How to NOT Watch TV

Some friends recommended a TV series called Black Sails; they said they really enjoyed it. We found the first episode and started watching it. I should have stopped as soon as I saw “18+” in the introduction. Apparently, that means X-rated in Netflix language. The series pretends to portray the life of pirates in the 18^th century Caribbean. For all we know, their depictions may be accurate; the behaviors of Sodom and Gomorrah did not disappear from human society after God’s judgment fell on those wicked cities. Sadly, there are pockets even in today’s “enlightened” culture where their debauchery is still celebrated.

I was enjoying the first few scenes of the old square-riggers sailing the bounding main. I love watching anything that reminds me of one of my greatest pleasures. Unfortunately, the drama soon left the sea scenes and focused on the lives of the pirates. The violence depicted in Black Sails is no worse than many current popular dramas; truthfully, it was tame compared to some. I refuse to watch the really gruesome scenes typical of many R-rated movies – even some TV dramas have become rather bloody. While they may be honest depictions of real life, I don’t find it entertaining to watch.

Studies show that the increasing violence portrayed on screens large and small is responsible for mass desensitizing of our society. A disturbed teenager can walk into his school and wreak bloody havoc on his peers and teachers without a qualm. The same goes for the rampant gang violence that scars our cities, although I suspect their embrace of violent behavior is due more to direct exposure in their underworld culture than to media influence. In whatever way they come to it, their apparent lack of conscience regarding violent behavior is the devil’s work to undermine natural human disgust. I don’t need to bathe in muddy water to know it won’t cleanse me.

Black Sails reveals another of the devil’s schemes to turn men to his ends: greed. From what I saw in my short exposure to this drama, the theme seems to be that greed is the motivating force in their culture. Greed pushes the pirates to seek treasure without regard for either law or conscience. Sinking ships and mutilating or abandoning the crews is done without a trace of regret or shame. When the goal is treasure, the milk of human kindness is swapped for the blood of their unfortunate targets. It would be comforting to think that that kind of behavior died with the last pirate, but one look at Wall Street or Capitol Hill quashes that idea. The enemy of our souls doesn’t need drama to feed the flame of greed in the human heart. There is good reason why greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

Another type of slime that pours out of the TV from Black Sails is uncensored filthy language. Listening to unsavory speech has a subtle effect on its hearers. The more we hear something, the more likely it is that it will slip into our vocabulary. I can attest to this from my experience as a truck driver. Many of my fellow drivers and almost every dock worker would find it difficult to form a sentence without words beginning with the letter “F.” Coupled with this, their continual reference to sexual subjects either directly or indirectly made it uncomfortable for anyone with a moral compass. The Bible warns against “coarse language” for good reason. Hear enough of it, and you will begin saying it yourself.

The only thing that might trump greed or violence in Black Sails' theme is sexual lust. There was enough inuendo, frontal nudity, and gratuitous sex in the first half-hour of the season opener to satisfy any porn addict. I am ashamed to say I watched as long as I did. I certainly won’t be watching another episode. Sadly, you don’t have to venture into the “freedom” of cable networks to find fornication, adultery, and all forms of perverted sex on TV. It has become so ubiquitous that even commercials on broadcast television feature same-sex intimacy. Advertisers proudly declare that their products allow homosexuals to have sex without fear of transmitting HIV. How wonderful for them! Some advertisements for women’s clothing approach the level of soft porn.

 There used to be safe places to go on TV, but most of them have fallen into the disgusting pit of violence and debauchery. Disney long ago abandoned Walt’s family-oriented programing. Even safer alternatives like Hallmark and Lifetime are slipping somewhat. The woke culture is so pervasive that everyone seems to think they must portray intimate homosexual and extra-marital relationships positively or be branded hatemongers.

I am not a hatemonger, but I am a truth lover, and the truth is that television has become fraught with all things worldly and demonic. I say this plainly because Scripture says that in the end times, the doctrines of demons will be taught to God’s people. James says that worldly wisdom fills our souls with demonic ideas. We should not be surprised because Paul said, “we are not ignorant of [the devil’s] schemes.” Unfortunately, I think “we” are, in fact, largely ignorant today.

