Human Composting

According to a Washington State senator, people from all over my state are excited about the prospect of becoming trees.

Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels

Sir William Gladstone, four-term Prime Minister of Great Britain in the late 1800s, said:

"Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals." 

Gladstone's observation came to mind when I heard about a bill in my state which, if signed into law on May 1, will make Washington State the first to allow human composting.

What does this mean? It means human remains can be used to fertilize household gardens.  

The "organic reduction" Bill 5001 passed with bipartisan support.

A state Senator, Jamie Pedersen, told NBC News: “People from all over the state who wrote to me are very excited about the prospect of becoming a tree or having a different alternative for themselves.”

No doubt many view this as a step forward. But I see it as a step backward. 

I see it as another indicator of our steady rejection of those "high ideals" Gladstone had in mind: Judeo-Christian ideals rooted in a biblical worldview.   

This process of rejection began when Descartes birthed the Age of "Reason above Revelation," which eventually squeezed authentic Christianity out of Europe. The process is now finding its stride in popular America. 

The difference between our current hour and those leading up to it, is that until now, the rejection of Judeo-Christian "high ideals" in American society did not have wide, cross-parties, cross-class, cross-education support. But today it does. 

The Judeo-Christian "high ideals" which once provided a common rudder for Americans and Brits alike, no longer directs our ship.  

When it comes to human burial, I see no need for fancy caskets, or cosmetic display. I see no problem with immediate burial, and no embalming. That's legal, too. But this is a far cry from composting the garden with Mom's remains. 

Gladstone is also famous for saying, "Justice delayed is justice denied," and, "Nothing that is morally wrong can be politically right."

Give us more Gladstones! 

Better yet, give us a generation who will re-plant the ideals of a biblical worldview in the soil of American society once again, and bury the pagan ideals of Naturalism, which are dear to most of our current legislators.

If there ever was a time for authentic Christian re-education, it's now. We're moving backwards with breathtaking speed. 

Posted by Dr. Christian Overman 

Pushing Back

Outside the Washington State capitol in Olympia, on April 1 (no fooling) approximately 2,000 Christians protested a "comprehensive sex-ed" bill. They went inside and lobbied. They protested. They prayed. 

Two days later, on April 3, the deadline passed without the House Education Committee bringing SB 5395 forward for a vote, and the bill died in committee. 

A friend of mine, who is the headmaster of a Christian school, informed me that some parents at his school “don't find the LGBTQ+ agenda to be that offensive.” Some people tell him: "Why is the sin of homosexuality treated as so much more offensive than other sins?  Someone is gay. Another is a drunkard. Sin is sin.”

But what if esteemed teachers were telling impressionable children that getting drunk is normal, and they should be proud to do so someday? Would that be a problem?

It’s one thing to say “one sin is just as much sin as another” (by the way, the consequences are not all equal), but when children are taught that some sins are not sins, and they should accept certain sins as normal and good, we have a problem.

For a short course on what the LGBTQ+ agenda is about, click here, and here.

Some parents are pushing back.  

Consider the recent push-back from Christians regarding a “comprehensive sex-ed” bill in the State of Washington:

On February 26, over 100 people expressed outrage about this bill at a school board meeting. The outrage was so intense that after the meeting the senator who was sponsoring the sex ed bill, and also a member of that particular school board, resigned from her school board position.  

On March 23, nearly 1,000 people from local churches and family groups came to a town hall meeting where the bill’s sponsor and two other legislators were present. At the meeting, the legislators refused to talk about the sex ed bill until a pastor (yes, a pastor) yelled, "You know what we are here for!" and the crowd started chanting! This led to 45 minutes of public comments, and many were neither meek nor mild.

A phone call campaign was organized that put real heat on the House Education Committee members.

On April 1, approximately 2,000 Christians gathered on the steps of the capital to pray, protest and lobby. 

On April 3, the sex ed bill died in committee. 

For the full story, and the group that organized this strategic push-back, click here.

The ruling secularists are not accustomed to having Christians push back. Nor are Christians used to pushing back. But the water has come to a boil, and some are fed up enough to get off their…

For what’s happening in California, click here.

A father pushing back at the City of Federal Way public school board meeting on February 26, 2019. 

While such push-back can never "fix" the root problem of a single tax-supported school system committed to Secularism (I wish such fervor was demonstrated against that, and I wish more pastors would shout about the problem of parents sending their children to schools that perpetuate dualism), this kind of push-back from parents sends an important message to legislators in the meantime. A message that will have to be repeated next year, and the next...until the tax laws are changed.

