You Know, You Grow

10 POLITICAL Things You Can't Do While Following Jesus

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:55:58 -0400

10 POLITICAL Things You Can't Do While Following Jesus:

Jesus didn’t worry much about stepping on political toes, and the Bible insists that governments be just toward the least of these (the books of the prophets alone make this point very clear).

In response to my last article, “10 Things You Can’t Do While Following Jesus,” I was accused multiple times of being political. All I was trying to do was follow Jesus. So, I thought it’d be interesting (and generate tons more hate mail) to show what a list would actually look like if I were being political intentionally. Like the first list, this is not a complete list but it’s a pretty good place to start.

There will be those who comment and send me messages berating me for “making Jesus political.” It’s okay. Fire away. Jesus didn’t worry much about stepping on political toes, and the Bible insists that governments be just toward the least of these (the books of the prophets alone make this point very clear). Frequently, people who are the most vocal about not making Jesus political are the same people who want prayer in school and laws based on their own religious perspectives. By a happy little circumstance that brings us to my list:

10) Force your religious beliefs and practices on others.

One of the strengths of the faith Jesus taught was in its meekness. The faith he taught valued free will over compulsion – because that’s how love works. Compelling people to follow any religion, more or less your personal religion, stands over and against the way Jesus practiced his faith. If you are using the government to compel people to practice your spiritual beliefs, you might be the reason baby Jesus is crying. This does get tricky. There is a difference in letting your beliefs inform your political choices and letting your politics enforce your religion. This article is about the first part.

9) Advocate for war.

There’s a reason why he was called the Prince of Peace. Sure, you can quote, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword,” and even two or three other verses, but they don’t hold a candle to the more than fifty-some verses where Jesus speaks about peace and peacemaking. It’s funny how things keep coming back to love but it needs to be said, it is way far away from loving a person to kill them. I guess there’s a reason why we say, “God is love.” In the end, love wins.

8) Favor the rich over the poor.

This is actually related to #4. Favoring the rich over the poor is a slap in the face of Jesus, his life, and his teachings. In terms of the teachings of Jesus, it is bad enough when we allow the rich to take advantage of the poor, but when we create laws that not only encourage the behavior but also protect it? Well, let’s just say it becomes crystal clear how ironic it is that we print, “In God We Trust,” on our money.

7) Cut funding that hurts the least of these.

To some degree, this is the inverse of #8. Favoring the rich is despicable. We Jesus minions should avoid it. Hurting the poor? Well, that’s just … just … um, something a whole lot worse than despicable. Despicabler? Über-despicable? When Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do it to me,” he meant it. When you cut funding and it hurts people, according to Jesus, you are hurting him.

6) Let people go hungry.

Well, well, well. What have we here? Is this an item from the original top ten list which I claimed was not politically motivated? Looks like I’ve stepped into my own clever trap! Muh wah ha ha! Seriously though, of course it’s on both lists. It is a spiritual issue and it is a political issue. Spiritually, Gandhi said, “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Politically, hunger causes problems with education, production, and civil behavior that are all necessary for a successful nation. More importantly for Christians, Jesus said when we feed the hungry, we are feeding him. So, yes, this item is on both lists – and I’m going to do it again.

5) Withhold healthcare from people.

This time I’m not only repeating an item, I’m repeating a lot of what I said. Did you ever play the game “Follow the Leader?” If you don’t do what the leader does, you are out. Following means you should imitate as closely as possible. When people who were sick needed care, Jesus gave it to them. If we are following Jesus, we will imitate him as closely as possible. No, the government can’t repeat the miracles he did but I’ve seen modern medicine do things that are about as close to a miracle as I expect to get. While the government can’t do miracles, it can supply modern medicine. Every year, 45,000 people die in the U.S. because of the lack of healthcare. We Christians like to talk about “saving” people. Well, I know of about 45,000 people who’d love for us to do it and we should – because that’s how love works.