God instructed the Israelites to slay all the Canaanites in the Promised Land. He said explicitly that this was to remove the evil influence from their lives. You have only to read their history to see what effect the failure to complete God’s command wrought among them. Time and again they were drawn into idolatry and sinful behavior because of the worldly people they didn’t exterminate. We need to use the remote to exterminate the vermin that would infect our homes with worldly, demonic “entertainment.” By doing that judiciously, you will be following the command to do everything to the glory of God as most television falls woefully short of that aim.

Truthfully though, the only entirely safe way for a Christian to watch TV is to unplug it. When you get tired of looking at the blank screen, pick up your Bible or some other wholesome literature and read. Paul says that when we understand what it means to live for Christ, we must cease being conformed to this world and become transformed by the renewing of our mind. Scripture is the source of that renewal. There is precious little on TV that will accomplish that.

Related posts: How to Watch TV series: (1) -  (2) -  (3) – (4); Woke TV

Political Exhaustion

Robert B. Charles made an insightful point in his post in the AMAC newsletter after the 2024 Presidential election, “Prepare for Emotional Exhaustion.” His main point was that after fighting long and hard on whichever team you play for, post-election catharsis is inevitable – exhaustion. I am certainly tired of the political ads that filled the airwaves for the last several months. They seem so pointless to me. I don’t know anyone who makes a voting decision based on advertising. Thoughtful people have better ways to examine the candidates and form an opinion. This was especially true this season because one party repeatedly made numerous false, defamatory accusations and the candidate was usually unable to articulate a cogent position on anything. I am particularly tired of that!

But it was Charles last point that really struck me. He wrote, “In this case, the election was brutal, arguably off-base, historically out of line with American politics.” Brutal: repeated impeachment threats, multiple lawsuits, and two assassination attempts against Donald Trump are definitely “off-base.” Like out of the ballpark off-base. He said they were “out of line with American politics,” but I have to disagree, sadly. Politics in this country has become increasingly partisan and divisive. Part of the reason for this, in my opinion, is the emotional factor being employed: scaring seniors with false threats to their Social Security, making pro-choice voters think abortion would be criminalized (as perhaps it should be), predicting huge increases in the cost of living all played on emotion rather than offering rational policy solutions.

I am aware that as far back as the election of George Washington, candidates tossed political firecrackers at one another. It seems that now they are using hand grenades and IED’s. When anyone calls their opponent Hitler for nothing worse than a policy disagreement, we have gone a step too far. When one party’s supporters attempt to assassinate their opponent, we have abandoned the American way of free expression of political ideas in the most egregious way. And when a candidate tells someone at her rally that the Christian message on a sign shows that the person is at the wrong rally, religious freedom is also being attacked, and a philosophical viewpoint is being proclaimed.

As Christians, we don’t have to insist on electing only fellow believers. What we must insist on is that any candidate we consider voting for cherishes freedom of religious expression. I have written previously that religious freedom is under attack by the progressives in this country. I have warned as Martin Niemöller did during WWII that if we don’t speak out against religious discrimination now, we will eventually forfeit the right to speak at all. There are already signs that the silencing process has begun.

It is now considered hate speech and punishable criminal behavior to use the wrong pronoun in reference to a person suffering from gender dysphoria in many public schools. Many employers threaten termination of persons who express religious opinions that are not appreciated by a fellow employee. The right to stand on a public sidewalk a respectable distance from an abortion clinic and protest the murder of the unborn is a chargeable offense. Wearing a tee shirt with a religious message to a public school will almost certainly get the student sent home, and discipline up to expulsion is not unusual. Need I continue?

The damage that the progressives are inflicting on the First Amendment is not their only attack. Second and Fourth Amendment rights are being trampled on a daily basis. Their explanation for these infringements reveals a fundamental difference in the Constitutional views of the two political parties. Most Democrats believe the Constitution must be continually revised to account for changes in cultural norms and expectations. Most Republican jurists hold the view that the document that governs us was written in such a way that all eventualities can be judged by its historical form. The way this works out is the Democrats are constantly reinventing meaning while the Republicans seek to understand the original meaning of the Founding Fathers.

