RFID CHIP EVERYONE!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Lessons from Chuck Colson!
By Ginny Dent Brant, Christian Post, Apr. 21, 2012
Chuck Colson, the former White House “Hatchet Man” who became a modern day prophet, has passed on to his heavenly reward. He was the first in the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate charges. He became an evangelical leader, author of 30 books, cultural philosopher, founder of Prison Fellowship and The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and commentator for his daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint.
He proved that prison can be a good thing. It was the place where God obtained his full attention. His time there gave Chuck a new mission in life–teaching and training prisoners to enable them to be “born again” in Jesus literally all over the world. What he lost in Watergate, his significance and power, was found in discovering God’s will for his life.
In 1975, his first book, Born Again, became a best-selling memoir. In 1978, it became a movie which impacted millions. Chuck Colson’s conversion also had an impact on my dad, Harry S. Dent, Sr. My father started the Senate Prayer Breakfast and regularly attended the White House Prayer Breakfast. When Chuck Colson (who never darkened the doors of this White House event) showed up and proclaimed he was a changed man, several people including my father pondered, “How convenient!” After all, he was being investigated for the Watergate break-in. When Chuck Colson came to my father and apologized for wrong doings against him, my father realized his conversion was authentic. It took guts for Colson to ask my father’s forgiveness for how he treated “the Southerner in the White House.” It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
After Chuck Colson’s release from prison, he began his prison ministry. In the early years, he visited Columbia, SC to speak at our Governor’s Prayer Breakfast and Columbia International University. I’ll never forget walking into our den and catching him doing the unthinkable—smoking a cigarette. The horror on my face startled him into confession. “Ginny, please understand, I’m a work in progress, and smoking’s been a part of my life for 30 years. I’m trying to break a tough habit.” Eventually, he beat it. It was a great lesson for me that we are all a work in progress. We need to be patient with other Christians as God takes us from where we are to what he wants us to be. We all start somewhere.
In the 1980’s, Chuck Colson’s soul was burdened about the changes in our culture. I’ll never forget what he told me years ago. It grieved him to see what the media was showing on TV and its effects on mainstream America. He boldly set up a meeting with the president of one of the major TV Networks. “Mr. President,” he stated, “the violence, sexual promiscuity, and disrespect as shown in these TV shows is having a profound impact on this country. The evangelicals in America are concerned.”
That president looked him straight in the eye and responded, “Mr. Colson, I appreciate your concerns, but we market what people want, and I have the research and polls right here that prove your evangelicals are watching everything you’ve just described to me.” It was a humbling moment for Chuck Colson to realize the very people he was going to bat for were batting 500 in hypocrisy. But Colson did not back down. He’s continued to stand for what is right and be a transformer of our culture.
One of my fondest memories of Chuck Colson was an Easter Service my dad, Chuck and I participated in during 1988, at a maximum security prison in SC. It was the most moving Easter Service I’ve ever attended. I sang “The Day He Wore my Crown” in voice and used sign language for visual effect. My father identified with the prisoners and gave his testimony exclaiming, “I came close to standing in your shoes. God delivered me from myself at age 48.” The homerun came when Chuck Colson stepped up to the plate and delivered a chilling message about freedom in Christ. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Here we fellowshipped with prisoners behind three sets of prison doors; yet, we stood united in Christ. Many prisoners’ faces beamed with their new found freedom in Christ. After the service, my dad and Chuck Colson went to death row to pray with some of the inmates. I later discovered this was an annual event for Chuck Colson. For 34 years, he celebrated Easter by preaching a Risen Christ to prisoners. That Easter took on a new meaning for me. Freedom from bondage to sin is a precious gift Christ has secured for us … even behind three sets of bars. No one is above or beneath the power of the gospel.
I have several of Chuck Colson’s books that were given to me as gifts. Among them is Life Sentence. After autographing the book, he told me the story behind the title—a title he had to change. The original title was The Cost of Being A Christian. It was his journey as a young Christian discovering the deep truths of the faith and discerning each of us must pay a price for our faith. He realized, however, that book title would never sell in our “me-first,” self-centered world. Simple solution. He changed the title and after hooking the reader, he gradually enabled believers to see that we, whether behind or outside prison doors, pay a price for our faith. The reader discovers this life sentence becomes the most fulfilling adventure of one’s life.
