One of the windows in the Boston Trinity Church, built by Phillip Brooks, show the three wise seekers of truth offering gifts to the baby Jesus.

Phillips Brooks was 30 years old in 1865 when he delivered his sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln saying,  “The more we see of events, the less we come to believe in any fate or destiny except the destiny of character. …”

Brooks went on to an illustrious career in the Episcopal church and is remembered in this season for writing the words of a Christmas meditation, the words of the hymn, “Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem”:

“Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The Everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.”

In this Christmas time, it is obvious that it is “Light,” more than anything, that humanity now needs. Brooks in his writing and sermons frequently quoted this saying of Jesus: “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

This theme of bringing truth and freedom to those in darkness was a central part of Jesus’s teaching. At the end, Pilate, a clever politician, asked the profound question: “What is truth?”

What is the truth, the light, that brings freedom? What passed for “truth” in the first century we now see as superstition and irrational speculations. Humanity now knows more — scientific truth, rational truth — than what in first century was possible to know. Jesus said he, himself, was truth and light, and, regardless of our scientific advances, we are lacking the truth revealed in Jesus’ character.

The book I read this year that most inspired me was “The Singularity Is Near,” which predicts that, by the year 2045, machines will be billions of times more intelligent than humans. What? It’s impossible to conceive what a billion fold leap in human intelligence might mean. The fascinating question is: With this enormous intelligence will these future machines also exhibit a depth of personality that we now define as “character”?

It was the character of Lincoln and the character of Jesus, that mattered.  It was the expression of truth in their character that made them singular individuals. Character and intelligence seem to go hand in hand, but, it seems, in the highest functioning humans, it is character that forms intelligence, not vice versa. An interesting essay on Einstein, which I need to re-find, makes the interesting point that it was Einstein’s powerful integrity that was the secret of his genius, not his mathematical prowess. It is commitment to truth and integrity that reveals the “Everlasting Light.”

My last attempt to write a Christmas eve web log meditation was three years ago: “A 21st Century Understanding: The Christmas Story Tells That In Every Baby The Human Race Can Start Anew.” I wrote, “Thoughtful Christians need to find an understanding of their Christian faith that is worthy of a 21st Century understanding, one that does not promote irrational thinking and religious radicalism.”

Here in the 21st century religious fanaticism threatens to enslave and destroy us. Christmas eve reminds us that character is destiny and reveals that in the canyons, the dark streets of humanity, there can shine a force much greater than irrational fanaticism — “The Everlasting Light”–  a light revealed in the highest expression of human character, a light, a truth, that we must work to help develop in this new generation, a light that inspires the resolve and outlook expressed by Robert Kennedy: “Some look at the world and ask why? I dream of things and ask why not?”

• When Computers Are Billions Of Times More Intelligent Than Humans — What Should Be The Aims Of Education? By Mike Bock, on April 12th, 2011

The Ohio House has passed legislation, SB-165, making it a new requirement that all Ohio schools teach the “original texts” of “the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, the United States Constitution and its amendments, with emphasis on the Bill of Rights, and the Ohio Constitution.” The bill calls for state’s testing system to be modified so that end of course examinations in history and government will be required and that 25% of these tests will focus on these original documents.

The bill passed 62 to 31. I can’t find the breakdown of how the vote divided by party, but it

…continue reading the article New State Mandate Requires Ohio Students To Show Knowledge Of Constitution / “Original Texts”

I see that my local congressman, Mike Turner, OH-3, voted with the Republican majority in the House to block the bipartisan Senate action extending unemployment and the payroll tax cut by two months. Typical for Turner, he released no statement explaining his vote.  His web-site, as usual, is mum.

Turner never communicates meaningfully with his constituency. As seen on his elaborate web-site, his communication is all fluff and PR.  If you Google “Mike Turner Town Hall,” you’ll see reference to the August 2009 post I made, “Congressman Mike Turner Has No Plans To Participate In

…continue reading the article Congressman Turner Again Votes With Republican Majority And Again Fails To Explain His Vote

In the recent Republican debate, Newt Gingrich pandered to his right wing audience by, once again, resorted to demagoguery — most obviously in his hateful comments about Palestinians, referring to them as a group, as “invented,” referring to them, as a group, as “these people.”

