Judas Sells Out

Matthew 27
1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.

The Anointing of Jesus' Feet

John 12

1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

Pastor Allen's Resurrection Eggs

You may have heard of Resurrection Eggs before. The story is usually told in twelve segments (with a dozen eggs). I liked the version Pastor Allen used in the Children's Message yesterday, which focused on one egg for each day of Holy week, related to the traditional scriptures that is read on that day. In celebration of this approach, I will be sharing an appropriate verse for each day of Holy Week starting tomorrow. Enjoy!

Happy Palm Sunday!

From today's Losungen:

Palm Sunday

Watchword for the Week -- The Lord is my strength and my might; he has
become my salvation. Psalm 118:14

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 118:1-2,19-29
Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 19:28-40

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Isaiah 40:29

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord -- the King of Israel!' John 12:12-13

Mighty God,
when we are overcome by suffering, help us to endure.
Grant us the ability to surrender,
trusting that you will carry us through it,
raise us above it,
and lead us to new beginnings.
In our Savior's name we pray.
Amen.

Cultures exposed!

Last night I watched the second episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (the first two episodes are available online here), and I have never seen such an enlightening exposure of contemprary American culture.

First of all, I am not a food evangelist. What we eat is of some importance - certainly interesting to study and discuss - but it is only one measure of deeper issues in our culture. I am more interested in the culture of groups of people, and what lifestyle choices reveal about their root values.

I'm also not interested in debating the merits of "reality" television. Accepting the limitations of the genre (how "real" is anyone when a host of cameras are following them around?), it is certainly more worthwhile to use reality TV to study small-town America than having sex parades of bachelors and bachlorettes.

In a nutshell, Brtish chef Jamie Oliver has come to Huntington, West Virginia, to start a "food revolution," a transformation of the way Americans eat. His particular targets are a volunteer family named Edwards and Central City Elementary School.

With those caveats having been said, here are some amazing insights from four of the cultures exposed in this episode.

Family culture

The Edwards family are very brave to let Jamie come into their lives so intimately. They are uniformly obese, and an analysis of their week's worth of meals reveals no surprises: highly processed, high fat, easy-to-prepare food like corn dogs, doughnuts, pizza, pancakes, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, etc. Jamie makes the comment that "everything is yellow and red." The family eats no vegetables or fruits.

The Edwards are sweet people. The mother wants to do better in feeding her family, and laughs nervously as Jamie exposes their folly of their food choices. The father is apparently away on business a good bit and seems somewhat passive in his leadership.

My commentary:

When confronted by the preponderance of convenience food in their diet, Mrs. Edwards makes an off-handed remark about "just trying to get through each day." I think that Americans in general think they are too busy (I hear this all the time), and yet we live in an age of cheap appliances and instant information. When will we take responsiblity for our choices and prioritize the best things, like cooking healthy meals for our families? Not to mention keeping the Sabbath...

I don't think Jamie's analysis of their food consumption was a complete shock to the Edwards family, but habits are hard to change. And the incentives seem small. Americans in general have become very poor at long term goals and deferred gratification. We want pleasure now, and few things seem to be worth really working and waiting for.

Jamie only alluded once to the possiblity that members of the family take solace or comfort in eating, but this is no doubt a major theme in our culture. The fact that food is a quick and easy-to-obtain (and generally socially aceptable) medicine makes one wonder, how wounded are we? I suspect we are much more desperate than we are willing to admit. I know it sounds pompous, but somewhere and somehow we need to learn to find our comfort in God alone.

Community Culture

Huntington, West Virginia, was chosen for this special because of a study (never identified in the program) that revealed it is one of the "unhealthiest" cities in America. While this may or may not be true, it is probably representative of most American communities. What was evident from the snapshot of Huntington conveyed through the program was: a fairly high level of obesity; the usual availablity of fast food; a somewhat complacent attitude about the status quo.

Jamie's presence stirred controversy through interviews with both the newspaper and a popular radio show. The radio host openly ridiculed Jamie's somewhat boastful claim that he can change the eating habits of a whole city, and the newspaper did the usual hatchet job of taking statements out of context to paint Jamie as a "Huntington-hater," instead of the "bad-nutrition-hater" he would prefer to be known as.

My commentary:

Although we have all seen instances when a prideful person is more invested in defending himself than in receiving constructive criticism, it is pratty dramatic when it is portayed by a whole community. It would have been refreshing to see someone admit, "Yes, we know we are eating ourselves to death, but that's our suicide method of choice, so leave us alone." Or to see someone humbly accepting Jamie's criticism and actually changing.

As is typical when folks do not want to face the truth about themselves, they turn the focus from their bad choices to killing the messenger through character assassination. Over and over they yell, "Jamie's saying we're stupid!" while offering no defense for their bad choices. I have spent hours and hours of my adult life in frustration over discussions which never address the merits of the argument, but turn quickly to character defamation, as though that outweighs everything.

A Christian worldview would recognize that there are no perfect vessels, Jamie Oliver least of all.  Ever hear of "total depravity"?  A mature person would say, "What can I learn from this donkey?" (Numbers 22:30)

School Culture

Jamie has ongoing conflicts with the "lunch ladies," who see him as intrusive, arrogant, and unlearned in the ways of the infallible nutrition guides from the USDA. The district nutritionist works hard at being open-minded, but is also concerned about the almighty nutrition guides, as well as cost-effectiveness. The school principal is sympathetic to Jamie's presence, but appropriately protective of the orderliness of school functions and the mental health of his staff and the children.

Three interesting scenes give an insight into school culture. In one scene, pictured above, Jamie demonstrates all the disgusting parts of a chicken that are ground together to make chicken nuggets, and proceeds to make such a chicken nugget in the spot. After breading and pan-frying this gunk right before the children's eyes, Jamie asks "Who would like to eat this?" and is blown away when every hand goes up. Jamie asks "Why would you want to eat it after you saw how it was made and what went into it?" One child answers, "Because I'm hungry." The other wide-eyed children nod in mutual assent.