4) Limit the rights of a select group of people.

Jesus loves everybody – but he loves me best. Kind of sits the wrong way with you, doesn’t it? Well, it should and with good reason. If you spend any time reading the Bible you know that we all were made in God’s image. Exactly which part of us is in God’s image is less clear, but what is clear is that we were equally made in the image of God. Any law that doesn’t treat people equally is as good as thumbing your nose at God. Even worse? Doing it in the name of God or based on religious beliefs (see #10).

3) Turn away immigrants.

Christian heritage runs through Judaism. We are an immigrant people. Even our religion began somewhere else. Our spiritual ancestors, Abraham and Sarah, were told by God to pick up what they had and start traveling. Moses, Miriam, and Aaron led a nation out of Egypt, into the desert and ultimately to new lands. Even Jesus spent part of his childhood as a foreigner in a foreign land. As Exodus says, we know how it feels to be foreigners in a foreign land. If you don’t think being foreigners in a foreign land is still our story, ask the Native Americans. At best, turning away immigrants makes us hypocrites; at worst, it makes us betrayers of our ancestors and our God.

2) Devalue education.

We learn in Proverbs that wisdom is something in which God delights daily. As a matter of fact, according to Proverbs, wisdom is better than gold. When you look at the percentage of our budget that goes to education and at what Congress is trying to do to student loans, it’s pretty clear that delighting in wisdom is something our government no longer does.

1) Support capital punishment — execution.

Jesus died by execution. He was an innocent man. Every year, innocent people die by execution in our nation. It’s time to be a shining city on a hill. It’s time to express the fullness of love, to express the value of life. It’s time to stop the government-sanctioned killing.

Mark Sandlin currently serves as the minister at Vandalia Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, N.C. He received his M. Div. from Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity and has undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and English with a minor in Computer Science. He’s an ordained minister in the PC(USA) and a self-described progressive.

How To Create Powerful Student-Teacher Relationships - Edudemic

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:46:03 -0400

How To Create Powerful Student-Teacher Relationships - Edudemic:

In this insightful essay, Annette Louise Brown examines how to build useful and powerful student-teacher relationships - and why it’s beyond important.

Photo

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:45:37 -0400

The Common Core’s fundamental trouble

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:57:54 -0400

The Common Core’s fundamental trouble:

The same heavy-handed, top-down policies that forced adoption of the standards require use of the Common Core tests to evaluate educators. This inaccurate and unreliable practice will distort the assessments before they’re even in place and make Common Core implementation part of the assault on the teaching profession instead of a renewal of it. The costs of the tests, which have multiple pieces throughout the year plus the computer platforms needed to administer and score them, will be enormous and will come at the expense of more important things. The plunging scores will be used as an excuse to close more public schools and open more privatized charters and voucher schools, especially in poor communities of color. If, as proposed, the Common Core’s “college and career ready” performance level becomes the standard for high school graduation, it will push more kids out of high school than it will prepare for college.

This is not just cynical speculation. It is a reasonable projection based on the history of the NCLB decade, the dismantling of public education in the nation’s urban centers, and the appalling growth of the inequality and concentrated poverty that remains the central problem in public education.

Britain charges ex-Citigroup trader in Libor scandal

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:35:07 -0400

liberalsarecool:

“Britain charges ex-Citigroup trader in Libor scandal Tom Hayes, a former trader at UBS and Citigroup, is charged for his alleged role in Libor manipulation.”

Can you imagine the US ever bringing a banker to justice over all the fraud committed this past decade?

http://usat.ly/11WcE4K

Just sayin’

"NCTQ found only one-quarter of teacher training programs require applicants to come from the top..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:48:13 -0400

“NCTQ found only one-quarter of teacher training programs require applicants to come from the top half of their classes. It also found that few programs are preparing prospective teachers for the Common Core State Standards, and that 75 percent of programs aren’t teaching teachers specific methods of instruction “that could substantially lower the number of children who never become proficient readers.” Instead, they’re expecting trainees to develop their own teaching philosophies. “As if a 21-year-old could have their own philosophy about reading,” Walsh said. “In any other field, this would be malpractice. If you don’t acknowledge that there are core skills, anything goes.””

