Welcome to Word-Filled Wednesday - a place for sharing a photo and a Bible verse. I’ll give you a peek at our new kitty today, who just perfectly exemplifies the verse I’m choosing to share with you.

In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat–for he grants sleep to those he loves. Psalm 127:2

Technorati Tags: Bible verse, Psalms, kitten, Christianity, Word Filled Wednesday

Dora Renee’ Wilkerson presents Funny Clips posted at Y-2K Hippie.. That tiny piece of peanut butter fudge looks inviting.

Patricia Twitchell presents The Adventures of Penny Pincher: Penny Pincher Goes To The Rodeo… Finally posted at Just Bears and Stuff. Tiny Penny Pincher at the rodeo…too cute.

Chris presents 3 Steps to the Perfect Vegetable Garden (Part Two) posted at Smith Family Garden. The teeny tiny garden can produce giant vegetables.

AdmirableIndia.com presents Trip to Ooty: Day 2: Part 1: Ooty Lake - Boat House and Thread garden, Ooty posted at AdmirableIndia.com. Check out the teeny tiny garden made of embroidery thread!

HowToMe presents How To Make a Custom Area Rug From Carpet Remnants posted at HowToMe. What a fabulous idea - turning tiny carpet pieces into a beautiful rug!

Alison presents Help! Tomato 911! posted at Green Me. This gal is going to have a teeny tiny tomato crop if she doesn’t get help fast!

Miss Amanda presents My Learning Experience - Black Forest Cake from Scratch posted at My Learning Experience -. That tiny boy was clearly thrilled with his birthday cake.

Miss Jocelyn presents Cowtown Boots posted at A Pondering Heart. There’s not much tiny about this huge store full of cowboy boots! Wait, there is tiny stitching on Jocelyn’s favorite boots!

Jacque presents Healthy Snacks for the (Large) Homeschooling Family posted at Walking Therein. Also great for tiny families.

Have a wonderful, teeny tiny day.

*****
Next week’s Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by The Sojourner. You may submit your post with this Blog Carnival Submission Form.

I apologize, but I’m going to have to work on updating this Parents Rights post next week. We have family things to attend to all weekend, and I won’t be back to blogging until Tuesday, July 29 or so. I think I’m supposed to host the Homesteading Carnival on Monday, so I have to see how I’ll manage that away from my home computer.

At any rate, here are some of the issues I’d like to examine:

1. Parental rights in education: What happens when a family’s firmly held religious beliefs conflict with State curriculum, and students are not permitted to be excused? Are parents allowed adequate input into their child’s curriculum/education, especially for special needs children? Is there reason for concern about encroaching government involvement in oversight of private schools or homeschools?

2. Government intrusion as a threat to parental rights: the balance between government protection against child abuse and infringement on parental authority over child-raising. Also, a look at some egregious Child Protective Services cases of children injudiciously and erroneously removed from parents.

3. Is a Parental Rights Amendment necessary? Can parents rest assured that their authority to control the education and upbringing of their children is covered under the “inalienable rights” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence? Or is an explicit Parental Rights Amendment vital, and what are the problems with the language of the current Parental Rights Amendment being attempted?

4. International Law: Is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child truly in the best interests of the child (not yet ratified by the U.S.)? Should the burden of proof be upon the parent to prove they are good parents, or upon the State to consider a parent fit unless proven otherwise?

If you have any thoughts on these issues I’ll be covering, please let me know. If there’s a particular matter/case you’d like me to address, leave me a comment here. This post is going to take some thought and research, so please bear with me. We’ve had a week full of birthdays, and are heading over the mountain for more family time.

Enjoy the last weekend of July!! I love July and I’m sad to see it go…

Technorati Tags: Parental Rights Amendment, parental rights, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, education, homeschool

That sums up 1975. Do you have a memory of a favorite teacher?

Technorati Tags: childhood memories, favorite teacher, school

This new Home School Talk radio show is hosted by Dana of Principled Discovery, who has written extensively about the homeschooling situation in Germany. The guest tomorrow is Rina, an Irish woman who homeschooled her children in Germany for a period and faced constant harassment from German authorities. Rina kept a blog updated through Dec. ‘07 if you’d like to follow some of her saga there, as well as stories of many other German homeschoolers who dealt with similar harassment, fines, criminal penalties, loss of custody of children, and jail - just for homeschooling. Also a great source of updated information on German homeschooling is Kinderlehrer’s blog, Educating Germany, dedicated solely to this issue.