In the second, Jamie takes two trays of food into a kindergarten room. The children cannot identify, by name, cauliflower, eggplant, or even tomatoes and potatoes. They do not know that french fries come from potatoes, or that ketchup is made of tomatoes. They have no trouble identifying french fries, corn dogs, and pizza.

In the last, Jamie is taken to task by the kitchen staff and the nutritionist when a meal he has created for the lunchroom fails to include "two breads" by USDA standards. The meal already included brown rice, which Jamie (correctly) asserted was quite enough starch and fiber for one meal. But never mind, Jamie and the kitchen ladies scramble to pull out some sliced white bread to "nutritionally balance" the meal.  Really.

Other important insights from the school culture: when Jamie's first meal went head to head with pizza as a choice on the lunch line, it is not surprising that very few of the children choose Jamie's chicken legs over the pizza. And when his second meal is served as the only choice, school officals are horrifed by the amount of uneaten food dumped in the garbage at the end of the meal. When Jamie asks that the children be given knives and forks to eat with for his third meal, the response of the lunch ladies and school staff is similar to the horror that might be shown when someone utters a public obscenity.

My commentary:

First of all, what is significant about this show is that they actually got a camera crew into a public school in the U.S. School culture is remarkably guarded in the U.S., for both good and bad reasons. I could not be happier that American adults got to see it first hand. The unfamiliarity of adults with what actually goes on (even parents with children in these institutions) is staggering.

If anything in the stories above concerns you, (and if it doesn't, God help you), then we should wonder where we should point the finger of responsiblity. So let's look at each incident separately:

1. The children want to eat the yucky chicken-parts nugget (which astonishes Jamie, who says that this would never happen in England, where he comes from). The explanation finally given, which I find plausible, is that the American diet of high fat, processed food leaves our bodies still hungry. This is not the school's fault (alone).

2. The children cannot identify normal vegetables in their natural form. This is also not entirely the school's fault; however, the kindergarten teacher heroically creates a food unit and invites Jamie back in a week later where the children pass his test with flying colors. Hooray for this conscientious teacher! I believe public schools are replete with such good teachers (and public schools are still a very bad idea).

3. Jamie has to follow idiotic nutrition guidelines from an USDA manual. This is not the fault of the district nutritionist, the school principal, or the lunch ladies. But they are all complicit in a bureaucratic system which defies common sense. Somebody needs to step up, be the adult, and tell the government "nutrition nanny" to take a hike! But the parents are happy to have the free babysitting and cheap meals which theydon't have to prepare, so no one speaks the obvious.

4. When Jamie's chicken and brown rice meal is rejected in favor of pizza, the lunch ladies and school officals speak as though the children are sovereign, and it is their duty to appease them as much as possible. Then they take the very bold move of allowing Jamie's second meal to be served (without a choice to opt for pizza), but chastise Jamie over the amount of (his excellent) food which is thrown away. Who is running the asylum (or prison might be a better analogy here)? I can't tell you how wrong it is for adults to abdicate leadership for children's lives and well-being.

In a later interview, the nutritionist admits that she likes Jamie's food better. Then who are she (and the principal and the lunch ladies) afraid of? Like most adults in the U.S., they are terrifed of displeasing the children. So are the parents, who will much more likely take the school to task if the children complain about the lunchroom food, than they will over whether or not the child is learning to read and write.

Finally, the knife and fork incident. The school staff actually speak as though they believe that children are developmentally unable to eat with anything other than their fingers and a spoon until they are at least twelve years old. This is so symptomatic of the dumbing-down of American children, that I have a hard time saying anything about it calmly. As Jamie put it, it is hard to conceive that the same nation that put a man on the moon feels it is impossible to teach children to eat correctly with silverware.

To the principal's credit, he watches Jamie patiently teaching the children to hold the fork and slice with the knife, and eventually he jumps in and begins doing likewise. In a later interview, he humbly admits, "I saw Jamie doing this, and realized I could be doing it, too." Bless this humble man's heart. What is it in the professional preparation of teachers and school adminsitrators that made him think his job was anything other than teaching to the obvious need sitting right in front of him?

And one gratuitous aside: Those of us who promote school choice over the favored status of government-sponsored secular naturalism are often accused of creating a rhetoric which harms votes for more money for public schools. It is very apparent in this episode that Central City Elementary School is well-equipped (the kitchen has every conceivable appliance), well-staffed (the kindergarten teacher has an aide), and the classrooms are well stocked and attractive. All this in spite of the fact that it is in an older building and Huntington is not a wealthy town. But those are the things that money can buy. What money isn't changing is academic success. And transcendent truth isn't even on the radar screen. More money will not cure these ills.

Christian culture

One of the early interviews in the episode shows Jamie visiting with a Christian minister who is the first Huntingtonian who appears to be sympthetic toward Oliver's mission. He is also shown preaching to his congregation about the high incidence of early death in the church and in the community at large.

A particularly humorous moment comes near the beginning of the episode when Jamie says "May the Man Upstairs judge me if I'm not right about this." The sardonic lunchroom lady Alice, who is in serious need of some sanctification herself, nods knowingly and says, "He will, Jamie."

In one scene at the home of the Edwards, Jamie persuades Mrs. Edwards to bury her "Fry-Daddy" (deep fat fryer) in the back yard. Before filling in the hole, Jamie says, "I know you're a woman of faith, so why don't you say a prayer over this burial." Rather than following Jamie's tongue-in-cheek parody of a funeral, Mrs. Edwards actually prays an earnest, heartfelt prayer for her family. Jamie is clearly impressed with her sincerity.

My commentary:

It should not surprise us that a person Jamie's age from highly secular post-Christian England would refer to God as "the Man Upstairs." It may be that someone briefed him that the is headed into the heart of the Bible belt and that he should frequently make gratuitous references to Deity.

