Category: Religion

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Heritage Christian principal tricks student into dancing

A student going to a private Christian school in Findlay was suspended after attending the Prom of the local public high school. It seems Heritage Christian School has a rule against rock music and dancing and it seems it applies even off campus during a student’s private time. In an ironic twist, the Principal of Heritage had to sign a form allowing the student to attend the event, then when the student did, the student was punished.

“Our stand on this issue should be of no surprise to the student or his parents,” Principal Tim England said in a statement. “For the parents to claim any injustice regarding this issue is at best forgetful and at worst disingenuous. It is our hope that the student and his parents will abide by the policies they have already agreed to.”

England said he has never known a Heritage Christian student to attend Findlay’s prom. He has been principal for 13 years.

Findlay High School requires students attending prom from other schools to get a signature from their principal.

England signed the form for Frost, but told him there would be “consequences” if he attended the dance, Frost said.

“I expected a short lecture about making the right decisions and not doing something stupid,” Frost said. “I thought I would get his signature and that would be the end.”

Instead, England took the issue to the School Committee, made up of church members, where they decided to suspend Frost.

“In life, we constantly make decisions whether we are going to please self or please God. (Frost) chose one path, and the School Committee chose the other,” England said.

Don’t go to prom, school tells teen published in the Findlay Courier 05/08/2009

No one said England had to sign the form especially if you didn’t want the student to go. But because he signed the form, he and the school gave up their authority to punish the student.

What kind of message is the principal sending the student by tricking him to violate the rules? I thought only the devil could tempt us mere mortals to sin.

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Happy Birthday Charles Darwin!

Today marks the 200th Birthday of the man who forwarded the concept of Evolution of species, which is a basic foundation of the science of Biology. Evolution is also a flash point in arguments between people with different views on religion. Even though Evolution has nothing to do with religion or religious beliefs, it has been used as a scapegoat for some people’s beliefs that might conflict with the results and facts of Evolution. How did we get there?

One problem has been a misunderstanding of the term Evolution. In science Evolution’s basic definition is: a process that results in heritable changes in a population spread over many generations.

That’s it. Nothing about monkeys turning into humans or “survival of the fittest”, which have been claims used against teaching of Evolution. All it means is to describe changes in a population over time.

Darwin called his idea “Natural Selection” and by that he meant species changed over time by adaptation controlled by the environment they lived in. Species that adapted appropriately passed their genes on to the next generation while those that didn’t adapt eventually died out. It isn’t that one species was “better” than the other only that one adapted better than the other and was able to pass on its genes.

Natural selection also infers that species can come from a common ancestor since it had to start some where to get to that particular point in time. There is strong evidence that Humans and apes share aspects that suggest we came from a common ancestor. At one time there was some species that then split into apes and another branch split into Humans.

That’s where religious people get upset. They fully believe that God created all the creatures on the Earth and if Evolution is true then it puts that idea into jeopardy.

The religious people are the ones who make it an issue. Darwin never cared about all it ALL began. All he did was forward the idea of how species got to where they are. Nothing in the study of Evolution is meant to be anti-religious or to intentionally contradict the story of creation. Many scientists support Evolution and consider themselves believers in a God.

However since Evolution, like all science facts, are tentative, there could be information collected soon or in the near future that solves the ultimate mystery of how it ALL got here.

That’s the promise of science – learning the answers to all the questions we have about the universe in which we live.

A tip of the hat today to the man who got the ball rolling – Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882).

Some links for further info on Darwin and Evolution

The Origin Of Species: 6th Edition

Charles Darwin bio

Charles Darwin Day

FAQs about Evolution and the religious debates

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Non-believers finally exist

Best part of President Obama’s inaugural address on January 20th, for me, was this bit:

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.

Inaugural Address

Of course I feel for those other hundreds of religions and other beliefs left out, but I’m happy to get a shout out for non-believers.

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Findlay loses free speech suit to anti-abortion group

The City of Findlay lost a federal lawsuit to the anti-abortion group Missionaries to the Preborn that had been asked to stop a protest held near a busy intersection in July 2007. The judge found the city’s permit requirements to be unconstitutional. The group, which numbered about 60 people, showed photographs of aborted fetuses.

After many complaints the police department told the group to disperse saying they didn’t have an event permit. At the time it was said the permit had to be obtained 30 days in advance and could only be approved by the Mayor or safety director. Reports noted in the Courier in its reporting on August 7th said:

[Mayor] Iriti said the decision to ask the group to leave was related to public safety only. “Folks were in the right of way, bringing harm to themselves and others,” Iriti said Monday. “It has nothing to do with content. It was simply related to the time, place and manner (in which the message was delivered),” Iriti said.

[Assistant Law Director Donald] Rasmussen said no federal laws have been broken. “The issue was a violation of local law,” he said. “It had nothing to do with the First Amendment at all. It was about blocking ingress and egress to businesses, blocking traffic … walking out into the street, and we’re always concerned with those things.”

Pro-life group files suit against city after being told to disperse last week (published 08/07/2007)

Rasmussen also noted to the Courier that there was no permit requirement in place and the group was allowed to protest on August 11th.

Missionaries to the Preborn however kept the lawsuit going after the city refused to pay attorney fees related to the filing.

I wanted to read the text of the court decision because I am interested in these kinds of cases, but the court doesn’t release them electronically for 90 days. The reason I want to read the transcript is because the reporting in the Courier of the city side of the case seems a bit unbelievable. Either there was an informal permit policy in place or Findlay Police Chief Bill Spraw lied to the group. Cities can and do have a need to regulate actions when those actions can cause issues of safety but those policies have to be applied equally to all groups or events and be content neutral (although I will note that some content is not allowed – like sex acts for example).

I really don’t care about the group’s message, even if I don’t agree with it, but they should have the right to express that message as long as they aren’t causing safety issues – like a riot or something like that.

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No winners in Gaza

The troubles in the Middle East flared up this past week as Israel went after Hamas in the Gaza strip. First there was air strikes and now with the weekend came a ground invasion. Of course it was all set off by Hamas and their agents firing rockets into Israel. Unfortunately in this situation there won’t be any winners and neither side have a good defense for their actions.

The root causes of these troubles began when people of Jewish heritage began to move into the Palestine area It is their historical and religious homeland. The state of Israel was created in 1948.

The problem is that Arabs also claim the same area as their historical and religious homeland. They don’t care for Israel or Jews since it has meant being displaced from their homes and treated as second class citizens since 1948.

That conflict has seen several wars, terrorism, and protests.

There have been calls for a solution to end the pattern of violence and either the Palestinians reject it or Israel does. Any real solution would reduce the size of Israel and it s power over the Arabs in the area.

A real solution would require Palestinians sharing land with the Jews in a two state plan and to stop the ineffectual terrorism and rocket attacks. These slights might rev up the people in the neighborhood but rockets against one of the more technological advanced militaries in the world is just plain stupid.

Israel is not going anywhere and neither are the Arabs.

What I do know is that allies of these two groups need to stop enabling their fighting and force them to work out a solution.

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