Marriage Under Fire

Our culture is one where we try to cater to everyone. Christians have molded into this behavior as well. We don't want to offend others with our beliefs, so we silently let ourselves be rolled over. Our values are attacked, and we let it slide. Morals are thrown out the window before us on TV and other aspects of the media. And we take it.

Now marriage, the God-appointed foundation of our society, is being attacked. We can't let homosexual marriage become commonplace. It's time for Christians to take stand. God says it's wrong, so it's wrong. It's as simple as that.

Now, just so I am perfectly clear, I am in no way, shape or form encouraging discrimination against homosexuals. God's Word says hate the sin, love the sinner.

I encourage you to contact your government. Every person can make a difference. Let's not just sit back and let this issue slip by us.

Resources to check out:

• Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family) - Marriage Under Fire
• Baptist Convention
• Baptist Press
  
• Soapbox essay on the subject on the Congress website
• Article from the Catholic Church

No Child Left Behind

It's only July and the media is already bombarding us with political fights. 90% of advertisments are already political ads, and it will just get worse. Before you get too sick of all the politics, I encourage you to do a little bit of research on an issue that tends to get a lot of hand-waving - Education.

Ask a politician where they stand on education. "I'm a big supporter of education" is the response you are most likely to hear. You may even hear "I would send more money to schools."

What we need is a lot more than money. Instead, take a look a the programs our schools are forced into these days. Prime example - No Child Left Behind.

Have you heard about this program? Bush himself called it "the cornerstone of my administration." Sure, the concept is fabulous. Every child will receive an excellent and complete education. How? Schools are rewarded based on yearly improvement of their students.

There are several problems with the philosophy behind this program. All children are not the same. All children do not have the same learning capability. All parents aren't equally supportive of their children.

Furthermore, the math doesn't add up. How can students improve every year for eternity? Logically, for this to happen the students at a particular grade level must get smarter every year. Are childrens that start school in 2004 smarter than children who started school in 1994? Do they have more capabilities of learning? What happens when the school gets to the top of the bell curve?

Also, a consequence of this program is that instead of a focus on learning material for a grade level, the focus is on material to take the end-of-year test. Teachers are teaching only what is likely to be on the test. What about everything else?

Lastly, there are children slipping through the cracks regardless of the program. Say you have Child A who is extremely bright. Child B is in the same class and is, well, not so bright. For the program to work, the teacher must teach at the level of Child B, so he doesn't get left behind. Child A? Well, my friends, he is left behind. Left behind to no longer be challenged in class. Yes, disadvantaged children have the focus like never before, but what about everyone else?

Let's take it a step further. Say Child C is also in the class. Child C likes to cut up and could care less about learning. His parents don't pay attention to all the negative feedback sent home by the teacher. In order to make the class a success, the teacher has to pass him. What's the justice in that? How does Child C learn the consequence of his actions? What motivates him to be a better student?

Education is a lot more than taking a test every year and making sure that every child passes. In my book, this program fails.

The Enemy of the Computer World

I read an article today on CNN that Microsoft was developing a Search engine so that they could compete with Google. What, did they feel they ran out of competition? Time on their hands? Not enough security patches to develop to take up their time? (Right.) Perhaps they were jealous that another company had something that they didn't - something that worked. Without a reboot.

More than just the fact that they are indeed a monopoly that will run any decent technology in the ground and then charge you for it, I have a fundamental problem with Microsoft.

You know when you were in school and had to take a math test without a calculator to do your work for you? (Of course, some of you may have never seen that day.) You actually had to learn how to do something for yourself. How to think. What a novel idea.

Well, Microsoft decided to program a computer, you shouldn't have to think for yourself. It would create an environment where you just start typing or drag and drop pictures, and your code would write itself. The problem with this is that you end up with a bunch of computer programmers that don't understand the most essential component of computer programming - logic. I see them all the time, every day.

Yes, I know that you can program only in Microsoft's languages and still be technical. But you must admit, that group is slim. And getting slimmer. I don't think I want the person who wrote the software that handles my money or even my hospital to not have a good concept of logic, do you?

We must all band together to face the enemy. It's everywhere you look, and soon to visit a search engine near you.