- Teacher Preparation Program Rankings Make U.S. News Debut

They talk a lot about legislation to make it harder to become a teacher so the process is more rigorous. That’s all well and good, but where’s the damn legislation to pay them better? You want to make it harder? Pay them better. Period.

Or are we all going to be like North Carolina and not give teachers a pay raise for five years (and counting)? Or Chicago and only close schools that serve the African American kids?

(via world-shaker)

"“Right now, much of higher ed believes that it’s not their job to have a teacher be ready for the..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:26:47 -0400

“

“Right now, much of higher ed believes that it’s not their job to have a teacher be ready for the classroom on Day 1,” says Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Her organization’s study of more than 1,100 colleges of education found that 7 out of 10 programs did not adequately teach candidates how to teach reading. Nine out of 10 did a poor job preparing them to teach basic subjects like English, math, science or history. Training in classroom management and the use of student data was lacking.

The damage to K-12 education, says Walsh, is enormous, and she is on a mission to expose what she calls “widespread malpractice” in the field of teacher education.

”

- I feel like this is something we should talk about. You can read the rest of the article here. Thoughts? Rebuttal? Comments? (via tomesaway)

Or we could talk about the mostly online diploma mills which are doing huge business in supposedly advanced education degrees with teachers and administrators alike. It’s shameful. The whole system is a crock.

(via allisonunsupervised)

Children and Hedge Fund Profits

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:23:00 -0400

Children and Hedge Fund Profits:

Once people realize that their own children are being experimented upon and used for profits, the greed grab will end. The testing craze, the corporate education reform industry, the for-profit and…

Governor Rick Scott on whether paid sick leave is a good idea:

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:19:54 -0400

positivelypersistentteach:

kicksandgiggles:

think-progress:

Florida’s governor just signed a bill BANNING paid sick leave.

…well okay then…

What the hell?

Fathers Who Care For Their Children Are Penalized At Work

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:51:09 -0400

Fathers Who Care For Their Children Are Penalized At Work:

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Fathers who spend time caring for their children are treated worse than their peers whose family lives look more traditional, a new study finds.

Middle-class men who take on greater caregiving roles at home are more penalized at work than men who offload that work to their wives. Women, on the other hand, are treated worse for not having children or having nontraditional caregiving arrangements.

Mothers’ and fathers’ roles at home have been changing in the past half-century. The Pew Research Center found that fathers have nearly tripled the time they spend with their children since 1965 (although there is still a large gender gap, as mothers spend twice as much).

As men have taken on greater caring roles, they have also experienced greater discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reported a rise in discrimination claims against caregivers, with a growing share brought by men. The number of family responsibility discrimination cases brought by male plaintiffs rose 300 percent between 2006 and 2010.

Meanwhile, family policies often leave them out. While men are equally entitled to time off to take care of a child under the Family and Medical Leave Act, that leave is unpaid. Fourteen states include new fathers in laws that go beyond the federal floor to offer better policies, the remaining 36 either help new mothers or do nothing at all. Thus while about 85 percent of fathers take time off for the birth of a child, the vast majority take just a week or two. By contrast, offering paid leave in California nearly tripled the amount of time fathers took off, from an average of three weeks to eight.

The U.S. by and large stands alone in not offering paid paternity leave, as at least 66 other countries ensure paid time off for new fathers. Meanwhile it is just one of three countries among 178 that doesn’t offer maternity leave.

It has become ever increasingly obvious that anyone who spends time with/care gives (parents male and female, teachers ) children (their own and others) is disproportionally penalized for doing so as it’s not really important in a business/value added model. We have no shortage of information and/or example of how and where this type of thinking leads us. It’s simply a question of when the inevitable all plays out.

