How many years? HOW MANY DAMN YEARS? How many years will pass before so-called professional educators in positions of real authority (not classroom teachers who have had to relinquish nearly all their authority) give up on the profoundly ignorant idea that standardized tests are reliable indicators of educational progress?
The latest in a long, long line of standardized testing horror stories comes from the great state of Illinois. While smoke and mirrors play a big role in Illinois politics -- after all, our national education secretary was Chicago's public schools superintendent before he got his cushy job in D.C. -- they're also heavily employed when it comes to convincing parents that their children are doing well in school.
What does "meets the standards" mean to you? Doesn't this phrase imply that whatever has been done meets a standard that is desirable in some way? After all, who would want someone to meet a standard that was not worth meeting in the first place?
Apparently, education officials in Chicago.
The Chicago Tribune reports that students who "meet the standards" on state standardized tests of reading and math are still so poorly equipped that most will not score high enough to get into college. An expert on testing is quoted as saying Chicago schools in general have shifted over the years from a focus on excellence to one of mediocrity.
This same expert also acknowledges that this has been going on for some time. (Pity no one in the Obama administration thought to quiz Arne Duncan about this since these testing boondoggles happened at least partly on his watch.)
Furthermore, the expert adds, most parents would not want their children to"meet the standards," despite the positive status such an accomplishment implies because it's akin to pretty much failing.
Did you know that in order to pass the math portion of the Illinois State Achievement Test you have to get only 39 percent of the answers right?
Maybe it's a Northern thing, but where I come from in Texas 39 percent would be a failing grade if 100 is a perfect score. A big, fat failing grade.
Even more laughable is the fact that Illinois has been reducing the number of correct answers needed to pass the ISAT exam even at a minimum.
No wonder meeting the minimum standard there is really more like failing to meet the minimum standard.
Schools also like to manipulate their data. They make it harder for parents to decide how the majority of kids are doing by lumping together the number of kids exceeding with those merely meeting standards so it all looks better than it really is.
Parents have no way to know whether students at a given school are doing very well or merely getting by.
If this is what Illinois calls education, it's a sin, a shame, and a big freakin' scam.
Never mind the thousands of children whose lives are entrusted to the schools only to have their time wasted and their potential destroyed.
That's just a tragedy.
Wordly discourse on everything from the sad state of public education, politics and world peace to vegetarianism, breast vs. bottle, religious persecution, bad media, and all manner of life's vagaries.
October 29, 2010
October 26, 2010
Waiting for beauty to come from the ashes
It's been a long week over in the neighborhood where I grew up and where my parents lived for most of my life. A childhood friend called me on my birthday Saturday to deliver devastating news. He knows I don't have a television and figured I hadn't been online that morning to read the local newspaper headlines, either.
After informing me that I'd lived a whopping 16, 425 days -- not including leap years -- he said he had some bad news.
"You mean the fact that I've lived 16 thousand some-odd days isn't the bad news?" I asked, jokingly.
The silence on the other end of the line shut me up before I could say anything else.
"The LaCroixs' house exploded last night," he said.
Betty and Collins LaCroix had lived in our old neighborhood since before I was born. I grew up knowing their youngest daughter and they never failed to buy Girl Scout cookies from me all the years I was a Brownie and then a Junior Girl Scout. They were nice people, pleasant, tidy. They had five children and many years later they lost a young grandson in a handgun tragedy.
These past several years, the now-elderly couple had been watched over faithfully by the folks I like to call my second family -- a couple whose last name is the same as my maiden name and whose children and I grew up together. They still call me their "middle child" because I was always down at their house to play, eat, sleep over, and even travel with them. Their four kids were the brothers and sisters I never had, and I still love and keep up with them all. My childhood memories of time spent with Jim and Sandra Evans are some of my sweetest, so it was with dread that I asked my friend if his own parents were okay.
He said they were, but their house sustained pretty severe damage from the blast next door. One of his sisters, who lives on the other side of the exploded house with her husband and two children, also had damage to her house but it is not nearly as bad.
The worst part, he said, was that Mrs. LaCroix was killed in the fire. Her husband was taken to the hospital with burns over much of his body. No one yet knows the cause of the explosion.
I talked with both of my friend's sisters over the next 48 hours, trying to understand what had happened, trying to make sense of such a sudden and tragic loss, and pondering the mystery of why my second family was spared.
