Reflections On Divorce

Now that all the paperwork is filed, I will become a divorced father living separately from my daughter while my ex-wife continues her life with another man.  It's funny, and I probably should feel sad, but the moment I signed the papers a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders.  Ours is a so-called quickie divorce, which in New York is a fairly new phenomenon.  The grounds were "irretrievable breakdown."  In reality, she became tired of me and chose someone else.  My health isn't good and she would no longer care for me.  I guess, given the stresses of life, she has a point.

I see my daughter every weekend and sometimes more than that as my ex wants more and more privacy.  I talk to her every evening by phone.  She doesn't like e-mail.  Our relationship has actually grown since I moved out of her mother's apartment.  Maybe that was one of the problems, our marital home was really hers and never ours.  Too late now.

I realize that this is a "process" but my quality of life is actually improving.  I have lost weight, my various health issues are improving and I have found my purpose for living growing.  Maybe  this divorce is the best thing that could have happened.  If only I could believe that.

Why We Are Considering Home Schooling

Yesterday, Ruth Ann and I met with out daughter Erin’s school assistant principal to discuss serious concerns we have with what has been going on during the recently completed school year.  As Amistad is a dual language school, Erin has been studying both English and Spanish and up until this year her English and Spanish work has been graded separately.  This year, her English and Spanish grade has been combined.  This violates every logical grading standard I know.  Even though Amistad is a English/Spanish dual language, English and Spanish are separate languages and have to be graded separately.  You can grade Math, Science Social Studies and other subject based on performance in both languages, but the languages themselves must be evaluated based on performance in those languages.  Conflating the two is not acceptable.  Then there is the unit that studied world religions.  The students were required to debate each other trying to convince the other that their assigned religion was better than the other.  This is completely unacceptable in a New York City Public School.  In addition, when my daughter informed her teacher that Jews don’t worship the Messiah, we worship God, she was told she (and I, a Jew) are wrong.  Therefore, since the school stands by their policies and procedures, we are beginning the process of removing her from Amistad and home schooling her.  I will not consider a charter, especially a Moskowitz charter, where subjects are taught along the lines of, “The correct answer to question 4 is C.”  The only way our public schools will be saved is for parents to remove their children from them so that they lose per-head funding.  Maybe then administrators will listen to us and start teaching our children properly.

The Political Testing Of Our Children

The latest batch of state test scores have come out in New York.  The howling from the political educational establishment has started, “See, we told you.  We need more testing, more testing and more testing.”  Never mind there is absolutely no transparency and the test are written and scored by a company that messed up 2,500 Gifted & Talented tests last year (that would be you, Pearson).  Never mind that the tests were based on a curriculum that is not being taught because it hasn’t even been written.  Never mind that the political education establishment in New York demands all children take these patently skewed tests in violation of federal law that says parents have the right to opt their children out of such blatantly political testing.  Well, Tisch, King, Walcott and especially Bloomberg (nearly a two digit midget now, that’s Army speak for lame duck), here’s my reply.  My daughter will not take anymore of your rigged “standardized” tests until my wife (her mother) and I (her father) are satisfied that these tests are being used for educational rather than political purposes.  You don’t like that?  Too bad.

A Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree

My wife, the incredibly talented lyric soprano Ruth Ann Cunningham, and I set out on a search for a Christmas Tree last week for the annual PEO Chapter R Christmas party.  Not just any Christmas Tree.  A Christmas Tree in the spirit of the one Charlie Brown found in the classic Christmas TV special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  Our search took us to a Family Dollar store, where we found a rather humble four foot artificial Christmas Tree, which was purchased.  Today, I went to a Walgreens on 2nd Avenue and 70th Street to rent a movie from Redbox.  Since the kiosk was in the store's vestibule, I had no need to go inside.  Yet, something told me to do so.  Once I went inside the door, a startling sight presented itself.  There, in all their glory, were boxes of marvelous artificial tree named A Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree, scraggly branches of sparse needles, a single red ornament ball and all.  Unable to supress my shock, I broke out in maniacal laughter and promptly purchased this wonderful expression of the true spirit of Christmas for the incredible price of $9.99 (Herman Cain would be proud, according to The Capitol Steps).  I brought this wonderful tree home and Ruth Ann and my stupendously intelligent daughter Erin both expressed amazement and joy at this tree, which represents all that is right and true about this holiday that not only celebrates the birth of a great religious figure, but a spirit that is also expessed joyously in the story of "Yes, Virginia."  Our Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree is proudly standing on a shelf above the computer I am writing this tale.  Long may it do so, bringing joy to us and to the world.  May it know the peace and fellowship that Jesus taught us, not the rancor, violence and personal agendas that fundamentalism in any guise would have us believe. 