"That was during the early twenties when so many public schools have up the ghost and closed their..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:44:47 -0400

“That was during the early twenties when so many public schools have up the ghost and closed their doors. Even the pretense of having an educated populace was ending. Politicians shook their heads and said sadly that universal education was a failed experiment. It was the business of responsible parents to educate their kids, somehow. Those who did not were bad parents. it was hoped that social, legal and religious pressures would sooner or later even force bad parents to due their duty to their offspring.so poor, semi-illiterate, and illiterate became financially responsible for their children’s elementary education. If they were alcoholics or addicts or prostitutes or if they had all they could do to feed their kids and maybe keep some sort of roof over their heads, that was just too bad! And no one thought about what kind of society we were building with such stupid decisions. People who could afford to educate their children were glad to see the government finally stop wasting their tax money education other people’s children. They seemed to live on mars. They imagined then that a country filled with poor, uneducated, underemployed people would not hurt them.”

- Octavia butler predicting the future of education, from her work, parable of the talents (via purposefulthoughts)

Sound familiar?

(via poc-creators)

“No to Profit” | Boston Review

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:02:49 -0400

“No to Profit” | Boston Review:

Everyone so proudly backing corporate education reform in this country should not only look around at what is being done in their name here, but should also cast their eyes to Chile and their reality thirty years after implementing the same educational reform currently being used to dismantle public education here. School choice and vouchers, deprofessionalization of teachers, high-stakes testing, profit taking in education…all begun under Pinochet, have finally brought people into the streets.

thepoliticalfreakshow: Pathetic Priorities: Philadelphia Closes...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:24:50 -0400

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Pathetic Priorities: Philadelphia Closes 23 Schools, Fires Thousands of School Employees, Wants To Build Multi-Hundred Million Dollar Prison

Philadelphia laid off thousands of school employees last week after the state of Pennsylvania continued its austerity measures against public schools. And while the state is essentially destroying Philadelphia public schools through under-funding (claiming budgetary concerns), it somehow found enough money to build a $400 million prison just outside of the city.

The Philadelphia public school system has been a target for school reform and Charter-enthusiasts for the past few years, and several figures (including the mayor) have defended charter schools as a viable replacement to the entire public school system. The school closures, which (of course) disproportionately affect schools in poor and minority neighborhoods, will force students to venture far outside of their own neighborhoods to attend their closest school. Charter schools in Philadelphia have been plagued by scandal and corruption, have no requirement to admit any student and can dismiss a student at any time. Still, Philadelphia Mayor Nutter defended them during an awkward appearance on MSNBC where he defended the cuts.

Philadelphia public school teachers have been negotiating a new contract and are dealing with several draconian proposals by the state-appointed School Reform Commission, which is looking to get Philadelphia schools out of debt (mostly through layoffs and privatization). To meet some of the Philadelphia school employees who lost their jobs this month, visit this site.

In the end, the closings will mean more overcrowding in the remaining public schools and higher unemployment in an already poor city.

Good thing there’s about 4,000 new beds about to open up just outside the city.

Learn It, Live It, Love it: iamlittlei: “I want to stress this again: In many, many parts of the...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:40:45 -0400

Learn It, Live It, Love it: iamlittlei: “I want to stress this again: In many, many parts of the...:

iamlittlei:

“I want to stress this again: In many, many parts of the country right now, if you want to go to see a movie in the theater and see a current movie about a woman — any story about any woman that isn’t a documentary or a cartoon — you can’t. You cannot. There are not any. You…

"Conservative Republicans in our nation’s capital have managed to accomplish something they only..."