The Bible teaches us to obey the law, submit to earthly authority, honor those to whom honor is due, and pay our taxes, etc. Despite all the naysayers, America was founded on Judea-Christian values. Those values are enshrined in our Constitution. Rewriting it or ignoring it when it restricts some newly discovered freedom (like freedom to murder innocents) is precisely what the progressives want. As Christians, we ought to be deeply concerned when the foundations of the Founding Fathers are being dynamited. I believe we elected a protector of religious freedom yesterday. If you were praying for that eventuality, don’t stop praying now. Like Robert B. Charles said, you may be exhausted, but I say you need to stay alert and keep praying because the roaring lion hasn’t been caged – he might be fettered, but his reach is still extensive. As the song says, “We are strongest when we are on our knees.”

Related posts: And Freedom for All; How to Boil a Frog; What Price Freedom?; What Does it Mean to be an American?; Strict Obedience

Vote! Please!

After all the rancor surrounding the 2020 Presidential election, I vowed to concentrate my writing on general Christian living and Bible teaching. However, today, three days before the 2024 election, I feel I have to say something. Every national election is important to a degree, but this one will have monumental consequences for everyone, not just Christians.

If you are like me, you are so DONE with political advertising. I wouldn’t be as fried if the candidates were actually outlining their policies; they could even differentiate their views from their opponents, and I wouldn’t mind as much. Unfortunately, neither party is spelling out much of what they plan to do in any detail. In my market (Arizona) the only issue that seems to matter to the Democrats is abortion. They are making outrageous claims to frighten pro-choice voters onto their side. If you read my blog during the last election, you know that I cannot abide the Democrat position that a woman has the right to murder her unborn child. It is seldom wise to vote on a single issue for something as wide-ranging as presidential authority, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say that a vote for the Democrats is a vote for murder.

Polls indicate that there are two main issues voters in this election care most about: the economy and the border. By “economy” I suspect that most people mean inflation. A true measure of prices for things everyone needs to live has gone up between 17% and 20% over the last four years. If you didn’t know this, you must not do the shopping in your house. Harris has said that there are no Biden policies she wound change. You have to decide if that is good for your budget or not. One thing is certain: we cannot afford to bring unlimited numbers of immigrants into this country and give them financial help when we are already struggling under significant inflation and tremendous national debt. (For more on that, read “Man the Lifeboats.”)

Unbridled immigration is a more complex problem than just its economic effect, and the positions of the two parties are clear to anyone who listens. Most of Trump’s immigration policies were reversed by Biden as soon as he took office. He installed Harris as his border czar, and the disaster that ensued is undeniable. The most frightening thing about their current position on immigration is their insistence that non-citizens (illegal aliens) be allowed to vote. This strikes at the heart of our representative government. Only legal stakeholders should have a say in government policies. True, the Democrats are making illegal aliens stakeholders by granting them living assistance of every kind. But to my mind, that just doubles down on the original mistake of letting so many come across the border. They become guaranteed Democrat voters to keep their gravy train running.

Another issue that is flooding the airwaves in my area concerns Social Security positions. The Democrat ads shamelessly mislead seniors by claiming that Trump would cut their retirement benefits. It is true that Trump (and most Republicans) realize that if something isn’t done to reform Social Security, it will implode in the near future. However, to scare seniors now collecting benefits by suggesting that Trump would reduce their checks is a bald-faced lie. None of his policies that I am aware of affect current beneficiaries. His plan would raise the age of initial eligibility and offer a hybrid investment plan with individual control of one’s own money. The kind of changes Republicans are suggesting are necessary to save Social Security for the long run. The Democrats have no such plan. (For more on my take on SS, see “Social Insecurity”)

Finally, independent, non-biased accounting estimates that the goodies Harris promises if she is elected would inflate the national debt by trillions of dollars. If you don’t understand why the national debt is your problem, read “Imaginary Money.” Using a household budget as an analogy, our current situation is like having so much debt that you have to pay every penny you earn to cover the interest – just the interest; you would not be paying one penny on the principle, and there would be no money for food, fuel, clothing, and anything else that you need to survive. It is a sad commentary on the intelligence of American voters that we have come to this untenable position. Our entire system is hanging by a thread, and Harris wants to add more weight to the burden.

