A Month Later, We Still Have an Image Problem in Texas

Now that things have settled from that awful week in April 2013, it's time to think again about what happened--and the implications of false beliefs. Boston's reaction is compared to the Texas reaction.

Everybody wrote about explosions and terrorism this past month. I did not. If I seem callous about the Boston Marathon bombings, please forgive me. The coverage has been non-stop, and I worry that important things happening outside of Boston are being ignored by the media in favor of interviews with people who don't know anything. It doesn't seem to change things. The United States Senate (or at least enough of its membership) believes that searching a person's background before they buy a car or Sudafed is legitimate...but background checks for Uzis are just plain anti-American.

And if you don't believe it, yet another terrorist will send Ricin through the mail at you.

[Note: if it's the right to "keep and bear arms," then shouldn't Ricin possession be legal? It's not the right to "keep and bear guns."]

There is one thing that strikes me as near-perfect, though. That is the way that the people of Boston rose up to support the runners. Some were blocked off from their hotels. Many had no flights home, and those on American Airlines may have had to wait yet another day while they figured out how their new merger worked. Suddenly, a large contingent of people started offering their beds, couches...whatever it took...to make sure that participants in the Boston Marathon were cared for.

There was absolutely no reason for them to do this. Doesn't matter. It got done.

I've seen this in New York (9/11) and New Jersey (Superstorm Sandy). The Northeast gets a bad rap as a bunch of liberals, but there's something to be said for people that hold these values. It's not about "my rights." Rather, it's about what's best for the community, the country, the world. Those are the values that won two world wars--not to mention the Civil War. Those are the values that gave votes to such outside groups as slaves...and women.

[Compare that to the people of Steubenville, Ohio. My blog on that is here. The supporting documentation is listed above the blog and also here. That would be a BAD place to have a marathon.]

The most damage from that week didn't come from a Mississippi redneck, and it didn't come from two angry men out of Chechnya. Nope. The biggest killer of the week came from the stereotypical anti-government attitude that runs our country in the red and allows fertilizer plants to go unchecked for 7 years--complete with missing required safety equipment and a missing blast wall.

[Fertilizer...Isn't that what Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City bombings? Seems like you'd keep an eye on that stuff...]

The federal government didn't want to seem invasive and controlling, so they left the issue to the states. Texas wants to be ultra-super-duper CONSERVATIVE, so they cut budgets and never bothered to check whether the people of West, Texas were safe. It's a great plan...until the whole thing explodes.

Now, state leaders are being called to task through lawsuits and political cartoons. Governor Rick Perry is demanding apologies and searching desperately for a way to blame this on some liberal Democrat. The mantra of Texas Republicans: "It's not my fault!"  What didn't happen was meaningful legislation to protect other towns with fertilizer plants. The legislative session has finished; only a special session on redistricting remains.

I think everyone would be amazed at Mr. Perry taking the podium, being genuine, and apologizing...promising to do better henceforth...and working on making people safe. That would throw me for a loop. In the meantime, he gets angry with cartoonists and threatens to veto any budget that doesn't cut taxes.

[Somehow, a tax cut will revive the dead? Didn't we just cut billions out of this budget two years ago? If times are so good in Texas, why is everybody struggling? Why do Texans die more quickly than other Americans?]

I am surrounded by those who think "Every Man for Himself!" Even the women think that. Here's a bumper sticker showing up on pickups lately.

 (Available for purchase at http://www.amazon.com/MAGNET-Keep-Guns-Freedom-Money/dp/B00276KNQG)

But that's not how Boston handled things. Heroes and goats abound in both places, but a generalization is becoming clear:

Boston is a city full of heroes; West is a town full of victims.

The key difference? The community-minded spirit of the entire city (not just a few key individuals). People looked out for others they didn't know in Boston. West residents spoke often of their ability to know most of the townspeople. Waco has risen to the challenge to help West, but the efforts are charitable more than neighborly. It was Boston's diversity that helped people rise up, even for those they didn't know.

So here's to the straight people who fight for gay people. The men who defend women. The blacks who stand up for the rights of Hispanic immigrants. The people who do what's right, even if it doesn't benefit them--even if the benefactors don't look like them or think like them.

And here's a reminder to the quasi-anarchists, er "conservatives" on the other side: we belong to each other.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail?

