Author: smcintos

Charles Darwin, Climate Change Denier

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Here’s a vocabulary lesson: uniformitarianism, catastrophism, received orthodoxy, the channeled scablands. Believe it or not, the ideas behind these words can help us to understand our modern world. Some of the worst arguments in the news should be explained, and these words can do that. Charles Darwin is the originator of the theory of evolution, with his book, “The Origin of the Species.” Darwin is described as a scientist, but his education, at Cambridge University, was preparing to become a minister in the Church of England. Today, this would be like an education in a Bible College, or a Seminary. He wasn’t really educated as a scientist. Darwin gave us a universe without God, where life originated from natural forces, and then evolved into the life forms that we have now, including us. Darwin’s ideas have become received orthodoxy. To most scientists, they are so obviously true that they don’t need to be proven, they must be believed. They are beyond debate, and people, like creationists, who believe God is the creator, are dangerous lunatics. …

Persecution in India? How is this happening?

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Do you know which countries are considered the worst for religious persecution? The reports on the Internet often come from Christian sources, but many religious groups are persecuted, not just Christians. Buddhists and Sikhs, Jews, and many others are persecuted. There is a report, from centuries ago, when the Mongols invaded the Middle East, that they favored the Assyrian Christians there. When many of those Assyrian Christians converted to Islam, they were persecuted by the Mongol conquerors. Where I live, people who did not get vaccinated for COVID have been described as a persecuted minority. In Canada, a highly tolerant country, the government of the largest province, Quebec, once restricted or banned the religion of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. And I know, from history, that many people of my ancestral family, fought in a war, for a cause, and lost. In the final battle, they were the largest part of their army, they advanced the farthest, and they took the greatest losses. The order was given to find the injured soldiers with my family name, “Kill …

Sex Dolls: Can we talk about this?

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I have to start this article with a disclaimer. I am writing as a Christian, and the topic here is closely related to pornography. I hope we can understand some issues in our modern world, without being drawn into the behavior. If Christians don’t speak about some topics, the conversation will only be one-sided. Some challenges need an answer. There are some things we should be aware of. I will not give references or links to visual and video sites, because they tend to be pornographic. There is a line in a country song “I know what I was feeling, but what was I thinking?” So, what are we thinking? A few years ago, I was in a retail store, and I looked for something to buy, but they didn’t have anything for me. It was a strange place. As I was leaving, I passed a mannequin display, and I heard an angry woman. Another shopper, a woman, told me that something was disgusting. I wasn’t sure what she meant, so I looked around, and …

AI: Should we be afraid?

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“We have met the enemy, and he is us.” (Pogo) Have you heard the news stories about AI or Artificial Intelligence? Some people are worried. Should we be worried? AI can write for us, and soon we will have videos that seem real but are artificial creations of fake people speaking. Imagine if someone that you know sends you a video, with them asking you for money. If the voice and the appearance seem accurate, you might send the money, to help your friend. And then imagine that your actual friend contacts you. So, who got your money? Scenarios like this scare some people, as computer-generated technology becomes more sophisticated. How will we know what is real? I remember, many years ago, one person in my circle of friends was a law student at a university, and he was about to graduate. I remember that he smiled and told us, quietly, that in his entire university career, he had never written a single assignment. I didn’t ask if he wrote any exams. Of course, he …

Ancient Astronauts? Are they in the Bible?

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When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6: 1 to 4) Ancient Astronauts? The Nephilim? Pyramids? The Moa Heads on Easter Island? The Nazca Lines? Ancient Power Generators in the Pyramids? … Search any of these topics, on the Internet, and you will find a huge supply of articles and videos. People love these topics, and I think its popularity is growing. The Nephilim are in the first four verses of Genesis chapter six, in the Bible. “The …

Slavery and the Bible: What are the rules?