Whether you’re a homeschooler or not, I’d encourage anyone who cares about basic human rights, parental rights, educational choice, and living in a free and democratic society, to tune in and educate yourself on this issue. If you’re not able to listen live, but have a question, comment, or encouragement for Rina, consider emailing Dana with your thoughts to pass on to her guest.

Inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech, The Four Freedoms, dated January 6, 1941, Norman Rockwell (who I wrote about here) painted a series of freedom paintings, the first of which was The Freedom of Speech. Here is that segment of FDR’s speech mentioning the four freedoms:

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor — anywhere in the world.

I think it no coincidence that freedom of speech and expression is at the top of his list. Certainly, with Hitler’s tyranny against the slightest criticism and silencing of all forms of expression but Naziism, and with WWII then raging, Roosevelt saw a need to aggressively defend this particular freedom.

The Guardian UK published an interesting timeline of the history of free speech a few years ago. Here are a few dates that caught my eye:

399BC Socrates speaks to jury at his trial: ‘If you offered to let me off this time on condition I am not any longer to speak my mind… I should say to you, “Men of Athens, I shall obey the Gods rather than you.”‘

1516 The Education of a Christian Prince by Erasmus. ‘In a free state, tongues too should be free.’

1770 Voltaire writes in a letter: ‘Monsieur l’abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.’

1859 ‘On Liberty’, an essay by the philosopher John Stuart Mill, argues for toleration and individuality. ‘If any opinion is compelled to silence, that opinion may, for aught we can certainly know, be true. To deny this is to assume our own infallibility.’

1929 Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the US Supreme Court, outlines his belief in free speech: ‘The principle of free thought is not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate.’

1989 Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwa against Salman Rushdie over the ‘blasphemous’ content of his novel, The Satanic Verses. The fatwa is lifted in 1998.

1992 In Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky points out: ‘Goebbels was in favour of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re in favour of free speech, then you’re in favour of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise.’

Hate Crimes

Hate crimes, also known as bias motivated crimes, occur when the victim is targeted because of his membership in a certain group - racial, religious, gender, age, etc. I’m thinking of the lynching of African-Americans, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the Holocaust.

History of hate crimes legislation: The federal hate crimes statute (18 U.S.C. § 245) was originally created to protect civil rights workers in the 1960s. There were serious issues of violence regarding African-Americans enrolling in public schools, enjoying public establishments, travel issues, and more. This statute deals with racial, ethnic, national origin, and religious bias, and does not include sexual orientation. However, almost all states have much broader hate crimes legislation that does include sexual orientation.

The hype today is hate crime legislation targeting anti-gay sentiment. As far as assaults on gay people or destruction of property, or other violence toward homosexuals, there are already laws in place to deal with these crimes. So why is legislation being considered that criminalizes one’s moral or religious opposition to homosexuality? This clearly conflicts with the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech. If someone is inciting others to violence with their speech, this is another issue, but anything less than that is simply criminalizing one’s thoughts. Is this America?

The expression of moral judgment is the right of a free person in a free society, whether one agrees with it or not. There are community standards and a consensus that help guide social mores, and clearly, there is not consensus on the homosexual issue.

In 2007 the House passed HR 1592 before it was put away by the Senate. This was an attempt at expanding federal hate crime legislation and will be back. I like what Congressman Ron Paul had to say about HR 1592 (emphasis mine):

May 7, 2007

Last week, the House of Representatives acted with disdain for the Constitution and individual liberty by passing HR 1592, a bill creating new federal programs to combat so-called “hate crimes.” The legislation defines a hate crime as an act of violence committed against an individual because of the victim’s race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Federal hate crime laws violate the Tenth Amendment’s limitations on federal power. Hate crime laws may also violate the First Amendment guaranteed freedom of speech and religion by criminalizing speech federal bureaucrats define as “hateful.”

