“In the fall of 1972, a small group of students in an introduction to educational psychology class at a midwestern university saved every single soul in the lifeboat. The professor became agitated. 'No! Go back and do the exercise again. Follow the instructions.' The students … expected this to be a small group assignment in creativity and ingenuity. They had worked out an intricate plan whereby everyone in the lifeboat could survive. When the professor persisted, the students resisted--and ultimately refused to do the exercise. Chalk up a victory to the human spirit."-- from Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt's book The Deliberate Dumbing Down America.
The book goes on to say that this marked a point in education where this exercise soon became a mainstay of public school education. From this point on, students would be inculcated with the lesson that humans were expendable and that death was the only answer. No creative solutions would be allowed and instructions would be unquestioningly followed.
I remember these exercises in my own 8th grade social studies class. There were variations in the settings...lifeboats, world wars, underground shelters and deserted islands. I even remember cannibalism hypothetically discussed! It really didn't matter the setting, because the formula was that each of us students had to decide who would die and who would survive. What was my reaction to this exercise? What I remember is that I didn't like it but really felt that I had no recourse to question the authorities about such a ghoulish exercise. My own mindset then was already programmed mostly as secular humanist. I believed God existed but I didn't KNOW Him or His Word. My overriding concern back then was getting the grade. It had to be an "A" and it was made very clear to us in these exercises that class participation was the only way to get that "A".
Later on, when I became a parent, I paid little attention to exercises that my own children might have been exposed to in the classroom. It has only been since I picked up Iserbyt's book (and John Taylor Gatto's book The Underground History of American Education) in the past decade, that I have checked to see what is being taught in classrooms. One day while on the internet, I discovered that the bomb shelter exercise was still in the curriculum in many schools'. Human expendability is still being driven into impressionable young minds. An example of this assignment is at the end of today's blog entry.
Of course, add to the fact that our youths have been told that they come from monkeys and/or a soup of ooze struck by lightning and we all are just supposed to bow down to a bunch of stones for winter and spring solstice. Students can't possibly have any purpose in their lives (except to “occupy” a big city street to sport their Che shirts, drink their Starbucks and to use their iPhones and iPads to rail against evil companies) and of course, we have to ignore that there's an "Intelligent Designer" (which thoroughly freaks out the lofty, anointed "ejucaaaatoooors"). By the way, for the record, I DO respect and care for public school teachers. Many of them are dedicated to real education and not to indoctrination. Many are very much powerless to change the system, yet in their own way, can still teach kids to critically think for themselves. I thank God for all the Christian teachers who have shared over the years how they survive the secular system.
I'll get on my soapbox another day about the "other kind".....the ones who do not fit into the category above.
My point about this of course, goes back to the sanctity of life. As we saw in Mississippi election, Personhood was shot down. The money and power that goes into the death agenda is gargantuan and they are NOT going to relinquish that power and money without a fight. It all comes down to recognizing the baby in the womb as a "person" and a "human". Once that is finally back into public awareness and focus...the millions of dollars and the human expendability industry collapses. They KNOW the baby is human and a person. They fear the loss of their vice-like grip on abortion.
It's simplistic to call it the Hitler mentality but it's the easiest to use because most people still recognize his name as synonymous with genocide. There are still survivors of the concentration camps to share their personal testimonies. We could use Stalin and Lenin’s names too as they were responsible for the murders of millions. They don’t seem to get the same attention by Hollywood and history textbooks as Hitler does). We can look at history and find many bloodthirsty despots. We can point to them and recoil with disgust at how blatantly evil and sadistic they were (and still are in many countries overseas). The origin isn't with them but in the Garden of Eden. Choices made then by Satan, Adam and Eve brought us to this point. It's in our wicked hearts every day when we hate anyone....we have committed murder too as Jesus told us in Matthew 5:21-22. We pick and choose who we hate just like the past despots did. We all have our deep-seated prejudices which we struggle to overcome and we try to purge it from our thoughts. We look to the historical sadists and feel better about ourselves that we would never act upon our hatred to that degree. We are to love our enemies and live peaceably as much as possible with all men. Many of us say we love God but hate our brother which makes us liars. We need to repent!
This “Hitler” mentality is still alive and well. I have faced it with people of ALL levels of education, ALL levels of economic backgrounds, ALL religious backgrounds, and ALL different melanin levels, many different ages and different regions of the world. It is sad to hear people say that some people are deserving of death based on a prejudice or preconceived notion. I have had conversations with people who say that some people are deserving of dismemberment only because their mothers and fathers don’t use pencils or have running water. And these are the same kind of people who have accused me of being “heartless” because I am on a certain side of the “aisle”. We aren’t facing an overpopulation problem (on the contrary) yet, the majority of this country thinks there is. We are told by politicians and some churches that the solution to “population control” is death. Hmmmm……the bomb shelter/lifeboat, human expendability exercise….no creativity, no ingenuity allowed….we are told that the instructions MUST be followed strictly.
Why do I bring up ourselves in this? We have to admit our own weaknesses and our carnal ways. It's easy to point to blatant evil and sadism and be glad we aren't a part of that. We can easily be the Pharisee in the parable who said to God, “ I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” We need to be the tax collector raising our eyes to heaven…….saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ Jesus continued, “ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I bring this up, as painful as it is, to self-examine for the sake of abortion. Are we thinking better of ourselves about the despots but allowing our littlest citizens to be hated to death? How easy is it to soak in the mindset of bomb shelter exercises. I am not saying blame our circumstances and not take responsibility. Bomb shelter exercises or not, we know what is right and wrong. We have to take a good hard look at our everyday attitudes towards others. Think about that college group back in 1972. When I read that for the first time I was astounded that a class resisted the lesson. What’s that saying about me? I followed along with the exercise with the mindset that getting an “A” was more important than standing up for life. When it sunk in that someone resisted the lesson, I realized I had been sleepwalking in my moral beliefs. Seriously, “someone” had to die? Really?