Chuck Colson trained a new generation of church and lay leaders. He challenged us by warning, “There’s too much of the world in the church and not enough church in the world.” His message through books and orations always inspired Christians to be God’s change agents in this world.
Among his 15 honorary doctorates, he was awarded the Salvation Army’s “The Others” award (Mother Teresa was the first recipient) and the prestigious Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Throughout his ministry, all awards, royalties and honorariums were donated to Prison Fellowship. He was a modern-day prophet—a man who’s mark was telling the truth, even when we were too comfortable to hear it.
Truly, our loss is heaven’s gain. But who will take up the torch and carry the message? Who will be the transformers and change agents of tomorrow? Hopefully, all of us who confess that Jesus is Lord. As for Chuck Colson, his life sentence has now been commuted to eternal rest by a loving, forgiving God. What a joy to hear those words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” For herein lies the significance of a man—not walking in the halls of power, but serving his omnipotent Creator.
Ginny Dent Brant is an educator, counselor, writer, soloist, Christian speaker and Bible study teacher. She is president of Laity Alive and Serving which her father, Harry Dent, a former aide to Richard Nixon, started in 1985. She is the author of Finding True Freedom: From the White House to the World.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Promover o Pensamento CrÃtico em Sala de Aula!
Por: Donald Ewert
o Oklahoman
7 de março de 2012
Dois projetos de lei antes que o Legislativo, House Bill 1551 e Senado Bill 1742, têm por objectivo incentivar professores de ciências para ensinar totalmente controversos assuntos cientÃficos, protegendo-os de castigo por isso. Os opositores afirmam que as contas a intenção de promover o ensino da religião. Mas a intenção de quem criou estas contas é para libertar o ensino da ciência da influência polÃtica, criando um ambiente onde os alunos a compreender a diferença entre fatos e sua interpretação e os limites da investigação cientÃfica.
No campo acadêmico foi mais abusada por polÃticos, sociólogos e causas comerciais do que ciência. A razão é simples: Ciência dá credibilidade a uma agenda porque é reverenciado como o bastião da objetividade e da verdade.
A história está repleta de exemplos de ciência sendo abusadas para alcançar agendas polÃticas ou sociais. No final do século 19, a agenda progressista polÃtica desenvolvida nos Estados Unidos com base na visão de que os governos seleção natural implÃcitas não estão fundamentadas em princÃpios duradouros, mas deve evoluir à medida que o homem evolui. No inÃcio do século 20, os movimentos de eugenia na Europa (erradicação de Hitler dos deficientes e judeus) e os EUA (Margaret Sanger e Planned Parenthood) encontraram semelhante justificação "cientÃfica" para a idéia de que os seres humanos (o Estado) deve assumir a responsabilidade por sua própria evolução.
Na década de 1930, agricultor TD Lysenko foi promovido dentro da Academia Soviética porque suas idéias não comprovadas sobre como melhorar o rendimento das culturas apoiado idéias soviéticas que o Estado poderia melhorar a raça humana e criar utopia. Mais recentemente, um juiz do Reino Unido concluiu que o filme de Al Gore "Uma Verdade Inconveniente", que foi distribuÃdo pelas escolas em os EUA eo Reino Unido promovendo a teoria de que o aquecimento global é causado principalmente pelo homem, estava sendo usado "para fazer uma polÃtica declaração e para apoiar um programa polÃtico. "
A National Science Teachers Association observou que "a polarização polÃtica da educação a mudança climática eo efeito sobre o seu ensino."
A questão não são os fatos da ciência, mas a sua interpretação para promover agendas particulares. O cidadão médio está mal equipada para fazer essa distinção. Os meios de comunicação são frequentemente cúmplices no mau uso da ciência para suas próprias agendas, repetindo afirmações sem uma análise equilibrada.
Como é que o cidadão comum sabe quando ele está sendo manipulado pelo uso indevido de informações cientÃficas? Ela pode começar na sala de aula onde as habilidades de pensamento crÃtico são ensinados e onde fatos da ciência são distinguidos de retórica e filosóficas, interpretações religiosas. Isso só pode acontecer quando os professores e alunos são livres para entrar em discussão aberta de todos os pontos de vista sobre um assunto controverso. Para isso, os alunos e os professores devem ter a liberdade de se envolver em discussões de temas polêmicos, sem a ameaça de represálias por parte dos pais ou administradores.
