Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, author of Love and Economics:It Takes a Family to Raise a Village,
Advocates of same-sex “marriage” insist that theirs is a modest reform: a mere expansion of marriage to include people currently excluded. But the price of same-sex “marriage” is a reduction in tolerance for everyone else, and an expansion of the power of the state.
Trailer for the DVD Demographic Winter
What is "demographic winter?" If you haven't heard this buzzword yet you will shortly. It refers to the belief that we are about to experience the opposite of a "population bomb." Abortion, failure to reproduce, denigration of traditional families and other factors are working to depopulate developed societies around the globe. In the short run, this will have the noticeable effect of Islamicizing regions such as Western Europe, a trend most ably discussed by political writer Mark Steyn in his bestseller America Alone
Worldwide, birthrates have been halved in the past 50 years. There are now 59 nations, with 44% of the world’s population, with below-replacement fertility
Sometime in this century, the world’s population will begin to decline. At a certain point, the decline will become rapid. We may even reach population free-fall in our lifetimes.
For some countries, population decline is already a reality. Russia is losing three-quarters-of-a-million people a year. Its population (currently 145 million) is expected to fall by one-third by 2050....
Of the 10 countries with the lowest birthrates, 9 are in Europe. Overall, the European fertility rate is 1.3, well below replacement level (2.1). No European nation has a replacement-level birthrate.
Italy’s fertility rate is 1.2. Spain’s is 1.1. That means in the not-too-distant future, absent massive immigration, these countries will lose half of their people in every generation.
Russia’s birthrate fell from 2.4 in 1990 to 1.17 today – a decline of more than 50% in less than 20 years. Each year, there are more abortions than live births in the Russian Federation.
Can churches hold on to teens and young adults? "Many churches are losing young people because there's not enough activities or support," said Josefina Cespedes, a community educator and member of the Pentecostal Church John 3:16. Many of the churches are old-fashioned, she said. "Churches are failing in providing enough resources for support to adjust to the new generation," Cespedes said. Even the pastors' children have expressed doubt. Two years ago, Pavon's oldest son, Edward, stopped attending church for six months. "I wanted to explore the world," Edward Pavon said. "I didn't want to listen to my dad or mom. I was tired of it." His rebellion left his parents in tears. Read the Stamford Advocate story "Raised in the Church," and the other stories in the series they are currently running about churches and immigrants.
Well, one reason anyway. I came across this interesting piece about education. Here's an 8th-grade final exam from a Kansas school in the year 1895.
“Grammar. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications. Define verse, stanza and paragraph. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of ‘lie’, ‘play’ and ‘run’. Define case; Illustrate each case. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
“Arithmetic. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold? If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare? District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals? Find the cost of 6720 lbs. of coal at $6.00 per ton. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
“U.S. History. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War. Show the territorial growth of the United States. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
“Orthography. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication? What are elementary sounds? How classified? What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’. (Huh?). Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
“Geography. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend? How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas? Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean? Describe the mountains of North America. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
Peter Wolfgang at FIC has a noteworthy piece here about cohabitation and child violence. I suppose it would be too much for people to acknowledge that the twin evils of easy divorce and cohabitation are actually evil, but perhaps crimes of violence against children will cause some people to think.
But Portland First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield
Expresses First Amendment Concerns
A professing Christian in Portland, Connecticut has taken the career-threatening step of using the "C word" - "Christian" - in his role as a public official. In a Middletown Press article about the possibility of adult entertainment in that small town (pop. 10,000 approx.) we learn that:
The town presently has no adult entertainment venues. However, there have been persistent rumors that one may be in the offing.
The town restricts adult entertainment from being established closer than 500 feet from schools, churches, public parks, etc.
Deanna L. Rhodes, the town's planning and land use administrator, has proposed increasing the boundary to 750 feet.
But Selectman Scott A. Adamsons is pressing for a wider boundary.
When the selectmen discussed the issue earlier this week, Adamsons initially proposed a 3,000-foot barrier; however, he was persuaded to reduce that to 1,000 feet. But in a subsequent written communication, Adamsons said his real intent to is "take a stand on principle and ask for a three-mile buffer."
"As a responsible Christian and public official, it is my duty to bring this concept before the board and the community," Adamsons said.
First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield cautioned Adamsons that an effort to enact more stringent regulations could run afoul of court rulings that have designated adult entertainment as "protected free speech."
Adamsons was unmoved, however, saying that is a fight he would welcome. He said he wanted to "protect kids from doing things they probably shouldn't be doing." And, he said, adult entertainment is one of three of what he called "the fatal vices," the other two being gambling and alcohol.
Should you homeschool? Maybe this young lady's parents should have...
