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? Much of 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. His life revealed the truth of the power of love. The challenge is to grasp the great truths 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 ten fold increase in human intelligence would mean — a billion increase is beyond every level of imagination. 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.  They were both intellectuals with high IQs, but it was their character, not the power of their intellect, that was the foundation of their gift to humanity.  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 appears that the 31 nay votes were all Democratic. In Montgomery County, the three Republican representatives — Mike Henne, Terry Blair, Jim Butler — all voted “Yes.” The two Democratic representatives — Roland Winburn and Clayton Luckie — voted “No.”

Thanks to Eric for giving me the link to watching part of the debate on this bill in the Ohio House.  This video clip starts with one of the bill’s sponsors, Representative John Adams, quoting from the Fordham study I wrote about in September:  Schools Create “Dunderheads” — A Generation Of Students Ignorant Of U.S. History — Says Fordham

The debate shows that some Democrats opposed this bill because they charged that this bill amounts to an “unfunded mandate,” at a time when state funding to local schools is being diminished, one that further diminishes the authority of local school board control. Republican response is that there will be little additional cost required. And some Democrats opposed the bill because the emphasis of the bill is on the “original texts,” and ignores other important “historical texts” that would give a more complete context giving more in-depth understanding.

The bill requires the State Board of Education, no later than July 1, 2012, to incorporate into the state social studies standards for grades 4 through 12 academic content regarding these original texts and requires the State Board to revise the state model curriculum for social studies to reflect the additional academic content.   It requires the State Board to revise the fifth and eighth grade social studies achievement assessments and the social studies portion of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT).

To quality for high school graduation, students currently must earn one-half unit of American history and one-half unit of American government, including a study of the constitutions of the United States and Ohio. The bill requires, for students entering the ninth grade on or after July 1, 2012, that the one-half unit of American history and one- half unit of American government include the study of the historical documents mentioned above.

The bill requires each school district board of education, no later than July 1, 2013, to adopt an interim end-of-course examination in American history and government to be used until the State Board adopts the end-of-course examination described above. As with the examination adopted by the State Board, 25% of the interim examination must address the historical documents mentioned above.

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 Any Local Town Hall Meetings,” but, you won’t see any reference to any Town Hall Meetings Turner has initiated in his ten years as congressman for OH-3.

According to Open Congress, Turner votes 90% of the time with the Republican majority. It is the apparatchik mindset that explains Turner’s failure to meaningfully communicate and instead to simply propagandize. Typical of Turner is the communication he just e-mailed to constituents on his e-mail list:  Remember our Servicemembers during this Holiday Season. Amid the turmoil in Washington, Congressman Turner writes,

“As you gather with family and friends this holiday season, please take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas aside from the crowded shopping malls and exchanging of gifts….”

Thank you Reverend Turner.

What a congressman. It hardly seems in the Christmas spirit, but I can’t help thinking that it is more true now then ever what I wrote, prior to the 2008 election, “Mike Turner Is A Bum, For Our Democracy’s Sake, Let’s Throw The Bum Out.”