[Photo "courtesy" of Westboro Baptist Church. Thanks, Fred!]

Nope: Email from a Pflugerville church, sent "as is" to make you wonder whether it's the email program, the word processing program, the connections, or just a lack of understanding on how all those "word-thingies" work.

After reading this email, you may find it interesting to read the actual Letter from a Birmingham Jail and the Statement by Alabama Clergymen that prompted Dr. King's response. Since both letters came from Baptist roots, you can view Mr. Washburn's words in historical perspective.

It's been 50 years since those two writings. Mr. Washburn (FBCP's head pastor) has spent 2013 asking the state to cut $5,000,000 from the school's funding as punishment for how they handle health benefits.
Do you think he crossed the line in political law? Do you think this is sound judgment? Do you worry that politics and religion are being mixed--or mixed incorrectly?

Perhaps you really like the direct candor of a man who would know that such an email would get to me.

Whatever your thoughts, please feel free to post your reaction in the comments. I'm always interested to see who reads this!

pth

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From: Steve Washburn <steve@fbcpville.org>
Sent: Tue Apr 30 15:45:56 CDT 2013
To: fbcp@fbcpville.org
Subject: [FBCP Mail List] Urgent!

Dear First Baptist Pflugerville Family,

If you live in the Pflugerville Independent School District, I want to call
your attention to something of great importance that needs your personal and


immediate attention. 

Our School Board election is going on RIGHT NOW.  Early voting started
yesterday and will go through next Tuesday, May 7.  Actual Election Day is
on Saturday, May 11th.  Times and voting locations can be found on the


attachment.

EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US NEEDS TO VOTE IN THIS ELECTION!  (Preferably during
this early voting period.)  We need to vote in two races: Place #3 and Place #5.

In any election, there is only one question we need to answer: "For which


candidates does GOD want me to vote?"  As followers of Jesus, we vote for
HIS priorities, not our priorities.  That means we are always, first and
foremost - "Christian Moral Values Voters."  We vote for the candidates who


best represent and defend the Lord's moral values as He reveals them in
Scripture.  

Although there are a number of issues being discussed by all candidates, our
primary concern revolves around the previous decision of the PISD School


Board to extend health insurance benefits to "domestic partners."  This
provision allows employees of PISD to include immoral sexual partners
(heterosexual and homosexual) in their medical insurance benefit plan as


though they were legal spouses.   We are to vote for the candidates in Place
#3 and Place #5 who will oppose this decision.  If you are unclear where the
various candidates stand on this issue, please call a friend who may be more


familiar, or research your decision on-line.

Candidates for Place #3:
Mario Acosta vs Tony Hanson

Candidates for Place #5: Carol Fletcher vs Lance Sandlin

For followers of Jesus, not voting is NOT an option.  Jesus said, "You are


the salt of the earth [salt prevents decay]. But if the salt should lose its
taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be
thrown out and trampled on by men. You are the light of the world [light


guides in darkness]. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden... Let your
light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory
to your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:13-16).   

As your pastor, let me again tell you how proud I am to serve a group of


individuals so determined to glorify our Lord! Our collective voice will be
heard across Texas and throughout the Kingdom of God!



Dr. Steve Washburn

Steve Washburn, Sr. Pastor

First Baptist Church




306 S. 10th St.

Pflugerville, TX 78660

512-251-3052

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Blessed to Be...Male

A father and husband muses on the gender differences in society, the social demands of today's teenagers, and the fear of losing life's most important battles.

Today was one of those "husband and father" days I experience more an more. Problems seem big enough at face value, but digging in and facing the problems tends to lead to deeper issues below the surface.

One such situation is fairly straightforward. My son is playing a LOT of soccer (futbol) these days. He's slow right now, and he doesn't seem to be working very hard. This comes from a bout with bronchitis last week. That cough, that weak little cough, makes me keenly aware of how fragile life can be.

Now I've got this infection. I'm weakened, but I'm not growing anymore--I'm shrinking. I'll be fine (I think). There will be no x-rays to determine the presence of pneumonia, like there was with this strapping young man that reverted to little-boy status last week. I just pray he gets better each day...and lives to see me die.

His life is different, though. He's a boy. Society has expectations of boys, for better or worse. Raising these two very different girls has been...ugh.