What is disarming is that the camera can't make the faith of these people look ludicrous. The pastor comes across as affable and well-educated, and Mrs. Edwards, albeit hapless in taking care of her family, is nevertheless sincerely God-fearing.

We should be thankful for this fair representation of Christianity.

And we should be concerned that these good Christians, just as ourselves, are not always consistent in integrating the implications of their faith into their daily lives.

Praying for our Nation

Certainly the state of the nation has been much on our hearts and minds recently. A ministry that I only recently became aware of can be very helpful in guiding our prayers for the United States of America. Dove Mountaineer Jim Bolthouse is on the staff, and you can read their web site here.

Heroes of the faith

A few weeks ago in the Manhattan Declaration Sunday School class we talked about heroes of the faith who have gone before us. Nearly every one of us could name one or more of our own personal heroes, many of whom were not familiar to all members of the class. One of those named was Amy Carmichael, and although I had heard her name before, I decided it was time to learn more about her.

Amy Carmichael was in in Northern Ireland in 1867 to a Presbyterian family. After successfully founding Welcome Evangelical Church in Belfast, which ministered primarily to young millworkers, she went to the mission field, eventually serving in India for fifty-one years. She founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, which rescued unwanted young girls who would have been forced into temple prostitution.

In her work in the orphanage she taught and nurtured hudnreds of souls in their faith, and over the course of her lifetime published thirty-seven books, primarily devotional in nature. The fruit of her work still remains in India (see here), and one of her most famous sayings was:

One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving." — - Amy Carmichael

Facing the "Culture of Death"

Inspired by Pastor Allen's frequent quotations from Peter Kreeft, I am now reading his book, How to Win the Culture War. In the first chapter, he points out that not long after Ronald Reagan had the chutzpah to call the Soviet Union
"The Evil Empire," Pope John Paul II prophetically called this generation "The Culture of Death." This is cetainly reflected in the discussions we have been having on abortion and euthanasia in the Manhattan Declaration class.

Here is Kreeft's commentary on "the culture of death":

"If the God of life does not respond to this culture of death with judgment, then God is not God. If God does not honor the blood of the hundreds of millions of innocent victims of this culture of death, then the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, the God of Israel, the God of the prophets, the God of widows and orphans, the Defender of the defenselss, is a man-made myth, an ideal as insubstantial as a dream."

Naturally, Kreeft believes that God is God, and spells out the terms of engagement in our war with the culture of death.

My concern is not that God will fail to judge the culture of death, but that many who have named the name of Christ will have compromised and wound up on the side being judged. May it not be so among us!

Also from this Sunday's message...

From Book VI, The End of the Third Age; Chapter 2, The Land of Shadow

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

As quoted in this Sunday's sermon...

Latter day Puritan Samuel Clark, in the introduction to his Scripture Promises; or, the Christian's Inheritance, A collection of the Promises of Scripture under their proper heads, wrote as follows;

"A fixed constant attention to the promises, and a firm belief of them, would prevent solicitude and anxiety about the concerns of this life. It would keep the mind quiet and composed in every charge, and support and keep up our sinking spirits under the several troubles of life .... Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God's promises. For there is no extremity so great, but there are promises to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.

A thorough acquaintance with the promises would be of the greatest advantage in prayer. With what comfort may the Christian address himself to God in Christ when he considers the repeated assurances that his prayers shall be heard! With how much satisfaction may he offer up the several desires of his heart when he reflects upon the text wherein those mercies are promised! And with what fervour of spirit and strength of faith may he enforce his prayers, by pleading the several gracious promises which are expressly to his case!"

(From J.I. Packer's Knowing God)

He actually said it!

...and I agree!

"Our children are taken into captivity because of apathy on the part of the church."
Pastor Allen Cooney, February 28, 2010

Now, what do we do about it?

Every Member a Minister

I love the idea that Pastor Allen has promoted from the founding of Dove Mountain Church: every member a minister. We had a dramatic chance to see this in print this past Sunday at the Town Hall meeting when the current listing of contacts were passed out. In case you missed it, here are the "point persons" for ministries currently active thrugh Dove Mountain Church: (If I left out any, please let me know!)

Arabian Oasis..........Shirley Cooney
Baby Church..........Julie Oglebay
Band of Brothers..........Dave Dalton
Children's Church..........Steve Johnson
Communion..........Gain Von Fabrice and Jan Markland
The Conspiracy..........Steve Johnson
Creation Fellowship..........Dave Young
Exodus..........Chuck Strothman
Gospel Rescue Mission meals..........Judy Walters
Greeters..........Carmella Calcagno
Groove..........Josh Remer
Hospitality..........Shirley Cooney
International Justice Mission..........Steve Johnson
Letter Writers..........Marian Bush
Manhattan Declaration..........Allen Cooney
Marriage Discipleship..........Ross and Mandy Newman
Mercy Ministry..........Cindy Vos
Missions..........Jack Hauschildt
Peru Dental trips..........Amy Hauschildt
Prayer Chain..........Dale and Melissa Hamilton
Refugee Ministry..........Jill Hauschildt
The Resistance..........Steve Johnson
Set up/Tear down..........Rich Vos and Wade Remer
Small Groups..........Dave and Donna Dalton
Spiritual Enrichment classes..........Dave Bowen
Tapestry..........Mandy Newman
The Travelers..........Allen Cooney
Troops..........Kim Ritt
Welcome desk..........Wynn Mancini
Widows..........Shirley Cooney
Women's Prayer Fellowship..........Donna Dalton
Wycliffe..........Wade and Joy Remer

Wow! What a Lineup! What a church!

She's back!

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry. Luke 15:23

The sheriff was wrong. He said we would never see the little blue car again, but here she is, safe and sound. She was abandoned in front of a business for four days. Eventually they called the authorities, and the rest is history. Nothing is gone except the radio (small loss to Linda, who never listens to it, and is the main driver of the vehicle). Linda is very glad none of her kindergarten teaching materials are gone, especially the tall giraffe poster.

