"One may practice one's religion in private..."

...said Cathryn Hazouri, executive director of the ACLU, while testifying in favor of SB200, a new Colorado law that makes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation a criminal act. Read WorldNetDaily to find out why this law is a severe danger to free speech, freedom of association and the free market in Colorado. And remember Hazouri's quote when you wonder what the liberals really intend.

Germany Returns to Tyranny

Today German homeschool parents Juergen and Rosemarie Dudek were sentenced today to three months in prison for homeschooling their children. Authorities have tested the children, who got top marks, but the prosecutor is determined to curtail their freedom.

Read the story here, then get on your knees and pray for this brother and sister and their dear children. Then pray for freedom for all parents to disciple their children.

You Can't Make It Up...

Do you think a parent should be able to ground a twelve year old who does dangerous things on the internet like posting inappropriate pictures of herself? A Canadian court doesn't think so....

Folks, this is insane. Go straight to here to find out about the Parental Rights Amendment. It's time we codified what used to be common sense. Evidently, it's too late for some countries.

H/T Lucianne

Worried About Warming?

Don't be. I'm old enough to remember reading the news media's alarming articles about the Ice Age our world was inevitably crashing toward back in the early 70's and I'm not the only one. You have got to read Walter William's editorial Environmentalists Still Can't Get It Right. It'll cool you off!

H/T Lucianne

A Fond Farewell to William F. Buckley, Jr.

Last night, we gathered our children to tell them the story of a very great man. We told them that once America was hastening to a majority view of despair and socialism. That once upon a time nearly everyone was deceived into thinking the government held the answers to our problems. Then came William F. Buckley.

Bill Buckley founded National Review in 1955 and gave birth and voice to the modern conservative movement. I'm firstly a conservative because of my parents, who were influenced by Buckley and Firing Line and Human Events. They knocked on doors for Goldwater, avidly followed politics, and more, discussed it with us. I even remember debating politics on the school bus as a 2nd grader. I was taught well, but it was National Review that led me to really think about the principles my fine parents gave me. I remember Hal reading me the magazine while I cooked supper as a newlywed - and it was cold water in a thirsty land. How many conservatives, like us, were made principled thinkers by William F. Buckley?

There is an erudite voice missing in our world now that Bill Buckley has gone to his reward. Lord, raise up many in his place!

Note: If you don't recognize who Bill Buckley is, you are in for a treat of an education:
National Review Online - be sure to check out their blog The Corner for some great eulogies of WFB
Up From Liberalism A foundational book - Check out God and Man at Yale as well! Buckley was an exquisite writer.
More later, my family has gone to bed without me!

Homeschooling Boys Workshop in Lenoir

Dear Friends in Lenoir,

Please forgive me for taking so long to post this. I greatly enjoyed spending time with you and I was so impressed by the number and quality of questions asked by your group. It is such a blessing to speak to engaged listeners!

Thank you for letting me come!
Melanie Young

Here's the handout:

Ballistic Homeschooling: Surviving and Appreciating Boys
Melanie Young
Copyright 05/2005, 2008

I. The Challenge of Boys

II. A Vision of Manhood
A. Aiming at Young Men
B. Manhood Marred
C. Resisting Feminization
D. Manly Virtues: Courage, Honor, a Stalwart heart to fight for right, Persistence, Fortitude, Endurance, Leadership. Men should be Brave, True, Faithful, Honest, and Intrepid.

