In a society in which its people care more about what David Letterman said to Sara Palin in a childlike outburst, the internet has become a more reliable source of news and dissemination of knowledge than the mainstream U.S. media, which runs itself more like a business than a dispenser of truth.

Ratings matter. Truth–well, matters–when it enables TV stations to sell commercials.

In face of such a news-business model, the Internet and Facebook have become more legitimate in their dissemination of the news than CNN and FOX News combined.

While the U.S. media barely covers what is happening in Iran in 10 second clips and sound-bytes, the people in Iran risk their lives to capture video footage and spread it on the internet via Facebook, asking that their friends “share” the clips with others.

America considers Iran one of its greatest threats today. Even if not for the Iranian people who despise their government, shouldn’t U.S. news outlets at least cover current elections in Iran and its subsequent mass protests because it is in the best interest of America and it’s own citizens to do so?

In a society that cares more about American Idol and Reality TV Shows, it’s not surprising that the U.S. media does not feel it is important enough to cover the above protests in Iran.

One has to be shiveringly reminded of prophetic novels like Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and A Brave New World. Except this time it’s not “Big Brother” who is censoring our news … but we, the people.

Who is my family?  This astounding question deeply preoccupied me the first several years before and after I married my wife, Mary, and had my first child–and still does, to this day.  Stemming from Jesus’ words, in Mark 3:31-35, where Jesus rhetorically and pointedly asks, “Who is my mother and my brothers?”

This passage of Scripture always resonated as an emotionally intangible concept. Although I could intellectually understand it, it has always been an extreme challenge to put God first above my children, whose life I put above my own.

The notion clearly exuded the idea that my family was not necessarily my mother, my father, my brother, my children, not necessarily those related by blood—but by the blood of Christ, the blood of Jesus Himself.  Jesus answers His own question: “Those who do the will of God.  These are my mother and my brothers”.

As a husband and a parent, years have passed and I look at my wife, Mary, and think, yes—beyond anything else she is my family.  I think of my son, Israel, and think, yes, he is beyond any shadow of a doubt, my family.  I look at my son, Alasdair, and yes, he is my son, my family.  If not my children, then who?  Who is closer to me than my wife, my kids that I love so much? Since then I have had 2 daughters also, completing our family of 6, including my wife and I.

Years ago, while thinking in the abstract, it was much easier to accept those “who do the will of God” as my true family.  When I was coming of age, becoming an independent adult who was obtaining spiritual, emotional, and financial freedom from my parents, this Biblical concept was much easier to fathom and grasp.

Who is my family?  My wife and children?  My parents?  My friends?  My “brothers in the Lord”? Was Jesus being literal? What was he really trying to accomplish by such a radical statement?

The religious answer and the answer that I was taught many times at “church” and by mainstream pastors is clear. But is it sufficient? The challenge that many pastors face is that there is a common, accepted answer to many of the Bible’s formidable questions. Once these questions have been answered to some satisfiable degree, further research and insight into such topics become largely unnecessary. An acceptable answer is passed on through the church “grapevine”, leadership conferences, cell groups, and so on, and the deeper answer is no longer negotiated among the Body of Living Believers who make up the True Church.

We must love God first—above all, including our family.  And we must consider those who truly follow God, our spiritual family, our “brothers and sisters in the Lord”.  Those inside the circle of God’s redemptive blood, shed through our Savior Jesus Christ.

But does this answer satisfy me as a human being?  Emotionally?  Practically and in a real-life, day to day sense? It certainly satisfies me intellectually and perhaps even spiritually. But does it speak to my heart? or even my soul?

It satisfies my being, but not always my heart.  I suppose there are moments in my life and seasons … when I understand.  And times when I don’t.

Is the mainstream interpretation we have been taught sufficient and truly what God meant?  Somehow I do not think it is.

More insight on this topic would resonate deep within all of us who struggle with the question of putting God before family; if we thought deeply about this question, and even if we arrive, in the end, at the conclusion of loving God first–before our children and families–we must have struggled to come to such a choice as this, unless we are being dishonest and superficial in our dealings with God and our selves.

From the Mouth of Babes

Recently, my son, who at age of five is extraordinarily spiritual, was consumed with the question also: “I love you and God the same”, he would tell me. Then, on another night, he might proclaim, “I love God, and then I love you”. Yet again, on another night, he might add, “I love you more than God!”–expressing how truly deep his love for me truly is.