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Owning slaves. It’s an old idea. But why doesn’t the Bible forbid it, explicitly? The word “servant” in the Bible could be translated as “slave” in most cases. People did not pay servants, they just owned them, and provided for their basic needs. Slavery was abolished, in the United States, on January 1, 1863. In Russia, about 23 million serfs were liberated, in 1861. Now, it is illegal everywhere to own slaves, although human trafficking by criminals is still a huge problem. The abolition movement in North America was dominated by Christians like the Quakers, and the revival preacher Charles Finney, who banned slave owners from taking communion in his church. Those Bible-reading people hated slavery and worked to end it, everywhere. On the other side, some Christian ministers argued that slavery was good for society, and God supported it. They challenged the abolitionists to find any place in the Bible where slavery was forbidden, by God. I’m glad we don’t have those arguments today, but critics of the Bible, and of Christians who read …

Religion and Money: Strange Partners

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Did you know that religion is tied to money? Every religion has a powerful influence on our economy and that influence is worth about 1.2 trillion dollars. That’s what some economists tell us. I was driving to work, a few days ago, and I was thinking about my employment future. If you are wondering, we are doing well, and this is not a request for donations. I work for the local government, and our bills are paid, but with changing policies, my job could change. For example, I might have to work as a contractor, and I don’t think I want that. I was having normal thoughts, the kind that most of us have. Don’t worry about me, I am a dedicated cheapskate. I’m sure you also have thoughts about employment and finances. As I pondered my future, I turned on the radio, and I heard a familiar voice. You probably know who Dave Ramsey is: Dave Ramsey is a famous Christian financial advisor who talks about managing our money and paying off our debts. …

Are You Enabling? Or Maybe Gas Lighting?

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Enabling? Gas Lighting? What do those words mean? We also have related words like “woke” which is emotional and not thoughtful and rational reactions, and “narcissism.” which is focusing the attention and benefits on ourselves. And here are two more words: “Bud Lite.” You probably know about the arguments, a corporation made a controversial decision about sponsorship. At this time, the company has lost about five billion dollars in value. That’s a billion with a “B.” So, let’s try something impossible. Let’s try to understand without joining the emotional argument. The whole world is taking sides, but let’s try to be clinical. This argument is a symptom of something much larger. If we are honest, modern expressions like enabling and gaslighting describe us, and the way we talk to friends and relatives. I am a Christian, and I know, a lot of organized religion includes manipulation … We should just do what we are told, and we don’t need to think about it. I know a younger man who is interested in politics, and he …

So, They’re Burning Bibles Again?

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Burning books is an old idea. There is one story in the Bible where people burned books “a number of those who had practised magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.” (Acts 19:19) It’s always good to know the whole story. In the Roman Empire city of Ephesus, some new Christians had books with magic incantations. They had probably recited magic words, from their books, for spiritual and magic ceremonies. When they became followers of Jesus, they decided the books were not correct for them. They had a new way to live. So they burned their own, expensive, books of magic. This was probably not something we would call hate speech. They were removing an influence from their own lives, and they were not destroying other people’s books. Recently, a speaker named Ian Haworth was invited to speak at the State University of New York, in Albany. Some angry demonstrators tried …

Virtue Points: How Intersectional are you?

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How do you fit on the Intersectional scale? If you don’t know what that means, you are in the majority. There is an idea in our modern thinking, and it controls almost every political idea. You might agree, or disagree, or you might be neutral, but you should be informed. Intersectionality involves classifying people and through that process, they gain or lose virtue points. Here’s one example: Are you “Right Wing”? Most of us stay away from that label because we know it is dangerous. Most journalists use the label “Right Wing” to label people whose ideas are unpopular with them. But honestly, the same rules apply to “Left Wing” people, in some conversations. If someone asked you to define “Right Wing” thinking, in one brief sentence, could you do it? Most of us could not. “Left Wing” is slightly easier to define. Try this one: Have you repented of your white privilege? If you have children, are they learning “Critical Race Theory” in school? When I was a boy, we learned a song in …