Gingrich, a smart man who knows better, said, “These people are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say, if there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left? We pay for those textbooks through our aid money. It’s fundamentally time for somebody to have the guts

…continue reading the article Newt Gingrich — The Demagogue — Preaches Ideas He Knows To Be Untrue To Those He Knows To Be Idiots

Dayton PBS stations repeatedly show 60 second ads praising local efforts in STEM education. I get a kick out of the fervency projected by the teachers on these videos. Why is “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math” education so crucial? One teacher explains: “Our challenge is to create a vast body of talent so that the Dayton region can become an economic power.”

The notion that the aim of American public education is “economic power” seems never challenged, regardless that such an aim is more appropriate for a totalitarian state than for a democracy. Alfie Kohn notes, “Those who talk about 21st-century

…continue reading the article For “Our Success As A Nation,” We Don’t Need STEM, We Need CITIZEN Education To Build Our Democracy

The push of Ohio House Bill 136 to transfer public tax money from public schools to private religious schools is sufficiently outrageous that it may well incite closer public scrutiny of how tax money, in general, is used to support churches and the propagation of religion.

Churches and church schools are nonprofit organizations that are exempt from many laws that regulate other non-profits; they are given big advantages via special IRS tax laws that other non-profits do not enjoy.

The court documents from the bankruptcy of Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral revealed that eight church employees received over $832,000 worth of income, each

…continue reading the article Public Taxes To Finance Religious Schools, Ohio HB136, May Incite Wider Debate About Church Tax Breaks

Thomas Friedman’s recent NYT column about public education, “How About Better Parents,” cites the conclusions of recent studies that the quality of parental involvement is a key factor in a child’s academic success. Hardly big news, Friedman’s said in his conclusion:  “To be sure, there is no substitute for a good teacher. There is nothing more valuable than great classroom instruction. But let’s stop putting the whole burden on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make every teacher more effective.”

It would be nice to have better parents in our society, but, the big question that Friedman does

…continue reading the article Seeing The Big Picture: Friedman’s Question About Education — “How About Better Parents?”

John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy

Max Holland, expert historian of the JFK assassination, in 1994 published a scholarly work, “Making Sense of the Assassination,” that makes the case that Lee Harvey Oswald’s motivation to murder John Kennedy was revenge,  a direct response to the Kennedy administration’s many attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro.

Holland writes the CIA made eight separate assassination attempts on Castro’s life, and that Robert Kennedy zealously pushed for those attempts. He says Oswald’s motive to respond to these assassination attempts was overlooked by the Warren Commission because neither the CIA nor Robert Kennedy cooperated to give the commission

…continue reading the article Oswald’s Motivation To Kill JFK Was Revenge — As Response To The CIA’s Attempts To Assassinate Castro

David Gergen says the failure of the super committee to make a deficit reduction plan, “represents a reckless, irresponsible gamble…. It’s difficult to remember a Congress that has put the nation so much at risk in the service of ideology and to hold onto office. Partisans on both sides are grievously failing the country.”

Gergen has worked for four presidents. He is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.  His CNN commentary today asks, “Have they gone nuts in Washington?”. Excerpts from the article:

Republicans complain that federal spending

…continue reading the article Failure of Congressional Super Committee, “A Reckless, Irresponsible Gamble,” Says David Gergen

Eric, responding to, “DDN School Voucher Article Fails To Point Out HB136 Will Use Coercive Taxation To Fund Religious Education,” writes, “Government should rise to the challenge of providing schools worthy of parental support.” But, should public education be all about pleasing parents? Eric’s comment made me once again return to ideas from TQM, and ask, “In public education, who is the customer?”

Twenty years ago “Total Quality Management” was a hot topic, and, in West Carrollton, where I taught, I participated in a district wide “Quality Committee,” formed to make recommendations for improving West Carrollton Schools. The reasonable premise

…continue reading the article Ohio’s Proposed Voucher Law, HB136, Raises TQM Question: “In Public Education, Who Is The Customer?”