Many people were dissatisfied with Trump as a person back in 2016 and 2020. They wouldn’t vote for him because they didn’t like him. As I wrote then, the Presidential election is not a popularity contest: I like her better than him (Nah-nah). On one important level, the United States is the world’s largest business entity. Donald Trump has proven to be a very successful businessman. His term in office gave ample evidence that his expertise transfers to his position as President. He also professes faith in God, and he would never tell someone at his rally (as Harris did) that they were in the wrong place because they were supporting Christian values. If enough conservative voters abstain because they don’t “like” Trump, they will assure the election of Kamala Harris.

This short piece will not likely change many votes. Many people have already voted early, and those who have not yet cast their ballot will probably not be convinced to change. My only hope is that I may encourage someone to vote – either way – so that our next President represents the citizens properly. By that I mean properly elected by a majority of informed, legal citizens. The next four years will be radically influenced by who wins the top of the ticket.

Related posts: Vote Anyway; Politics Stinks; Honor the King; The Circle of Well-being

Where Do You Find Truth?

I was encouraged to read an article in the AMAC news daily that chronicles the waning influence of the big media outlets. The author claims that Americans are becoming less likely to believe what they read and see in traditional news sources. This encouraged me because the media have been increasingly in the driver’s seat of public opinion throughout my lifetime, especially since the advent of the Internet. Whether through laziness or intellectual apathy, much of the American public has lost the motivation to consider the source when they evaluate the information that floods their environment. Easy believism has taken the place of intellectual curiosity.

Actually, the situation is even worse than that. Truth itself is no longer considered important; its very existence is questioned by many postmodern philosophers. Absolute truth – one truth that is always and in every situation true – is scoffed at by atheists, agnostics, and even some so-called Christians. In the last half of the twentieth century, situation ethics and values clarification began to be taught at ever lower levels of academia. Long a feature of college lectures, doubt and despair spread as the products of those colleges became the textbook writers and classroom teachers of our elementary-age children. We should not wonder that people will believe whatever they are told; they have no standard by which to judge truth.

Fortunately, Bible-believing Christians (Must I add the qualifier?) are not without defense against purveyors of untruth. It is not a coincidence that Jesus called Himself the Truth, nor that He insisted that the truth sets believers free. Jesus also pointed clearly to the source of truth: “Thy Word is truth.” The Bible, God’s Word, is the repository of truth; all that the Bible asserts as true is in fact true. This does not mean that truth does not exist beyond the pages of Scripture. All truth is God’s truth whether it is doctrinal, biological, astronomical, political, or whatever. Despite repeated claims that science or rationality trumps faith, the Bible has continued to prove true when examined by sincere searchers.

Getting to the truth demands an inquiring mind. Cornelius VanTil is famous for having encouraged believers to view all things through what he called biblical spectacles. He insisted, “The Bible gives us the presuppositions we need to interpret individual facts rightly. It is the spectacles by which we can view all of life rightly.” Presuppositions are the things we bring to our investigations which color our interpretations. If one presupposes that there is no God, and all things exist through time and chance, one sees the universe in a certain way. If, on the other hand, one assumes that the universe was created by a loving, communicating God, things appear quite different.

When Jesus identified God’s Word as the source of truth, He preceded the assertion with a request that the Father would, “Sanctify [His disciples] in the truth.” To sanctify something is to set it apart for a specific purpose. If we are to be living proof that Jesus’ prayer was answered, we must set about mining and distributing truth. We need to put on our biblical spectacles as Van Til would say. We need to follow the advice of the Psalmist and meditate on God’s Word day and night. We need to refuse to be conformed to the world and be transformed by renewing our minds with the Word. We need to set our minds on things above not on things of earth. These acts of sanctification will give us the ability to follow John’s admonition to test everything to determine if it is from God.