Paganism, the new-old religions

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Have you heard of the new Paganism? The word “Pagan” is the name for the religions that came before Christianity, mostly in the Roman Empire and Northern Europe. The old Norse gods, like Odin and Thor are popular in fiction today; in comics, cartoons, and movies. The old religions died when large numbers of people converted to Christianity, many centuries ago. The expansion of Christianity happened in the Roman Empire until the Western Empire collapsed, shortly after the year 500. After that, missionaries continued to travel and preach in areas that had never been part of the Empire. Saint Patrick preached in Ireland, and two monks, Cyril and Methodius, expanded Greek Christianity into Eastern Europe. They founded the Eastern Orthodox religion, mostly among Slavic people. The world changed when the missionaries travelled. Now, two changes are happening: The number of active Christians is falling in Europe, and New Paganism is growing. Some people claim a reverse trend is happening, we are going back to where we started. This will change the way we live. Social …

So much religion. Did we just make it up?

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So, is religion just something that we made up? Are the Atheists correct, do we invent “spiritual” things to make us feel better? Yes. There is a story here, and it’s worth knowing: Jupiter by Jove. Here are some other god words: deity, dios, dieu, Zeus; or some very old names like Deva, Deywos, and Dyo. We also have Jupiter and Jove, and a very old form Dyo Pitr. That last one, from India, is an old form of Jupiter. We also have a related word “day” meaning the time when the sky is lighted. Those god words, in many languages, refer to a God in the sky, or heaven. “Pitr” or “Ju … piter” refers to a father, and we can see how our word “father” is related to “piter.” If you are wondering, our English word “God” comes from an ancient word “gudan” which means to call on, or to pray to. In history, and before history was recorded, tribal people lived on the grasslands of southern Russia, with herds of animals. They …

Believers and Hollywood: Which side are they on?

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Are you woke, or base? I am learning more about these terms, and they are interesting. We could use the older terms “left wing” and “right wing” but I believe most of us could not define those positions, in one sentence. Definitions are emotional, these days. The question really is, what tribe do you belong to? For you, which side is always right? And who is wrong, before they even speak? We are polarized by in our modern society. With polarized sides, and conspiracy theories, what happens if you believe in something spiritual? What side is God on, woke or base? I am a Christian, and for me, “spiritual” means God, and we find our way back to God through someone named Jesus. So, what does God think about Covid vaccines? Is God a Socialist, or a Capitalist? Does God approve of fifteen minute cities? What about climate change or global warming; yes or no? Is there any place for God in Hollywood? And for Americans, Republican or Democrat, and God? Other countries have their …

SEX! … Do I have your attention?

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I remember the sexual revolution. I’m old enough that I lived through times when our culture was changing, and people were becoming liberated. I was raised in a religious family, and I talked to my friends, but I didn’t get to participate. My family and church had one word for me: NO! I am grateful now, that I avoided so many dangerous things, but that did not make me a good or moral person. I was just severely restricted. When I started my adult life, we had a pastor who explained morals to us. He didn’t just say the usual “NO!”, he explained the dangers to us. I am still grateful. I am writing about liberation, also known as playing around, promiscuity, or partying and any other words that I missed. My language is not always up-to-date. Basically, it’s describing a pornographic lifestyle. This is an uncomfortable topic, but we need to face it. Young adults in many parts of the world are going through a social revolution, and the results are not good. Depression …

Mindful Self-Compassion? Should I do that?