III. Raising Men of Iron with Hearts of Gold
A. Give them something to aim for.
B. Leadership vs. Rebellion
C. Learning Responsibility
The Vision
Chores
School
Errands
Finances
Opportunities
Avoiding Disaster
D. Purpose in Life
E. Discord among the brethren
F. Passionate Purity
G. What’s sin, what’s not
H. Loving your sons

IV. More than survival

Resources
Books by G.A. Henty are fantastic (Vision Forum, lots of vendors)
Sugar Creek Gang books by Paul Hutchins http://www.belovedbooks.com
Cowboy Sam readers by Edna Walker Chandler
Jeff McLean: His Courtship (Timberdoodle sells this)
Vision Forum catalog http://www.visionforum.com
Timberdoodle catalog http://www.timberdoodle.com
Plants Grown Up by Doorposts http://www.doorposts.net
Poems for Patriarchs (Vision Forum sells this)
The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men by Christina Hoff Sommers (secular, but good information)
Roy Rogers and Lone Ranger movies (buy very cheaply on eBay); Movies made during World War II like Sergeant York; War movies do not upset boys, they inspire them!
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Josh Harris
Men of Iron by Howard Pyle
Lots of biographies of great men. Teach history through example! Discuss the great men of history as men. Discuss how they met the standard of godly men and how they failed. Some great places to start: Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington, Winston Churchill.

The Natural Family and the Safety of Children

Ed Kaitz at American Thinker brilliantly assesses the implications of the AP report I addressed in Marriage is about Children in an article drawing heavily on the debate on the nature of the family in civilization explicit in the works of Plato and Aristotle. He quotes Aristotle:

In a state having women and children common, love will be watery; and the
father will certainly not say ‘my son' or the son ‘my father.' As a little
sweet wine mingled with a great deal of water is imperceptible in the mixture,
so, in this sort of community, the idea of relatiionship which is based on
these names will be lost; there is no reason why the so-called father should
care about the so-called son, or the son about the father, or brothers about one
another. Of the two qualities which chiefly inspire regard and affection - that a thing is your own and that you love it - neither can exist in a state such as this.

You have got to read the whole thing! Kudos, Mr. Kaitz!

H/T Lucianne

The Demographic Winter

Yesterday I had a conversation with two young mothers who desired large families, but felt sheepish about it. It's not the thing to do, anymore. I shared a few facts about the world's population trends with them and they were utterly amazed. I am amazed how folks are still making life decisions based on the media scare tactics of a generation ago. Last night, I read a wonderful speech that Don Feder presented in Riga, Latvia that explained the current situation very succinctly. Here is his assessment of Russia's approaching demographic winter:

This catastrophe in the making can be most clearly seen in Russia. What
Lenin, Stalin and Hitler failed to accomplish, the Russian people are doing
to themselves. You might call it auto-genocide.

In Russia, the fertility rate is 1.17 (down from 2.4 in 1990, a decline
of over 50%). Russia is losing three-quarters of a million people a year.
Its current population of 145 million is expected to be reduced by a third
by 2050. In Russia today, almost as many children are aborted as are born
alive (1.5 million to 1.6 million).

The Russian people occupy 17 million sq. km, the largest land mass on
earth. By comparison, the United States has 9.6 million sq. km. and a
population of 303 million -- in other words, a little less than half of
Russia's land mass and more than twice its population.

Where will the Russia of 2050 find the soldiers to guard its frontiers?
Where will it find the workers to operate its factories and mines, to grow
its crops and run its hospitals and schools?

Read the whole thing. If you still believe what you were taught in school about overpopulation, you'll be shocked.

Of course, the Word of God explained this long ago:

In a multitude of people is a king’s honor,

But in the lack of people is the downfall of a prince.

H/T Teresa Wirtz

Marriage is About Children

I found out a few years ago that the Bible said so, but it has only been in recent years that I understood the civil perspective on marriage. Governments have been involved in marriage throughout history, but many people are questioning if government has a role in the regulation of the marriage contract. Why is government involved at all?

The most obvious answer is the orderly devolution of property. A government recognized marriage is the basis for knowing who belongs to one's family - and hence, who is entitled to inherit. This is a critical bit of knowledge for an orderly and nonviolent economy. Instead of vultures gathering to pick the bones of the dead, we have an acknowledged wife, or legitimate children, or blood relatives who naturally and peacefully step into the estate.

A less obvious, and perhaps more important answer is that the traditional family is the foundational unit of civilization. It is the first government established on the earth and the most basic in terms of its function. The function of a family is for mutual help and protection. If that is so, why aren't nontraditional marriages of equal use to society? Children.

