Brave & Free

Written in January of 2022, this is a letter to the popular children's magazine Stone Soup. It is famous for exclusively publishing work by creators younger than fourteen years old.  Dear Stone Soup,               I enjoyed submitting poetry, photography, nonfiction, and fiction to you for years. My  work was never published, but once I made it to the Honor Roll. I was super excited when I  learned about a magazine that publishes work from kids like me! Thank you for giving young  people the opportunity to share their God-given talents.  Although I hit the age limit two years ago, I still receive your newsletter. I must say it  is very well put together, but it makes me sad. I wish the leading publisher of children's work lacked blatant political bias, but it's laced throughout the company.  Strangely, every piece that addresses a controversial topic such as LGBTQ+ rights, BLM, or Covid-19 aligns perfectly with the agenda of the Democratic Party. For example, there's t

"In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a high school cheerleader could not be punished in school for using curse words on social media when commenting about not making the cheer team while she was off school grounds. Do you think students should be held to the same standard when exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech whether they’re on or off school property?"  My answer to this prompt: Public school speech restrictions are in place to protect innocent ears and inhibit conflict. They benefit schoolchildren. However, the favorable result of a policy is not the only factor to take into account when considering its expansion. Before all else, we ought to ask if the entity has the right to take this action.  In this case, the question pertains to the federal government and public school speech restrictions. Since 1979, when the U.S. Department of Education came into being, public schools have been government institutions. The government does not have the

I had a good time with the final IR Debate this week, since the topic was global warming. The media has blown it up into a laughable farce.   Earth was created about 7,000 years ago and has been going through  cooling and heating cycles ever since the global Flood. One of the most obvious results is the Ice Age. Making plans and spending billions of dollars to try to control something that only God can command is neither humble or wise.  Since I don't believe that anyone should "pay for stopping global warming" in the first place, I decided to pick a side and do the assignment like I was playing a part. All I did to satisfy my conscience was place notes at the end. It worked. Here's the phony essays, which earned an A+.  The initial: Obviously, global warming is a big deal. Climate change is more prevalent today than it has been at any other time in history. Plants, animals, and people are negatively affected by global warming. Concerning the question at hand, I side