Some Refer to It As "Sextra Credit" -- Teachers in Sexual Relationships with Students!

NBC made a big deal out of what they called "Catching a Predator" -- that is, setting up the bait via computer and snaring a guy who thought he'd get a young teen-aged girl to be sexually intimate in some way with him! With cameras in focus the guy comes to the house where the alleged "target" of his raging hormones was supposedly living -- the host of the program confronts him in a dramatic way and then as the guy leaves a bunch of cops nail him as if he were carrying a couple of AK-47 assault rifles and enough ammo to hold off an army -- the guy is thrown to the sidewalk with cops covering him as thick as 2" icing on a chocolate cake!

But as usual, NBC is only consistent in its inconsistency as are most of those TV networks! What they don't even whisper about is something going on in schools across the country involving some teachers and students. But then, they couldn't stage this thing as they do the "predator" series and it would be rough to have a bunch of cops throwing an attractive school teacher to the ground in case she too was carrying an AK-47 in her bra!

WorldNetDaily.com has given time and space to this growing problem -- teachers sexually involved with students, with some of those students just reaching their mid-teens in age!

But something else stands out worse than the proverbial "sore thumb" in this growing epidemic and that is the way the court system deals with these offenders. They are very rarely ever considered sexual predators and more often than not a judge will let them off very lightly when it comes to sentencing as though to suggest, "You naughty little girl -- you shouldn't do things like that, so I'll put you on probation for a while and you can think about what you did!"

Go ahead -- check it out at The big list: Female teachers with students You'll find that the "justice system" is weighed in the balances and found to be very much wanting on this moral catastrophe of the first magnitude!

So we have an avalanche of questions -- how can these things happen? Can't these teachers control themselves? And if they are married, what's wrong that they would betray their husbands for an encounter in the back seat of the family sedan with a teen-ager?

One thing we have not really come to honestly confront in our culture as it wavers on its very unsteady foundation of spiritual, moral, and ethical sand -- we have had a good solid 4 decades+ of preaching that "Sex is fun with anyone or more than one anyone at the same time, anywhere, and at any time we may feel so overwhelmed with our carnal appetites!"

This cesspool level morality has come at us through the avenues of Hollywood films, TV programming, popular magazines, and books. There are those "talk shows" which delight in getting into this subject as well -- it always makes for big, big ratings! It has been demonstrated at a high profile level by noted celebrities as their bedroom antics are chronicled for us -- who is sleeping with whom and how many kids have been comceived in these romps which take place on a non-stop basis!

In far too many ways, it's still a "Monkey see, monkey do!" culture -- especially when it comes to this fascinating and very powerful part of us which is referred to as "human sexuality!"

Will we ever get turned around 180 degrees and begin to take seriously what our Creator has revealed about responsibility regarding sexual expression and experience? Will we as a culture really seek to know and then live within the boundaries Almighty God has established when it comes to this thing commonly referred to as "sex?"

Evidence at this point is unmistakably clear that we, as a nation, would rather give God an obscene gesture, find the nearest bed or whatever, and continue our mad dash to a judgment that human words cannot begin to describe and the human mind is totally incapable of beginning to understand!

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. --- 1 John 2:15-17

Nothing But Nets and Saving Children!

"You see, malaria is a big deal. It's one of the root causes of poverty. It kills a million people a year, 75 percent of whom are children. When you think about it in those terms, it's a daunting reality. Yet, there is a simple way for everyone who reads this to participate in beating this disease -- spend $10, send a bed net and save a life. That's it! That's all it takes! Buy a net -- save a life. End of story. Better yet, end of disease........Wow! Imagine it -- a world without malaria. Millions of people given the same chance as you and I to live a long, healthy, and sustainable life." --- Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton of the Western PA Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in January 19, 2007 issue of InterLink, the conference newspaper.

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton is deeply involved and totally committed to the "Nothing But Nets" campaign. He is the head man of the Western PA Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This piece of real estate takes in about the western 1/3 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The conference has been saturated with information and challenge to get involved by purchasing insecticide-treated bed nets to curtail the spread of malaria in Africa.

Statistics cited by Bishop B. are that about 1 million people die a year from malaria and of that number, about 750,000 are children. Hence, the appeal to go to the rescue and start reducing the number of fatalities.

This is not intended to take away from the effort nor diminish its importance. My wife and I will be giving support to this effort. Those reading this can obtain more information and how to give support by going to U.S. Netting or www.nothingbutnets.net. [NOTE: If you go to the Nothing But Nets web site, the stats there will tell you that 1 million children a year are victims of malaria which is a quarter of a million more than quoted by Bishop B. above.]

However, it is necessary to point out a glaring inconsistency here which is quite commonplace among UMC bishops, particularly in recent decades as they have stressed the need to be in ministry to children.

Bishop Bickerton is pushing the NBN campaign and states that about 3/4 of a million children in Africa die each year from malaria. Now then, how often have you heard this bishop deplore (either in vocal statements or in his InterLink column) the fact that well over 1 million unborn children are deliberately mutilated and murdered each year in "the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

The bishop is also at the heart of the "Believe Again" strategic plan for ministry in the W. PA Annual Conference which was enthusiastically adopted last June at the annual meeting. One of the plush "perks" he will personally get in time will be a full time assistant to the tune of a few tens of thousands of dollars per year!

A part of the strategy in this "plan" is an emphasis on church congregations addressing issues of injustice and seeking to come to the assistance of those who are the victims of injustice.

I have yet to receive a reply from the bishop or any of his superintendents (there are 10 of these people) when I asked them in a personal letter addressed to each if they as leaders were going to address the issue of injustice that results in the intentional and brutal murders of over 1 million unborn children each year in this republic.

There has been this strange and very unsettling silence on the part of UMC leadership over the years when it comes to the United States' version of "holocaust." Perhaps this takes place because of the "official" statement in the denomination's Book of Discipline relative to the subject of abortion. The United Methodist Church is on record as declaring a "reluctance" to approve of abortion, but then after mentioning the reluctance thing, goes right ahead and gives a green light to the heinous practice anyway, saying that an unacceptable pregnancy may bring about hardship, stress or whatever!

In personal communication with bishops over the years, one told me that she stands by the position of the church (as cited above), so whatever the church decides at a General Conference (every 4 years) that is what she will support. Presumably if the UMC decided to jump off the highest point of the Grand Canyon into the river below, she would jump too without objection. Another bishop did go so far as to state in a response that abortion is a serious issue, but I was making too much of the issue, etc!

Unfortunately there are too many United Methodists who hold bishops in higher regard than Roman Catholics hold the Pope! When they say "Jump!" the standard response is "How high, and for how long?" And when they speak there are those who hold that every word spoken is "gospel truth," but documented evidence can prove otherwise in a number of cases! There are still a few of us that believe there is a much higher Authority than any designated church leader, UMC bishops included, and sometimes this will mean we definitly will be marching to the beat of a different Drummer!

How about rephrasing Bishop Bickerton's statement above with use of another word in this manner --

"Wow! Imagine it -- a world without abortion. Millions of people given the same chance as you and I to live a long, healthy, and sustainable life."

Do you think the bishop would be willing to make such a statement and lead the way to making that a reality with enthusiastic support from his fellow bishops?

We all know the answer to that one, do we not?