On the first occassion, my son had expressed his desire to love both God, His Heavenly Father and me, his earthly father the same, because it seemed fair and right to his mind. On the second night, he had expressed his spiritual and intellectual understanding by stating that his love for God takes precedence over all earthly things. And on the third night, my son had expressed his heart and soul.

Perhaps we are all a bit like this–expressing different parts of our being, and struggling daily, to put God first when sometimes our hearts and minds can only grasp the immediate love that is before us in the world that God has created.

I have only recently come to terms with this profound question of loyalty between family and God. In my heart, I love my children absolutely; there is no greater love–and that kind of absolute love is a Godly love that comes only from God. When I love my children with a Godly passion, the question of who I love more no longer exists emotionally; for when I love my children, I am loving God–for He made them and everything I love about them comes from Him.

So maybe we have not accurately framed the question; maybe there is no question at all. When we love our children with that utter sense of abandon and fidelity, we are, after all, loving God.

Recommend Age: 6 – 8

Traditional Rules to Discard:

In order to simplify the game to a level that a 6-8 year old will more readily understand, discard or modify some traditional rules:

(1) Chips — use 1 chip at a time to keep score, or simply keep score on a pad of paper, assigning 1 point or 1 chip per win. As the child becomes more familiar with the game and the math, you can add the idea of adding more chips if you are comfortable with the idea.

(2) Double Down and Splits – Forget this at this age. It’s too complicated; focus instead on the raw game and the math.

(3) Black Jack pays 1.5 — not in this version. Keep it sample so your youngling can wrap his or her mind around the game.

The Math of the Cards

Let your kids count their own cards. In Black Jack, player’s cards are always placed face up. If your child has a 6 and an 8, ask them to add 6+8 to see what they get. Help them if needed, but resist the urge to add it up for them or to get excited that they got 21! Let them count to it first, and then show your excitement for them for not only getting a good hand and winning, but for counting correctly!

Be the Dealer At First

Until your child gets very familiar with the game, you be the dealer. Kids don’t understand yet that dealer’s hit on 16 and below and have to stay on 17 or above. But if it helps, discard that rule altogether and simply “hit” or “stay” when you want. The point isn’t to teach them how to become master Black Jack players (at least not yet!), but to have fun and help their arithmetic skills!

Confusing Parts of the Game

Kids this age have a harder time with more abstract ides or concepts with inherent double meanings. The most challenging part for a 6 year old in this game could be that an Ace can be a 1 or an 11. Help them with this rule and try to introduce the idea of duality of meanings. Who knows, if they grasp it you are helping plant the seeds of learning into high levels of abstract math equations.

Face Cards

Remember to tell your child that any card with a face on it equals 10. This helps them assign symbols and pictures to numbers; an abstract concept that can be easily grasped at a young age.

Cognitive Skill of Guessing and Probabilities

By having your child either “guess” whether he should take another card or stay put, you are introducing the idea of statistics and probabilities into his developing mind. Should he hit on a 16 or 17? What are the odds of his winning if he has an 18 or a 19? It’s amazing to watch how elated kids will get at getting a 20–it shows that they already cognitively recognize probabilities and possibilities.

Don’t Overplay Your Hand

Don’t get caught up in teaching them the rarefied rules of the game. It doesn’t matter what the dealer is showing at this age. It doesn’t matter that the rules say they should usually stay on a hard 17 or that they should stay on a 13 when dealer is showing a 6. The point is getting to think about their cards at this stage.

When your kid gets tired or bored, don’t push it–play a few decks and quit for the time being; if you make it a chore or a math lesson, they’ll get bored very quickly. The point is not to draw attention to the fact that they are doing math. They’re just playing a game and having fun. But you, mom or dad, will be surprised how much math is actually involved.

Above all play and have fun! And don’t take this too seriously–learning how to play the game isn’t going to turn your children into “gamboholics”.

The impulse for individual human beings to band together to form a larger “support” group is rooted deep in our DNA–and in many respects, secret societies are, at their core, esoteric support groups. Such groups can be as simple as “clicks” in schools to memberships in local churches or, for the rarefied few, memberships in clandestine groups, such as the Masons or the Rosicrucians.

Sometimes such social formations can veer into self-destructive and violent dysfunction, as in the mass forced suicide of Jonestown 1978 when over 900 cult members and their children were forced to down cyanide cocktails. Of course, not all stories are tragedies.

“The value of of secret societies such as the Mason’s or Yale’s Skull and Bones, for instance,” writes Amy D. Bernstein in A Short History of Secret Societies in U.S. News & World Report, “is that they create closed, supportive environments which down-play competition in favor of an intense group-focused mentality”.