Os projetos de lei antes de o Legislativo dar um passo importante para a criação de um ambiente onde as habilidades de pensamento crÃtico pode ser desenvolvida em sala de aula. Temos de parar de educar nossos filhos a se comportar como ovelhas, mas como pensadores crÃticos que possam tomar decisões boas para a sociedade.
Ewert, de Edmond, é um cientista da pesquisa.
o Oklahoman
7 de março de 2012
Dois projetos de lei antes que o Legislativo, House Bill 1551 e Senado Bill 1742, têm por objectivo incentivar professores de ciências para ensinar totalmente controversos assuntos cientÃficos, protegendo-os de castigo por isso. Os opositores afirmam que as contas a intenção de promover o ensino da religião. Mas a intenção de quem criou estas contas é para libertar o ensino da ciência da influência polÃtica, criando um ambiente onde os alunos a compreender a diferença entre fatos e sua interpretação e os limites da investigação cientÃfica.
No campo acadêmico foi mais abusada por polÃticos, sociólogos e causas comerciais do que ciência. A razão é simples: Ciência dá credibilidade a uma agenda porque é reverenciado como o bastião da objetividade e da verdade.
A história está repleta de exemplos de ciência sendo abusadas para alcançar agendas polÃticas ou sociais. No final do século 19, a agenda progressista polÃtica desenvolvida nos Estados Unidos com base na visão de que os governos seleção natural implÃcitas não estão fundamentadas em princÃpios duradouros, mas deve evoluir à medida que o homem evolui. No inÃcio do século 20, os movimentos de eugenia na Europa (erradicação de Hitler dos deficientes e judeus) e os EUA (Margaret Sanger e Planned Parenthood) encontraram semelhante justificação "cientÃfica" para a idéia de que os seres humanos (o Estado) deve assumir a responsabilidade por sua própria evolução.
Na década de 1930, agricultor TD Lysenko foi promovido dentro da Academia Soviética porque suas idéias não comprovadas sobre como melhorar o rendimento das culturas apoiado idéias soviéticas que o Estado poderia melhorar a raça humana e criar utopia. Mais recentemente, um juiz do Reino Unido concluiu que o filme de Al Gore "Uma Verdade Inconveniente", que foi distribuÃdo pelas escolas em os EUA eo Reino Unido promovendo a teoria de que o aquecimento global é causado principalmente pelo homem, estava sendo usado "para fazer uma polÃtica declaração e para apoiar um programa polÃtico. "
A National Science Teachers Association observou que "a polarização polÃtica da educação a mudança climática eo efeito sobre o seu ensino."
A questão não são os fatos da ciência, mas a sua interpretação para promover agendas particulares. O cidadão médio está mal equipada para fazer essa distinção. Os meios de comunicação são frequentemente cúmplices no mau uso da ciência para suas próprias agendas, repetindo afirmações sem uma análise equilibrada.
Como é que o cidadão comum sabe quando ele está sendo manipulado pelo uso indevido de informações cientÃficas? Ela pode começar na sala de aula onde as habilidades de pensamento crÃtico são ensinados e onde fatos da ciência são distinguidos de retórica e filosóficas, interpretações religiosas. Isso só pode acontecer quando os professores e alunos são livres para entrar em discussão aberta de todos os pontos de vista sobre um assunto controverso. Para isso, os alunos e os professores devem ter a liberdade de se envolver em discussões de temas polêmicos, sem a ameaça de represálias por parte dos pais ou administradores.
Os projetos de lei antes de o Legislativo dar um passo importante para a criação de um ambiente onde as habilidades de pensamento crÃtico pode ser desenvolvida em sala de aula. Temos de parar de educar nossos filhos a se comportar como ovelhas, mas como pensadores crÃticos que possam tomar decisões boas para a sociedade.
Ewert, de Edmond, é um cientista da pesquisa.
Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom:
By Donald Ewert
The Oklahoman
March 7, 2012
Two bills before the Legislature, House Bill 1551 and Senate Bill 1742, aim to encourage science teachers to fully teach controversial scientific subjects by protecting them from retribution for doing so. Opponents claim the bills intend to promote the teaching of religion. But the intent of those who created these bills is to free the teaching of science from political influence, creating an environment where students understand the difference between facts and their interpretation, and the limits of scientific enquiry.