Arms of fire reached in to Jim and Sandra's house, but were sucked back out again. Sandra was sitting on her living room sofa when she heard the explosion and looked up to see fire coming towards her. She says it sounded like the end of the world.
In hindsight, I think the end of the world -- at least a big part of my world -- would have come if Jim and Sandra Evans and their daughter and her family had also been taken out by the blast. Firefighters say it's a wonder they all survived.
It will take several months for Jim and Sandra's home to be restored to a livable condition. I have no way to know how long it will take their hearts to heal. They have stared down their own mortality and, in the process, they have lost a friend.
Meanwhile, if you read this, say a brief prayer of peace for the family of Betty and Collins LaCroix. Trust me when I say they are well-deserving of your time.
To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. (Isaiah 61:3, NLT)
After informing me that I'd lived a whopping 16, 425 days -- not including leap years -- he said he had some bad news.
"You mean the fact that I've lived 16 thousand some-odd days isn't the bad news?" I asked, jokingly.
The silence on the other end of the line shut me up before I could say anything else.
"The LaCroixs' house exploded last night," he said.
Betty and Collins LaCroix had lived in our old neighborhood since before I was born. I grew up knowing their youngest daughter and they never failed to buy Girl Scout cookies from me all the years I was a Brownie and then a Junior Girl Scout. They were nice people, pleasant, tidy. They had five children and many years later they lost a young grandson in a handgun tragedy.
These past several years, the now-elderly couple had been watched over faithfully by the folks I like to call my second family -- a couple whose last name is the same as my maiden name and whose children and I grew up together. They still call me their "middle child" because I was always down at their house to play, eat, sleep over, and even travel with them. Their four kids were the brothers and sisters I never had, and I still love and keep up with them all. My childhood memories of time spent with Jim and Sandra Evans are some of my sweetest, so it was with dread that I asked my friend if his own parents were okay.
He said they were, but their house sustained pretty severe damage from the blast next door. One of his sisters, who lives on the other side of the exploded house with her husband and two children, also had damage to her house but it is not nearly as bad.
The worst part, he said, was that Mrs. LaCroix was killed in the fire. Her husband was taken to the hospital with burns over much of his body. No one yet knows the cause of the explosion.
I talked with both of my friend's sisters over the next 48 hours, trying to understand what had happened, trying to make sense of such a sudden and tragic loss, and pondering the mystery of why my second family was spared.
Arms of fire reached in to Jim and Sandra's house, but were sucked back out again. Sandra was sitting on her living room sofa when she heard the explosion and looked up to see fire coming towards her. She says it sounded like the end of the world.
In hindsight, I think the end of the world -- at least a big part of my world -- would have come if Jim and Sandra Evans and their daughter and her family had also been taken out by the blast. Firefighters say it's a wonder they all survived.
It will take several months for Jim and Sandra's home to be restored to a livable condition. I have no way to know how long it will take their hearts to heal. They have stared down their own mortality and, in the process, they have lost a friend.
Meanwhile, if you read this, say a brief prayer of peace for the family of Betty and Collins LaCroix. Trust me when I say they are well-deserving of your time.
To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. (Isaiah 61:3, NLT)
He may get my vote after all
Below is the actual text of an email I received tonight from a candidate running for a position on my local school board. As I've said before, even though we homeschool we also pay public school district taxes. Because of this, we have a vested interest in how those monies are used.
I wrote to the candidate to find out his position on academics. His website featured some fairly solid sounding proposals to reduce or eliminate fiscal folly in the district, but he said nothing about his views on things like teaching to the test, kids who don't get to use math textbooks in the early elementary grades (they get worksheets instead), or the ghastly amount of money spent per student in grades K-12 only to have a significant percentage of those students graduate and still require remedial help before actually starting their college careers.
I asked him about all these things in detail, probably the longest email he's received the whole time he's been campaigning, and I actually got a reply. Here is what he said:
I wrote back to thank him for actually taking time to respond to my email. I also told him that if he can summon the courage to ask the hard questions that really need asking, he may find himself on the school board for many years to come. We need local education leaders with spines, not the blah, blah back-slapping 'bots I've had the extreme misfortune to observe in years past. When I worked as a newspaper reporter and routinely covered local school board news in another community, I was always pissed at how those meetings ran so late into the night and wasted my time in the process. Little of anything substantial was ever discussed. It was the equivalent of fiddling while Rome burned.