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Mindful self-compassion: Love yourself, forgive yourself, accept yourself, be aware of yourself … Do you believe in those concepts? I had a visit with some neighbors today. We have a coffee shop close by, and we are supposed to do a health walk and end up at the coffee shop. Winter is on us, and we drove to the destination and walked across the parking lot. Don’t judge us. We are all near retirement age, and the coffee conversation found a topic right away; family. In our fitness/coffee-break group, we have all lived long enough to know that people should get along, and we should be kind to each other. This is not just some feel-good lesson our mothers taught us. We need human kindness to survive. We are old enough to know that. We all had stories. In any family, when a large inheritance is passed out, there may be some terrible stories. If you can’t relate, someday you will. Family problems happen to us all. So, how do we deal with strife and …

God, He or She? And who are you, really?

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Fifteen Minute Cities, vaccine mandates, gender identification, politics … and what did I miss? Have you noticed that we are told who to be? Political correctness and wokeness are dominating our culture, and it is clear who we are supposed to be, in our modern culture. We are being pressured to conform. I have opinions, and so do you, but there is a bigger picture. What is our new orthodox religion? We have a modern culture, and there is pressure to follow the new way. People who do not agree are arguing, and I think our culture is in a civil war. If you want to see this war, consider the Anglicans, the Church of England, in Australia: The Anglican churches, worldwide, are divided and arguing about questions like, Should the Church support same-sex marriages? Is God a man or a woman? The divisions are deep, and this historical Christian denomination could split. We all have opinions about each question, but the bigger problem is; how do we live in our modern culture? Some Anglicans …

Devil Worship? What is that?

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Have you heard the claim that Climate Change is now a religion? Some people believe that. If you want to know more, try an Internet search with those keywords. Also, we have people with strong convictions about sexual orientation and gender transition. Those beliefs can become like the meaning of life for the people involved. Radical ideas can be like a religion. Some critics claim that many of these ideas came together at the recent Grammy Awards: So, have you noticed the talk about religions centered on the person of Satan? For example, there is some interest in “After School Satan Club” meetings for children in public schools. Also, there is a religious organization, that we might call a church, named the “Temple of Satan.” Again, an Internet search with those keywords will produce many discussions and articles. One member was interviewed and claimed that the followers of the Satanic religion were really Atheists. They did not believe in an actual person with that name and image: If we invert the Satanist argument, we could …

All religions lead to the same place: Agree – Disagree

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I was once a member of a team that travelled to a large city as summer missionaries. I was a driver and I drove small groups around, so they could meet with people to talk about religious things. Now, I have a clear memory of people from Asia and the Middle East, who were offended by everything that we did. This Included Muslims and Sikhs, and probably Hindus and Buddhists. I remember thinking; how can I dare to tell them that my religion is better than theirs? What makes me so special? I really wrestled with those questions, and people argued back when we spoke about our favorite religion. Sometimes it’s hard to be a missionary. In our woke culture, where tolerance is the best virtue, most people understand this. We need an answer to this puzzle. So, who has the best religion? Some people believe that the truth is like a wheel, and we are all on the rim somewhere. From where we are positioned, any spoke will lead us to the center, where …

Prove that God exists! Or be an Atheist!

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Do you believe in God? Ok, prove that God exists. And if you can’t prove that God exists, we know that God does not exist, and we should all be Atheists. It’s a common argument: Prove that God exists, or I refuse to believe. It goes back to the Middle Ages, at least, and you still might hear it today, or use it. The speakers in the video try to be reasonable and neutral. For them, it is enough that God is a possibility, but they are sure that we can never prove that God exists. So, do we have two stark choices, believe or be an Atheist? People on both sides want us to make a decision. They want us to fall into one side or the other, so we are coerced to believe something. The truth is, we are all free to decide, and we always have been. Researchers have found that most people are somewhere between believing and not: When we are not forced, we really don’t know, and we are not …

Woke Religion: What is your path?