I always try to look for the silver lining, and here it is: I have not cleaned "Little Blue" nearly so well in the eight months we have owned her as I did today! I just need to appreciate her more!

Thank you, Lord!

Mudpies or beach vacation?

From a recent sermon (because these gems come out of Pastor Allen's lips so quickly, and I knew you would want to read it over and know the source):




“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desire not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, we are like ignorant children who want to continue making mud pies in a slum because we cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a vacation at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

The Weight of Glory and other addresses, by C.S. Lewis. (The Macmillian Company, New York 1949).

The Millennials are Coming! (actually already here)

Pastor Allen cited the Pew Foundation study of the "Millenials" (sometimes called Gen Y) in a recent sermon, so I decided to take a look at it. You can too, by going here.

Naturally, I found something to rant about. Although I can do that just about anywhere, it's especially fun to have hard data to rant with. So here goes.

One of the hundreds of graphs shows a breakdown of conservatives and liberals (I'm not going to defend this here, but Pew also provides clear evidence that these are fairly interchangeable with "Republicans" and "Democrats," respectively) by religious affiliation. Not surprisingly, evangelical Christians are most conservative. "Mainline Christians" are slightly more liberal in older age groups and considerably more liberal in younger age groups. Ditto Catholics.

Then comes the stat I want to rant about. Look at the "spread" (difference between liberals and conservatives) in each of the following groups:

White evangelical Protestants, under 30:......29% more conservative
White evangelical Protestants, over 30:.......30% more conservative
White mainline Protestants, under 30:..........9% more liberal
White mainline Protestants, over 30:...........4% more liberal
White Catholics, under 30:.....................8% more liberal
White Catholics, over 30:......................8% more liberal
Unaffiliated, under 30:.......................45% more liberal
Unaffiliated, over 30:........................40% more liberal

To put flesh on these stats, think of the first two planks in the Manhattan Declaration: traditional marriage and sanctity of life. None of the groups above would support these values (by a simple majority) except evangelical Protestants. And keep in mind that evangelical Protestants are not numerically significant either, especially in the the "under thirty" demographic.

And here's the rant: in which of the four categories (ignoring age group, for the moment) would we expect to find people who have attended Christian schools? Primarily in the evangelical Protestant group, and that's no surprise. But what is the authoritative voice (lacking any religious influence) of those who are unaffiliated, and how was it so successful in inculcating a liberal point of view?

That would be the catechetical teachings of public schooling. Public education is, for those with no other referent, the authoritative voice speaking to them and their chidlren - on values, politics, ethics, history, everything! And it is more effective (percentage wise) than Christianity has been with their constituent offspring. And where Christianity has been statistically somewhat more effective, it is among that segment more likely to have homeschooled or sent their children to a private Christian school.

I'm just saying...

Good-bye, good friend

Thursday night our Honda was stolen right from our car port. The sheriff who came the next morning was friendly, but frank: we'll never see it again. The neighborhood association took a statement, and is appropriately concerned. It's the second car theft that we know of here.

We feel a little sad, but also very grateful that God provided a donated a Dodge Caravan to my non-profit (See the Light, Be the Light) in January. For a few weeks we enjoyed being a two car family, although the van was in the shop a good bit of that time. It seems to run well for the time being.

The little Honda had nearly two hundred thousand miles, but ran really well. We bought it used less than a year ago when our old Ford Aerostar developed a crack in the engine block and went to Junque for Jesus.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. The reminders of sin are all around, and we are not exempt from its ravages. We pray for the thieves, whose lives will not be enriched by what they covet. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

A Reply to The Troubled Corinthian

Note to DoveMountaineers: You may have noticed, in the sidebar on the right, that I follow a blog called The Troubled Corinthian, by a brother at Catalina Foothills Church. In his blog last week, he threw me a challenge to comment on an article about a new curriculum adoption in Texas, which you can read about here. And today's blog, though a slight departure from some of the things I usually post here, is my reply to his challenge.

As Paul Harvey (may he rest in peace)would know, there is more to this story.

Not only has Texas endorsed a more conservative social studies curriculum, as explained in the article you cited, but even more significantly, Texas is one of only two states (Alaska is the other) who are refusing to endorse the new draft of a national curriculum that will standardize math and English textbooks and testing throughout the nation. Of his state’s recalcitrance, Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott wrote in a letter to U.S. Sen. John Coryn, R-Texas, "Texas has chosen to preserve its sovereign authority to determine what is appropriate for Texas children to learn in its public schools. It is clear that the first step toward nationalization of our schools has been put into place." You can read the full story here.

This legacy of Texas resistance can be traced back to Mel and Norma Gabler of Longview, who gained national fame in the 1980’s by “blowing the whistle” on potential textbook adoptions in Texas. They critiqued textbooks on several criteria, including (1) dogmatic statements about evolution as fact (and humans as animals); (2) revisionist U.S. history, which over-emphasized pop culture and under-educated on the principles of American liberty; (3) outright factual errors, of which they found abundant examples. Though ridiculed by liberals, the Gablers were very effective in blocking the adoption of many faulty textbooks in Texas, which was significant because it represents the second (to California) largest textbook market in the nation. If Texas doesn’t adopt a textbook, publishers tended to think it not economically feasible to produce.

One might then wonder why, with such success by the Gablers, U.S. public schools have continued moving virtually unchallenged toward a liberal social agenda in the years following their crusading efforts. The answer lies in the universities, particularly the colleges of education. Textbooks, though a vital factor, are still in the hands of teachers. And since American pedagogy tends to favor listening over reading, teachers can easily color the view that children take away from the classroom. The teacher training programs of this country are relentlessly liberal, and Luke 6:40 explains the rest (“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” NKJV).

There are other contributing factors, of course. Why have teacher colleges remained so liberal? Many reasons, but an important one is that it suits the agenda of the powerful teacher unions. And since it is an unquestioned assumption that teacher training programs in this country exist only to prepare teachers for the government schools (where teachers will be coerced into joining the unions), it follows that the teacher education programs are not authentic education (allowing logic, debate, and objective research), but union shop incubators.

