Send in the clownfish

This just in to our “Why Am I Not Surprised By This?” department:

A one-hour elementary school lesson on gender diversity featuring all-girl geckos and transgender clownfish caused a stir in Oakland on Monday, with conservative legal defense organizations questioning the legitimacy of the topic and providing legal counsel to parents who opposed the instruction.

On Monday and today, Redwood Heights Elementary School students at every grade level were being introduced to the topic of gender diversity, with lesson plans tailored to each age group.

The lesson on gender differences was one small part of a much larger effort to offer what parents last year said they wanted at the school: a warm, welcoming, safe and caring environment for all children, said Principal Sara Stone.

The school also teaches students about the variety of families at the school and takes on the issue of bullying.

“If we don’t have a safe, nurturing class environment, it’s going to be hard to learn,” she said. “Really, the message behind this curriculum is there are different ways to be boys. There are different ways to be girls.”

So, fourth- and fifth-grade students learned about the crazy world of gender within the animal kingdom with lessons about single-sex Hawaiian geckos, fish that switch genders and boy snakes that act “girly.”

“That’s a lot of variation in nature,” Gender Spectrum trainer, Joel Baum, told the students. “Evolution comes up with some pretty funny ways for animals to reproduce.”

And that same kind of diversity applies to people too, said Baum, the education director for the San Leandro nonprofit. For example, some boys can act like girls; some girls can have boy body parts; and some biological boys feel like a girl inside their hearts, he said.

“It turns out that there are not just two options,” he said. (continue reading)

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 as you’ve never heard (or seen) it before

Karl Keating turned me on to this video of a virtuoso performance by one Ben Bosco. He expertly plays this classic Bach piece on several stringed instruments — bass, mandolin, mandola, and guitar — and the compiled tracks make a feast for the ear and quite an interesting spectacle for the eye.  Check it out!

Archdiocese of San Francisco sees “huge decline” in weddings

In the last 20 years, the number of times the sacrament of holy matrimony has been celebrated by Catholics in Fog City has plummeted by nearly 50% even as the total population of Catholics there has grown by nearly 10%. Something is obviously wrong with this picture, and the Archdiocese is seeking to understand what’s behind this disturbing trend and what it can do to reverse it. I’d welcome comments and theories from everyone on this issue, and in particular those of you who live in San Francisco. What do you think are the reasons for this drop? I have my own ideas, but I’d really like to know what you think.

Archbishop George Niederauer has formed a task force to study marriage preparation in response to a sharp drop in the number of Catholic weddings in the archdiocese.

The number of Catholic sacramental marriages in the archdiocese dropped 47 percent from 1990 to 2010, with 1,985 marriages in 1990 falling to 1,060 marriages 20 years later.

Over the same period the number of Catholics in the archdiocese grew from 395,000 to 444,008.
Father Raymund Reyes, pastor of St. Anne of the Sunset Parish in San Francisco, said the “huge decline” is something priests are struggling to understand.

The task force will examine marriage education with an eye to revamping it, San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Robert McElroy said. Bishop McElroy said the task force is addressing several points raised by a committee of the Council of Priests, an advisory body. The task force will focus on renewing existing marriage preparation programs, making parishes as inviting as possible to engaged couples and making the moment of engagement a substantial time of catechesis for couples.

The task force will address the issues in the context of the diverse cultures of the archdiocese. The group will examine how the growing multiculturalism of the Catholic community plays a role in the trend and how it can be a means for reversing the decline. . . . (continue reading)

 

POLL: Nearly 1/3 of Russians believe historic division of Christians to be a mistake

As Father Z would say, brick by brick. The Russian news agency Interfax reports today on a recent religion survey that may offer new reasons for hope that there can somehow be a reunion between the Catholic Church and (at least) the Russian Orthodox Church. The poll results show that

Almost one third of Russians, or 30 percent, thinks the division of Christians to Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants was a historic mistake which may and should be corrected.

Such results reported to Interfax-Religion Wednesday were shown by the all-Russian poll carried out by Sreda Service Company and Public Opinion fund and covered 1,500 people.

Women, city dwellers and Orthodox Christians are more inclined to believe that the Christian schism was a mistake. And the highest percentage of respondents who agree with the above statement was shown by Orthodox believers involved in parish life (43%).

Almost the same number of respondents thinks the division of Christians into Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants was not a mistake. For the most part, they are men, non-believers and village dwellers.

The respondents’ education level had no effect on their answers. However, the individuals with only high school education mostly responded that they had no definite opinion on that matter.

39 percent of respondents have no definite opinion as to whether the division of Christians was a historic mistake.

Wherein I publicly debate a Pentecostal minister on the Eucharist

For me, the best part of this 1996 exchange was that it took place at the minister’s church before an audience of several hundred people, most of whom were members of his congregation, most of whom (he told me that evening) were ex-Catholics. We also debated the question of sola scriptura. The whole thing lasted about 3 hours and, for a nominal charge, is available  as a digital download. I hope you find it helpful.