My youngest daughter is less...easy than the other two. She doesn't fit into a mold very well, and that's by design. I don't want to raise easy girls(!). I also don't want to raise girls who live submissively. Accidental Devotional's author (Sarah Quezada) speaks to that issue directly:

I don't want my girls to think that they have to be "a good girl" in order to be good. I know how often people throw those words around to mean pipe down, smile for the camera, don't make waves. I know how it feels when someone tells you, you would be more attractive, easier to stomach, better somehow with less opinions. I know how the world feeds you those lies, and how sometimes you swallow them, even if you are being fed truth at home.

I don't want to raise good girls. I want to raise girls who are wild and free, girls who hear the voice of their God and cling to the goodness He has tucked into them, and oh how His goodness overflows from their little hearts. But I hope that they aren't good girls. I hope they are simply too out spoken for that.

That's great, but if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, she's digging deep in the family plot. We've dealt with ugly divorces, infidelity, self-mutilation, gender identity, drugs, violent fist fights, and other issues I'm too lazy to recount. She handles it all very well, but it takes time to help people who need it most.

My eldest daughter injured herself playing tennis yesterday. After some "quiet time" in the minivan, it came out that this was a deeply personal issue. She's been accused of bullying. She, too, is more like her father than would be best. The "victim" in this case doesn't understand sarcasm. My soon-to-be-senior has made changes. The other girl has not. Now, the pressure is on for my daughter to like the other girl. It's not enough to be polite. She needs to think a certain way...and only SHE is responsible for that relationship.

This brought on a confession of suicidal thoughts from another player. Now, the focus changes to that situation, at least in my family. Unfortunately, the coach seems disinterested in that part of the whole matter.

The frustration I'm facing comes from these girls' struggle to be heard in their quest to help. Victoria's biggest problem is that she is the one who actually talks to that coach about what is happening. Thus, it is her face on those issues. It's easy to blame whoever is in front of you, kind of like yelling at the customer service representative at an airline counter when the decision was made in Congress to cancel your flight. Katrina is seen as too young to adequately discuss such sensitive issues. She uses it to her advantage, but it slows down her efforts to just "fix things." She's just trying to get through the year, while Victoria thinks about quitting the team. April is the cruelest month.

I don't want these kids to live life afraid of conflict, but these massive schools and this warped political system in Texas tend to foster complacency. I'm proud of these three for fighting through their issues. They have a mother that demonstrates and models daily how to fight through adversity (including an impatient husband/father). Still, these situations are the "growing pains" of emotion in puberty. We would do right in Texas, the United States, and the world to realize that "Love is a Cure."

It's tough being a girl or a woman in this society. We have just witnessed a time when a woman lost her job for being too attractive. Now another white man in power has handed down a decree, er "opinion" on whom you may love in Texas. On Thursday, DeAnn and I travel to Baylor, where the Sexual Identity Forum holds meetings in one corner of the student union food court. The leader of this movement is female, black, and gay. Around here, that's three strikes. But this young woman is different. She returned my emails, made the phone calls, and keeps this group going. It's the kind of consistency that will eventually lead to major changes. She's a game-changer--a world-changer.

It's so much easier to give up...and it's even entertaining to hate others. I fret that my kids will lose the drive to do the right thing when it's not popular or easy or even productive.

I often say, "It's in GOD's hands now!"

I use that line for comic relief. I also use it to reassure myself, though.

Drew Springer--A Name to Remember

Testimony before the Texas House Public Education Committee regarding House Bill 1568 (Drew Springer)

April 9, 2013

Good Afternoon. My name is Paul Henley, and I am from Sunny Pflugerville—God’s Country—the 7-8-6-6-0.

Today, I am wearing a Wallace for President button, the same button I brought to the Inauguration a few months back. Today, it stands as a reminder of how far we have come as a society. But it also stands as a reminder that history records those who stand on the wrong side of progress.

George Wallace eventually renounced segregationism. Wallace said that he did not wish to meet his Maker with unforgiven sin. I hope he’s in Heaven, but this pin with his name doesn’t spread a message of his personal epiphany and redemption. His name is synonymous with racism, and it will remain so for generations.

Your votes and words get recorded and written. Your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will inherit the legacy of your politics, whether they want it or not.

And history remains the greatest scorekeeper in politics.