Another contributing factor is the indifference of parents. One might think, by the acceptance of conservative talk radio in the late 80’s and the attention that has been garnered by conservative scholars like Dinesh D’Souza, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, and the late William Buckley, that the public is better educated on the conservative view of American history. And from that, one might deduce that these conservatives, who helped elect George W and his father, would have demanded that schools reflect their views, at least in some balance. But ninety per cent of the parents in this nation (including those whom we might assume are conservative, politically) are still unblinkingly sending their children to the union-controlled schools - without questioning the curriculum or the education of the teachers, and with little effect for change or balance. In contrast, those of us in private schools have noticed that the minute a family switches a child to one of our schools, they become activists. That’s because they are paying directly for their child’s education, and they want to hold the school accountable. Too bad taxpayers don’t feel the same way about the dollars they throw away on the government schools.

Someday I’ll write the definitive analysis of U.S. education in my lifetime, with virtually every phrase a hyperlink to a host of illustrations and anecdotes I have collected over thirty-six years of teaching and administration in both public and private schools, as well as ten years in graduate school at a state university (which required hours of observations in public schools). But before I invest hours and hours in such a project, I would have to be convinced someone would pay attention. Besides my friend, the Troubled Corinthian.

Marlene's question

In last Sunday's Manhattan Declaration class, Marlene Luartes asked a question that I would like to go back and reflect on. I e mailed Marlene, asking her to restate her question, and here it is on her own words:

"I think you're referring to my question about the phrase in the first paragraph of lesson 2: "to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image." Who does this include? All people?...because we're all made "in the image of God". Are we talking about just our country? If not, what does this mean in other lands, where there may be conflict between groups?"

Here is the exact sentence in the Declaration to which Marlene is referring:

"We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image."

In the context of this paragraph in the Declaration, the framers were making the point that the issue of sanctity of life as an issue that transcends the interests of a single group. Pro-abortionists pose themsleves as both tolerant ("We don't care if you Christians choose not to abort your own babies") and protective of minority rights ("You Christians can't tell anyone else whether or not they may abort their child; it's none of your business.") But as Christians, we don't have the freedom to say that it's "none of our business" if our neighbor chooses to have her baby killed, whether or not that neighbor agrees with the Bible's prohibition of murder. We can't ignore it for the baby's sake. We can't ignore it whether or not the mother or the baby ever become Christians. We must do all that we can to protect the baby, simply because he or she is made in the image of God.

I think Marlene's question is concerned with "seeking the good" of people after they are out of the womb. Here are a couple of possible situationss:

1. I'm a soldier. How am I seeking the "good" of my country's enemies? Aren't they also created in the image of God?
Actually, many of the U.S. Army's most recent missions have done just that. Endeavoring to stabilize the government of a nation in chaos is certainly "seeking the good" for the oppressed in that nation. And in the case of Iraq, much of the activity of the army has been to improve the living conditions of the survivors of the former tyranny there. While all individuals on either side of a conflict are made in the image of God, we are guided by Scripture in two ways. By serving our own nation's army, we are "rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21). When we must choose sides in a conflict, we should defend the weak.
Psalm 82:3
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Acts 20:35
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

2. I am an American in a country where there is a civil war, and I have no vested interest in supporting either side. For whom do I "seek the good?"
I think the answer here is "for whomever you have opportunity." The Good Samaritan wasn't looking to "take sides" on the day when he found the victimized Jew on the wayside, even though they were of traditional enemy bloodlines. He was commended by Jesus for meeting the need right in front of his face, and so should we.
Psalm 34:14
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Luke 6:35
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

In light of the previous two examples, I heard an interesting pastor speak last week. He does not allow his messages to be taped, because of the sensitive nature of what he does. The Lord has opened doors for him in a couple of nations which have traditonally been very closed to the gospel. He first went into those countries with no other agenda than to "do good." Through his acts of humanitarian service, he earned the right to be heard. Now both atheists and members of non-Christian religions are opening seeking to know about his faith. In one of the countries, he has already made some disciples in locations where there had been no previous Christians. In the other country, he seems to be far from making any converts, but he openly declares his own testimony, and they are listening and asking questions.

All because he set about doing good for others created in God's image, without thought of what he would gain from it.

Dr. Laura: Co-belligerent

I don't get a chance to listen to Dr. Laura much any more, but there was a period in which I was a faithful listener. I have a good friend who can't stand to listen to her because she's so blunt (he would say "verbally abusive") to callers. That may or may not be (she gets some pretty unbearable callers!), but what is important to me is that she is consistent.

When I first wrote about the Manhattan Declaration (January 20), I said that I don't agree with brothers who are concerned about the spiritual articulation and pedigrees of some of the signers. But at least the Orthodox and Roman Catholic signers confess to be Christians. Dr. Laura does not. She is an observant Jew, which means she takes the commands of God seriously and shapes her life around them. Although I haven't read it, I understand that her book about the Ten Commandments would be edifying for any Christian to read.

And on the subject of traditional marriage, she is a valuable co-belligerent. Whenever a caller, either brazenly or embarrasedly, admits to sexual co-habitation in an unmarried state, Dr. Laura (consistently) quips, "So you're shacking up?" It is clearly meant to be pejorative, and when framed as a question, it always elicits the humble answer,"..yyyyes, Dr. Laura." (Nobody talks back to a Jewish mother!).

So consistent has Dr. Laura been with this tactic, that most callers are no longer shocked by it, and seem to be prepared for it. Dr. Laura has blown past the euphemism of "living together" to reframe the conversation in a Biblical manner. In our politically "sensitive" times, this is rare and much-needed candor. She has changed the way many people look at this simply by her use of language. She has also earned the right to be heard by the consistent and valuable answers she gives to the callers. If she were just a crackpot with attitude, people would have quit calling a long time ago.

That's being a "witness for truth," in the language of the Manhattan Declaration. Thank you for being a co-belligerent, Dr. Laura.

