Ysaan Institute: Learn Online Courses in Thai & English

LivingHour.org is pleased to announce the establishment of the Ysaan Institute, a cyber learning center for students, scholars, and teachers in Thailand and surrounding countries. Our mission is to enhance the curriculums of schools and universities with unique online educational materials which can be integrated easily with existing courses of studies.

We are currently accepting proposals from university instructors who would like Ysaan Institute to host their courses, tests, quizzes, readings, videos, audio books, or other educational materials. We are particularly interested in proposals from university teachers involved in the fields of sustainable development, eco-travel, green living, community-level entrepreneurship, and the Thai, Isaan, and English languages.

Affordable digitalization services will be offered by the Ysaan Institute to those instructors who need help placing their educational material in a digital format which can be offered online.

We are currently working on several projects, the first two of which are the Science Scholars English Reading Certificate (SSERC) program and the Life Scholars English Reading Certificate (LSERC) program. Both programs take ESL learners slowly and systematically from a 3rd grade English reading level to the college level over a period of 30 weeks (two academic terms), with quizzes and English passages of 100 words, 250 words, and 500 words. To learn more please click on the following link:

Ysaan Institute (http://moodle.livinghour.org)

If you are a university or college instructor with a proposal (or if have any special request for learning materials), please contact us at: living(at)livinghour.org.

Thailand Expats: Special Offer on Easy Thai Language Books

LivingHour.org would like to make a special offer to expats, teachers, and retirees in Thailand who wish to take advantage of our Learning Easy Thai language books and ebooks. We know how difficult it is sometimes for expats to acquire credit cards in Thailand, or sometimes getting Thai credit cards honored when ordering online with foreign businesses.

Therefore, we will be happy to accept ATM payment transfers from residents in Thailand.

180 Baht Special Offer*

For a 180 baht ATM payment we will send you:

1) The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool eBook

2) The Learn Thai Top 40: Colloquial Language Expressions

3) The Easy Thai Top 40: Heart to Heart Talk

To arrange an ATM payment transfer please contact us via our Contact Page.

Hard Copy Offer: Purchase the workbook version of The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool for only 200 baht. Again, contact us via the contact form to receive the transfer details

*All proceeds from book sales go to the development of lessons and course materials at the Ysaan Institute.

James Madison on Religion & Teachers of Christianity

Today in our faith and religion series of The Founding Fathers, we take a look at James Madison, the 4th President of the United States, who is widely recognized as being the “Father of the Constitution.” Madison was a strong advocate of limited federal power, and a vigorous defender of the separation between Church and State. An Episcopalian, Madison always took a reasonable and measured approach to the subject of religion. Whether or not he might be described as a “deist” is open to debate, and, in the end, an inconsequential point. His bona fides as a Progressive Christian are unimpeachable.

The following passage is from James Madison’s “Memorial and Remonstrance” (1785), where he forcefully and systematically argues his opposition to “A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion,” which was introduced to Virginia’s General Assembly. A few months later the General Assembly passed Thomas Jefferson’s “The Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom.”

[This bill should be opposed] Because experience has shown us that instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of Religion, ecclesiastical establishments have had a contrary operation. For almost fifteen centuries the legal establishment of Christianity has been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places we find pride and indolence among the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; and (in both) superstition, bigotry, and persecution.

Ask the “Teachers of Christianity” in what period did their religion appear with greatest luster, and those of every group point to the ages prior to its incorporation with civil policy. But if you propose a restoration of this primitive state, in which Christianity’s teachers depended on the voluntary rewards of their flocks, many of them predict Christianity’s downfall. So, on which side should their testimony most be believed: when it is for or when it is against their personal interests?¹

To read the original “Memorial and Remonstrance” in its entirety, go to James Madison’s Opposition.

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Read the next article in our Founding Fathers series: George Washington & Spiritual Tyranny.

Gain fresh insight into the Lord’s Prayer. Read our free online book The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life. The prayer’s hidden teachings will enrich and inspire you. Click the following link to begin reading the Living Hour book now: The Lord’s Prayer.

1. The above passage from James Madison was lightly edited to make it easier to read by the modern reader. [↩]