It’s raining today. It’s 9am, but it’s still dark out. That’s pretty much just what happens this time of year in Fort Wayne, but it’s fitting that today is Shadow’s last day. It feels like a funeral day.
(Note: Google has no results for the phrase “feels like a funeral day.” It’s about time it did.)
That’s right, I’m against abstinence-only sexual education.
That should make the liberals and “progressives” happy.
Before the conservatives and “obstinate, backward, Bible-thumping fundamentalists” (or whatever other labels are applied by the lib-progs) get all defensive, let me explain why.
First off, not only do I think “abstinence-only” programs should be eliminated, I also think the term “Sex Ed” should be eliminated. This implies that kids are being educated about the “noun,” the “act” of sex. Sexual education needs to be about the “adjective,” educating our children about everything that is sexual, every component of life that relates to our sexuality. (In this regard, I’m advocating for comprehensive sexual education, although not the way it’s presented by the lib-progs.)
Sexual education needs to be much more than just the mechanics of sexual intercourse, the pitfalls of STD’s and unexpected pregnancy, and how to minimize/avoid those pitfalls. Sexual education should teach healthy sexuality, which is a lot more than just the avoidance of disease and unwanted pregnancy. Sexual education should teach boys and girls how to be men and women, how to be husbands and wives, and how to be parents.
Sexual education should emphasize purity, not abstinence. What does it mean to be pure in your thoughts, in your actions when you’re alone, in the words that you say to others, in how you dress, and in how you relate to members of the opposite sex? These are the questions we need to help our children answer.
Does sexual purity involve abstinence? Certainly! But it’s much, much more than simply not having sex until married. (Speaking of which, the “stay pure until marriage” pledges have got to go too. What, once you’re married, purity goes out the window?)
Unfortunately, the lib-progs don’t like purity-based sexual education any better than abstinence-only. (If anything, they like it even less, because it dares to instill “values.”) Also, the proponents of abstinence-only programs really want the same things I’ve advocated.
My issue is really the terms of our engagement as Christians. Sometimes we try to “soften” our ideals to make them more palatable to the world.
“You don’t like our idea of ‘sexual purity’? Okay, how about ‘abstinence’?”
It’s a cheap substitute, and they’re not buying it.
You don’t like ‘creation’? Okay, how about ‘intelligent design’?”
Now the argument shifts from “is there a Creator?” to “is Intelligent Design repackaged Creationism?” I’m not sure that’s a worthwhile argument. But, that’s a topic for another time.
As Christians, we need to raise our standards. We need to define our terms appropriately, and make sure we’re pursuing the right goals. “Pro-life” is not just a positive spin on “anti-abortion.” It’s much bigger than that. “Purity” is not the same as “abstinence.” It’s much bigger than that. Let’s pursue purity, and health, and wholeness, and do so without reservation.
Christianity Today just released their list of the 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2008, and it reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about lately.
In fact, the article starts out asking something along the lines of the question I’ve been asking myself: “what’s a ‘redeeming’ film?” CT’s definition is “movies that include stories of redemption—sometimes blatantly, sometimes less so. Several of them literally have a character that represents a redeemer; all of them have characters who experience redemption to some degree—some quite clearly, some more subtly. Some are ‘feel-good’ movies that leave a smile on your face; some are a bit more uncomfortable to watch. But the redemptive element is there in all of these films.”
I’ve been wondering if Christians are too quick to praise a story because it’s supposedly “redemptive.” Usually these stories involve someone who did some bad thing(s), and by the end of the story they do something good. Is that really enough? Is something like The Blues Brothers really a “tale of redemption”?
If we are looking for stories that truly exemplify spiritual redemption, isn’t it necessary that there be a redeemer who takes on the burden of past sin? Should we be satisfied with stories that imply someone can redeem themselves?
If we are looking for stories that truly exemplify the state of redemption, shouldn’t we expect an admission of sin and repentance from sin? Is it possible to redeem someone if they’re not a captive? If sin is denied, how can there be redemption? Is it really redemption if it doesn’t result in repentance?
Obviously, we shouldn’t expect a story to mirror every aspect of the gospel. It’s not necessary for a story to be an allegory for it to display truth. However, I’m wondering if we should raise the bar of what it takes to reflect biblical truth. I think we should be on the lookout for “feel good” movies that are only redemptive from a humanistic, man-centered viewpoint.
Several weeks ago I took a look at the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort) as examples of the earliest Reformed confessional statements that still have widespread usage today. These documents were of Dutch origin, the first two written in the 1560’s, with increasing acceptance through the Netherlands and other parts of Europe. In the early 1600’s they were established as authoritative statements of Dutch Reformed Theology.
Although I didn’t mention it in my previous post, another early Reformed confession is the Second Helvetic Confession, also written in the 1560’s, by Henry Bullinger, with widespread acceptance throughout Switzerland and other germanic countries.
However, probably the most widely recognized doctrinal statements of the Protestant church are the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. These were developed in the 1640’s in England. The historical background (aside from coming about 80 years later) is rather different, due partly to the political environment at the time.
The break of the English church from the Roman church in the 1530’s was driven more by political desires than theological differences, but it created an environment that allowed the theological moorings of the church to veer away from Roman Catholicism. As the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer drafted the first doctrinal statements of the Anglican Church that distinguished the Church of England from the Roman church. It took a while for the English church to find its identity (during the reign of “Bloody” Mary I, it moved back towards Catholicism), but when Queen Elizabeth I came to power in 1558, she established a church that was entirely distinct from the Roman Catholic church. The Thirty-Nine Articles become the official doctrinal statement that defined the distinctive “middle path” (via media) of the Church of England, which was no longer Roman Catholic, but not as Lutheran or Reformed as the Reformation churches on the European continent.
With the break from the Roman Catholic church complete, the debates in the Church of England became less “Catholic vs. Reformed” and more “Episcopal vs. Puritan.” Episcopacy retained characteristics more similar to Catholicism, while Puritanism desired further reform, and favored presbyterian or congregational polity. The Puritan faction of Parliament attempted to enact further reforms to the Church, but found themselves stymied by King Charles I and his supporters. Finally in 1643 (without the assent of the king), Parliament appointed the Westminster Assembly to undertake the restructuring of the Church. Although it was intended to encompass episcopal influences as well as presbyterian, congregational, and others, the episcopalians did not participate, and the presbyterians were the majority.
Initially tasked with revising the Thirty-Nine Articles, the assignment was shifted to that of formulating the basis of a church that would be “nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland and other Reformed Churches abroad.” (The Protestant Church in Scotland, under the influence of John Knox, and the Scots Confession that he and others wrote in 1560, shared much in common with the theology of John Calvin.)
The resulting Westminster Confession, Shorter Catechism, and Larger Catechism (plus a few other documents) that the Assembly produced were adopted by the Church of England for a short period of time, being revoked in 1660. However, they were adopted by the Church of Scotland and remain the definitive doctrinal standards for many Presbyterian denominations and other Reformed groups.
The history and content of many Christian creeds has been well documented by church historian Philip Schaff in his work, Creeds of Christendom.
Two-thirds or more of Fort Wayne residents lost power this past weekend. (The power company indicates that 142 of 210 circuits in the area were damaged. In terms of customers, there were well over 100,000 customers without power, out of somewhere around 140,000 total customers in the area, I think.)
This was not a good weekend to buy a generator, kerosene or propane heater, propane, lantern, or D-cell batteries. Items that would normally be in low demand were in high demand and low supply. (Time to start thinking about getting a few of these items ahead of time.)
We lost power around 10AM on Friday. Not much to worry about, although Carrie got a little stir crazy while I was away at work. We went out for supper, bought some ice, then came home. Since temperatures were well below freezing, we just emptied out the freezer and put everything outside, then used the ice to keep things in the refrigerator cold. No need for extra blankets on Friday night, although we had the sleeping bags on hand just in case.
Saturday morning, after 24-hours without heat, the house was still around 60°F, but it was time to start thinking about what we could do to generate some heat. A trip to the library led me to believe that an indoor-safe propane heater would be the way to go. A kerosene heater may have been more powerful, but last time I was around a kerosene heater, it wasn’t something you’d want in the house.
When I went to Menards and found a long line of people standing around waiting for various and sundry items to come in off a truck, I realized that it was going to be difficult to find much of anything. I called around various home improvement and hardware stores, but nobody had anything left. Finally, the Rural King in Decatur said they still had some propane heaters, so we went for a 20 minute drive. Turned out they didn’t have quite what we were looking for, and I hated to spend over $100 for something that we might never use again and didn’t have space for. Another truck was supposed to be on the way, so we waited. The truck was supposed to go to the Decatur store, then continue on to Van Wert, but it went to Van Wert first, so we waited some more. Finally we were able to buy the “Portable Buddy” we wanted and some propane.
Our little Buddy was sufficient to raise the temperature in the living area of the house (we closed off the bedrooms) from 56°F to 61°F before bedtime, but this time the sleeping bags came in handy. The wind was ferocious Saturday night, and several times I heard a loud bang that I was sure was a tree limb falling on the roof. Still not quite sure what caused the bangs.
After a restless night of sleep, Sunday came bringing more bitter cold and high wind. Sunday afternoon I tried to buy more propane and a battery-powered lantern. No luck on either end. Oh well, we had flashlights, a propane-powered lantern if necessary, and still enough propane to get through Monday. The temperature in the house had dropped to 54°F during the day, and the Buddy was having a little harder time chasing the cold away, managing to make it 58°F.
About 7:30PM on Sunday, wrapping up a game of Scrabble played by flashlight, we were joyously interrupted by a light coming on and the furnace starting. It was still cold in the house when we went to bed, but by morning everything was normal.
Things to be thankful for:
Things that would help for next time:
As of 9AM on Monday, there are still over 43,000 AEP customers in Fort Wayne without power. The Indiana Michigan website says, “The majority of customers in Fort Wayne and Allen County should have power restored by Wednesday evening. However, it appears likely that some customers won´t be restored by Wednesday and our restoration efforts will continue through Christmas and the end of the week.”