Have We Abandoned the Rule of Law?

Whatever happened to the teaching of civics?  Does it still occur in American classrooms?  If so, what form does it take?  I just pulled the Kentucky Core Academic Standards (page 540) where I took a look at the section on US government and civics.  All in all, the topic list looks good, although the teaching could take many different forms depending on who is doing the teaching.  When I was in school a few (ahem) years back, our US government system was taught very simply and clearly from the time I was an elementary child.  At home, my father expanded my education in citizenship with messages of the privileges, rights, and responsibilities of being an American in a democratic republic.

Hurtling Down the Slippery Slope

(Author’s Note:  Though I originally wrote this post in July, I have been so busy that I have just now found a moment to edit it and step back into blogging.) 

I realize that the more I wade into this marriage water, the hotter it is going to get.  My views (though unchanging) are increasingly becoming politically incorrect and soon to be, if not now already, branded as “bigoted” and “hateful”.  I adamantly reject those labels and press on.  I suppose I want to get on record now so that as events and decisions regarding marriage play out in our country, a memory (however faint it may be) of these words may provoke others to consider what I’m saying.

Is Olympic Pride a Bad Thing?

As I was doing some Bible study today, I came across a passage of Old Testament scripture that I don't often read.  It made me consider the topic of national pride.  I've always been a patriotic American, but is national pride always a good thing?  As I watch the Olympic games and smugly react when America leads other countries in medals, I have to step back and think about my attitude.

10 Lessons I Have Learned Blogging

One year ago today, I posted my first entry on Marking the Times.  I still don’t consider myself a blogger, but I have learned a few things these last twelve months.  I started blogging because writing down my ideas helps clarify them in my mind.  Knowing that others might read my opinions makes me think carefully about what I say.  I never really thought anyone would be interested in my thoughts, but I wanted to contribute to the conversation if I could.  I have been pleasantly surprised (maybe “shocked” is a better word) by the interest in my musings. Most of us like to know what others think about various topics – it helps refine our own thoughts.

I have been surprised to see how steadily the readership has grown.  No big fanfare, no explosive growth – just steady increases.  I am trying to avoid concerning myself with how many people are reading or if the monthly statistics are growing, but I am just as human as the next guy.  I do look, and I do watch to see if people are increasingly interested.

Ribeye Steak, a Polish Waiter and Being an American

For the first time in a long while, my wife and I have the chance to get away alone for a few days.  We chose to go back to Williamsburg, Virginia.  It’s been great so far.  I love Virginia.  The history here is incredible.  Both sides of my family have roots in Virginia dating back to the 1620’s in Jamestown.  During our tour of the Williamsburg capitol building, it was all I could do to keep from getting the tour guide’s attention and blurting out that my great-great-great-great…grandfather sat right here (well the capitol was actually in Jamestown then, but why quibble over historical details) in the 1623 House of Burgesses.  I was sure he would be automatically impressed and ask me to expound on my great knowledge of what it means to be an American.  Being the humble man that I am, however, I didn’t want to make others feel as if they were lesser Americans, so I held back. 

Can Christianity and Freedom of Conscience Coexist?

I can't count the number of times I've heard what, to me at least, is possibly the most poorly reasoned charge leveled against Christianity.   It usually goes something like this:  "You Christians are so closed-minded and just want to force your beliefs on everyone else.  How arrogant to say you have 'the' Truth.  Why can't you just keep your beliefs to yourself?  Just go away!"  This attitude is getting a lot of play in the public square, with many people thinking they are doing the United States a favor by trying to suppress Christians from even admitting what they believe.  They apparently just want serious Christians to be gone.  Here's a recent example:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/teacher-fired-for-bible-nj-teacher-fired-for-giving-bible-to-inquisitive-student-93848/cpt

Is Rand Paul Channeling Jefferson Smith?

I don't know how many times I had the debate with Republicans in 2010.  "How can you support Rand Paul?" they asked me.  "He's too polarizing!"  "His father's a kook!"  "What we need in Washington is cooperation and compromise."  "He won't work with the established senators."  "He's one of those nutty Tea Partiers!" "He's a loose cannon!"

