Back to a Normal Routine

My kids and I have been off for our summer break for the month of July. Now we are back in the swing of things. I have given the kids more personal responsibility for their tasks and they really have stepped up and seem to be enjoying it.

Since I haven't posted anything in a month, I have all kinds of links I have been saving up.

Some are just depressing. Like the fact that Planned Parenthood can't account for 1.3 billion of our dollars. Or this one about the disconnect between teens attending church and teens actually living moral lives. Look at this quote for example.

Forty-seven percent of Protestant teens reported active involvement in their church’s youth group, compared to 38 percent of all teens. The majority of Protestant teens also reported that they attend Sunday School “a few times a month, participate in youth retreats, rallies, and conferences.”

In all, ninety percent of Protestant teens say they believe in God, compared to 85 percent of all teens; only 12 percent of all teens say they are “unsure about the existence of God.”

Clearly this generation is anything but irreligious; quite the contrary. However, further examination of the research begins to reveal the disconnect I mentioned earlier. According to the study, only 55 percent of Protestant teens believe in life after death—a belief held by 50 percent of all teens, including the nonreligious. In a further contradiction, 69 percent of Protestant teens say they have made “a personal commitment to live for God” and yet only 32 percent read the Bible once a week or more, while 19 percent report having had premarital intercourse in the last year compared to 22 percent of those who are unchurched. Additionally, 63 percent of Protestant teens report cheating in school compared to only 58 percent of all teens and 41 percent say that morals are relative—that “there are no definite rights or wrongs for everybody.”


Others made me think. Like this video about not having any kind of federal income tax.



Some made me smile. Like this one about the 2010 winners of the Stuck at the Prom contest from the makers of Duck Tape brand duct tape. The contestants design formal wear out of duct tape.