I've never attended a school board meeting in the community in which I now live. Between raising four children and homeschooling two of them full-time, I've sorta had my own school district gig going for the past five years. Maybe I should branch out, though, and go see what my district officials are or are not discussing, eh?
At any rate, like I told the above referenced candidate, until my local elementary schools quit using worksheets instead of real books and threads (yes, you read that right) instead of real or plastic coins to teach money counting, I'm going to continue to assert that public education has fallen far and fast from its original purpose. Until the schools in my community restore art and music as "real" subjects rather than give them cursory treatment on a bi- or tri-weekly basis, I'm going to keep bitching about the lack of a well-rounded education being delivered up at my expense.
I wish the candidate well and, based on his willingness to admit the truth about what goes on in my local schools, I will probably vote for him.
And then, I'm going to watch him like a hawk to see if he'll be among the few who actually put their money where their mouths are.
I wrote to the candidate to find out his position on academics. His website featured some fairly solid sounding proposals to reduce or eliminate fiscal folly in the district, but he said nothing about his views on things like teaching to the test, kids who don't get to use math textbooks in the early elementary grades (they get worksheets instead), or the ghastly amount of money spent per student in grades K-12 only to have a significant percentage of those students graduate and still require remedial help before actually starting their college careers.
I asked him about all these things in detail, probably the longest email he's received the whole time he's been campaigning, and I actually got a reply. Here is what he said:
Marjorie,
Thanks for the email. You covered a lot. Let me try to wrap it up by saying we as parents have experience several of the things you described. Worksheets that have no books for parents to help or follow along. As a business owner, employing mostly young men we have seen time and again that they have a diploma but cannot read. We have one young man right now in his mid 20's that we cannot send to a technical school for doing suspension work and alignments because he cannot read well enough to get it done. He graduated from Langham Creek High School.
Thanks for the email. You covered a lot. Let me try to wrap it up by saying we as parents have experience several of the things you described. Worksheets that have no books for parents to help or follow along. As a business owner, employing mostly young men we have seen time and again that they have a diploma but cannot read. We have one young man right now in his mid 20's that we cannot send to a technical school for doing suspension work and alignments because he cannot read well enough to get it done. He graduated from Langham Creek High School.
I support basic education methods. Traditional methods more than a lot of what is going on today. We have met many teachers that spend more time than appropriate accomplishing bureaucratic paperwork rather than taking care of business. These issues are important to me. I will do my best to address these issues.
I wrote back to thank him for actually taking time to respond to my email. I also told him that if he can summon the courage to ask the hard questions that really need asking, he may find himself on the school board for many years to come. We need local education leaders with spines, not the blah, blah back-slapping 'bots I've had the extreme misfortune to observe in years past. When I worked as a newspaper reporter and routinely covered local school board news in another community, I was always pissed at how those meetings ran so late into the night and wasted my time in the process. Little of anything substantial was ever discussed. It was the equivalent of fiddling while Rome burned.
I've never attended a school board meeting in the community in which I now live. Between raising four children and homeschooling two of them full-time, I've sorta had my own school district gig going for the past five years. Maybe I should branch out, though, and go see what my district officials are or are not discussing, eh?
At any rate, like I told the above referenced candidate, until my local elementary schools quit using worksheets instead of real books and threads (yes, you read that right) instead of real or plastic coins to teach money counting, I'm going to continue to assert that public education has fallen far and fast from its original purpose. Until the schools in my community restore art and music as "real" subjects rather than give them cursory treatment on a bi- or tri-weekly basis, I'm going to keep bitching about the lack of a well-rounded education being delivered up at my expense.
I wish the candidate well and, based on his willingness to admit the truth about what goes on in my local schools, I will probably vote for him.
And then, I'm going to watch him like a hawk to see if he'll be among the few who actually put their money where their mouths are.
October 19, 2010
Not "real" Christians?
I was going to take a nap this afternoon following a long morning of homeschooling my children in everything from geometry to the history of Islam. My mind was tired but I logged in to check emails, expecting a message about a church function I'm supposed to attend.
While online, I clicked on a news site to see the day's headlines.