In 40 years, this debate will look much like the racial inequality debates did 50 years ago. It’s pretty hard to miss the opinion and voting pattern movement in the nation and in Texas. You are smack in the middle of the civil rights issue of our time, whether you see it that way or not.

It gets worse with this bill, though. House Bill 1568 would punish Pflugerville ISD for allowing domestic partners to purchase health insurance. A yes vote at any point will go down in history as an attempt not only to dehumanize the GLBT community—it will also have you on record using your power to deny health care to people based on whom they love.

That’s a legacy and a history I wouldn’t want associated with my name.

AN OPEN EMAIL TO MY CHILDREN

I blew out my shoulder last weekend, and typing is tough. Doesn't matter. I need to do this as a father, a Christian, and a human.

This is, verbatim, what I sent to my three fantastic children today. They have each done brave things, but it's important that this message has been directly sent to them.

I suggest other parents do something similar. In writing. Talking is fine, too.

But this should be in writing.
 
If you want background information, this pretty much covers it:
http://www.xojane.com/issues/steubenville-rape-verdict-alexandria-goddard

SUBJECT: I Have to Tell You This...

Hi.

This is a long email. Sorry about that...

It's hard to get everybody together, anymore. We're all busy, and this takes a little "space."

Two boys in Ohio just got convicted of rape--forcing sexual intentions on someone else. They were at a party, drank a bunch of alcohol, and did terrible things to a girl who was also drunk.

The issue in this town--about the size of Aberdeen, South Dakota--is still going on, though.

You see, a whole bunch of people were around. Some were involved. Some were witnesses. There was a lot of tweeting, texting, and posting to Facebook. It took a
while before anyone told the police. They were too busy telling each other. It was evil, right there in writing. The words they used were disrespectful to the victim and mean.

You know mean doesn't fly in this family.

But here's the worst part: nobody can find a tweet that told people to stop the hateful chatter.
I'm proud of our work as parents. Just look at these three products of our work! None of you strike me as rapists, murderers, or any of that. I can cite examples when each of you stopped bad behaviors in others--bravely, I might add. On top of that, my guess is you wouldn't be around at a party like that. You each choose your friends carefully.

But if you are in a place like that, you have an issue beyond underage drinking. You have a duty to stop the crime and report it. You protect the victim, and you fight for justice.

You heavenly Father, your earthly father, your mother, and over 6 billion people on Earth need you in these situations. It's not enough to avoid a problem situation like this. You are called to be a part of the solution. If you join the group rumor mill, or just walk away, you become part of the problem.

--

I know in this life I have failed you as a father many times, and I'm guilty of many of the things I tell you not to do and be in life.

But I want this in writing.

My real dream in life is to send out children (YOU!) that are better than I was--and people in middle age who will be better than I am now...

With more impact.
With more courage.
With more kindness.

Your mom spent six full years on those PISD health benefits. People tend to underestimate her bravery and willpower. Now, she needs others (like me) to carry the fight. Trust me, the scary parts don't change when you get older. I'm sorry about that.

Live your dreams, but please let me die someday knowing that my dream can become a reality. The scary part of all of this is that I know you can be that person, you three can become those people. I believe--in my very soul--that awful rape wouldn't have happened if one or more of you had been there.

I want to make it absolutely clear, though: you are the one with the potential to become a person that changes the world for the better. Not only as part of a group or family, but also as an individual who is able to challenge evil in the world.

That means you have to be brave...and downright "stupid" sometimes.

For what it's worth, we're behind you and with you. Your mother and I will support you wherever, whenever, and however we can in these situations. You need to be there for your siblings, too.

But there will be times when just one of you will need to stand firm in the face of social, financial, or political power. It's scary, and the bad stuff can seem fun. You have to be able to get over that fear...and that temptation. I have faith in you, and I'm sorry to send this on a Friday. Seems more like a Monday email...

If you have questions, ask away. Also, please tell me you read this. I'm keeping track. :-)

Thank you for your time. Now get off your iPhone and study!

Love and Prayers,

Big Daddy

Technology Helps Higher Education SPRING Into the 1970's

(From the movie "We Need to Talk About Kevin")

In what looks like another self-congratulatory ceremony, Harvard & MIT held a conference yesterday called, "Online Learning and the Future of Residential Education." There's always money for this stuff, isn't there?