I noticed many years ago that the vast majority of the heartbreaking child abuse stories I read in the newspaper involved a perpetrator that was not a blood relative of the child. Now it seems others are noticing, too:

Children living in households with unrelated adults are nearly 50 times as
likely to die of inflicted injuries as children living with two biological
parents, according to a study of Missouri abuse reports published in the journal
of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2005

This is really heartbreaking news, but I think it points up that God created the family to be one man and one woman for life raising their children. Only in such a family can the adults in the household all have the bond of love and affection of blood relationship that restrains them. What about adoption? In adoption, you have a covenant of commitment in which someone has willingly chosen to contract themselves to accept a child as their own. Commitment and covenant are what marriage and family are all about. When they are missing, it is not a family, and unfortunately, the contract of mutual help and protection is never made. My father died when I was 14, and I do understand that many find themselves single parents through no fault of their own. I urge them to never bring a lover into their home, but only a spouse, and only one willing to adopt their children. Covenants keep families what they were meant to be.

The civil government has a very real interest in encouraging the formation of natural families. In these families, children are protected and adults are committed to help each other throughout their lives. That makes civilization easier to perpetuate.

The Feeling is Mutual

I couldn't believe that Barack Obama slipped up on Meet the Press and actually said it:

I do not believe being gay or lesbian is a choice, and so I disagree with
Reverend McClurkin, but understand, Tim, part of what I hope to offer as
president is the ability to reach to people that I don't agree with, and the evangelical community is one where the Democratic Party, I
think, we have generally seen as hostile, we haven't been reaching out to them,
and I think that if we're going to make significant progress on critical issues
that we face, whether it's education, or health care, or energy, or our foreign
policy in this country, we've got to be able to get beyond our comfort
zones and just talk to people we don't like (pause) or just talk to
people we like, or people that we agree with on every single issue. [emphasis
mine]

So... when he says "we" in this context, I think he's pretty clearly speaking of the Democrat Party and according to Mr. Obama, they just don't like evangelical Christians. I hope you folks who vote Democratic because Granddaddy did will listen when they say it themselves. The Democratic Party is not your friend.

H/T Rush - Thanks!

Taxpayers Win!

I am delighted to report that the taxpayers of Johnston County (and the rest of North Carolina, too) have refused to offer the wino another drink: In Johnston County, voters defeated the real estate transfer tax referendum by 84-16 percent and the sales tax by a four to one margin. It has long been my policy to vote no to all tax referendums until I see some evidence that government at that level is using the money they do have wisely. Hasn't happened yet.

Happy Reformation Day

On October 31, 1917, Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, nailed 95 Theses for academic debate on the door of the Wittenberg cathedral and lit a fire of Reformation that swept across Europe. The Five Solas of the Reformation restored the glory of the gospel to the church:

Sola Scriptura - The Scripture Alone is the Standard
Solo Christo - By Christ's Work Alone are We Saved
Sola Gratia - Salvation By Grace Alone
Sola Fide - Justification By Faith Alone
Sola Deo Gloria - For the Glory of God Alone

Amen!

May I invite you to join our family in celebrating Reformation Day? Tonight we will be sharing a meal of German and Swiss food, watching the most excellent Martin Luther movie, playing some Reformation games, and singing songs of the Reformation. John Calvin (Young) himself will be host tonight. :-) Email me if you would like to join us.

If you can't come to us, won't you celebrate with your family anyway? Our children need to know the stories of the great men and women of God who came before us. They need to have real heroes to look up to.

Sola Deo Gloria!

For more information on Reformation Day, see last year's post.

Seeker-Friendly or God-Friendly?

Willow Creek just released a study that reveals what many have been saying all along: that if these churches were truly Seeker-Friendly, they would be pointing them toward what they are seeking - Jesus Christ. Bill Hybels has got it right when he says:

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of
faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching
people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should
have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how
to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

Unfortunately, Greg Hawkins, a Willow Creek leader, says:

Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we
take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions.
Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted
in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s
asking us to transform this planet.