Posted by Dr. Christian Overman 

Lambasted, Part II

Dr. Darrell Furgason in his first meeting as a school board member in Chilliwack, British Colombia, Canada.

Last week, I introduced Dr. Darrell Furgason, a school board member in Chilliwack, B.C., who is being lambasted for speaking in favor of the current modest dress code, rather than adopting one that allows students to wear whatever they want, showing underwear and cleavage if they wish, with teachers and principals unable to say anything about it.

The week before, I wrote about a substitute teacher in Washington State being asked to accept a policy allowing biological males to use female locker rooms.  

These cases are the tip of the iceberg. They are part of a “gender fluidity” ideology known as SOGI ["Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity"] that is being aggressively pushed by so-called “progressives” across the U.S.A. and Canada.

“The implementation (by the State) of SOGI ideology in public schools is a major battle that is raging right now,” says Dr. Furgason, “and we must get involved in it.”

Darrell put action where his mouth is, and ran for a school board position last October. But he did not approach this alone. Rather, he and four other Christ-followers ran together, knowing the only way to change things is to gain a majority vote on the board.

There are 7 board positions. Darrell and his friends needed 4 to secure a majority. They knew if they did not get 4 seats, they would be [as Darrell put it] “in for hell.”

5 of them ran, 3 of them made it, and a 4th lost by 33 votes. So now they're in the furnace...and loving it!

When Darrell told me his story, I wondered why I had never thought of this strategy before. Getting a majority vote on school boards and city councils, running as a pack rather than as lone wolves? Humm.....

This idea needs traction!

Would churches get behind this? Certainly! Perhaps 1 in 1,000.  

I'm forwarding this post to radio talk show hosts I know, urging them to have Dr. Furgason as a guest. Not only is he an authority in political science, with two degrees in philosophy, and a Ph. D. from the University of Sydney, but Darrell is also an authority in biblical worldview. A rare combination.

If you know any radio, television or press people who would interview Darrell, pass this post on and have them contact Darrell through the Worldview Studies Center, here.

Let’s get Dr. Furgason’s voice, inspiration, and much-needed counsel out there!

This flyer shows 4 of the 5 above-referenced candidates who ran for seats on the Chilliwack, B.C., school board. An idea whose time has come--for those who have the stomach. And the skin.

Posted by Dr. Christian Overman 

Lambasted, Part I

Dr. Darrell Furgason, a member of the Chilliwack, British Colombia, school board, found himself on the Vancouver evening news after making comments about proposed changes in the student dress code. What could he possibly have said to receive such attention?

Last week I asked why Christian teachers in state schools would accept a policy allowing biological males to use the girls’ shower room.

You and I both know why. They’re afraid of losing their jobs. Afraid of being lambasted for “puritanical” ideas.  

Dr. Darrell Furgason is finding out first-hand what happens when a school board member speaks up.

In Chilliwack, British Colombia, where Darrell sits on the board, a female board member wants to abolish the current dress code, so students can wear whatever they want. The current code calls for no cleavage or underwear showing, nor any revealing clothing on boys or girls. The new code would allow for short shorts exposing underwear, and tops revealing bra straps, with no teacher or principal being able to say a word about it. 

You can’t make this stuff up.

After speaking out in favor of keeping the current dress code, to encourage modesty and discourage voyeurism, Darrell Furgason was rewarded with prime-time coverage on the Vancouver evening news. 

In the news report, the President of the British Colombia Teachers Federation, Glen Hansman, declared Furgason’s thinking to be “not even 1950s thinking,” but “Dark Ages thinking.”

This pre-dates the Puritans.

Hansman went on to say that having an elected official (in 2019, mind you!) making comments such as those by Dr. Furgason, is disturbing.

Disturbing? Whose comments are disturbing?

Darrell Furgason holds two degrees in philosophy, a Masters degree in Political Science from the University of Sydney (the “Harvard of Australia”), and a Ph. D. from that university. He was a substitute teacher at the Christian school where I was Principal, and today he leads a biblical worldview training institute in Canada, called the Worldview Studies Center (https://worldviewstudies.ca/). He is a good friend.

How did Darrell get on the Chilliwack school board? And why?

I’ll tell you how and why next week. But first, please watch highlights from the board meeting that reached the evening news. In the video, you will see our mutual struggle in real-time.

The front lines of our battle run through thousands of school boards in Canada and the US. Yet the vast majority of these boards have no biblically-minded members who are boldly speaking up.    

You and I know one reason we're absent. Dr. Furgason is experiencing the lambasting in spades.

I urge you to view this video with friends, and discuss it together: click here.

Posted by Dr. Christian Overman