 

India’s gender-selection hecatombs reach mind-numbing levels

The Russian news agency RT reports that “4-12 million girls aborted in India because parents want boys.”

Sex selection of fetuses has become a major problem in India as the country faces a huge gender gap.  The problem has resulted in 7.1 per cent fewer girls than boys, according to Agence France-Presse, quoting a recent study. The results of the study, published Tuesday, suggest that parents in India often choose to abort the child if the testing shows it will be a girl. Between 1980 and 2010, they estimate that between four to twelve million girls were aborted because of their sex, the scientists revealed.

Selective abortion of female fetuses accounts for two to four per cent of female pregnancies in India, roughly 300,000 to 600,000 per year, the study shows. A 1996 government regulation designed to prevent the use of ultrasound for prenatal sex determination is widely flouted, the researchers say, pointing out that few health providers have been charged or convicted.

Peter Fonda has officially lost his mind

According to the Telegraph,

Peter Fonda encourages his grandchildren to take up arms against President Barack Obama. Peter Fonda, the star of Easy Rider, says he is training his grandchildren to use rifles for a conflict with President Barack Obama.

 

Quitters never win & winners never quit, but he who never wins AND never quits is Harold Camping

I cannot begin to image how thick someone’s skull must be to keep battering it endlessly against the brick wall of futility. After all the bemused media hype, frenzied efforts to get the word out to the masses, and a big ole pile of cash squandered (his and his followers’) on promoting his recent prediction that the rapture would take place last Saturday, with the end of the world following this coming October, Protestant radio answer man, Harold Camping, has . . . wait for it . . .   “revised his apocalyptic prophecy Monday, saying he was off by five months because the Earth actually will be obliterated on Oct. 21.”

Even if the earth is obliterated this October, at least there is a consolation prize of sorts, and that is that Mr. Camping’s credibility was obliterated first. That happened [again] last Saturday.

Israeli President Netanyahu urges U.S. return to 1845 borders

This is clever. However, given Dear Leader’s chronic diplomatic cluelessness, it’s quite possible he wouldn’t realize that this is satire. In any case, I will go on record here and declare that I do not support any effort to retrench America’s southern border back to where it was in 1845.

Aboard Air Force Aleph (Reuters) – Speaking to reporters accompanying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his long flight to the United States tonight, Netanyahu spoke of the injustice and hardship Mexicans have endured since American forces annexed Texas in 1845. “Tens of thousands of ordinary Mexicans were driven out of their homes – the only homes they had known for centuries – and forced to live in poverty and squalor south of the border imposed by American aggression,” Netanyahu said. “The Israeli and Mexican people agree on this: This festering wound will never heal until America takes bold steps to return to the internationally accepted lines of 1845. Clearly the settlement activity that’s taken place in occupied Mexico since then is illegal. When I meet the President tomorrow I will tell him to halt all building activity in Texas immediately. Two lands for two peoples, yes, but not on land taken by force from Mexico,” the Prime Minister said.

Asked if his hard-line stance could hurt the U.S.-Israel relationship, Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to America’s security and the unshakeable friendship shared by the two countries, then added, “But who was it who said, part of friendship is being able to tell your friend the truth.”

The ball is now in Obama’s court. (source)

 

Terrifying video from inside yesterday’s killer tornado in Joplin

Watch this harrowing video taken by one of a group of people, most likely strangers to each other, as this appears to have been filmed inside a convenience store or a fast-food restaurant. They were taking shelter from the approaching tornado which leveled a huge swath of Joplin, Missouri.

Huddled in the still-daytime darkness, waiting for the twister to either pass them by or plow into them, you can hear their fears go from bad to worse to extreme. There’s virtually no light, but you don’t need to see them to understand what they went through. Children crying, men calling out directions and encouragement, and at least one woman shouting “Heavenly Father!” and “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” as the terrified group wait to see if they will live or die. One man calls out in the darkness, “I love everyone.”

Preliminary news reports say that at least 89 people were killed in Joplin when the tornado struck at about 6:00 p.m. Watching this video made me wonder what I would say or do if I were in that terrible situation, with a violent death possibly moments away. What do you think you would do?

Question: What’s the least useful college major if you need to rebuild civilization after the apocalypse?

It’s not English literature. It’s not economics. It’s not classics. It’s not philosophy. It’s not accounting. It’s not history. It’s not pre-law. It’s not linguistics. It’s not sociology. It’s not special education, political science, communication, or Portuguese. And it sure as heck isn’t engineering, chemistry, or physics. So, what is the least useful college major if you needed to rebuild civilization after the apocalypse? Click the image to find out. . .

If you’ve heard “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” you might enjoy this

If you haven’t, you really should watch the video of the original song first, and then, once you’re hep to what it’s all about, watch this reworked version by comedy genius Tim Hawkins. And when you’re finished with it, you will probably want to watch every other humor video he’s ever made. He’s that good. And lucky for you, there are tons of his videos on YouTube 🙂

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