Somewhere between the incessantly whiny politicians and another terrorist attack not perpetuated by Buddhists, Amish, or Pentecostals, a headline out of North Carolina caught my eye:
"No Scout leadership post in NC for Mormon parents"
I knew before I even clicked in to read the story what I was going to find, but being especially curious about religious persecution in this country -- because, to my dismay, it is still much alive and unbelievably rampant -- I wanted the details.
Here they are:
A Presbyterian church in North Carolina welcomed a family and their two young sons into its chartered Boy Scout program and even accepted the parents' offer to become troop leaders. The father is an Eagle Scout himself. Then church officials reviewed Jeremy and Jodi Stokes' applications and discovered much to their horror that the Stokeses belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Yes, they are Mormons.
The Stokeses were told their boys ages 6 and 8 could stay in the program but that Jeremy and Jodi would not be allowed to lead because, in the words of church officials, they were not "real Christians." The Presbyterian church in question is aligned with the evangelical Christian movement, an arm of the Christian church that spends far too much time trying to pluck motes out of other believers' eyes instead of first pulling the planks out of its own.
The Stokeses found out about the Boy Scout program at Christ Covenant Church from families in their homeschool association. Now they wonder whether those same families will want to be around them, what with not being Real Christians and all.
Bubonic plague? Sure, no problem. Influenza virus? Yep, we can handle you. Non-mainstream Christianity? Hell no! Everybody run! Run for your lives! These people aren't Real Christians and they may be dangerous!
"We had bought the uniforms, we had gone to two meetings, they had played with the other kids," Jodi Stokes said. "And then my sons are saying, 'Mommy, why can't we go back there?'"
Well, Johnny and Jimmy, it's because we aren't Real Christians, we're Fake Christians, and those nice folks are afraid we're going to turn them into Fake Christians, too. They don't want to catch our beliefs from us. You understand, right?"
As a Christian myself -- and a member of a non-mainstream Protestant Christian denomination considered by some to be a cult, by others to be downright false -- I'm always amused (okay, really annoyed) by Protestant Christians who freak out in the presence of Catholics, Mormons, Mennonites, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists or any other Christian denomination that doesn't fit the tight, rigid conditions of Christianity as set forth by modern believers post-Reformation.
Let's start with Catholics, because everyone knows how much fun it is to pick on them.
Real Christians say Catholics are Fake Christians because they interpret passages of Scripture differently and because they acknowledge the human authority of a pope. They have various ceremonies and rituals and some extra books in their Bible that Protestants don't have. The fact that God and Jesus and the Bible in whatever its form are the centerpiece of the Catholic faith just doesn't matter. Hospitals, soup kitchens, schools for the poor? Nope. Off with their heads!
Now for the Mormons:
Real Christians say Mormons are Fake Christians because they, too, interpret some passages of Scripture differently and because they acknowledge Joseph Smith as a prophet. They have various ceremonies and rituals and the Book of Mormon in addition to the Protestant version of the Bible. The fact that God and Jesus and the Bible form the centerpiece of the Mormon faith just doesn't matter. Strong support for scouting programs, patriotism, and families? Off with their heads!
On to the Christian Scientists (of which I am one):
Real Christians say Christian Scientists are Fake Christians because they, too, interpret some passages of Scripture differently and because they acknowledge that the founder of their church, Mary Baker Eddy, had a revelation as to how people could be healed using nothing but the ideas found in the Bible, in particular the teachings and works of Jesus. (I know, it's shocking to think anyone would actually take Jesus seriously when he said, "These works that I do ye shall do also.") Christian Scientists have no ceremonies or rituals other than weekly church services open to the public, no ordained ministers (lay members of the church read the services), but they do have a book that explains their denominational teachings and they read that book alongside their Bible. The fact that God and Jesus and the Bible are the sole foundation of the Christian Science faith just doesn't matter. Audacity to say that prayer can heal? Off with their (our? my?) heads!
The North Carolina Presbyterians remind me of the mother of the first boyfriend I ever had. His father was an ordained Baptist minister and when his mother found out I was a Christian Scientist (3rd generation, no less), she began to worry. The boy was 20 and I was all of 17 and still in high school. The mother fretted that we were going to run off and get married and that her son would be lawfully wedded to a Fake Christian and might even end up with half-breed children.