Hat Tip to Judy Aron
Even though it has taken off like a rocket in recent years, the very thought of homeschooling can still be very intimidating. And lack of information can breed paralysis, too. There are lots of questions. Am I capable of teaching my kids? How much will it cost? What are the legalities? Do homeschoolers sit around in calico dresses watching Anne of Green Gables
If I were interested in homeschooling, where would I go for dependable information? Here's a list of some top resources for Connecticut homeschoolers and those wondering whether they should take the plunge:
As we head back to school many are touting as good news the results of a recent MTV/AP poll showing what teens really think and want:Religion and spirituality are an integral part of happiness for most American young people. 44 percent say that religion and spirituality are either a very important or the single most important thing in their lives, with more than one in ten reporting the latter. And those for whom religion and spirituality play a bigger role in life tend to be happier. 80 percent of those who say spirituality is the most important thing in life say they are happy with life in general, compared with 60 percent of those who say that spirituality is not an important part of life at all.
This is comforting, and Christian groups should take heed:
Bob Waliszewski, director of Focus on the Family's Plugged In magazine and Web site, said teens want sustenance for their souls.
“It’s no surprise to find out that kids are searching. Many of them consider themselves ‘spiritual’ – I say that in quotation marks. It doesn’t say that they are Christians or evangelicals. But they are wired by God to seek after a Creator.
“I think one of the things that this study could help lead to is more openness, especially on campus, for student-led groups exploring Christianity.”
In the office of the DAD they had phones like this one
The DAD.
That's not an acronym. It's Dad. Your Pop. The Old Man. He was the best social program we ever had, back in the day when we had them - and only one, mind you, not two.
In an article entitled Urban Pathology And Distance, Don Pesci nails it:
If the root cause of urban pathologies is to be found, as some analysts have suggested, in partial family structures – single parent households abandoned by fathers, or those in which fathers never were present – then a solution to the pathologies must include a restoration of more adequate social structures.
What is the possibility that architects of social policy, including politicians and legislators, will in the future dedicate themselves to writing laws and policies that encourage the formation of traditional family structures, remembering that such legislation must include sanctions that discourage less successful forms?
To ask the question is to answer it. There are many powerful political interests arrayed against such a restoration, and politicians are not celebrated for an excess of courage in opposing powerful and politically well connected interests. Children in the cities are the victims of such timidity, not to say cowardice; and however much money is thrown their way, they will continue to be victimized by a system of sanctions and rewards that is blissfully unconcerned with families and convinced – despite clear evidence to the contrary – that it is possible for a village to raise a child in the absence of honorable, loving and working fathers.
Spiritual damage is harder to see than weather damage
What is the answer to the American church's inability to retain young people? LifeWay research points us the pressing problem:
Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.
"This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Ed Stetzer, director of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"It seems the teen years are like a free trial on a product. By 18, when it's their choice whether to buy in to church life, many don't feel engaged and welcome," says associate director Scott McConnell.
The statistics are based on a survey of 1,023 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who said they had attended church at least twice a month for at least one year during high school. LifeWay did the survey in April and May. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The survey found that those who stayed with or returned to church grew up with both parents committed to the church, pastors whose sermons were relevant and engaging, and church members who invested in their spiritual development.
"Too many youth groups are holding tanks with pizza. There's no life transformation taking place," Stetzer says. "People are looking for a faith that can change them and to be a part of changing the world."
Watertown police have arrested seven men in the Waterbury for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old boy. Among those arrested were a former police lieutenant, a prominent businessman, and a judicial marshal.
In Stratford there is an uproar over an alleged sexual assault by one boy on another in a public school. Sadly, there's almost no shock value to these stories any more - except that in this case both boys were only 6 years old! Christine from The Thinking Mother blog has more on this.
Kids need to be protected - and the only way to do that is to root out of society the things that are influencing people, particularly men, to act out these behaviors.
Is anyone going to step up to the plate and begin to explain in loud detail the facts about what repeated exposure to pornography does to people's minds and brain chemistry? It is imperative that we begin to address obscenity at the roots at the problem.
Across Litchfield County schools are delaying their opening this morning by 90 minutes in response to a bomb threat received by phone yesterday at a State police barracks. According to Channel 8:
The caller did not indicate what high school or what town. Hours after the call was made, the following school districts in Northwest Connecticut decided to put off the opening bell by 90-minutes:
- Torrington Public Schools including Oliver Wolcott Technical High School
- Litchfield Public Schools
- Plymouth School District
- Regional School District #6
- Regional School District #10
- Regional School District #12
- Regional School District #15
- The Arch Bridge School in Bethlehem
- Hartland School District
- Watertown Public Schools
- Thomaston School District
- Explorations Charter School in Winsted
- New Milford School District, no AM kindergarten
"We want to insure schools were safe and do a walk through at every school and be sure that any possible threat is eliminated before we bring students or staff in," said Litchfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dominick Vita.
As we've commented recently, we need to step up our level of prayer for our youth.