I have caused trouble in the past by suggesting that one of America’s major political parties runs closer to the truth than the others. I am going to avoid that assertion today and suggest that concerned Bible believers put on Van Til’s spectacles and determine for themselves whether there is a difference between parties and candidates. We would do well to investigate claims and policies to discern their truthfulness both in relation to facts on the ground as well as Bible principles. America is not a theocracy nor can it be under the dictates of the US Constitution. However, because we are blessed with a representative form of government, Christians can make their wishes known in the voting booth. But our ballots must be thoughtful, enlightened votes, seeking to expand the dominance of truth.

If you believe you are wearing Van Til’s spectacles, and you don’t see the subtle subterfuge, blatant falsehoods, and the constant push to undermine biblical values we are asked to accept today, I suggest that you have your prescription checked. It may be that you need to be renewed in the Spirit of your mind as Paul recommends. Jesus said His words are spirit; that’s the spirit which must control the mind of a believer. I appreciate the way The Message translates Proverbs 12:17, “Truthful witness by a good person clears the air, but liars lay down a smoke screen of deceit.” Modern media is laying down that smoke screen; we need to look for the truthful witness. We need to join Diogenes in his search for an honest man.

Related posts: True Lies and Lying Truth; Truth Dysphoria; America Held Captive

Biden Attack -- My Response

I promised myself I would not get overly involved in commentary during this political campaign season. But Joe Biden’s unprecedented political attack packaged as a highly dramatized press conference on September 1^st has motivated me to comment. I will try to remain true to the purpose of my blog title and consider primarily why heaven matters in this instance. I have said repeatedly that peoples’ philosophy is relevant to everything they do. If philosophy is the head of the body, politics is one arm; religion is another. To me this means that politics and religion are joined at the head. Unless you imagine some Frankenstein creation of disparate parts, politics and religion flow from the same philosophy in any given individual or institution.

Some may ask why those of us who are heavenly minded should care what worldly minded Joe Biden has to say. I answer it is because the words of the President reveal the Deus ex machina, the real philosophy behind the words. The apparent purpose of his 9/1 speech was to demonize his political opponents whom he vaguely characterized as MAGA Republicans. This term, which he used a half dozen times in his short address, has been adopted by the Democrats to refer to people who supported President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign. Biden said, “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our republic.”

In an attempt to identify the philosophy which he considered such a threat, Biden said, “It’s not just Trump; it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the [MAGA Republicans] – I’m going to say something: it’s like semi-fascism.” Merriam-Webster defines fascism as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime… that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.” The only part of that definition that fits Trump is “exalts nation.” No one can deny that Trump exalted America; he wanted to make it great again. He was not a racist as some have tried to claim (minorities did better under Trump than any recent administration.) Unlike the Democrats, Trump clearly placed individuals and individual effort at the center of his plan to make America great.

Ironically, the rest of the definition of fascist applies quite nicely to the Democrat philosophy rather than Trump’s and the MAGA Republicans’. Few Presidents have been more “dictatorial” than Biden and Obama. The “severe economic and social regimentation” boiling out of Washington under Democrat administrations is undeniable. As for “forcible suppression of opposition,” just consider the recent weaponization of the IRS (87,000 new, armed agents) and FBI (Mar-a-Lago?), the hijacking of the election system, and the overreach of other non-elected government bodies. The irony of Biden demonizing conservative Americans who want to see Constitutional rights upheld and traditional values embraced is beyond belief. Yet he apparently believes that returning America to its former glory “threatens the very foundation of our republic.”

(Reminder to self: tell the reader why heaven matters in this.)

Among the MAGA Republicans Biden warns against are many conservative Christians who believe the foundation of our republic was laid by men who recognized that our rights and responsibilities were endowed by our Creator God, not a dictatorial government. Those rights and responsibilities were enshrined in our founding documents, particularly the Constitution. Constitutional government as originally conceived was intended to reflect Judeo-Christian values, biblical values. Here we return to the idea that politics and religion are two parts of one whole.