Thereby missing the whole point. The WORD says in Jeremiah 6:16:

Thus says the LORD: “ Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the
old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find
rest for your souls." But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

We do NOT need to "replace it with new insights", we need to go back to the
old paths, where the good way is. Dear brothers, teach your disciples to
be Christ's disciples. Teach them to read their Bibles, to pray, to seek
expository preaching, to worship with other believers, to live according to the
Word; then you will see the only kind of church growth that matters - real
disciples.

We don't need more programs, we to get back to the basics: Five Solas.

H/T Paul Chesser

The Next Battle (Parental Guidance Suggested)

It has been deeply disturbing to me to see the radical change in our culture in the past ten years with regard to the acceptance of homosexuality. I live in the Bible Belt South and an agreement that homosexuality was perversion was nearly universal ten years ago and is a vanishing part of our culture today. What happened? The enemy reframed the debate. No longer was the issue is this right or wrong, but it became, "These poor persecuted people. They aren't hurting anyone. Let them be as happy as they can." The new argument immediately casts anyone who opposes homosexual marriage as mean, interfering, persecuting. And it's working. The cultural acceptance of what God calls an abomination grows every year. Who would have thought ten years ago that an open homosexual would seriously run for the Senate in North Carolina?

All that to bring to your attention what I believe is the next battle we face in the culture wars. May we not lose this one as we did the last. I think the next phase in the decline and fall of American culture will be the acceptance of pedophilia and child sexuality. Twenty years ago allegations of abuse at a couple of day care centers made news around the world, with everyone reading each new snippet of news with horror. Now there's a teacher accused of sexual abuse of students nearly every week and the attitude seems to be, "Ho, hum, well we got rid of the one that's a problem." No one seems to notice that there was a different one last week and will be another next week. Just like homosexuality, the incidence is growing and with it, people's consciences are seared - it seems so common.

But how in the world will the promoters of these heinous perversions convince everyone that it is just another variation of normal? I suggest that they will accomplish this by convincing us that it is the children driving it and we can not and should not restrain them from expressing themselves. We see it in the increasingly sexual clothing for children and preteens. What in the world is wrong with a father who allows his little girl to wear short shorts with juicy or sexy written across her behind? Even the world is noticing the incredibly inappropriate Halloween costumes available this year: French Maid, Bar Wench, Playboy Racy Referee -- for 8 to 11 year olds - have we collectively lost our minds? Who do these people think these girls are appealing to? It's certainly not the 8 to 11 year old boys.

Don't think all of this really means anything in the culture wars? Not sure it's really going to change anything? After all, they're just being cute, right? Well, will you believe the advocates of perversion if they tell you openly what the plan is? In Aftenposten, they do:

Pia Friis, leader of the popular Bjerkealleen Barnehage in Oslo and a well-known
pre-school educator, told newspaper Dagbladet on Tuesday that children should be
allowed to express their own sexuality at day care centers. She doesn't want to
stifle what comes naturally. Children, she said, should be able "to look at
each other and examine each other's bodies. They can play doctor, play mother
and father, dance naked and masturbate. "But their sexuality must also be
socialized, so they are not, for example, allowed to masturbate while sitting
and eating. Nor can they be allowed to pressure other children into doing things
they don't want to."

Well, that's a relief, at least they won't be eating and masturbating at the same time. This is crazy. And it is going to get crazier (read the whole thing) unless those of us with Biblical values (sex is for marriage, for those of you that grew up in Norway) stand athwart history and yell, "Stop!"

Make that Parental Guidance Desperately Needed.

IBCLC Again

Just wanted to let you guys that prayed for me back in July that I have received word that I passed the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiner's exam and I am a International Board Certified Lactation Consultant for another five years!