Speaking of television...

“The fight against censorship is a nineteenth century issue which was largely won in the twentieth. What we are confronted with now is the problem posed by the economic and symbolic structure of television. Those who run television do not limit our access to information but in fact widen it. Our Ministry of Culture is Huxleyan, not Orwellian. It does everything possible to encourage us to watch continuously. But what we watch is a medium which presents information in a form that renders it simplistic, nonsubstantive, nonhistorical and noncontextual; that is to say, information packaged as entertainment. In America, we are never denied the opportunity to amuse ourselves.” Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, p.141.

Not courageous and not right

I don't know anything about John Krasinski's personal life, and I don't want to. But this blog is about something he said, not as character Jim Halpert, but as himself.

As I mentioned in last Sunday's Manhattan Declaration class, I have a love-hate relationship with television's The Office, and a statement by actor Krasinski came into our discussion last Sunday.

The discussion was about point one of the Declaration: defending traditional marriage. One of the dangers of the Manhattan Declaration (as a good friend recently pointed out) is that people will see it as merely another call to right wing political action. It is so much deeper than that. We should already know we can't preserve tradtional marriage by just legislating what is legal and what is not. All it will take is a 51% majority to redefine marriage legally, and we who support traditional marriage are losing the hearts and minds of America at breakneck pace.

If we are going to persuade Americans to support traditional marriage legally, those who are on the fence or waffling must see those of us who fear God celebrating, endorsing, advocating, sacrifically supporting, and unflinchingly extolling traditional marriage. In word and in deed. For me this past week, it meant three conversations with good friends on this very subject: consoling and encouraging a Christian wife, counseling and admonishing her husband, and helping a young theologian wrestle with scriptural priorities regarding marriage as it should be taught among believers. It meant making a couple of personal decisions based on how they would impact my dear spouse. We don't have to look for these opportunities; they come up daily.

Back to Krasinski. Never mind why I watch The Office...I just do. I discovered on Hulu.com that there are interviews with the characters, and I recently watched an interview with Krasinski and Jenna Fischer, who plays his wife. In the interview, which concerned the recent episode in which the character played by Fischer gives birth to their first child, the discussion gets around to the decision by the writers to have Pam (Fischer's character) discover she's pregnant before the two are married (although the marriage is already planned). Krasinski refers to this choice on the part of the writers as "gutsy...brave...courageous" at various points in the interview.

If you're still with me, I want you to bear with a tedious break down of what is being done and said here.

1. First of all, it's just silly to say that was "courageous," in light of the increasingly casual attitude toward sex and extra-marital pregnancy in our culture. Movies have been painting this as a common condition for fifty years, and television has not been far behind. Although you and I would like to think we have a better quality of friendships and acquaintances than any of the charaters we might see in popular media, which of us has not had a good friend (or relative) who revealed that she was pregnant and unmarried? What's courageous about illustrating something the culture has already accepted as inevitable (if not normative)?

2. But in Krasinski's defense, there is a reason he said that. In many respects, Jim and Pam are depicted as the "voices of reason" in The Office, certainly the most likeable of the strange menagerie of personalities. Fischer alludes to this herself in the interview. In that respect, Krasinski may have felt it was "courageous" of the writers to depict this "flaw" in the two most stable characters in the series. Except that no one watching will regard it as a flaw! (Okay, maybe just Steve Johnson and I). It is precisely because Pam and Jim have become our favorites that no one will think badly of them for this ("After all, they are already in a committed relationship and planning their wedding!"). And once again television has worked its subtle magic on our minds, causing us to rationalize a behavior we know to be against God's design because we don't want to offend our friends, Pam and Jim - who don't exist!

3. If you think I'm over the top there, I also watched an interview with two of the writers for the series, Jonathan Hughes and Nate Federman, in which they blatantly talk about staging and filming techniques which "force" the viewer to respond in the ways in they want him or her to respond. This is manipulation. And it works powerfully! Consider what is said of Simon the sorceror in Acts 9:11... "They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic."

What are the take-aways for those of us who are "Manhattan Declarationists"? (or just Christians?)

1. Don't be taken in yourself. If you believe you are being manipulated by media to look on sin with approval, stop watching. Or watch selectively (as I do) with a view toward discussing the implications with trusted fellow believers. Frankly, I need to know the voices who are influencing the generation I am seeking to disciple. The two writers I mentioned above are in their early thirties. I actually first learned of The Office on the blog of a pastor I respect. Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, said "Know thy enemy."

2. Earn the right to be heard. Show by acts of love and service that you will go the extra mile to support the institution of marriage as God designed it. For many of us, that means supporting Crisis Pregnancy or Bethany House, but there are other closer-to-home ways, as well. Start with some of those people whom we admitted to knowing above, those who are not living in accordance with God's plan. Be a friend and helper without condemning, all the while being a witness for he truth.

3. In the words of the Manhattan Declaration, be a witness for the truth. When you have earned the right to be heard, speak unapologetically for Godly marriage. Don't depend on what you imagine by conservative tradition to be Godly marriage, study it. I recommend pastor Douglas Wilson's Reforming Marriage for starters.

One last shot at John Krasinski. He can't help it. His liberal education and affinity for the popular culture of his own upbringing have led him to imagine that anything that challenges what he was taught to be an archaic view of marriage (out-dated tradition, sterile status quo, hypocritical Victorianism) needs to be shaken up. So anyone who would do that shaking (his thirty-something writer peers) is courageous to him. God deliver us from phony heroes.

Now go out and be a real hero, in God's terms.

Time for a tribute

In yesterday's blog, I alluded to the type of community that churches of an older, more agrarian American culture were able to establish. It prompted a flood of reminiscences of my first church. I am impelled to pay tribute to it here today.

