I Simply Believe in One Fewer God than You

Actually, that's not all there is to it.  I mean, it's not quite so simple.  Affirmed atheist, Ricky Gervais used this argument when he was a guest on Stephen Colbert.  The YouTube clip has received over 4 million views.  In the interview he said that there are about 3000 deities...

Are All Other Religions Wrong?

Are atheists more tolerant than religious people?  Are Christians intolerant of other faiths? On a site called Hubpages, a person that calls themselves "kittythedreamer" asked the following question: Why is it that Christians believe that Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Native Americans, etc. are all wrong in their beliefs? It generated quite...

Zombies and the Resurrection of the Dead

Some people refer to Easter as “Zombie Jesus Day.”  I’m guessing they are being provocative or trying impress their like-minded friends.  Perhaps it is because of this attitude that Christian writer Eric Metaxas has taken the position that zombies are a parody of the resurrection of the dead.  I think...

Why Christians Ought to Be Royalists

Last week my school received a visit from the Honourable Judith Guichon, the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The lieutenant governor the representative of Queen Elizabeth II in BC.  The visit followed the expected protocols--teachers dressed formally; Her Honour was accompanied by an Aide-de-Camp in full RCMP dress uniform; she entered the assembly in a processional...

Big Questions and Deep Questions

Here is the studio version of a speech I made at an educational event, Learning Revolution. Big Questions from Abbotsford Christian School on Vimeo. In this inspiring "RevIt Up" talk, Trent DeJong describes one way in which a Learning Revolution may come about if educators would consider "deep questions" with their...

Why read 1984?

I feel vindicated. I have been asked countless times, "Do you still teach that?  I read it when I was in school."  This past week George Orwell's dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, topped Amazon's bestseller list.  There is so much that recommends it.  One of the reasons everyone should read Nineteen Eighty-Four is that...

Perhaps the Overwhelming Majority Is Right

In his article called "Only A Minority Is Right," J. H. McKenna Ph.D. argues against religious truth. His argument is based on the diversity of religious belief.  First there was polytheism, then their was monotheism along with "several sects and denominations of monotheism," then there came "other new religions" and "several thousand denominations and new...

I Invented Twitter in 1990

Most people think Twitter began in 2006, but a form of it existed in my grade 7 classroom long before that.  I didn't call it Twitter, I called it "Notion Notes." Early in my career, I was a grade seven teacher.  Besides having fun learning all that Science and English, we also did fun...

Vanessa Otero’s Media Chart

I found Vanessa Otero's Complex vs, Clickbait, Liberal vs. Conservative Media Chart to be quite helpful. http://jerz.setonhill.edu/blog/2016/12/12/vanessa-oteros-media-complexclickbait-liberalconservative-chart/

“I think” versus “I feel”

I've noticed my students using "I feel" when expressing an opinion--they always used to say "I think." I'm a big fan of discussion in my classes--the kind where students read and annotate an article or paper, one that is difficult, but accessible with effort.  Then they discuss the article, from the...