I was pretty pleased to see I made a 90 on the exam (passing was 67) and I think it shows, once again, that there is no need to change the requirements so that only those with a background as a healthcare provider can sit the exam. My background is as a mother of seven and long time La Leche League leader and the first time I took the exam I made one of the higher scores in the world. I just don't think we benefit from requiring a certain educational path in professions which have a certifying exam such as this one, or others like law. It is a labor-rationing scheme, a gatekeeper if you will, to limit the supply of professionals and I think the market would do a much fairer job.

A Bachelor's Degree in Burger-Flipping

What John Edwards doesn't know about economics could fill a library. Read what he plans to do if elected president:

Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says the federal
government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings
accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a
million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a
government-funded public higher education program called "College for Everyone."

I am reminded of a Gilbert and Sullivan libretto. Now, this is a little long, but I urge you to read the whole thing, because there's more good economics in this silly song than I've heard from any democratic candidate:


There lived a King, as I've been told,
In the wonder-working days of old,
When hearts were twice as good as gold,
And twenty times as mellow.
Good-temper triumphed in his face,
And in his heart he found a place
For all the erring human race
And every wretched fellow.
When he had Rhenish wine to drink
It made him very sad to think
That some, at junket or at jink,
Must be content with toddy.
With toddy, must be content with toddy.

He wished all men as rich as he
(And he was rich as rich could be),
So to the top of every tree
Promoted everybody.
Now, that's the kind of King for me.
He wished all men as rich as he,
So to the top of every tree
Promoted everybody!

Lord Chancellors were cheap as sprats,
And Bishops in their shovel hats
Were plentiful as tabby cats—
In point of fact, too many.
Ambassadors cropped up like hay,
Prime Ministers and such as they
Grew like asparagus in May,
And Dukes were three a penny.
On every side Field-Marshals gleamed,
Small beer were Lords-Lieutenant deemed,
With Admirals the ocean teemed
All round his wide dominions.
With Admirals all round his wide dominions.

And Party Leaders you might meet
In twos and threes in every street
Maintaining, with no little heat,
Their various opinions.
Now that's a sight you couldn't beat—
Two Party Leaders in each street
Maintaining, with no little heat,
Their various opinions.

That King, although no one denies
His heart was of abnormal size,
Yet he'd have acted otherwise
If he had been acuter.
The end is easily foretold,
When every blessed thing you hold
Is made of silver, or of gold,
You long for simple pewter.
When you have nothing else to wear
But cloth of gold and satins rare,
For cloth of gold you cease to care—
Up goes the price of shoddy.
Of shoddy, up goes the price of shoddy.

In short, whoever you may be,
To this conclusion you'll agree,
When every one is somebodee,
Then no one's anybody!
Now that's as plain as plain can be,
To this conclusion we agree—
When every one is somebodee,
Then no one's anybody!

And so, if Edwards is elected president, you'll need a college degree to flip burgers. It's called education inflation. Somebody clue this guy in.

H/T Matt Drudge

Where am I?

I am sitting in front of the computer desperately trolling Google in the hopes that someone in San Antonio will live blog the results of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival's Awards Ceremony. Why? My son John Calvin is down there and his film treatment, The Patriot Pastor, is a semi-finalist in the Treatment Contest. If I get down there next year, I'm going to live blog the whole thing! Why isn't someone doing that already? For that matter, why aren't you, John???

Homeschooling and Divorce

Here's a letter I posted in response to a homeschooling mother who told an email list that she was thinking of divorcing her husband because she didn't love him anymore and they were not getting along at all. I hope if you are thinking of divorcing your mate, that you will read this very carefully and think it through.

Dear Friend,

I wish I could give you a hug! I'm so glad you asked for help instead of going to a lawyer!!!!! I believe God will intervene in this situation!