We aren’t talking medical triage either. We aren’t asking questions of earthquake victims or soldiers on the battleground, “What is your socio-economic status and your occupation in order for us to decide whether to treat you.” We don’t have to play the bomb shelter exercise anymore. This mindset is in our movies and television shows. Just think how many movies show numerous ways for the human body to be destroyed in the most horrific ways. I have seen teenagers laugh at these movies and laugh at other people’s pain and destruction. In my “B.C. (before Christ)” days, I saw the movies “Halloween” and “Diehard”, etc. I read Silence of the Lambs. I was horrified yet I watched and read these terrible accounts. Even today, I see movie trailers on TV of the new movies that glorify body parts flying. What other areas do we see the bomb shelter/Hitler mentality in practice? Wherever you see it or are forced to participate……RESIST. I’ll admit that that my downfall issues are resignation, fatalism, fear and discouragement in the tsunami waves of evil and apathy to evil. That’s why I need Jesus every day. God reminds me to just talk to that ONE girl today. He says “Don’t worry about the words…I’LL give you the words.” Just love on that ONE person I will give you today.”
My regular readers will recognize I placed a new picture on the blog. “The answer to a crisis pregnancy is to eliminate the crisis, not the child”. We have heard the term “thinking outside the box”….it’s the “trendy phrase” that has come into vogue for many, including businesses. One business, Taco Bell even goes as far as calling it “thinking outside the bun” (and am aware of the silly pregnancy term “bun in the oven”)! Somehow, “thinking outside the box” isn’t applied to preventing abortion, even in many churches. By the way, many businesses and churches give aid, support and money to the abortion industry. There is a list of businesses that give to Planned Parenthood and of course, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice shows the denominations that are pro-abortion supporters. These are people who won’t think outside the box. These are people who are the modern-day agitated professors ordering “NO! Go back and do the exercise again! Follow the instructions!” Our response is, “We are not doing the assignment”.
We are all ignorant of many things. Just take a moment to think about what we can do to recognize and help our fellow citizens, no matter what size, age or health issue they may possess. In the pro-life circles, we ascribe to the belief “Love them BOTH!” (meaning the pregnant woman and her baby). Let us include the father of the baby. Let us love them ALL! We need not choose one over the other. Just like the college group who had the ingenuity and the creativity to figure out how ALL on the lifeboat could be saved, let us love the pregnant woman, the baby and his or her father! This is not a zero-sum game. We CAN think outside the box and we can, with ingenuity and creativity, save everyone on this “lifeboat” called Earth. This includes doctors, lawyers, nurses, family court judges, congressmen, commissioners, aldermen, county assessors, ministers, Sunday school teachers, school superintendants and yes, our teachers. Most importantly we must recognize that parents and children have the most influence in changing our nations to be life-thinkers instead of death-thinkers. Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton’s reversal won’t permanently ban abortions. We have to have to get an education (“brain transplant”) and a heart “transplant”. Personhood Mississippi revealed that there are still so many people who have no idea when life even begins and that hearts are hard and cold!
Sadly, we will always have the mindset of Hitler/Stalin/Lenin/Satan as long as we live on this earth in our fleshly bodies. We will still have ignorance, people who just want the good grades, Pharisaical attitudes and basic laziness in searching for solutions. Love DOES cover a multitude of sins! Love isn’t a feeling, it’s an action!
Luke 10: 27-28
So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
Here's the example of the Fallout/Bomb Shelter Exercise
FALLOUT SHELTER SCENARIO
You are members of a department in Washington, DC, in charge of experimental stations in the far outposts of civilization. Suddenly the Third World War breaks out and bombs begin dropping. Places all across the globe are being destroyed. People are heading for all available fallout shelters. You receive a desperate call from one of your experimental stations, asking for help.
It seems there are ten people but there is only enough space, air, food, and water in their shelter for six people for a period of three months—the amount of time they estimate they can safely stay down there. They realize that they have to decide which six should go into the shelter, but they are likely to become irrational and begin fighting. So they have decided to call your department and leave the decision to you. They will abide by your decision.
Each of you has yet to prepare to go your own fall-out shelter: you are running short on time. Because time is short, you only received superficial descriptions of the ten people. You have 30 minutes to make your decision. Then, you will have to go to your own shelter.
As a group, decide who will be eliminated from the shelter. Before you begin, I want to impress upon you two important considerations. It is entirely possible that the six people you choose to stay in the shelter might be the only six people left to start the human race over again. This choice is therefore, very important. Do not allow yourself to be swayed by pressure from the others in your group. Try to make the best choices possible. On the other hand, if you do not make a choice, then you are choosing to let the ten people fight it out among themselves, likely resulting in the death of all ten individuals. You have exactly 30 minutes.
1. Black, militant, second year medical student ______
2. Bookkeeper; 31 years old ______
3. Bookkeeper’s wife; six months pregnant ______
4. Famous historian author; 42 years old ______
5. Hollywood starlette; singer; dancer ______
6. Bio-chemist ______
7. Rabbi; 54 years old ______
8. Olympic athlete; track and field ______
9. College co-ed ______
10. Policeman with gun (they cannot be separated) ______
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