Empty Cribs - Forty Years of Abortion Complacency - Part II

In Part I of this topic, I concluded that life begins at conception.  Part II builds on that premise.  It surprises many people when I tell them that I am actually very “pro-choice".  I believe a woman has the choice of when and with whom she will have sex.  Once a child has been conceived, however, any choice regarding birth is a choice concerning the deliberate killing of a human being.  At that point, there is really no moral choice at all.  Conception, in a moral sense, automatically implies birth for cultures who believe that killing a human is wrong.  This is why teaching our children a proper sexual morality is so important.  This is why we need to teach our culture that stable, committed relationships (e.g. marriage) are needed for child rearing.  Sexual morality, marriage and child bearing are inseparably bound together in a culture that realizes life starts at conception.

Few would argue that abortion is a positive thing.  Many admit that in addition to ending a child's life, abortion harms the mother in many ways.  It harms our nation as well.  The United States might not be facing a Social Security crisis if we had another fifty-five million working citizens to support it.  More and more Americans realize that science is redefining the start of life (see January 14, 2013 edition of Time magazine), pointing to conception as the only sensible beginning.  We know that abortion is not optimal at best and may be horribly wrong at worst.

So why does anyone support abortion?  I am convinced that support for abortion betrays the desire to engage in sex without consequences.  Men and women want an escape hatch in the event of trouble.  They want the pleasure without the responsibility of sex.  At its core, privilege without responsibility is what abortion is all about.  Whether from a reluctant one-time mistake or a lifestyle of unconcerned irresponsibility, the vast majority of individuals who choose abortion are trying to wipe out the negative consequences of a conscious decision they made to have sex.

Empty Cribs - Forty Years of Abortion Complacency - Part I

I remember the first real conversation I ever had with anyone outside my family on the topic of abortion.  In a high school study-hall discussion, a teacher stated, “I know what I would do if my teenage daughter came home pregnant.  I would not let her ruin her life.”  I respected this teacher, and it really made me think about this topic on a different level.  Was abortion sometimes the best decision?  Even as an impressionable sixteen-year-old, something really nagged at me about that teacher's statement.

Fast forward nine years to 1989.  By then my views were fully formed.  As I was preparing to teach a church group of college students for a “Sanctity of Life Sunday”,  I learned a staggering fact:  twenty million babies had been aborted (at that time) since the decision in Roe V. Wade.  Since 1989, another thirty-five million babies have gone to their deaths through abortion.  Though I have always been straightforward with my views on abortion, it does not feel as if I have done very much these last twenty-four years to change this national tragedy.

It's Not About the Guns

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Benjamin Franklin

On December 14, 2012, a deranged Adam Lanza entered the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and killed twenty kindergarten children as well as six adults.  This was the second-deadliest mass shooting in United States History.  The heartfelt outcry was universal and immediate.  How could this have possibly happened again?  When were we going to do something about these mass murders?  What were we going to do to protect the innocent among us?  Shouldn’t we get rid of these powerful and high-capacity firearms that always seem to be used in these killings?  Wasn’t this the obvious answer?  Were there other solutions?  Better solutions? These are all obvious as well as very good questions.  

Why This Blog?

OK -- here we go again with another blog.  Who needs another blog - right?  Certainly not me.  Yet here I am, starting a blog that I have no idea if anyone will want to read.  Why?  I guess it's really pretty simple.  I've always liked to try to craft ideas and put them into words.  When I write, it seems to clarify things for me.  When I visually see what's going on in "Mark's World", sometimes the cleverness and originality I think I have evaporates into a blur of meaningless text on a page. Writing brings my world into perspective.

I love to talk about ideas.  I hope to capture some of them here and use this forum as a collection point for them.  Maybe this blog will provoke thoughts in someone else.  Maybe it won't – I really don’t know. 

Starting a blog is a little bit intimidating.  Opening my thoughts up to a broader world carries a lot of risk.  It is easy to be misunderstood and unfairly criticized.  Riskier yet, my ideas may be clearly understood and still excoriated for what they are.  I guess it’s a risk worth taking.  Please feel free to join me as I ponder the things that make me think: things like faith, country, family, economics, politics and the news of the day.  Maybe we can all understand life a little more clearly as we think through the things that interest me as I "Mark" the times.