I don't know exactly how my parents chose the First Baptist Church of Cartersville (Georgia), but they believed I should go to Sunday School, and that is the one they chose. During the years from age six to age nine, they drove me to the church, dropped me off, and let me walk home afterwards (it was a pretty small town). Eventually I caught on that I would get more "points" on the "Six Point Record System" (a curious invention of the Sunday School Board which probably only made sense in the post-war 1950's), if I would "Stay for Preaching: 40 points." Which is why I was in church by myself when a guest evangelist came to hold a week long "revival" at the Easter season of 1956. I responded to what I understood of the gospel (I knew I was a sinner and needed Jesus - that's about it) in the very first service. I went home and told my parents I was scheduled to be baptized the next Sunday, and then they began attending church with me.

I'd love to tell oodles of stories about this church. Even though I only went there from ages six through eleven, it seems as though a whole lifetime of lessons (both good and not-so-valuable) were inculcated into my life in this brief amount of time. But here I want to give tribute to the most positive effects of this church on my life:

1. I continued to hear the gospel, even after I was baptized. For me, that was a good thing: repetition helped my understanding. I "got it" pretty well by the time I left at age eleven (we moved to another town).

2. I saw Godly men and women who worked at secular jobs in the community. My most memorable Sunday School teacher during that period was Mr. Hall, who was a typesetter at the local newspaper. I remember being impressed that in addition to his regular job, he took time to study the Bible in order to teach us (wiggly) boys. It underscored for me the notion that I would not be limited to "full time service" in order to be faithful to the Lord.

3. I learned the words to dozens (maybe hundreds) of hymns. After I was baptized, I joined Junior Choir, and at that time Southern Baptists had a "Hymn of the Month" curriculum for all youth music programs in the denomination. I loved the stories behind the hymns, the poetry of the hymns, the harmonies of the hymns...everything. It would never have occurred to me to take a hymn book home, but whenever I was stuck at church waiting on my mom, I would grab a hymnal and read the lyrics. I know...I was a nerd waiting to happen (I did eventually major in English), but for me it was rich.

4. I formed consistent Bible reading and prayer habits. Southern Baptists at that time had this strange Sunday evening meeting (before "preaching") called Baptist Training Union. It had a more complicated record system than Sunday School (eight points, for crying out loud!) and the highest value in this system was "Daily Bible Reading: 30 points." Fortunately, they supplied us with booklets of readings for every day of the year, which were coordinated to the lesson we were studying the next Sunday. I formed a lifelong habit (worth more than 30 ponts!).

5. I heard Godly laymen pray long prayers every Wednesday evening. I don't know if young people nowadays ever get exposed to the kind of lengthy prayer meetings I went to as a child, but they are missing out on a sense of reverence for the holy, if not. I wasn't there completely voluntarily. Shortly after my baptism, my mother took the job of church hostess (running the kitchen), and Baptist churches in the South at that time typically had a huge Wednesday evening meal followed by Prayer Meeting. I walked to church on Wednesday afternoons (straight down the street from Cherokee Avenue Elementary School), sang in Junior Choir rehearsal, ate dinner in the kitchen with my mom and the "ladies" (cooks), and then went out into the Prayer Meeting while mom and the ladies cleaned up. [Incidentally, junior choir met in the upstairs room where the upper half of that huge "rose window" you can see in the photo above could be seen from the inside. Quite an aesthetic setting for a small town boy]. 
Now don't think I wasn't a normal boy. Sometimes I could hardly bear the lengthy prayers, and found it extremely difficult to keep still. But this taught me fear of God, and as we know, that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).

6. I grew to love fellowship. Most of the experiences I had with the church were very positive: Sunday School, Training Union, Junior Choir, Wednesday Night Supper, Prayer Meeting, special events like New Year's Eve Watch Night, and so on. If there was anywhere I felt accepted and loved, it was at church.

I could say more, but these are a few of the highlights. First Baptist has built a new building now, farther out of town. But my memories of the blessed church of my youth are safe and intact.

Thank you, God. Thank you, saints at First Baptist.

Time for truth

Way back on September 29, 2009, I first introduced Dove Mountaineers to an important resource called "Truthorfiction.com". Rather than repeat the detailed explanation I gave then, you could just read it for yourself here.

In yesterday's Manhattan Declaration Sunday School class, a discussion came up about euthanasia, and I interposed that I had read an e mail which alleges several governmental actions that would legitimate and enforce (if not force!) euthanasia are embedded in the text of the current Health Care bill. I offered to post that e mail here on the blog for all who are interested.

This morning I remembered to take my own advice, and before posting said e mail, I checked it out on Truthorfiction.com. Like many such e mails, it turned out to be composed of snippets of older e mails (although it purports to convey a very recent letter). The point by point analysis of the items it alleges against the Health Care bill are a mixture of truth and fiction. Rather than send the original e mail (as I had offered to do), it would be more instructive for you to read the breakdown straight from Truth or Fiction here.

I appreciate the zeal with which the folks at Truth or Fiction attempt to authenticate every detail of every e mail. As you can see from the link posted above, many specific proposals in the Health Care bill have not yet been fully researched by the Truth or Fiction staff. However, there is enough truth to rouse the concerns of those who take the Manhattan Declaration seriously.

For one thing, the euphemism (remember Pastor Allen talked about this term in his sermon yesterday?) "end-of-life" is introduced, to cover not only natural death, but "advance planning," as well. There is no doubt, especially in light of the economy and the potential shortfall in Social Security when my generation (Baby Boom) crosses the 65 mark (just two years away), that enormous pressure will be exerted on terminating lives which are not deemed to be "of quality."

We didn't get to the point of discussing any potential solutions to the problem of public acceptance of euthanasia in our class yesterday, but I would like to offer a few here.

One thing we did agree on is that the will and intent of the patient himself or herself should be paramount (as Mike Jones brought up). For those of us who agree with the Manhattan Declaration, we would add "short of intentional suicide." Secondly, we acknowledged the primary role of the immediate family, not just in making decisions like "pulling the plug," but in being involved in the final stages of care. One area we didn't go into, however, is the role of the church.