This was my introduction to modern-day religious bigotry and I was caught unprepared. Naively, I assumed that if I lived my life according to Christian teaching -- the whole Ten Commandments/Sermon on the Mount/Golden Rule/Jesus as my only ticket to salvation and eternal life thing -- then I was doing all I needed to do to be acceptable not only in the eyes of God but fellow Christians as well.
Instead, I began to understand that it's not what we do or how we live that matters to many fellow Christians. It's all about the brand name we slap on ourselves. Some Christian denominations are more fashionable than others. Some are the Coco Chanels of the Christian world and some are the no-name brands you buy at Walmart.
It bothered me a lot way back then. Now, I couldn't care less. As I got older and had opportunities to prove my faith not only for myself but in the care and company of others, I stopped worrying about what I was. I only hope the little Stokes boys will someday be able to do the same.
Meanwhile, the hard lesson to learn is this:
Like my old boyfriend's family, the folks at the North Carolina church have been given the special secret code that allows them to tap into Real Christianity, leaving the rest of us sinners, heretics, apostates, and downright blasphemers to grovel in the dust, begging for the smallest crumb of forgiveness.
We will never be accepted or acceptable in the eyes of certain fellow Christians and we will never be welcomed in their circles or at their tables. We will never be trusted and we will never be understood because they don't want to learn enough about us to do either.
Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and whores and touched leprous and insane people, but some of our fellow Christians will never want to know us.
Sometimes I think the biggest threats to the survival of the Christian faith are not Islam or secular humanism as many people claim but, rather, Christians themselves.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
And by the way, I entrusted a Mormon woman with my life and the lives of my last three children. She was my midwife and she prayed with me and talked me through three planned, drug-free home births. She was the first to hold my second daughter and my two sons, and she was the one who saved my youngest son when he was not breathing after delivery. She has always kept up with and cared for our family and we love her as one of our own. I've read a lot about the Mormon church over the years, and I understand that some of their practices and beliefs sound unusual or even absurd. But Mormonism, as I have seen it lived in my experience, exhibits the finest qualities of the Christian spirit. If one of those North Carolina Presbyterians was drowning, and the only person around to save them was a Mormon, betcha the whole Real vs. Fake Christian thing would take a whole different turn.
While online, I clicked on a news site to see the day's headlines.
Somewhere between the incessantly whiny politicians and another terrorist attack not perpetuated by Buddhists, Amish, or Pentecostals, a headline out of North Carolina caught my eye:
"No Scout leadership post in NC for Mormon parents"
I knew before I even clicked in to read the story what I was going to find, but being especially curious about religious persecution in this country -- because, to my dismay, it is still much alive and unbelievably rampant -- I wanted the details.
Here they are:
A Presbyterian church in North Carolina welcomed a family and their two young sons into its chartered Boy Scout program and even accepted the parents' offer to become troop leaders. The father is an Eagle Scout himself. Then church officials reviewed Jeremy and Jodi Stokes' applications and discovered much to their horror that the Stokeses belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Yes, they are Mormons.
The Stokeses were told their boys ages 6 and 8 could stay in the program but that Jeremy and Jodi would not be allowed to lead because, in the words of church officials, they were not "real Christians." The Presbyterian church in question is aligned with the evangelical Christian movement, an arm of the Christian church that spends far too much time trying to pluck motes out of other believers' eyes instead of first pulling the planks out of its own.
The Stokeses found out about the Boy Scout program at Christ Covenant Church from families in their homeschool association. Now they wonder whether those same families will want to be around them, what with not being Real Christians and all.
Bubonic plague? Sure, no problem. Influenza virus? Yep, we can handle you. Non-mainstream Christianity? Hell no! Everybody run! Run for your lives! These people aren't Real Christians and they may be dangerous!
"We had bought the uniforms, we had gone to two meetings, they had played with the other kids," Jodi Stokes said. "And then my sons are saying, 'Mommy, why can't we go back there?'"
Well, Johnny and Jimmy, it's because we aren't Real Christians, we're Fake Christians, and those nice folks are afraid we're going to turn them into Fake Christians, too. They don't want to catch our beliefs from us. You understand, right?"
As a Christian myself -- and a member of a non-mainstream Protestant Christian denomination considered by some to be a cult, by others to be downright false -- I'm always amused (okay, really annoyed) by Protestant Christians who freak out in the presence of Catholics, Mormons, Mennonites, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists or any other Christian denomination that doesn't fit the tight, rigid conditions of Christianity as set forth by modern believers post-Reformation.
