deaths," and sure enough, there it was. The story also points out "Increasingly, the bombers are Iraqis instead of foreign infiltrators. Civilians and police, not GIs, are the prime targets." I read on to discover that American installations and activities in Iraq are better protected now, so it is ineffective to attack us. Instead, attacks are directed at the government and police we are supporting. The Iraq war is a civil war in which we supply one side and refuse to consider who supports the other side. How is this helping us or the Iraqi people?

The Republican administration and its affiliates are grabbing all the economic and political loot they can get in the time they have left, and the mop-up of the mess they leave, here and abroad, is going to be the business of a whole generation of Americans.