When we look back a few generations, we can see a time when every little church (this is primarily true in the East, where I grew up) had its own graveyard out back. A relatively new church I know of back in Tennessee recently took adavantage of a law that is still on the books allowing for this, and set aside a hillside in back of the church just for this purpose. The dedication of this plot was just in time for a young couple, friends of mine, to bury their stillborn infant there. It was a comfort to them that this peaceful garden exists right behind the place where they worship.

Implicit in the presence of these cemeteries was the primacy of the church in matters of life and death. Christians regarded marrying and burying, not to mention christening and/or baptism, as essentially spiritual events, outside of the interests and purview of government. But today's mobile population, consumer based church-hopping, and strip mall church facililites have not fostered a strong sense of community which would see us nurtured cradle to grave by a consistent and caring Christian congregation.

If we were to reclaim this territory for the church, then it would also make sense for the church family to come alongside the family who is losing a loved one, to help bear the details and burdens of those last days and weeks. Not doubt this is still happening in many healthy congregations, but I hope we can pass on this expectation to the generation coming after us, who have more likely been made to expect government and secular agencies to be resources during this time. If that is the case, then shame on us (the church)! I especially pray that here at Dove Mountain we can build the bonds that would make us want to be just that much invested in each other's lives and welfare.

The Summit

Join Pastor Allen Cooney and many other Dove Mountaineers tonight and tomorrow at Catalina Foothills Church for The Summit. Dr. Richard Winter, professor at Covenant Seminary, will be speaking on the subjects of his two latest books, "Perfecting Ourselves to Death" and "Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment." Tonight's session begins at 6:30; admission is $15.00 for adults, $10 for students.

Reviewing the 10 cities of Micah 1

I heard several appreciative comments after Sunday's sermon on Micah 1. The Minor Prophets are often over-looked and under-preached, but Pastor Allen did a great job of making Micah relevant to us!

Pastor Allen made the point that the specific prophecies of Micah against the ten cities were a play on the Hebrew meaning of the city's name. He listed several as examples, but as I followed I found that the NIV footnotes had these translations for eight of the ten (I have included Micah's prophecy at the end of each line):

1. Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell..."tell it not"
2. Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust..."roll in the dust"
3. Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant..."nakedness and shame"
4. Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out..."will not come out"
5. Micah 1:11 Beth Ezel (no translation provided)
6. Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter..."writhe in pain"
7. Micah 1:13 Lachish sounds like the Hebrew for team..."harness the team to the chariot"
8. Micah 1:14 Moresheth Gath (no translation provided)
9. Micah 1:14 Aczib means deception..."Will prove deceptive"
10. Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror "I will bring a conqueror against you"

The Bible is amazing! Hebrew prophets were often thought to be crude, uneducated herdsmen and farmers. But here is Micah using subtlety, wit, and incisive articulation to bring a proud and hard-hearted people to repentance. May it not be so among us, that God should have to raise up such a prophet. May we respond now to the Spirit's urgings, as we study the Word together.

More on Torpor

In explaining "torpor," Pastor Allen quoted author and philosopher Peter Kreeft. Here is a section from his book, Christianity for Modern Pagans, in which he talks about the origins of the notion of torpor:

"The word 'boredom' does not exist in any language. It first appears in the seventeenth century. No one knows its origin.

Since we always invent words for things we experience, it follows that this is a new experience. Until modern times, it seems people simply were not bored - that is bored in general, bored with life. Of course they tired of a particular task, like cutting wood for ten hours.

The closest thing to it in the Middle Ages is anomie, or acedia, the deadly sin of sloth, spiritual torpitude, lack of care and passion and joy in the face of spiritual good, indifference to our eternal destiny. It is 'deadly,' or 'mortal': it kills souls."

Torpor illustrated

It is only natural that a pastor as passionate as Allen Cooney would lead us to understand the deadliness of spiritual torpor. A typical definition for torpor would be "a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility," but in the animal world, it also refers to hibernation.

In a spiritual sense, it is the indifference that Elie Weizel was railing against in Night (see yesterday's quotes). It is also (which is why it was in the sermon) the state of mind out of which Old Testament prophets such as Micah were constantly calling the people of Israel.

Surely no one would argue that we don't need prophets today. Thank God for Pastor Allen calling us out of our torpor! The Lenten season is a great time to reflect on the areas of indifference in our lives...and to repent! Practicing those spiritual disciplines that Elder Dave Bowen preached about four weeks ago will help keep both out minds and spiritual sensitivities awake and alert!

And thanks, as always, to Steve Johnson for his lively illustrations, as pictured above. I always say that the children's message is really for us as adults - we need those visual lessons as much as the children!

N.B. If the photo is not easily comprehensible to those who were not there, Steve is wrapping sweet Jenna Van Stelle in plastic refrigerator wrap to represent the way a state of torpor shields us from penetration by the Holy Spirit (represented by a squeezed water bottle). I think you can picture the results.

Quotes from Night

Yesterday was not the first time Pastor Allen has mentioned Elie Weisel's Night. If you have ever had a Sunday School Class in Room 4 (David Towne's room), there is a long passage on the wall from this book, in which Weisel points out that the Germans who perpetrated the Holocaust were educated, but not humane. It serves as a sober warning to those of us in the field of education that we must have higher priorities than merely pumping our students full of head knowledge (as opposed to the education of the heart).

Weisel wrote this book as a response to the myth that the Holocaust never took place. It is largely autobiographical, recounting his family's experience of being transported from their home in Hungary to Auschwitz, where Weisel's mother, father, and youngest sister died. Elie and two brothers survived until the allies invaded.

Here are some memorable quotes from Weisel, from Night, as well as other works:

"We cannot indefinitely avoid depressing subject matter, particularly it it is true, and in the subsequent quarter century the world has had to hear a story it would have preferred not to hear - the story of how a cultured people turned to genocide, and how the rest of the world, also composed of cultured people, remained silent in the face of genocide."

"Never be silent whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference."