Our son Benjamin is taking a chemistry class, and the other night he and Steve were discussing a potentially toxic substance lurking in every public building, every home, and even the great outdoors. Forget about the dangers of global warming, terrorist attacks, or the Asian bird flu. This substance has a causal relationship to all those things and more, and it has already caused the deaths of millions. What is it, you ask? (You did ask, didn’t you?)

It’s Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO).

Never heard of it? The enviro-Nazi cadre hasn’t included it on the lists of approved bio-hazards which require U.N. treaties, but don’t let that fool you. They’re just worried that if you catch on, support for their pet calamities will dry up. Here’s a FAQ to help you get your feet wet so you can dive into the issue of DHMO. Spread the word.

Last night we were treated to a rare thunderstorm with an amazing lightning show. The children, like the scene from The Sound of Music (yes, we sang a few lines of “My Favorite Things”), trickled into my room, and settled near the window to watch the show. We had a couple of cells pass over us, but most were in the distance, and from our ridgetop we had a clear view of flash after brilliant flash for over an hour. We saw several clearly outlined bolts splitting the darkness.

Daddy made sure to unplug every electronic device just in case we had any strikes that were too close to home.

Here are a few bits and pieces of our conversation as we sat together in our darkened room:

Is it the 4th of July in heaven?
Maybe God is entertaining the angels.
No, they probably have to entertain Him.
Do you suppose some of them are the jesters?
God does have a sense of humor, you know.
Yes, that’s why he made platypuses.
This is better than a movie.
It’s agrarian entertainment.

According to the American Library Association and their tolerant comrades, it’s officially Banned Books Week. Since this large group of media specialists annually declares the importance of keeping America safe for liberal indoctrination, you may encounter their slogans “gayly” emblazoned on the walls of those government-operated media centers called public libraries.

Liberté, Fraternité, and particularly Égalité are alive and kicking in 21st century America.

You probably already guessed that I don’t think all ideas are created equal. In fact, I think some ideas are so blasphemous that they ought to be challenged and yes, sometimes banned. The French Revolution was the ultimate object lesson on the aphorism “ideas have consequences”: the evil, humanist ideas of the Enlightenment led to deadly consequences.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the ALA is objective. Neither are they honest. They would vehemently deny the premise in the first sentence of the last paragraph, yet they act it out all the time. According to Linda Harvey:

Setting aside any danger that the government might ban valuable materials, which is not happening in any community in America, let’s strip away the spin and look at the facts. The supposed dangers are essentially phony. For there are several methods to “ban” a book from a school or library: someone can ask that something already in the library be removed, or, valuable books can be banned from consideration before they ever reach the shelves. This is the dirty little secret behind the bluster and outrage of Banned Books Week: private, library-initiated censorship is a routine practice throughout America.

I haven’t noticed any censorship of the “most challenged books” occurring in the circles I frequent, and I live in the most conservative county in the state of California. When I just checked my local library’s online catalog, however, I found almost all of the perverse books mentioned in that article are included in its collection, along with several other books promoting alternative lifestyles, many in the juvenile fiction section. In contrast, there are almost no books on biblical Christianity, and as one who has donated books to the library in the past, the attitude toward gifts which positively portray biblical Christianity is very reticent. “All donations have to be approved by the head librarian” or “We may not have room for that on the shelves.” Yet the library discards I find at library book sales are culled by librarians who make judgement calls regarding what they want to keep on the shelf and what they want to get rid of. A parent who questions a book’s presence in the children’s section of the library is promoting “book banning,” but a government employee who singlehandedly decides to dump good literature in the dumpster to make room for trash is just doing her job.

Unfortunately, that’s the route any publicly funded institution will eventually take—because the public holds many worldviews, and it’s politically incorrect to question any of them except for biblical Christianity, then the shrillest liberal voice (backed up by the ACLU) calls the tune, even if it’s in the minority. I once knew a Christian librarian in the Bay Area who refused to give a copy of Hugh Hefner’s rag (kept behind the counter) to a pre-pubescent boy, and she received an official rebuke and a reminder that they were not to deny any material to anyone, regardless of their age.

If you don’t feel like celebrating Banned Books Week, why don’t you join me in celebrating Discernment Week. Here is our mission statement (shamelessly taken from the ALA website and revised):

Discernment Week 2005 is the first annual celebration of the freedom to read discerningly. This freedom, not only to choose what we read but to select from that which is edifying, is firmly rooted in the precepts and principles of the Bible, which repeatedly encourages Christians to walk as children of light, in thought, word and deed. Even as we rejoice in the increasing quantity and availability of Christian reading matter, we must be vigilant to ensure that we teach our children to obey and honor God, and protect their impressionable minds from pervasive and perverse influences. Threats to their spiritual well-being exist in many quarters, even public libraries, on public television and yes, even on Fox News. Quite simply, change agents are those who call good, evil and evil, good by seeking to control what your children read, see or hear. Even though their utopian motives may be well-intentioned, those paving stones lead to you-know-where.