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:34:13 -0400

“Conservative Republicans in our nation’s capital have managed to accomplish something they only dreamed of when Tea Partiers streamed into Congress at the start of 2011: They’ve basically shut Congress down. Their refusal to compromise is working just as they hoped: No jobs agenda. No budget. No grand bargain on the deficit. No background checks on guns. Nothing on climate change. No tax reform. No hike in the minimum wage. Nothing so far on immigration reform. It’s as if an entire branch of the federal government — the branch that’s supposed to deal directly with the nation’s problems, not just execute the law or interpret the law but make the law — has gone out of business, leaving behind only a so-called “sequester” that’s cutting deeper and deeper into education, infrastructure, programs for the nation’s poor, and national defense.”

- Robert Reich: The Quiet Closing of Washington (via azspot)

quickhits: Wisconsin Gov. Walker joins War on...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 22:20:03 -0400

quickhits:

Wisconsin Gov. Walker joins War on Women.

ThinkProgress: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has thrown his support behind an anti-abortion measure that’s currently moving through the state legislature, saying he will sign the bill into law if it makes it to his desk. SB 206 would require women to undergo an ultrasound before getting an abortion — which would mandate an invasive transvaginal probe for some of the women who seek early abortions in their first trimester — and force one of the state’s last abortion clinics to close its doors.

“I don’t have any problem with ultrasound,” Walker told reporters on Tuesday in Milwaukee. “I think most people think ultrasounds are just fine.”

Forced ultrasound bills mandate a medically unnecessary procedure that would otherwise be left up to the discretion of a woman and her doctor. Medical experts, including the largest national group representing thousands of OB-GYNs across the country, are opposed to this type of legislation because they say it interferes with their work and compromises their relationships with patients. “All of a sudden, the Senate is full of doctors,” Wisconsin Sen. Tim Cullen (D) said in reference to SB 206′s advancement.

You know, I would very much like Scooter to explain to me exactly what it is that women supposedly don’t know about their pregnancies. What new information would an ultrasound give them? What bit of ignorance about their own bodies is this supposed to clear up? Be specific please: just how incredibly stupid do you anti-choicers believe that women are?

The truth is that they’re simply a roadblock to getting an abortion; just one more hoop to jump through, in the hopes that some women will think it’s not worth the effort. In short, the explanation for why this unnecessary procedure should be required are lies. As always, the most fanatically religious among us are the biggest liars and the least trustworthy Americans.

Of course, this is just Walker’s way of shoring up his conservative bona fides before a possible presidential run. He’s hoping that attacking women will excite the base enough to look past his inexcusably gross economic incompetence. But if we’ve learned one thing in recent years, it’s that this War on Women stuff may get you through the GOP primaries, but that this level of extremism will keep you out of the White House.

And thank goodness for that. Scott Walker is unfit to lead a sing-along, let alone a nation.

[photo via Wikimedia Commons]

Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation to ensure students receive the same loan rates the Fed gives big banks on Wall Street: 0.75 percent. Senate Republicans blocked the bill.

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 19:03:03 -0400

Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation to ensure students receive the same loan rates the Fed gives big banks on Wall Street: 0.75 percent. Senate Republicans blocked the bill.:

liberalbutnotpartisan:

liberalsarecool:

Republicans want you in debt til you die. So much for “freedom”. So much for investing in the future of America.

Remember this come 2014 and 2016.

gallagher-photo: “It is now only a matter of time before...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:47:14 -0400

gallagher-photo:

“It is now only a matter of time before mangroves are totally erased from the map of Jakarta” - Jakarta Post, January 2013. A fisherman stands in one of the few remaining mangrove forests in northern Jakarta. Valued for their rich biodiversity and ability to control flooding, the mangroves have been all but eradicated in a city that desperately needs help in flood protection. Rapid development and urbanisation has led to the widespread disappearance of this valuable ecosystem. 29th May, 2013.

continueplease: All over the internet there are people...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:01:45 -0400

continueplease:

All over the internet there are people groaning, “Don’t read the comments!” I often encounter the worst racism, misogyny, and hatred in comments. I have had to leave my desk and take a break from humanity due to some awful comments. However, I read the comments because, here and there, I see beautifully succinct & clever statements like these.

thepoliticalfreakshow: Toddlers Killed More Americans Than...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 10:13:53 -0400

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Toddlers Killed More Americans Than Terrorists This Year

Americans hate terrorists and love our kids, right? So you might be shocked to know that preschoolers with guns have taken more lives so far this year than the single U.S. terrorist attack, which claimed four lives in Boston.

