My how time flys when you're having fun!

Been a while, but it has been a good respite and time of detox having left public education for good. I am a seminary student now....and enjoying every challenging minute of it! It is a temptation sometimes to think of that time as a public educator wasted, but that would be like saying that God was not sovereign. He his...so it really wasn't. Though I try to distance myself in some ways from that time, in other ways I am constantly faced with reminders of the effects of the public schools on our culture, and on Christendom in general.

Of course I see the blatant "shock attacks" of the establishment trying to control the lives of freedom loving Christian families as demonstrated in California. I suspect they will back down...but keep pushing, and pushing, further and further. We saw that a few years ago with the 9th circuit ruling in favor of the Palmdale School District.

What I constantly see are the nuances, the subtle long-term effects that show up in the oddest places. Like the parent comment that she is dissatisfied with the youth work at their church....I see that it's not because they actually know what's going on, but because they are tired of their teenage kids complaining that youth group is boring.

Back to 9th circuit, etc...I taught in Palmdale and even worked with the man who was the principal of the school that administered those conscience-searing surveys. We were both teachers at the time...he was a nice enough guy...good sense of humor, etc. I cannot say with certainty that he was being devious...I doubt that he was, but I do know that groups like the ACLU are very missional in what they believe in. My experiences with groups like those are that they are like vultures circling high in the sky looking for something ripe and stinky to gorge themselves on to further their agenda. At least vultures do something good for the planet, these characters leave a wake of destruction and chaos...and they do it with a great deal of personal satisfaction. Oh, and the truth is helpful sometimes, but if it isn't...well, they just change it of course! It's their perceived right because they are right...at least in their own minds...and that's all that matters to them really.

So we have some child-advocacy characters that think they know more about anything than anyone regarding children and with a sense of mission and entitlement find a case they can leverage to it's fullest. Every now and again a situation pops up and all the signs look right to make a great play...and they do. So now a 3 judge panel outlawed homeschooling in California. I have to say that I really like the idea of all Christian families pulling their kids out of school. Someone was saying 600,000. At about $45/day for 180 day for 600,000 students....well that's $4.8b/year. Wow....why doesn't Arnold suggest that for the state's budget...California would be out of debt in no time.

I'm sure someone may have already figured that one considering the state of California's budget...but it was fun for me just to think through it for a minute....ok, back to the task at hand.

So what do we do? What Christians are doing now...pray first then fight back through the system as God allows. If we don't the personal costs will be higher. We shouldn't think that what happened in Stalinist USSR, or fascist Germany, etc, last century won't happen to us or our posterity in this century. But we don't do it because of a fear of what may happen, we do it to the glory of God...to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever!

I'll post periodically...if anyone is even still out there ;-). One of the main reasons to post is to get the writing thing going...it's always a good idea to write something before writing a paper for a class...which is what I am going to do next