Now for the tough love part: a real, practical, earthly reality check. We are state homeschool leaders and sooner or later, many problems in the homeschool community in our state cross our desk. We see a lot of divorce situations! How in the world, you're probably thinking, would a divorce affect homeschool leaders? Here's the reality check: when you divorce, you are telling the state that you can no longer run your own family, that the adults in the marriage are no longer in agreement, so can not be allowed to make decisions about the children. When you do this, the family judge has, hear me, **complete authority** over your family. Most family judges are older people who are ignorant about homeschooling and they will jump on the slightest excuse to *order* you to place your children in public school. Now, I know that there are exceptions to this, but you can't decide what judge your case comes before. Our state homeschool board members and those in other states will testify if asked, but generally to no avail. And HSLDA will not help you in custody situations, even if homeschooling is the issue.

Now, you may think that you and your husband are in agreement about homeschooling, but when it comes to a divorce, *anything* can be used as a weapon. When someone is cut to the quick - and tearing apart a one-flesh relationship definitely does this - they can react like a wounded animal. We see parents reporting each other to social services, calling the state oversight agency and making complaints, asking the judge to give them total custody, asking the judge to stop the homeschooling. We see this a *lot*because the hurt or angry mate knows how important this is to his wife. Often these are Christian, homeschooling families that no one ever thought would be in this situation.

Even if you can possibly get through the judicial situation, you are not done with your husband. When a couple with children divorces, I think they seldom realize that they will be tied to each other forever through the children and courts. One of my dear, homeschool-mom friends is allowed to homeschool, but her husband has custody every weekend (and if it is a situation where no one has done anything wrong, 50/50 custody is the norm), so she almost never gets to go to church with her son, never gets to relax on a Saturday with him. Every other holiday is alone. He is gone a lot of the summer to make up for the 5 days she has him to every 2 his father does during the week. This, if you can believe it, is one of the best situations I know - not much of a best is it?

I can not urge you strongly enough, that nothing short of a real, physical, abusive situation or unrepentent adultery is even close to worth submitting your family for the rest of your children's childhood to the authority of a probably unsaved, probably hostile judge! Trust me, we see a lot of tough situations, and divorce will not take away your problems, they will just become problems you are not allowed to change - court orders.

The next thing we see, is moms who have gotten through all that and now they have to support themselves. Generally, judges will *not* order the husband to completely support the family as before since he sees no reason the wife should not work. And if you go to work, you can bet the judge will want to know who is supervising the children and not believe you can homeschool, too. It's a vicious cycle.

Now, there are people who get through divorce more easily than this, but can you take that chance?????? If Satan cares enough about wrecking your familyto spend two years tempting you away from loving and respecting your husband, do you think he will stop when victory is in his grasp???

I'm not going to go into the spiritual and emotional rebuilding advice, because I think you are getting a lot of great help, except to say, God would not command us to love one another if it wasn't something we can choose to do and not something that comes and goes without our decision.

Dear friend, I really don't want to see you go through this! You may even be in our state. I don't want to have to see a judge take over your family. Please count the cost and ask God to restore your marriage.

With much love,
Melanie Young

The Library: Learning at Home and Time Management

A few resources to go along with my workshop on teaching your little ones at Kennebec MOPS:

Getting Ready for School:
The Three R's by Ruth Beechick

Devotions:
A Catechism for Boys and Girls
Divine and Moral Songs for Children by Isaac Watts
Your Bible - read early and often to them!B
uy several copies of the hymnbook your church uses for use at home!

Character Training:
For Instruction in Righteousness
The Brother Offended Checklist

Science Resources:
Spring and Summer in North Carolina Forests - These are older than this age range, but nice to begin reading aloud.
Fall and Winter in North Carolina Forests
The Nature Readers
Pets in a Jar
Usborne First Book of Nature
Lyrical Life Science

History Resources:
Greenleaf Guides
Tapestry of Grace
Veritas Press Their catalog alone is a great resource. You don't need scripted lessons at this age!
Your local library :-)

No, I'm Not Dead

Just busy. Really, really busy. We've done nine major college visits in the past 5 weeks, I've written 9 or 10 AP syllabuses and we've started school. I'm hoping to post a lot more in the next few weeks. I've got some great stuff queued up. This is where I'm supposed to say, "Thank you for your patience." Right? Okay! Thank you for your patience. Seriously. I appreciate you guys!