Huge day in sports

Today is a huge sports day for me.  I have been invited to the Christmas at Fenway event today in Boston, so I'm presently on Amtrak's red eye to Back Bay.  Meanwhile, at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace resumes its march to the Premiership against the hated Brighton & Hove Seaweed.  We need to stuff that bunch so they understand that they are not in our class.  Meanwhile, at Fenway, it's time to find out what lessons were learned in our annus horribilous 2012.  I also hope to get a press notice concerning the death of Carl Beane so that I have more ammo with my mother-in law.  She thinks that after a broken right hip and a diagnosis of atrial fibrilation she will drive her car again.  Carl Beane was killed this year when he had a heart attack while driving.  Maybe that will make an impression on her.  The fact that that overgrown boat she calls a car needs to be junked is ywt another matter.  I never had an automatic that has clutch problems.  This one does and the cost to repair it is more than the car is worth.  Back to the Red Sox, wouldn't it be great if they announced the re-signing of one K. Youkilis, first baseman extrodiaire.  That would bring a whole lot of Christmascheer to Red Sox Nation.  Dawn is breaking as we approach Providence, RI.  Perhaps it symbolizes a new dawn for the Red Sox and the beginning of yet another march to a World Series title.  Worst, to first, that's the Red Sox way.

After The Storm

Now that Post Tropical Cyclone (PTC) Sandy has passed us, it is time to take stock.  For yours truly, my luck was with me.  Just as the 1989 earthquake did little to me personally but muck to others, the worst my neighborhood has suffered is a flooded subway station.  So many others suffered much worse.  So, I will be off on the bus tomorrow looking for somewhere to volunteer.  Since the NY VA Hospital had to be evacuated, perhaps that's where I'll go.  At any rate, let's spread the good fortune around and bring a smile to those who suffered.

On the political front, the normal garbage continues.  Tucker Carlson blames Obama for not lowering sea level.  Grover Norquist blames Obama for spending money on FEMA even though people died.  However, Governor Christie, no shrinking violet he, praised the President for his help and involvement in making sure federal help arrived quickly and efficiently.  Romney isn't happy about this but as the Governor said he can't be concerned with next week's election when his people are suffering.  Good on you, Gov.  Governor Cuomo got his dig in on climate change deniers, saying that we seem to be getting the once in a hundred years floods every year.  Politics and poker, the same old same old.

The way forward

The following was posted on the UM Connections website.  It is in response to a seeming call for the break-away from the United Methodist Church by progressive congregations favoring full inclusion in the church.  The organization Methodists for Social Action replied that rather than breaking away we should stay within the UMC and press forward with our cause.  While I refuse to identify as a United Methodist due to the unaccsptable homophobic policies of the General Conference as expressed in the Book of Discipline, I have come to realize that separation is also a poor choice since it would not achieve the goal of a fully inclusive UMC, only a homophobic UMC with a new denomination, the Rainbow Methodist Episcopal Church, being established.  In the post, I refer to the RMEC and the LGBTQMEC.  A historical note, Bishop Richard Allen, to whom I refer in the post, led a breakaway of African Americans from the 19th Century Methodist Episcopal Church and founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  The congregation he founded, Mother Bethel AME, continues to thrive in Philadelphia, PA.

When violence is done, as it was at the 2012 General Conference, the reaction from those who are the victims of said violence can often be emotional. The pain expressed in “Bill’s” letter is real. I felt the same pain. The message MFSA responds with is also clear, we don’t run away from our problems. We confront them in a positive manner. However, they very well come a time when a LGBTQ Richard Allen rises from the pews and decries the discrimination and hate preached by the General Conference and the Book of Discipline. This “Bishop Allen” will go down the street and form the First Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual/Gender and Questioning Methodist Episcopal Church. This denomination will grow as those who believe in inclusion flock to it and as UMC congregations dis-affiliate and join the LGBTMEC. As long as the spiritual violence, as hurtful and vicious as the dogs and firehoses of Birmingham, AL continues, the cherished “unity” of the United Methodist Church will be under threat. Fortunately, there is good news here. The call of Bishop Talbert to practice biblical obedience is the one sure, best way of combatting those who would impose the apostasy of hate upon us. While the heart of General Conference remains hardened, we must do whatever is necessary to render such apostasy irrelevent. Only then, when those who refuse to see the light as God gives them that ability, will finally give up the ghost and embrace true inclusion and acceptance of God’s universal and unconditional love as expressed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God the Son and Redeemer

A second post on UM Connections reports the statement of Bishop Conyer of Indiana, who claims that the progressive movement is practicing a form of "neo-colonialism" in its call for Biblical Obedience and a rejection of the spiritual violence of the 2012 General Conference.  My post is here.

Bishop Coyner seems to want progressives to admit defeat and go quietly into that good night.  That will simply not happen.  The spiritual violence done by the 2012 General Conference cannot and will not go unanswered.  It is obvious that since the ultra-right wing, which truly does practice a form of neo-colonialism with its implied threats of economic sanctions against the Central Conferences should they vote in a way other than the oxymoronic "Good News" and IRD, we have no other choice than to render the apostasy of hate expressed there to be irrelevant.  Bishop Talbert sounded the clarion call, the Western Jurisdiction, along with others, have answered.  We will practice Biblical Obedience.  We will place the Word of God as expressed by Jesus, God the Son and Redeemer and inspired by God the Holy Spirit, ahead of imperfect human document known as the Book of Discipline.  We will lead the United Methodist Church into the land of sunshine and light known as full inclusion.  Let no one doubt this, for no progressive movement for social justice has ever failed.