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I am probably the last person you would ask for relationship advice, but let me try: Always understand the other person’s religion. Religion, or the god that someone trusts could be money, personal success and fame, or power over other people. It is also possible to worship God. But, beyond a formal religion, what is the greatest success that anyone could achieve? What kind of thinking dominates a person’s life? What is your great success goal? What road is your life on? Are you obsessed with anything? That is religion, or faith; the great hope. The world is a very religious place; more than we know. For example, there is now a run on orange hockey jerseys with a number nine on them. They represent Ivan Provorov, a Russian player with the Philadelphia Fliers. The team had a special event when they celebrated “LGBTQ+ Pride Night” before a recent game. For the pre-game warm-up, players wore colorful jerseys and other equipment to show their support. Ivan Provorov did not wear the colorful equipment and did …

Choose amputation? What are we born to be?

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Did you know there are people who believe they should be disabled? Do an Internet search with words like “trans” and “disabled” or just “transabled” or the psychological term BIID “Body Integrity Identity Disorder.” Be warned before you do any research. Doctor Phil had a guest who made herself blind. For people who identify as trans-disabled, there is a strong sense that they should remove a limb, paralyze themselves, or destroy their eyesight. One man cut off an arm with a saw, and he felt good about his decision. The blind woman on the Doctor Phil Show believed in what she was doing. Here is one video of a young person in Scotland who chose to amputate a leg: So, what is happening? Why are people like this? The term “trans” is a clue. We have many people, in our modern culture who believe that they should be something, and they need to make a change. There are also people who want to identify as an animal. Two common terms are “Otherkin” and “Furries” and …

Are you a believer, in 2023? Who is?

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Many years ago, when I was in high school, I learned an important lesson. In most classes, I would chat with other students near me, and we would be like study-buddies for the course. Something happened, I think in a chemistry class, and I was shocked. I was a Christian, and I was struggling to find my maturity, as an adult. It was too easy to conform to “Churchianity” to keep my family and church happy. Before the class started, one of my two Chemistry buddies told us what happened to him. He went to a meeting and someone told him he should follow Jesus, and he said yes. I think that was the previous evening. My friend was a new believer, and he seemed happy with his decision. Our other friend was a bad boy. I will skip the details, but he was into things. I was surprised but happy to hear the news. Before I said anything, our bad friend reached up and pulled on the cord for a window blind. Each blind …

How to be arrested, as a Christian

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Have you ever been arrested? It’s an interesting experience. I know, because it happened to me once. Just once so far. When I was a young man, I travelled with a friend, in Europe, and we wandered too close to the iron curtain in Communist Europe, specifically Czechoslovakia. Today the location is in Slovakia. There was no iron and no curtain, and we missed a small border marker, and wandered onto the wrong side, and a heavily armed military squad came to get us. Yes, I was handcuffed and held in a forested area, and then we were released to the Austrian police. I remember they drove us to their police station in a Volkswagen Beetle patrol car. On the safe side, the Austrians were unhappy with us for disturbing the peace, and for being so dumb. They were going to lock us in a cell overnight, and then someone convinced them to let us go. That really happened, and it taught me a life lesson. I don’t confront officers in uniforms, with guns. Once …

Religious Wars: Could they happen to us?

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Peace love and harmony; isn’t that what it’s all about? I mean religion. Isn’t it supposed to be a force for good? Do you know that people fight about religion? In history, we have had wars and forced conversions and crusades. Some of those religious wars lasted for centuries. But that was history, so we can just read about it in history books, right? We have a problem today; we think we know how the world works, and sometimes we just don’t. For example, religion is still something to fight about, and things could explode anytime. Really. People are still ready to fight about religion, and we should be ready. Here’s an example: This violence happened in the English city of Leicester, recently. The two religious groups that fought were Hindus and Muslims, and the police worked hard to keep things from getting much worse. Actually, there were three religions in this war. Hindus and Muslims fought, after India (mostly Hindu) and Pakistan (mostly Muslim) played in a cricket final. The third religion was a …

Controlling Cults: How do you get out?