Let's start with Catholics, because everyone knows how much fun it is to pick on them.
Real Christians say Catholics are Fake Christians because they interpret passages of Scripture differently and because they acknowledge the human authority of a pope. They have various ceremonies and rituals and some extra books in their Bible that Protestants don't have. The fact that God and Jesus and the Bible in whatever its form are the centerpiece of the Catholic faith just doesn't matter. Hospitals, soup kitchens, schools for the poor? Nope. Off with their heads!
Now for the Mormons:
Real Christians say Mormons are Fake Christians because they, too, interpret some passages of Scripture differently and because they acknowledge Joseph Smith as a prophet. They have various ceremonies and rituals and the Book of Mormon in addition to the Protestant version of the Bible. The fact that God and Jesus and the Bible form the centerpiece of the Mormon faith just doesn't matter. Strong support for scouting programs, patriotism, and families? Off with their heads!
On to the Christian Scientists (of which I am one):
Real Christians say Christian Scientists are Fake Christians because they, too, interpret some passages of Scripture differently and because they acknowledge that the founder of their church, Mary Baker Eddy, had a revelation as to how people could be healed using nothing but the ideas found in the Bible, in particular the teachings and works of Jesus. (I know, it's shocking to think anyone would actually take Jesus seriously when he said, "These works that I do ye shall do also.") Christian Scientists have no ceremonies or rituals other than weekly church services open to the public, no ordained ministers (lay members of the church read the services), but they do have a book that explains their denominational teachings and they read that book alongside their Bible. The fact that God and Jesus and the Bible are the sole foundation of the Christian Science faith just doesn't matter. Audacity to say that prayer can heal? Off with their (our? my?) heads!
The North Carolina Presbyterians remind me of the mother of the first boyfriend I ever had. His father was an ordained Baptist minister and when his mother found out I was a Christian Scientist (3rd generation, no less), she began to worry. The boy was 20 and I was all of 17 and still in high school. The mother fretted that we were going to run off and get married and that her son would be lawfully wedded to a Fake Christian and might even end up with half-breed children.
This was my introduction to modern-day religious bigotry and I was caught unprepared. Naively, I assumed that if I lived my life according to Christian teaching -- the whole Ten Commandments/Sermon on the Mount/Golden Rule/Jesus as my only ticket to salvation and eternal life thing -- then I was doing all I needed to do to be acceptable not only in the eyes of God but fellow Christians as well.
Instead, I began to understand that it's not what we do or how we live that matters to many fellow Christians. It's all about the brand name we slap on ourselves. Some Christian denominations are more fashionable than others. Some are the Coco Chanels of the Christian world and some are the no-name brands you buy at Walmart.
It bothered me a lot way back then. Now, I couldn't care less. As I got older and had opportunities to prove my faith not only for myself but in the care and company of others, I stopped worrying about what I was. I only hope the little Stokes boys will someday be able to do the same.
Meanwhile, the hard lesson to learn is this:
Like my old boyfriend's family, the folks at the North Carolina church have been given the special secret code that allows them to tap into Real Christianity, leaving the rest of us sinners, heretics, apostates, and downright blasphemers to grovel in the dust, begging for the smallest crumb of forgiveness.
We will never be accepted or acceptable in the eyes of certain fellow Christians and we will never be welcomed in their circles or at their tables. We will never be trusted and we will never be understood because they don't want to learn enough about us to do either.
Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and whores and touched leprous and insane people, but some of our fellow Christians will never want to know us.
Sometimes I think the biggest threats to the survival of the Christian faith are not Islam or secular humanism as many people claim but, rather, Christians themselves.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
And by the way, I entrusted a Mormon woman with my life and the lives of my last three children. She was my midwife and she prayed with me and talked me through three planned, drug-free home births. She was the first to hold my second daughter and my two sons, and she was the one who saved my youngest son when he was not breathing after delivery. She has always kept up with and cared for our family and we love her as one of our own. I've read a lot about the Mormon church over the years, and I understand that some of their practices and beliefs sound unusual or even absurd. But Mormonism, as I have seen it lived in my experience, exhibits the finest qualities of the Christian spirit. If one of those North Carolina Presbyterians was drowning, and the only person around to save them was a Mormon, betcha the whole Real vs. Fake Christian thing would take a whole different turn.
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