Obituary to Common Sense

This ran in the Summit Journal and found it a compelling read.

“Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). “His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. “Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. 

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m A Victim. 

“Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he
was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the
majority and do nothing.”
—Author Unknown

Definition of Science: A Letter to the Editor

The following letter was published in the Lawrence Journal World in September 2005.

To the editor,

In response to the many articles concerning the "anti-science" attitude of conservatives, and how the big debate is science vs. religion, I would like to address the definition of "science".

Evolution is not really science. And to be frank, neither is creationism. Science is evidence that we can observe. We cannot scientifically prove that Caesar Augustus ever existed. We may find evidence (documents, tablets, ect.) that support the idea of his existence, but it is still simply a belief, though it may be supported by science.

Now, evolution may be factual. But unless we can observe evolution taking place, it is not science. The oxford dictionary describes science as "the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment." If we cannot examine it, then we cannot call it 'science'.

Isaac McPheeters

Lawrence

The Real World: A Letter to the Editor

The following letter was published in the Lawrence Journal World on Thursday, May 31, 2007.

To the editor:
In response to Craig Tucker’s and Judy Northway’s letter to the editor, “Sheltered lives,” on May 22, I would like to give them my insight as a home schooler now in college. Their concern about sheltering children from the “real world” is understandable, so allow me to address it. 

Our U.S. military shelters its trainees a great deal. When you first join the armed forces, you aren’t going to be sent to Iraq right away. Why not? Iraq’s the real world, and they need to be prepared for it. Yes, but they first need training. The school environment is a place for children to learn and grow before weathering the effects of the world.
Tucker and Northway imply the public school is the “real world.” I would agree with Haskell University Professor Smokey McKinney when he said that public schooling is a “fake world.” The kids have a bell telling them when to move on, they have assigned recess time, and their homework is handed to them. In my home school world, I had to monitor my studying, make sure the work got done on time, and learn how to get a year’s work done on schedule. 

With all of this said, do I “resent” my parents for my lack of exposure to the public school world? No, I don’t. My lack of exposure to the public school world has much better prepared me for exposure to the real world.
Isaac,

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/may/31/real_world/

A reflection on my first week

Well, it's not really my first week, but it's my day off. I've been reading up for this week on Winston Churchill since we will be doing a conference call with the authoress of a book about him. We're studying how a Christian worldview influenced a man who did many great things but was not, as far as we know, a Christian.

At the top of St. Mary's

Yesterday Josh and I climbed to the top of the St. Mary's cathedral. Afterward, we spent the afternoon and evening at the Bywater house. It was our first class time. We had a good conversation over the phone with Dr. David Noebel. He's going to try to come up here if he can. We also had a bit of a review session on worldviews. The highlights were the discussions that we might have in reponse to comments or questions from the group. This was an aspect very much lacking from the Summit in Colorado. While there were open forums, they were more Q & A rather than discussion.

After class, we spent the evening together and had dinner. Kevin and his wife, Angela, and their four children, Elizabeth, Catherine, Emaline and Roderick were all very glad to have us there. It was a delicious meal with pasta, pizza, Italian bread, wine, squash (a fruit juice here in the U.K.) and fudge. They were so very hospitable. It was incredible. They have a beautiful house. I'll post pictures later. The children are absolutely delightful and love to climb things.

Emaline climbing

We visited St. Ebbe's church. It was a decent service, but for me the real highlight came afterwards. Joshua's best friend Tim is also studying here at Oxford at Wycliffe College for this Michaelmas term. So Tim, Josh, myself and one of the college interns named John had a very good discussion afterwards on the theoligies of Armenianism and Calvinism. I believe we're going to meet at a pub later this week to continue the discussion.

After day 4 in Oxford

I believe that the fact I'm in Oxford has finally sunk in. When I first arrived, I knew I was in England. I had been here before, and I didn't feel too out of place or anything. Then the information began to sink in. I learned more about the university and the various colleges. I'm going to be in New College by the way. You might be wondering why it's called New College. It's because it's the second one. So there. Nevermind it was founded in 1379.

We took a walking tour yesterday and learned about the various architectural styles of the different colleges. Today, Mr. Andrew Atherstone gave us a tour of the religious history of Oxford. We saw the site where three remormed bishops were burnt at the stake, where John Wesley lived and two of C. S. Lewis's favorite pubs. The natural history museum is something I plan to visit. I was surprised to hear that there is quite a bit of tension at Oxford in terms of the creation/intelligent design/macro-evolution debate between various head professors. Apparently Kansas isn't the only place with an educational system being given this as a subject of discussion. We also visited a couple of the local churches that we could visit during our stay here. After that, I began to finally realize the full ramifications of my stay. How I will learn not just new material but also new study methods and ways of thinking.