There is no evidence that local governments are failing to apprehend and prosecute criminals motivated by prejudice, in comparison to the apprehension and conviction rates of other crimes. Therefore, new hate crime laws will not significantly reduce crime. Instead of increasing the effectiveness of law enforcement, hate crime laws undermine equal justice under the law by requiring law enforcement and judicial system officers to give priority to investigating and prosecuting hate crimes. Of course, all decent people should condemn criminal acts motivated by prejudice. But why should an assault victim be treated by the legal system as a second-class citizen because his assailant was motivated by greed instead of hate?

HR 1592, like all hate crime laws, imposes a longer sentence on a criminal motivated by hate than on someone who commits the same crime with a different motivation. Increasing sentences because of motivation goes beyond criminalizing acts; it makes it a crime to think certain thoughts. Criminalizing even the vilest hateful thoughts–as opposed to willful criminal acts–is inconsistent with a free society.

HR 1592 could lead to federal censorship of religious or political speech on the grounds that the speech incites hate. Hate crime laws have been used to silence free speech and even the free exercise of religion. For example, a Pennsylvania hate crime law has been used to prosecute peaceful religious demonstrators on the grounds that their public Bible readings could incite violence. One of HR 1592’s supporters admitted that this legislation could allow the government to silence a preacher if one of the preacher’s parishioners commits a hate crime. More evidence that hate crime laws lead to censorship came recently when one member of Congress suggested that the Federal Communications Commission ban hate speech from the airwaves.

Hate crime laws not only violate the First Amendment, they also violate the Tenth Amendment. Under the United States Constitution, there are only three federal crimes: piracy, treason, and counterfeiting. All other criminal matters are left to the individual states. Any federal legislation dealing with criminal matters not related to these three issues usurps state authority over criminal law and takes a step toward turning the states into mere administrative units of the federal government.

Because federal hate crime laws criminalize thoughts, they are incompatible with a free society. Fortunately, President Bush has pledged to veto HR 1592. Of course, I would vote to uphold the president’s veto.

McCain-Feingold

Have you ever wondered recently why Dr. Dobson won’t support John McCain for President? It’s partly because of the federal legislation that John McCain (R-AZ) pushed through in 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, known as the McCain-Feingold Act. It basically restricted political free speech by placing new regulations on the financing of political campaigns - both in how much money can be raised and how and when groups can place political ads. For example, the Act requires advocacy groups to name their financial donors if they run ads within 60 days of a general election or within 30 days of a primary, if those ads were targeting candidates. In effect the McCain-Feingold Act limited the ability of groups like Focus on the Family to contact constituents about upcoming legislation.

George Will commented on it last November:

It was in 2002, when Congress was putting the final blemishes on the McCain-Feingold law that regulates and rations political speech by controlling the financing of it. The law’s ostensible purpose is to combat corruption or the appearance thereof. But by restricting the quantity and regulating the content and timing of political speech, the law serves incumbents, who are better known than most challengers, more able to raise money and uniquely able to use aspects of their offices — franked mail, legislative initiatives, C-SPAN, news conferences — for self-promotion.

Has anyone noticed how left-wing political speech (especially if you’re a Muslim) is protected and conservative political speech (especially if you’re a Christian) puts you in jail?

And did you notice how House Speaker Pelosi exercised her free speech to call President Bush a “total failure” yesterday (inciting and fueling hatred of America?), yet Pelosi referred to conservative talk-radio as “hate” radio and wants to bring back the Fairness Doctrine (effectively censors conservative opinion on TV and radio).

It’s only “hateful” speech if it’s anything under the sun the liberals disagree with; otherwise it’s “fairness.” Apparently only liberals/Muslims/gays/anybody-but-conservative-Christians deserve free speech (and deserve to hate).

Are you disturbed about infringements on free speech?

Technorati Tags: faith, McCain-Feingold, Nancy Pelosi, free speech, First Amendment, Four Freedoms, Norman Rockwel, hate speech, hate crimes, Ron Paul, Dr. Dobson, Focus on the Family

Today’s blog posts will be salted with Christian humor, and I do pray you come away with a smile on your face. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

A little boy was sitting in church next to his mother one evening. In the middle of a song, the mother thought her son was singing the song a little differently. She leaned over and heard him sing, “We bring the sacks of rice and beans.” The song was “We bring the Sacrifice of Praise.”