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Have you ever been in a cult? Do you know anyone who is, or was? The word “cult” is actually an insult and a label. It is shorthand for ‘stay away from them.’ Using the word “cult” too much is cult behavior. Telling people how to think, without explaining why, is controlling behavior, and that is what cults do. So, let’s find a better description. Who wants to control you? Who is telling you what to think, but not how to think? Are you doing this to yourself? Are you looking for a shortcut to the truth from some authority, with all the answers that you need? Our own laziness is an important part of the mix. Or are you doing this to other people? Is the truth so essential that they just need to agree? If this makes you think about religious “cults”, controlling groups are not always religious, as we understand religion. They are a “cheat” a short and easy route to some profound truth. ‘Someone else did the thinking, and I just …

Splitting churches: That LGBTQ Issue

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A very large split is happening in some churches, these days. You might have heard of the United Methodist Church, a very large denomination with many churches, and their arguments about sexual identity. One of the largest Christian communities in the world is falling apart. This morning I went for a walk with some neighbors and someone remembered me from many years ago. I asked him where we met, and he named my old family church. He still recognized me, after all these years. We talked, and he explained that he lived near us, with his husband. I tried to avoid an awkward pause in the conversation. At our church, a lady that we know was talking to some of us, including a pastor. She talked about her life, and what was happening to her. One issue was that she had recently broken up with her girlfriend. That was awkward. You probably have similar stories. So, with Gay, Trans, LGBTQ or any identification; what should we do? There are other issues, like abortion, and the …

Violence: Are we ready?

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A few years ago, I was driving on a wide and busy road. It was a warm summer evening, and I was caught in a slow stream of traffic. It all seemed normal. On the other side of the wide road, and slightly ahead, I noticed a group of people. I glanced over at them, and it looked like an argument was starting. It looked a bit scary, when I looked closely. One older man was talking to some younger men. The older man was not old, just older than the others. He was probably native. The young men were white, and they looked like skinheads. They had short hair and work boots, and they seemed aggressive. The boots are important in this story. If we could describe a racialized and ugly encounter, like a scene in a movie, this was it. Then the fight started. The lone, older man was shoved, and he fell to the ground, on his hands and knees. The fight continued, and I can still picture one of the young …

The Euphrates River: Can we believe the predictions?

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Are huge rivers disappearing? Are we moving to Armageddon? Is there any reason to believe Bible prophecy? The Bible makes many predictions about the times that we are living in. In general, things will get worse, even terrible, and then God will intervene. Intervention is also known as the second coming of Jesus. I am a Christian, but imagine taking the point-of-view of a doubter, a skeptic. If we don’t believe, why should we start now? There are different ideas about where our world is going. One of my best answers is, see the possibilities. Recently, scientists have become worried about the Euphrates river, and its twin, the Tigris. The cradle of ancient civilization formed near them, and they are important in many Bible stories. They form a huge fresh-water system that millions of people depend on, in the heart of the Middle East. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the Euphrates will dry up, and this will be important for events at the end of this age. Huge armies, from the east, …

Have you been to an angry demonstration lately? Who do you blame?

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So, how are you? Are you angry, sad, anxious, excited …? The list can be long. Our culture is changing. People are arguing about things we didn’t talk about a few years ago. Do you believe in a climate emergency, or are those climate people crazy? We also have politics, and abortion, and sexual identity … and that list is long. What we seem to have is a cultural civil war, and the arguments are getting louder. This “war” can become violent. I don’t know how many have died, but some people have been injured in the fights: In the country of Brazil, which makes up about half a continent, a recent election split the vote evenly between liberals and conservatives. The liberals won by about one percent, and now the country is divided. I hope they can work out their differences, but it’s not easy to win a cultural civil war. Expect demonstrations. So, what is happening to us? Why are we changing? There may be many reasons, but psychologists have an expression that …

Burning Bibles? How about eating them?

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Did you know that burning bibles is a common thing, during protests? To make some point, Bibles put in a fire, and somehow that level of aggression communicates something useful. Really, burning books is irrational behavior. The person who owns the book can replace it, and continue reading. With online books, a cell phone can hold a large library. Angry protesters are not trying to destroy all copies of a book. They are trying to emphasize an angry point. I don’t think it’s working. The world is not being moved by displays of anger, book burning. Different books may be burned, but the one that gets burned the most seems to be the Christian Bible. The video linked here is more than a year old, but if you can access it, the fuel in the protest fire is the pages of a Bible. Recently, a speaker was invited to a College, in Wisconsin, U.S. and were confronted by protesters outside. The contentious issue seemed to be about trans-sexual ideas. A young man decided to make …

Why is that Danish preacher in jail … in Florida?

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Have you heard of a man named Torben Sondergaard? Probably not, but you can expect to hear much more, soon. I learned a few things, for the first time, recently, and the story is puzzling. The story that we have is; A man, who apparently worked as a Christian street preacher, in Denmark, left his home country and moved to the United States. He had argued with the authorities in Denmark, and he believed he was in danger of being persecuted. In the U.S. he was detained for smuggling weapons from Mexico. He claimed that he was innocent and that he had never been in Mexico or near the Mexican border. Also, he had never smuggled weapons, or used drugs, at any time. From his own words, when the authorities dropped the weapons accusations, he expected to be released, on bail. At that time, he did not get what he expected, he was kept in jail, in solitary confinement, and no one told him why. Apparently, he was recently released from solitary, and he began …

Sex Positive: What is that?

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One of the most dangerous practices, in our modern culture, is giving names to things. Have you noticed, that we give a name to something and then everyone knows if that thing is good or bad? There is no need to think about it. I used to work as an English teacher, I taught language more than literature, and I notice this. We make the language do all the work, so we don’t have to think, or take responsibility. That is one of the drivers of “Cancel Culture.” The name “Cancel Culture” is one of those shorthand descriptions. If I use that name, you know that you are not supposed to like or approve of that thing. Can we agree, that we will not play the shorthand-blaming game? We are just using a name for something that people do. If we want to form an opinion, we should learn more. Here is one thing to know; we have a shallow and thoughtless way to approve or disapprove of things. We can easily communicate our opinion …

Are you Conspiritual? Are we being lied to?

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Since 2011, we have had a new word, in English “Conspiritual.” Any description of these ideas is probably negative, from people who don’t like them. New ideas start on the “fringe” and mainstream, and powerful people usually criticize and reject them. Over time, ideas on the fringe grow and become more popular, and they can even become mainstream thinking; truth for most of us. So, expect negative sneering, for now, and more enthusiasm later: We should know what is happening, in our world, and we should know what will happen soon; what is growing. This is not a conspiracy theory, new ideas are growing all the time, and some of them will be very powerful. Brace yourself. Conspiracy – We know what conspiracy theories are. When some important event happens, we might think that some sinister group is using its power, and manipulating events for some secret reason. Right now, we have conspiracy theories about the destruction of natural gas pipelines in Europe. We have many conspiracy theories about the COVID Pandemic, including the idea …

Eugenics: Should we breed the best people?

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Are you well-bred? Do you know people who are ill-bred? Do you respect your betters? Does your family get the respect that it deserves? This is another line of questioning: The first questions come from popular thinking that is more than a hundred years old. The last two are modern. Where does thinking like this come from, besides someone’s imagination? One old source is Social Darwinism. When Charles Darwin published his ideas about “The Origin of the Species” he looked back in time, to the beginning of life. Darwin’s ideas were retrospective, he directed us back in time, to origins. He had a theory about where we came from. Charles Darwin’s ideas were very popular, and evolutionary thinking came to us like a revolution. I believe one reason for the popularity of Darwin’s backward-looking ideas, is that some people looked forward. In England, for example, people saw classes in society; as superior upper classes, who were born to rule, and the inferior lower, and working classes, who needed to know their place. That is ancient …