Now, for prayer requests since I know many of you are interested in knowing. Please pray that God will open doors for various opportunities we are planning here and that finances will not be a barrier. God has already brought about amazing circumstances in opening doors for us. Kevin Bywater (who is our director) asked us to pray for a house months ago. The house they found was the most inexpensive and also the largest (at 4,500 square feet). So there's nothing God can't do. I have to read up for tomorrow's class in worldviews and critical thinking. Starting tomorrow, my semester begins in earnest.

Before I go. Here are the names of our group for your prayers. Andrea, Nik, Emilie, Joshua (my roommate), Daniel, Jessica, Tommy, Lindsey, and Kevin (our director). I'll hopefully write a bit more about my amazing team later. They truly are great and we all are learning so much from each other already. Thanks for your prayers!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Studying in Oxford for Fall Semester 2008.

As many of you have probably heard by now, last May I was accepted to attend the Summit-Oxford program this Autumn for my study abroad experience. http://summit.org/institutes/oxford/ The Summit is a program based in Manitou Springs, CO that trains young Christian leaders in apologetics so that they know how to Biblically defend the scriptures in debates with Islam, Secular Humanism, Cosmic Humanism, Marxism and the like. Last Summer, while I was there in Colorado, Dr. David Noebel told us that Oxford wants Summit graduates to attend Oxford for study abroad. Naturally I soon applied for the first semester of the program.
My studies at Oxford will be tutorial based and very different from any institution in the United States. The majority of my time will be meeting with tutors, writing essays and doing research. My extracurricular activities will include spending time with the ten or so other Summit students that will be with me. Kevin James Bywater, who is working on a PhD with Durham University, will be leading our group.

Needless to say, I am very humbled by this chance to go and study at one of the finest universities in the world. Not only that, but it is through a Christian program, and I will be spending a lot of time with other Christians from across the U.S. with different backgrounds and experiences. During my phone interview for the program, Judson told me, "Isaac, it sounds to me that at this point in your life you are very eager to learn." That is exactly where I am, and I am thrilled with this opportunity. I will fly out on Sept. 1st and return, Lord willing, on Dec. 22nd.

My first day in Oxford

Well, I just finished my first day in Oxford, September 3rd. I'll try and post pictures tomorrow. I'm still getting into the idea of carrying a camera around again.

We went to Orientation in the morning, but Mr. Robert Shudinger gave us the introduction to Oxford. It was very informative and helped me realize why Oxford is one of the leading institutions in the world next to Harvard and Yale. For instance, if you are a Brit who's trying to attend Oxford, you are interviewed by the people who will be teaching you (as opposed to here where you're considered maybe by a bunch of bureaucrats). Also, the tutors will intentionally disagree with you so as to draw you out and make you defend the argument in your essays. They will never give you a study guide; they will require you to do all the work yourself. I am getting more and more excited for this new challenge, and I am getting ready to rise to meet it. Afterward, Kevin Bywater got up and spoke about his background. Lots I'd heard but lots I had not. We're meeting his family on Saturday, and I'm very excited.

The way the term will work out is that we'll be doing the Summit work for the month of September. We'll be reading the Qur'an, Life at the Bottom, A Guide to Christian Ambition, the Victory of Reason, The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism, Understanding the Times, and What's so Great About Christianity? After that, we'll be starting up our Oxford term come October. After that, Kevin won't be involved with us quite so much due to our busy study schedules. We will be meeting with him one on one every two weeks, and we'll be going over to his house a few times a week for dinners.

My living situations are as follows. I live in a flat with four other men who attended Summit at various points. Their names are Josh (my roommate), Tommy, Nick and Daniel. There are also four women who are here: Lindsey, Andrea, Emilie and Jessica who live in a flat about a block away. Almost everyone has their own room. We have our own kitchen where we plan to make our dinners and lunches. There's a store close by where we can buy our food stuffs.

Today was my birthday, and I had a couple beers at the Red Cross. One was a Bass, and I forget the other. Neither were very good at least for my taste. I think I'm going to be a wine person. It was a good birthday.

I'll write more about my flat mates later, and more about Kevin Bywater. For now, though, there's his website in case any of you would like to know more about him.
http://www.kevinbywater.com/weblog/