U.S. News and World Report adds, “Those of our progenitors who could affiliate and be mutually dependent were more likely to survive than those were alienated.  Affiliating with a larger group is not just a coincidental phenomenon–it is basically inherent in our biology” (Marc Galanter, professor of psychology and practitioner at New York University Medical Center).

Secret societies give us the luxury of forming political alliances in our personal and professional lives; however, groups like the Masons, the Illuminati and others also help germinate a deep-seated fear into the hearts of mainstream society because of their intense secrecy and utter “otherness”. Many attribute Satan worship at the heart of higher levels of such groups and others assign to them the apex of key political conspiracy theories, such as the Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy assassinations.

Famous Masons include our First American President, George Washington, and other famous historical icons as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin,  Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, and in our lifetime, Gerald Ford.  Barack Obama? No, he is not purported to be a Freemason, nor were the Bushs (although W was a member of the Skull and Bones Society).

There is no doubt that secret societies have played a role in our history–but exactly what kind of role and how much of one remains speculative. What is certain is that humans are social creatures with genuine needs. They thrive in intimate communities and require, from time to time, groups of like-minded peers to give them a hand; when mainstream society or the normative system of support around an individual–whether family, church, or friends–is unstable or uncontrollable, microcosms of society emerge as alternatives to fulfill the desires that macrocosms of our culture cannot.

Mainstream society functions to address the needs of the masses; by definition, they serve “the people”–all the people. Smaller groups, churches, fraternities, sub-cultures, and in more unique circumstances, secret societies, address the powerlessness of individuals by setting into motion the promise of power within an ordered hierarchy.

One, perhaps ought to have a healthy respect for such communities, a sort of fear in the Biblical respect. They are the ecclesiastical schism which separates their members from mainstream social and political culture.

The danger, of course, lies in the very mechanism that protects such groups and binds their members so intricately close: genuine enablement through cohesive, community–albeit in the form of pure, and by nature, corruptible, estoric power.

Can you legally shoot a home intruder?

Surprisingly information is scarce and not very clear-cut, but there is a general consensus among experts regarding when you can legally “blow someone away” for invading your home–at least in most States.

The legal difficulty herein lies in the fact that the States, not the Federal government, legislates such laws, thereby propagating variance from one State to another.

Colorado’s “Make My Day” Law (appropriately named after Clint Eastwood’s 1983 film, Sudden Impact), allows the lethal use of force against home intruders, as do most States.

Castle Law

Most states appropriately understand the right to defend your home against intruders and have adopted the Castle Law or Defense of Habitation Law, a legal doctrine linked to the Second Amendment and The District of Columbia vs. Heller–the first U.S. Supreme Court decision that directly address a private citizen’s rights to bear arms (the debate had been whether the Second Amendment applied to individual citizens or state-run militias).

The Castle Law basically supports the idea that your home is your “castle” and that you have every right to defend it against harm (including people in your home as well as personal property).

Duty to Retreat Provision

Some states may require a “duty to flee” provision, before engaging in battle with an intruder. This is largely an unpopular law with the general population that  requires that one first attempt to flee prior to the use of lethal force; in other words, it is on the burden of the defense to prove that the use of force was only used as a last resort.

Prima Facie

Prima Facie (sometimes misspelled prima facia), is the Latin expression meaning, “on its first appearance”. The phrase literally translates as “first face”.

It can be reasonably argued in most States that if an intruder breaks into your home, the very act of forced entry is, prima facie, evidence of ill intent.

“If you reasonably think you are in danger,” states Marie Failinger, professor of criminal law at Hamline University, Minnesota, “people have to fear that the person breaking in is going to harm them seriously or kill them”.

Botched Home Invasion Defense

The sticky legal issue? Accidental intrusion. Your neighbor with Alzheimer’s enters the wrong home (it’s happened) on a night when you forgot to lock your front door. In any State, be prepared to show forced entry and ill-intent, or be prepared to make your case before a jury instead.

Further, if you catch a burglar or invader as he or she is trying to leave your house or running away, the law is unclear as to how much force–if any–you can legally use.

Use Common Sense and Stay Focused

Adrenaline will always course through your body in such situations–I don’t care if you think you’re Jack Bauer.

Be wise–identify (before shooting) whether the person is a threat or just a a drunken neighbor who mistook your cookie cutter house for theirs. And please don’t point your weapon at the police officer who is responding to your wife’s 911 call while you were retrieving your Mossberg 500 pump-action shotgun.