•6:54 AM
UPDATE in bold font below.
... and started reading a couple of articles in today's N*w Y*rk Times. One, in particular, I felt compelled to respond to. The article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/opinion/30warner.html
The article discusses an inexplicable longing among some for the traditional ways of the 1950's culture. I sent in a reply and am wondering whether the moderator will post it. My reply was:
You will find a quiet revitalization of the traditional lifestyle of former decades in the homeschooling subculture, particularly that associated with conservative Christianity, but including those who merely choose to homeschool for academic and idealistic reasons. Social scientists need to be studying these families. We are such a family, and I personally know over a dozen other such families. Their marriages are intact after many years; many of them have children well into their teenage years. They often have 4 or more children. These are happy and satisfied wives and moms and dads who are making it on one paycheck (or in some cases, developing cottage industries and other forms of working from home to meet their needs and those of the growing homeschooling populace). We are working hard to teach our kids non-materialistic values, self-control, self-discipline, self-reliance, and diligence in all we do. I, personally, have sought out a particularly rich and rigorous curriculum to aim for excellence with my two children. It requires self discipline on my part, but it is certainly not impossible. So far, our kids are pretty happy, too. They are doing fine academically and socially, able to keep up with others of differing ages. They are well mannered; they make good eye contact with others. They are able to participate in substantive conversations with adults about all manner of topics. They are thriving in learning to be excellent in various skills. In our group, we have several who play musical instruments and sports. Much can be learned about our subculture by simply visiting our blogs (there are hundreds of honeschooling families who maintain them) and simply by observing us with an open mind. The traditional family is alive and well and growing in number, and busily raising and teaching tomorrow's leaders with God's help.
Sandy in Texas, if you read that article, I am sure you have a good reply to send in.
UPDATE: -- I cannot complain anymore. They did post my comment. They must have read my blog and felt guilty. LOLOLOL. Comment #63.
The second article, seeking out whether church attendance in 2009 just might be able to help the heathen to keep his New Year's resolutions -- well, there is no serious way I could respond to that one in a single comment that the moderator would post. You decide if you can by reading the article here. It is interesting how secularists try to describe the actions of the Holy Spirit in people's lives when they don't have the proper words to do so. It is also interesting that this article appeared in the Science section.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/science/30tier.html?th&emc=th
... and started reading a couple of articles in today's N*w Y*rk Times. One, in particular, I felt compelled to respond to. The article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/opinion/30warner.html
The article discusses an inexplicable longing among some for the traditional ways of the 1950's culture. I sent in a reply and am wondering whether the moderator will post it. My reply was:
You will find a quiet revitalization of the traditional lifestyle of former decades in the homeschooling subculture, particularly that associated with conservative Christianity, but including those who merely choose to homeschool for academic and idealistic reasons. Social scientists need to be studying these families. We are such a family, and I personally know over a dozen other such families. Their marriages are intact after many years; many of them have children well into their teenage years. They often have 4 or more children. These are happy and satisfied wives and moms and dads who are making it on one paycheck (or in some cases, developing cottage industries and other forms of working from home to meet their needs and those of the growing homeschooling populace). We are working hard to teach our kids non-materialistic values, self-control, self-discipline, self-reliance, and diligence in all we do. I, personally, have sought out a particularly rich and rigorous curriculum to aim for excellence with my two children. It requires self discipline on my part, but it is certainly not impossible. So far, our kids are pretty happy, too. They are doing fine academically and socially, able to keep up with others of differing ages. They are well mannered; they make good eye contact with others. They are able to participate in substantive conversations with adults about all manner of topics. They are thriving in learning to be excellent in various skills. In our group, we have several who play musical instruments and sports. Much can be learned about our subculture by simply visiting our blogs (there are hundreds of honeschooling families who maintain them) and simply by observing us with an open mind. The traditional family is alive and well and growing in number, and busily raising and teaching tomorrow's leaders with God's help.
Sandy in Texas, if you read that article, I am sure you have a good reply to send in.
UPDATE: -- I cannot complain anymore. They did post my comment. They must have read my blog and felt guilty. LOLOLOL. Comment #63.
The second article, seeking out whether church attendance in 2009 just might be able to help the heathen to keep his New Year's resolutions -- well, there is no serious way I could respond to that one in a single comment that the moderator would post. You decide if you can by reading the article here. It is interesting how secularists try to describe the actions of the Holy Spirit in people's lives when they don't have the proper words to do so. It is also interesting that this article appeared in the Science section.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/science/30tier.html?th&emc=th
|
6 comments:
Very interesting article (the 1st one), and the comments are even more interesting. Yours is not among them, at least not at this point (it's 9:03 EST). Lots of food for thought. Your comment was interesting as well; I hope they'll post it.
I only skimmed the 2nd article, as I really need to get up out of this chair and get a shower and begin my daily routine of domestic servitude... :-)
I got two things from this piece. One, the author needs Jesus. I'm not being trite, I mean the author obviously has no idea what Christianity is all about. Considering the amount of misinformation, in and out of church, that's not really surprising. Second, this is what happens when we look to culture to define us instead of looking to God's word. This is what happens when we think the goal of life is to be happy and fulfilled and we think we can get that by our own efforts. When we can't, we blame society, the government, the opposite gender, religion, etc. Sad, really. Because this kind of thinking cuts people off from the only true help they will ever have.
I read the first article and found it interesting. I think the reason so many families made it on one income in the 1950s was due to lower taxes and a simpler lifestyle than what we have today.
I liked your response and hope it gets published with the article. We also live on one income and homeschool. I think it's okay (and often preferable) to be counter-cultural. :)
BTW, have I ever invited you to my family blog? If you're interested, please email me at oillady (at) charter (dot) net. Thanks!
Actually, I was responding to the first article, I didn't read the second. That first one was muddled enough for one day, I thought. :)
I found your comment much *less* abusive than the condenscending article was. Beyond that I'm too flabbergasted to comment. I'm impressed you were able to intelligently and calmly reply to that.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. It is almost like getting mail! I enjoyed looking around you blog.
Very interesting article!
newfrontiersacademy