Keith Williams presents My NLT Odyssey: A Bible translation story posted at NLT Blog.

FMF presents Robert Kiyosaki on Tithing posted at Free Money Finance.

My daughter (now 19) was about 2 years old when we sat down at the dinner table to eat. When asked if she would like to say the blessing, she was excited to pray. With hands folded and heads bowed she began…God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food….. if he hollers, let him go…eeeenie……

Robert Minto presents Living In Heaven Today: A Meeting of Newman and Kline on the Subject of Holiness posted at The Veil Away.

Ali presents A sin with a lasting stain. posted at Kiwi and an Emu..

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”

Tiffany Partin presents I Want It My Way posted at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God.

Raffi Shahinian presents Incoherent Ramblings That Might or Might Not Have Something to Say About Jesus and Affirmative Action…You Decide posted at parables of a prodigal world.

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a “show and tell” assignment. Each student was instructed to bring in an object to share with the class that represented their religion. The first student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Benjamin and I am Jewish and this is a Star of David.” The second student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Mary. I’m a Catholic and this is a Rosary.” The third student got in up front of the class and said, “My name is Tommy. I am Methodist, and this is a casserole.”

simplyeddie presents Shadows of Christ~ The Death of Abel posted at Simple Life In Christ.

Erich Bridges presents The stars in their courses posted at CounterCulture.

The young couple invited their elderly preacher for Sunday dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the minister asked their son what they were having. “Goat,” the little boy replied. “Goat?” replied the startled man of the cloth, “Are you sure about that?” “Yep,” said the youngster. “I heard Dad say to Mom, ‘Today is just as good as any to have the old goat for dinner.’”

Steve Mounts presents A Vision of God’s Power posted at Steve Mounts.

Allen Scott presents Passports posted at A View from the Nest.

Arris Charles presents Anyone Can Balance On Their Head posted at Spirited Ink.

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then she asked the class, “If you saw a person lying on the roadside all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?” A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence with……”I think I’d throw up!”

Richard H. Anderson presents Priestly Blessing posted at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos.

Michael presents Encouragement posted at Chasing the Wind.

My son James is four. Whenever he hurts himself we lay hands on the injury and pray for healing. The other day he cut his left finger, took hold of it and prayed: “Jesus come out of my heart, go down my arm and fix my finger. Please Jesus, Amen.” Another time he said grace before our meal. “Dear God, bless our food and don’t let my sister’s head fall off”. His sister was 6 months old at the time; I couldn’t help wondering what James had planned to do with his sister.

Diane R presents Postmodern Philosophy for the Rest of Us–Part 1 posted at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet.

Fr. Joshua Wagner presents Miracle Grow! (Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A) posted at Total Possibility.

A Sunday School teacher asked her class, “what was Jesus’ mother’s name?“ A Child answered, “Mary.” The teacher then asked, “and what was her husband’s name?“ Another child answered, “The Verge.” Confused, the teacher asked, “where did you get that?“ The child replied: “You know, they are always talking about “the Verge ‘n Mary.“

Mark Olson presents A Bone To Pick (with my brethren in Christ) posted at Pseudo-Polymath.

e-Mom presents Bible Study: Jesus’ Use of Q & A posted at C h r y s a l i s.

A little child was looking through his grandmother’s Bible and found a crushed flower that was quite wilted. As it fell from the Bible He called to his Mother, “Come quick Mom, I think I found Adam’s suit.”

Drew Tatusko presents Making Pro-Life Plausible posted at Notes From Off Center.

Angela Williams Duea presents Cleaning my spirit house posted at angelawd.

My children began reciting the Lord’s Prayer at 2 1/2 years old and I remember my daughter very seriously praying, “Our father, whose art’s in Heaven, Howard is His name…”

David Porter presents A Boomer in the Pew: “Children of the Living God” - Sinclair Ferguson (Chapter 1c) posted at A Boomer in the Pew.

Ken Brown presents Islam, Christianity and the Freedom to Insult posted at C. Orthodoxy.

Stephen Hawkins presents Did Christ establish two kinds of churches? posted at Waters to Swim In.

A little boy got a new tie for his birthday. Sunday morning, he wore the new tie to church. He was so proud of his tie. He made sure everyone noticed it. Once the congregation settled down, the preacher approached the pulpit in preparation for the offering. The preacher said, “Now is the time we give back to the Lord. Please give your tithes(ties) and offerings to Christ.” The little boy looked at his father and said, “Daddy, he wants my tie!”

William Meisheid presents Knowing God Study Guide Now Complete posted at Beyond The Rim….

Weekend Fisher presents “Miracles violate the law of nature”–or do they? posted at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.

A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” His son asked, “What happened to the flea?”

Jeremy Pierce presents Novel Interpretations and Confidence posted at Parableman.

Elementaryhistoryteacher presents Reverend: False Elevation or Grammatical Error? posted at Got Bible?.

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled, “Stop! Acts 2:38!”

(Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.)

The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done. As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, “Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.” “Scripture?” replied the burglar. “She said she had an ax and two 38’s!”

John presents How to Be a God-Focused Encourager posted at Light Along the Journey.

Jot and Tittle presents Confessions of a techno geek… posted at Jot and Tittle.

Billy Graham tells of a time, during the early years of his preaching ministry, when he was due to lead a crusade meeting in a town in South Carolina, and he needed to mail a letter. He asked a little boy in the main street how he could get to the post office. After the boy had given him directions, Billy said, “If you come to the central Baptist church tonight, I’ll tell you how to get to heaven.” The boy replied, “No thanks, you don’t even know how to get to the post office!”

ChrisB presents The Bible and Capital Punishment posted at Homeward Bound.

Heath Countryman presents How Big Is Your Satan? posted at Esprit d’escalier.

Our little girl had just attended a baptismal service (by immersion). When she came home she ask her mother to fill the tub so she could baptize her dolls. Her mother listened carefully as she put them in the water…”I baptize you in the mane of the father, the son and in the hole you go!”

Rodney Olsen presents Pushing against the wind posted at RodneyOlsen.net.

Henry Michael Imler presents The Jobian Take on Righteousness posted at Theology for the Masses.

After the Christmas pageant, I asked my 6-year-old son if he remembered the gifts that the Magi brought to Jesus. He thought for a minute then said “gold, frankincense, and humor.” We could all use that!

Thank you for visiting this hilarious edition of the Christian Carnival! Next week it will be hosted by A True Believer’s Weblog. You may submit your blog post here by Tuesday, July 22, Midnight ET.

Technorati Tags: Christian Carnival, humor

Little L neglected to wear his shoes while racing around on the wooden porch, and got a big sliver in his foot. I had to pull it out, and as a last minute thought, I grabbed a lemon off the counter. Honey, squeeze this lemon as hard as you can, I advised. It will help take the pain away.

The sliver was deep and long, and I knew it hurt, but that distracted little boy squeezed his lemon so hard I could smell the citrus scent. What fun he had. I think I heard just one small peep about the sliver as I was drawing the last of it out. I made a mental note to always have lemons on hand.

If you know kids, they didn’t want to stop there. All the lemons were cut and squeezed by several tiny hands. “I popped out a seed!” was heard several times. “I squeezed more than you!” of course was on the table as well. At this point, the kids realized they were thirsty from all this squeezing. The sliver that started it all was forgotten.

The fresh squeezed lemon juice was poured with a sense of wonder. “We need water! We need sugar!” came the cries of industrious children. I tasted their creation, and it was good.

The flurry of activity didn’t end there. Before I knew it, my daughter had prepared a “lemonade for sale” sign, which was changed to “free lemonade, tips okay.” (”I usually get more money that way,” confided my seven-year-old entrepreneur.) About $7.00 later, I had a passel of sticky, lemony, sliver-free children, and felt like I had witnessed the life cycle of a lemon.

And it all started with a stubborn slice of wood stuck in my son’s foot. Truly, I don’t think I’ll forget this scenario the next time I hear the lemon cliché!

*****

Don’t forget that the Christian Carnival is here tomorrow at Diary of 1. You can still submit posts until midnight Eastern Time tonight, using this submission form.

Technorati Tags: children, Christian Carnival, lemons, making lemonade, getting out slivers

Now, I understand the point of the quote to mean that….well, hmmm, I guess I have no clue what it could mean. Does it mean that if you’ve offended or wronged someone, the best thing to do is just let it pass and ignore it? Sounds like a recipe for disaster in a marriage or any other close relationship.

Does it mean that you don’t have to say you’re sorry because you’re so perfect and never offend the one you love? I haven’t seen the movie. Perhaps the quote of “never having to say you’re sorry” was meant to apply to the comatose, the dead, the unborn, the Holy Mother, or Christ himself! Those are the ones who never wrong others. The rest of us, well, I say open your mouth and start talking.

From a biblical perspective, we are commanded to repent from our sin, and we all sin, we all hurt others in some way, shape, or form, intentional or unintentional. The essence of a true, heartfelt statement of “I’m sorry” is repentance, hopefully leading to a change in the behavior at issue - a critical factor in our life of faith. “I’m sorry, will you forgive me?” followed by a return of “Yes, I forgive you” — this makes more sense.

Can I come up with my own version of this famous love quote?

Love means saying you’re sorry as often as you possibly can!

Well, as often as needed. This would be a good piece of advice to anyone approaching marriage or anyone who has a human relationship - um, all of us. Now go love on someone.
*****

Visit Marriage Monday for more blog posts on marriage and relationships.

Dad says, “Ouch, my body is heavier than it used to be.”

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit the main page or 5 Minutes for Mom.

What are YOU doing outside today?

********

In the blogosphere, we have the current Carnival of Family Life, Carnival of Homeschooling, Christian Carnival, Marriage Monday. It’s summertime and I can’t keep up with all of these like I want to!

I will be the host of next week’s Christian Carnival, and you can submit your post HERE by Tuesday, July 15, before midnight ET, and publishing at Diary of 1 Wednesday, July 16. More information on the Christian Carnival guidelines can be found at Parableman.

Technorati Tags: Central Oregon, gymnastics, outdoor play, wordless Wednesday

I don’t promise much better at this point because the topic of religious liberty is so vast and convoluted by bizarre interpretations of the First Amendment that I can’t think straight. I’ve been looking at early original writings on religious liberty, a church history book, and modern writers on the subject. Then there’s the ACLU, the atheists, and the activist judges who muck it all up.

Here’s what we all know from the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The horrors of the Old World still near in their minds, the Founders in the New World wanted a fresh approach. The high price of enforced religious conformity, with its untold thousands of martyrs, was the climate in which the Founders were seeking true religious freedom of conscience.

I was listening to a Focus on the Family broadcast a few days ago, featuring historian David Barton, in which he talks about the large percentage of people who actually think the term “separation of church and state” appears in the Constitution, and mistake the Founders’ intent for the government to leave people alone in regards to their religion, with some twisted idea of a religion-free public life.

Here is an excellent piece on the Founders’ view of religion in public life:

The Founders’ View of Religion in Public Life

But far from wanting to expunge religion from public life, the Founders encouraged religion as a necessary and vital part of their new nation. They sought the official separation of church and state in order to build civil and religious liberty on the grounds of equal natural rights, but never intended–indeed, roundly rejected–the idea of separating religion and politics.

The Founders opposed the establishment of a national church (though the federal government did not do away with state establishments); church doctrine would not determine the laws, and laws would not determine church doctrine. However, the Founders did favor government encouragement and support of religion in public laws, official speeches and ceremonies, on public property and in public buildings, and even in public schools.

Indeed, the official separation of church and state allows and encourages (just as true religious freedom depends upon) a certain mixing of religion and politics. On the day after it approved the Bill of Rights, Congress called upon the president to ‘recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God.’ President Thomas Jefferson regularly attended church services held in the House of Representatives and allowed executive branch buildings to be used for the same purpose. Jefferson seemed to find nothing wrong with the federal government supporting religion in a non-discriminatory and non-coercive way.

Even after the ‘republican revolution’ of 1800, President Thomas Jefferson praised America’s ‘benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter.’ From The Meaning of Religious Liberty by Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.

The phase “separation of church and state” comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association, and can be read here in its entirety. In fact, this letter is the only record of Thomas Jefferson ever mentioning this phrase, and none of the other 90 or so men involved in the writing of the Constitution ever talked in terms of a “wall of separation between church and state,” but in the past 50 years, it’s been cited over 3,000 times by the courts, typically to justify the eradication of religious expression from public life.

Here’s what’s taken terribly out of context: these Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut were opposed to a “religion clause” even being in the Constitution at all. The reason is because they feared that religious privileges would thus be viewed as “favors granted” from the state, not as inalienable rights. They felt that the government guaranteeing religious liberty was a “degrading acknowledgment” and “inconsistent with the rights of freemen.”

Jefferson replies that the Danbury Baptists need not worry, that he completely agrees with them that “religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God.” The assurance of the “wall of separation between Church and State” that Jefferson mentions in this letter is a promise and commitment to this group of Christians that the language of “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” was simply meant to “restore to man all his natural rights.” Coming from the religious tyranny of England, it’s no wonder the Founders felt a need to be very explicit about religious freedom.

I discovered an interesting phrase in this very letter in which the “separation of church and state” is mentioned by Thomas Jefferson. It’s an overlooked phrase, one that has incredible bearing on current events regarding religious liberty and free speech. Are you ready?

“…the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions…”

Wow. I’ll be discussing Free Speech next week, but for now, I’ll just say that I find it quite ironic that the “separation of church and state” phrase has been latched onto and used mercilessly to eject any and all Christian thought from American public or political discourse, but this phrase has been conveniently disregarded. This phrase, were it made law by the Supreme Court, as has the “separation” phrase, should preclude such religious intolerance and government meddling like telling public schools what prayers they can or can’t say, what language is acceptable and what is not, or telling a private photography company that it violated state law by refusing (for religious reasons) to take a job photographing a lesbian commitment ceremony.

Those Danbury Baptists had some very valid concerns and clearly anticipated the religious/political landscape we now call Post-Modern America. I’m grateful for the inclusion of the Establishment Clause, however, America needs a return to the intent of the Founders before her people find themselves again under total religious tyranny at the hands of the government.

Technorati Tags: American Revolution, religious liberty, religious freedom, First Amendment, Establishment Clause

Today’s photohunt theme is pointed. The pointed spade smoothes on the mortar for the pointed rocks. This section of wall is part of the outer front facade of our home. The rock work may be done by the end of the weekend - one step closer to moving in!

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21

We are grateful to God for the blessing of this home, for however long or short He chooses for us to make this our dwelling place.

Technorati Tags: Central Oregon, construction, photo hunt, ranch, mortar, rock, masonry

We enjoyed our hometown Independence Day parade this morning, and the girls got their fill of horses…and candy. I call them “professional parade goers” since they never forget to bring their candy bags, and beg to go to any parade within a hundred mile radius. At first, I thought they just loved parades. I’m a slow learner.

Dear children! I had had to say more than once. This holiday is about FREEDOM not candy! I don’t recall this inundation with treats at my childhood 4th of July parades. It’s all in good fun, but for kids the age of mine, it can be…distracting!

We talked about the first 4th of July and will be listening to this story today about George Washington. If you have young children, I highly recommend subscribing to You Need a Story, an outstanding weekly production from Robert Green that will show up in your inbox every Tuesday or so, always an exhilarating audio adventure, maybe a classic, maybe an unknown literary gem.

Here is a photo of my kids’ favorite parade entry this year:

They adore the miniature horses, and we pass the farm where they live nearly every day, so they said a friendly hello!

And of course, our dear friends from Lone Pine Clydesdales were back at this parade, all rested from last week’s parade.

We stopped at our property on the way back to our rental house, and Big L took a moment to make a wish. “What did you wish for?” inquired JJ. “I can’t tell you!” he says.

“Was it for a great and awesome destiny?” JJ prodded. “Or a miracle?”

I loved her guesses! What a thoughtful and creative mind. I certainly have those wishes for our great nation!!

Do you have a wish for America? And any parade pictures posted? Let me know, and enjoy a lovely Independence Day, my fellow Americans.

Technorati Tags: Fourth of July, You Need a Story, American flag, Independence Day

Ho, ho, ho!! Merry Christmas in July from my little soap-beard-Santa.

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit the main page.

******
Blog carnivals:
Carnival of Family Life
Carnival of Homeschooling
Christian Carnival
The Homesteading Carnival

Technorati Tags: children, Christmas in July, wordless Wednesday