Some of Gracie’s friends mentioned that this is one of their favorite hymns. It is by Isaac Watts. Does anyone know a good place to find the music online?

Who is this fair one in distress,
That travels from the wilderness?
And pressed with sorrows and with sins,
On her beloved Lord she leans.

This is the spouse of Christ our God,
Bought with the treasure of his blood;
And her request and her complaint
Is but the voice of every saint.

“O let my name engraven stand
Both on thy heart and on thy hand;
Seal me upon thine arm, and wear
That pledge of love for ever there.

“Stronger than death thy love is known,
Which floods of wrath could never drown;
And hell and earth in vain combine
To quench a fire so much divine.

“But I am jealous of my heart,
Lest it should once from thee depart;
Then let thy name be well impressed
As a fair signet on my breast.

“Till thou hast brought me to thy home,
Where fears and doubts can never come,
Thy count’nance let me often see,
And often thou shalt hear from me.

“Come, my Beloved, haste away,
Cut short the hours of thy delay;
Fly like a youthful hart or roe
Over the hills where spices grow.”

I’ve been wallowing in the French Revolution for the last few days, in preparation for the monthly book discussion in which my two oldest mini muffins and I are participating. We met last night with a group of other homeschooling families, at our church, to discuss The Scarlet Pimpernel and A Tale of Two Cities. Middle muffin baked French baguettes to take for the potluck we had there, and all three of us brought our knitting which we worked on during our discussion .

We also watched a movie of The Scarlet Pimpernel with Jane Seymour and some actor I don’t remember as Percy Blakeney, and a much-younger Ian McKellen as the evil Chauvelin. I can’t believe they had Chauvelin involved in a romantic relationship with Marguerite before she met Percy. Ick. And the ladies’ dresses made the costumes in Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility look demure. We decided that we will stick with David Niven and Virginia Mayo (though Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon aren’t bad) when it comes to film versions of TSP.

Speaking of TSP, I needed a bit of it to wash away the images of the gruesome Revolution for “liberty.” So today I took five of our munchkins for a beautiful almost-fall nature walk, to fill our minds with images of the lovely creation outside our door. Charlotte Mason would have been proud. We had laminated cards with local wildflowers and trees so we could identify some of the flora, and we chased off some of the fauna, aka deer, that like to casually munch the green grass on the hill in front of our house. I pointed out California black oaks, California white oaks, Ponderosa pines, manzanita, mullein with tall stalks, noted acorn and pine cone shapes and discussed how seeds grow, searched for seedlings growing near mature trees, picked some late blackberries to taste, found a vein of quartz and picked up a large specimen to bring home, examined some shale and explained sedimentary rocks (hope I got that one right).

Then we brought home the goodies we collected, drank a few gallons of water (it was warm and we had to do a lot of uphill work), and settled in to read a few stories from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin, which I just happen to have a copy of, found in an antique store last month. I’m sorry to say we did not do any narration or nature journaling, but I can happily report that we enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine and the company, of course.

My time spent in the French Revolution reminded me that that is one period of history to which I would not want to time travel. Which gives me an idea for a long overdue poll: If you could time travel, which period of history would you most want to avoid? I know it’s rather morbid, and if you don’t want to participate, I understand, but I’ve been thinking about this for a few days and so I’m asking. Now to put on my thinking cap, if I can find it. Hmm. I think it’s lost. Well, that will explain if the choices in my poll seem a bit disorganized—it will have to be cursory for obvious reasons.

While I’m thinking, here’s a good quote for you to cogitate, and a link to an article about the ideas which bore the horrible consequence of the French Revolution:

Bastille Day and the French Revolution by Dr. Miguel A. Faria, M.D.

Liberty has a bad name in several countries of Europe; one knows it only by the ruin it has done, by the violence it has engendered, but is it necessary that these violences, these faults, even these crimes, ought to be imputed to liberty, or should they be imputed to the men who served themselves of this sacred name only in order to dishonor it? The example America has given us is an entirely different idea of liberty, one which teaches us to respect and to love it. In this rich liberty which elevates the soul, enlightens and calms the spirit, convicts the heart, we see the perfect fruit of the Gospel. Where has this modern liberty appeared except in the country where Christ is known as master. Has there ever been a semblance of free government or of democracy among people served by the fatalism of the Koran or the desperate doctrines of Buddhism? Know the tree by its fruits, know that religious, political, social, individual liberty is the daughter of Christianity…” ~19th century Frenchman Edouard LaBoulaye, quoted in The Journal of the Foundation for American Christian Education, Vol. VII

Note: While we are grateful to be avoiding some terrible periods of history, in God’s providence some are enduring trials right now, such as Hurricane Rita, causing many to be uprooted from their homes. Especially pray for Lora and her family who are going to be evacuating Houston. Let me know if there is anyone else we can be praying for.