This is admittedly tongue-in-cheek, but one has to wonder if the NSA’s PRISM program would have saved more lives had it been monitoring toddlers – or gun owners – rather than suspected terrorists.

11 Deaths in Five Months Where Shooter Was 3 to 6 Years Old

Listed below are the 11 gun fatalities I found where a preschooler pulled the trigger (from Jan. 1 to June 9, 2013). Starting with a list of five toddler shooting deaths The Jewish Daily Forward published in early May, I unearthed six additional cases. This tragic, unthinkable event has happened every month, like clock-work.

Jan. 10: 6-year-old playmate shoots and kills 4-year-old Trinity Ross, Kansas City, Kan.

Feb. 11: 4-year-old Joshua Johnson shoots and kills himself, Memphis, Tenn.

Feb. 24: 4-year-old Jaiden Pratt dies after shooting himself in the stomach while his father sleeps, Houston.

March 30: 4-year-old Rahquel Carr shot and killed either by 6-year-old brother or another young playmate, Miami.

April 6: Josephine Fanning, 48, shot and killed by 4-year-old boy at a barbecue, Wilson County, Tenn.

April 8: 4-year-old shoots and kills 6-year-old friend Brandon Holt, Toms River, N.J.

April 9: 3-year-old is killed after he finds a pink gun that he thinks is a toy, Greenville, S.C.

April 30: 2-year-old Caroline Sparks killed by her 5-year-old brother with his Cricket “My First Rifle” marketed to kids, Cumberland County, Ky.

May 1: 3-year-old Darrien Nez shoots himself in the face and dies after finding his grandmother’s gun, Yuma, Ariz.

May 7: 3-year-old Jadarrius Speights fatally shoots himself with his uncle’s gun, Tampa, Fla.

June 7: 4-year-old fatally shoots his father, Green Beret Justin Thomas, Prescott Valley, Ariz.

At least 10 more toddlers have shot but not killed themselves or someone else this year (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here). In the first three cases, the shooter was only 2 years old.

I also found nine instances where children and teens 7 to 19 years old accidentally killed themselves, a family member or friend since January (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

Of course, most if not all of the above deaths and injuries can be attributed to careless adult gun owners.

While this analysis focuses on children, another equally accurate headline could read: “U.S. Gun Culture Kills More Americans Than Terrorists Worldwide.”

In 2010, 13,186 people died in terrorist attacks worldwide, while 31,672 people were killed with firearms in America alone, reports CNN’s Samuel Burke.

We Need a Return to ‘Well-Regulated’ Gun Ownership

We cannot deny that guns pose a real danger to innocent American lives and especially to children. While no one is “coming to take the guns” of responsible people, we still must reach a compromise to address gun violence. I do not have all the answers, but I know as responsible citizens we have to do something.

While some people refuse to accept any limits on gun ownership, we simply do not have the right in America to circumvent personal restrictions that protect society as a whole. We can drink and we can drive, but we cannot mix the two. We have free speech, but we cannot shout “fire” in a crowded theater. We have the Fourth Amendment, but we still submit to searches of our bodies and belongings for the sake of air safety.

People who worship the Second Amendment should recognize the “well-regulated” aspect of gun ownership that the forefathers intended. Instead, we have a gun lobby that pays off senators to vote against background checks and gun culture that welcomes a 3-year-old as a lifetime NRA member. I worry for that child’s playmates.

[The Jewish Daily Forward / CNN]