Freedom of Speech? What's That?

Bon soir, mes amis! It's a beautiful, cool evening here at the cabin. Aggie's lain at my feet and I'm watching Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". Have you seen it? Ben Stein produced and directed this documentary exposing and exploring the lack of academic freedom in secondary education, particularly in the science classroom.

Did you know that many different Molecular and Cellular Biology, Astronomy, Physics, and even Neurology Professors from American Universities have been disciplined by their superiors for simply mentioning the possibility that Darwin's theories regarding the origin of life may lack sufficient evidence? I show this film to my students every semester and they write a response that reveals how shocked they are to find out about the science 'sin' of teaching anything besides evolution.

One professor that Stein interviews was fired from George Mason University because on the first day of class, she showed her students a slideshow previewing the class material. One slide showed the textbook definition of neo-Darwinism versus the textbook definition of Intelligent Design. Apparently it made one of her students so upset that he or she ran straight to the Dean of her department and complained. Three days later, the professor was asked to vacate her office because they claimed she had taught Creationism.

Freedom of speech is something we Americans take for granted, but if my predictions are right, it will not be long before our freedom to teach, preach, show, or say anything that might point to our moral, ethical, and religious beliefs will be 'too offensive' for some. The Ten Commandments apparently have no place in American courthouses anymore as one or two of them just don't line up with American laws. We wouldn't want to force our children to have to say the word "God" so we let them skip the Pledge of Allegiance. And we certainly don't need any religious symbols like crosses to be displayed in public. What would people think? No 'Merry Christmas'. No 'God bless you'. No 'I'll be praying for you'. God help us stay strong in our faith and our boldness for Jesus Christ. Jesus said in Mark 8:38 that "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

One day every single person who denies that Jesus is the Son of God in this life will open their eyes and behold Him, but it will be too late. For those of us who have asked Christ to take away our sins, we must continue to show Him boldly in this world of darkness and corruption. I know the risk I've taken every time I've showed "Expelled" to my classes. Yes, I've had students who disagreed with Ben Stein's thoughts on academic freedom and who have made their own opinions quite clear in class, but I won't let it keep me from warning my Freshmen students of what they will face in the next four years of their lives. I may not be able to give my own opinions in the classroom, but I will show the love of Christ. I hope you'll do the same at your school or at your work. Don't be afraid to share the love of God! If someone gets offended, it's their problem, not yours!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Go Dawgs!

Learning to Follow

Hello virtual world. How nice of you to drop by! I've decided to try blogging, which, in the uber-exciting world of English academia, is considered treasonistic at best. May my colleagues forgive me.

I feel that I must needs go to Blogland and write a semi-daily account of my reckonings and my cipherings (as my lovely Pastor so elequently relates) in this race to the finish line. So, armed with my Life Application B-I-B-L-E, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and my handy-dandy spell check, this dumb sheep is ready for battle. Oh, and Aggie is a great help too, but not right now because she's asleep at my bedside with her legs flailed in the air, paws twitching as she chases an imaginary who-knows-what.

They say everyone has been given a spiritual gift. Mine is black and white, weighs about 75 pounds, and lifts her paws together in the air to pray. Aggie is my better half until I meet my better half. She's an intense friend and follows me wherever I go, even to places where I would rather be left alone, if you get my drift.

This dumb sheep could learn a thing or two from her best friend. In fact, I think most Christians could learn a thing or two from man's best friend. Let's take what happened last Saturday, for example.

My brother and I took Aggie walking at the local high school. They have a great track circling the football field and both are fenced in completely. So I let Aggie off the leash and after about thirty minutes of running like there's no tomorrow, she found a spot of grass that was apparently more comfortable than the other acre and a half of grass and threw herself on the ground.

She would watch as I walked around the field, and as I approached her chosen spot, my little girl would run several yards ahead and throw herself down again in a new spot. She repeated this until I had walked several laps, never letting me get ahead of her. I could almost see a smirky grin on her face as she reveled in being off the leash and free to go wherever she pleased. Even then, she didn't stray far, but just far enough to stay out of my reach so that she could run away again when I got too close.

Sound familiar? Just like Aggie, we love the freedoms that this life offers. We love feeling like we're in control of life, and let's be honest, we love to stay just far enough ahead of God so that we can look back and make sure He's still there for us if we ever need Him, but not close enough to actually lead us or impact our daily lives.

Jesus only asked his disciples to lead others after they had spent three years learning to follow. I think this is one area of discipleship training that we have neglected. Learning to follow Christ goes against everything this world is telling us. We are bombarded with messages of individualism, self-preservation, materialistic success, and the importance of leadership. But Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" -Matthew 19:21. What a backwards concept: Forget the American dream. Give up the career that you've worked so long to secure. Sell your dream house. Get rid of your toys, your timeshare, your season tickets. Give me your plans, your retirement, your life, your children's lives.

And gain everything.

I don't know about you, but I'm going to work on my following skills. That includes my patience, my waiting on the Lord, my seeking His will for the little decisions, and my not being offended when Jesus leads me down a different road than I wanted to go. And while I'm working on these, Aggie and I will work on her shaking skills, which at this point are nonexistent.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll tune in next time for more adventures with a dumb sheep and a smart dog! Bon voyage, mes amis.