No academic field has been more abused by politicians, sociologists and commercial causes than science. The reason is simple: Science lends credence to an agenda because it's revered as the bastion of objectivity and truth.
History is replete with examples of science being abused to achieve political or social agendas. In the late 19th century, the progressive political agenda developed in the United States based on the view that natural selection implied governments are not founded on lasting principles, but must evolve as man evolves. In the early 20th century, Eugenics movements in Europe (Hitler's eradication of the disabled and Jews) and the U.S. (Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood) found similar “scientific” justification for the idea that humans (the state) must take responsibility for their own evolution.
In the 1930s, agriculturalist T.D. Lysenko was promoted within the Soviet Academy because his unproven ideas about improving crop yields supported Soviet ideas that the state could improve the human race and create utopia. More recently, a judge in the United Kingdom found that Al Gore's film “An Inconvenient Truth,” which was distributed to schools in the U.S. and U.K. promoting the theory that global warming is primarily caused by humans, was being used “to make a political statement and to support a political program.”
The National Science Teachers Association noted “the political polarization of climate change education and the effect on their teaching.”
At issue are not the facts of science but their interpretation to promote particular agendas. The average citizen is ill-equipped to make this distinction. The media are often complicit in the misuse of science for their own agendas by repeating claims without balanced analysis.
How does the average citizen know when he's being manipulated by the misuse of scientific information? It can start in the classroom where critical thinking skills are taught and where facts of science are distinguished from rhetoric and philosophical, religious interpretations. This can only happen when teachers and students are free to enter into open discussion of all views on a controversial subject. To do that, students and teachers must have the freedom to engage in discussions of controversial issues without the threat of repercussions from parents or administrators.
The bills before the Legislature take an important step toward creating an environment where critical thinking skills can be developed in the classroom. We must stop educating our children to behave like sheep, but rather as critical thinkers who can make good decisions for society.
Ewert, of Edmond, is a research scientist.
The Oklahoman
March 7, 2012
Two bills before the Legislature, House Bill 1551 and Senate Bill 1742, aim to encourage science teachers to fully teach controversial scientific subjects by protecting them from retribution for doing so. Opponents claim the bills intend to promote the teaching of religion. But the intent of those who created these bills is to free the teaching of science from political influence, creating an environment where students understand the difference between facts and their interpretation, and the limits of scientific enquiry.
No academic field has been more abused by politicians, sociologists and commercial causes than science. The reason is simple: Science lends credence to an agenda because it's revered as the bastion of objectivity and truth.
History is replete with examples of science being abused to achieve political or social agendas. In the late 19th century, the progressive political agenda developed in the United States based on the view that natural selection implied governments are not founded on lasting principles, but must evolve as man evolves. In the early 20th century, Eugenics movements in Europe (Hitler's eradication of the disabled and Jews) and the U.S. (Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood) found similar “scientific” justification for the idea that humans (the state) must take responsibility for their own evolution.
In the 1930s, agriculturalist T.D. Lysenko was promoted within the Soviet Academy because his unproven ideas about improving crop yields supported Soviet ideas that the state could improve the human race and create utopia. More recently, a judge in the United Kingdom found that Al Gore's film “An Inconvenient Truth,” which was distributed to schools in the U.S. and U.K. promoting the theory that global warming is primarily caused by humans, was being used “to make a political statement and to support a political program.”
The National Science Teachers Association noted “the political polarization of climate change education and the effect on their teaching.”
At issue are not the facts of science but their interpretation to promote particular agendas. The average citizen is ill-equipped to make this distinction. The media are often complicit in the misuse of science for their own agendas by repeating claims without balanced analysis.
How does the average citizen know when he's being manipulated by the misuse of scientific information? It can start in the classroom where critical thinking skills are taught and where facts of science are distinguished from rhetoric and philosophical, religious interpretations. This can only happen when teachers and students are free to enter into open discussion of all views on a controversial subject. To do that, students and teachers must have the freedom to engage in discussions of controversial issues without the threat of repercussions from parents or administrators.
The bills before the Legislature take an important step toward creating an environment where critical thinking skills can be developed in the classroom. We must stop educating our children to behave like sheep, but rather as critical thinkers who can make good decisions for society.
Ewert, of Edmond, is a research scientist.