Reporters were "allowed" to watch, but nobody could quote the key players. As ridiculous as this sounds to me, there were a few points to be gleaned about the positives and implied negatives of this "brave new world" in higher education.

One interesting point dealt with immediate feedback. New systems allow students to realize what they have learned immediately. That's a far cry from typical procedures, where tests and creative work need to be graded by a human. The drop in wait time is an important benefit to a MOOC situation. It's nice to see professors realizing what K-12 teachers have been taught since 1970.

Other issues were discussed. These large-scale courses allow students to "shop online" for the best teachers. MOOCs could challenging the way professors teach. As Inside Higher Ed reported, "The courses may be prompting some faculty to pay more attention to their teaching styles than they ever have before." Suddenly, the higher education community is interested in memory process. The focus was on older research--a real interest in how people actually learn things.

Since this "seminal work" is written in academic language and fails to offer meaningful quotes, I'll use the words of SimplyPsychology.

Unlike the multi-store model it is a non-structured approach. The basic idea is that memory is really just what happens as a result of processing information. 

Psychologists Craik and Lockhart propose that memory is just a by-product of the depth of processing of information and there is no clear distinction between short term memory and long term memory. 

All of this is standing on the outside, looking in. These academics would all do well to make a call to area code 210 (or 206) and find out what MRI studies have been showing us in those special medical schools that allow education researchers to use their cool stuff. Perhaps they could use the course notes from various music education courses I taught over a decade ago. Welcome to 1996, guys--and you cited a 1972 paper to get here.

If this new, exciting approach to memory is to have relevance to the MOOC world, then it would follow that the deeper the processing, the deeper the memory and recall. Logically, then, the worst way to learn a new set of information would be a standard MOOC. Yahoo! gets that, and you know that had to be a miserable decision. There really is no way to compete with a small class of experiential learners engaged in face-to-face interaction. Casually-generated language is easier to remember, and that happens with direct human interaction. You can try to make an online course more like the typical liberal arts college class, and you can save large amounts of money in that process.

Just don't tell me how it's better.

I Hate Gays More Than I Like Children: A Tribute to Drew Springer

http://amarillo.com/opinion/opinion-columnist/weekly-opinion-columnist/2013-02-24/rangel-gay-marriage-again-issue-texas

*sigh*

Texas is failing its own children, and the right wing doesn't care.

In an education world where standardized testing is killing student learning, THIS is the key issue to a representative from Amarillo: what PFLUGERVILLE is doing. From what I can tell, five people (5) have taken the opportunity to buy the mediocre health insurance offered to Pflugerville Independent School District families. These five (5) people are so important to the people of Amarillo that it merits the time and energy to stop any education reform for FIVE MILLION (5,000,000) public school children to discuss, debate,...and threaten.

Pflugerville--along with Springer's school district and hundreds of other districts--is suing the state of Texas because the funding doesn't match the accountability demands set forth by the state. Unfunded mandates from Austin abound. Districts are restricted in how much they can tax at the local level, yet the demands from the state keep increasing. How does the new, problematic STAAR test directly relates to gay marriage? Health care benefits, purchased by five people.

That's right. It's not as though any state or local tax dollars are being used here. That doesn't stop big-government Republicans from threatening a district's finances over a social issue--all the while ignoring the direct issues in Texas education.

"Smaller government!"
"Local control!"

• Unless you disagree with what another locality is doing. Then it becomes a STATE issue.
• Unless the state disagrees with your views. Then it becomes a NATIONAL issue.
• Unless the nation has said differently. Then you start an online petition to SECEDE.

This is why Shelby County vs. Holder (heard this week by the Supreme Court) is an important issue. It's why we need the Voter Rights Act kept intact and why groups like Empower the Vote Texas remain crucial. There are still some places in America where you can't trust the local elected officials. Amarillo's representatives should worry about Amarillo, not five people in Pflugerville.

It gets pretty rough, watching one party in full control. You see how a one-sided push leads a state or locality (or nation) down a troublesome path. If you've been to Washington's Metro system, then you know how an all-liberal approach can lead to problems, as well.

There was a time when these issues were discussed rationally. That led to peace, prosperity, and budget surpluses.

Now, we have war, recession, and debt--powered by gridlock.

I miss the days when people talked to each other, not cameras.