The question becomes how to view our political situation from a heavenly vantage point. In Jesus’ high priestly prayer, He commented that when He returned to His Father, His followers would be left in the world, but they would not be of the world. The Apostle John cautioned against loving the things of the world. Paul insisted that believers must not be conformed to this world if they would be pleasing to God. James went so far as to say we become God’s enemy if we form a friendship with the world. Jesus also warned His disciples that the world would hate them just as it had demonstrated hate for Him.

It is my contention that the attitude, the philosophy behind President Biden’s 9/1 speech represents the worldly hatred Jesus predicted. I am not conflating MAGA Republicans with the Body of Christ. However, as I have said before, the political aims of the Republicans follow the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of the founding fathers, whereas the Democrat platform embraces many unbiblical themes. If Biden were calling for debate, that would reflect the attitude envisioned by our political traditions. Instead, Biden has called his opponents fascist terrorists intent on destruction.

The irony, the hypocrisy of Biden’s position is unbelievable. The sanctity of life, law and order, and individual freedom are under attack, but it is not MAGA Republicans on the offensive. As believers, we are pilgrims from another world sent as ambassadors to a foreign country. The language of the New Testament pictures believers as emissaries from a distant king who has taken over the land. As I wrote in “Bringing the Kingdom,” our responsibility as Christians is to represent the values and proclaim the authority of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Even though Jesus defeated our enemies on the Cross of Calvary, we are warned that the enemy still roams about “looking for someone to devour.” The kingdom of Heaven has been initiated, but we are still required to announce and defend its principles until the day of final victory when Jesus returns. We do that work in the world; for that work we will be hated. In America we have enjoyed a great deal of freedom to work in the past. Those days may be behind us. As I have said before, the only way to fight against political evil is to exercise our right to vote. My philosophy says that is our political and religious duty.

Although he was deeply spiritual, no one would consider William Butler Yeats a Christian, yet his poem, “The Second Coming,” seems truly prophetic. Witnessing the turbulence that characterized the early twentieth century, seeing the inevitable implosion of modern society, Yeats penned the famous lines, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” In a clear allusion that Christians recognize as purely biblical, Yeats closes the poem with a question: “The darkness drops again; but now I know / That twenty centuries of stony sleep / Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, / And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”

I am not suggesting that Joe Biden is the anti-Christ, nor am I predicting Armageddon. What I am suggesting is that just as John warned first century believers, “even now many antichrists have arisen.” We who serve the Risen King who was cradled in Bethlehem twenty centuries ago must do whatever we can to stand against the rough beast that slouches toward Bethlehem to be born. Its coming is inevitable, as is our victory. But we cannot be idle. Paul commends us to action: “Wake up, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Therefore, consider carefully how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil.”

Related posts: Christianity: Religion or Philosophy; Political Christianity; Obama Isn’t the Problem; Islam’s Trojan Horse; Whose War on Women;

Lessons From History

 My recent through the Bible reading covers the lives of David and Solomon. Both of these men were spoken of reverently and honored by God and Israel (most of the time). In retrospect, I don’t think either one is a perfect role model. David’s most glaring failure was the incident with Bathsheba which ultimately produced Solomon. Solomon became all the terrible things God warned Israel about when they clamored for a king. Jews today still look back at those two kings as representing the glory years of Israel. And yet….

Last November I wrote a piece called “Losing the Boundary Stones.” In it I warned that forgetting history or rewriting it as many wish to do today would cause the loss of important elements of who we are. Knowing where we have come from personally and politically should help us understand who we are and protect us from making the same mistakes we find in our past. Instead of using past mistakes as lessons, many people today want to erase them from our collective memory. The wisdom of the frequently quoted line applies: those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

In a recent post I cited an article published in Imprimis, a Hillsdale College publication. The article said that sinister forces are attempting to radically reshape Western culture. A reader emailed me after reading the piece to say that he was praying for protection from the likes of me. He included Hillsdale and the “white evangelical American church” and its “demonic minions” as like-minded institutions. This caused me to speculate about what could be so dastardly about wanting to return to the principles that motivated our founding fathers. I know the woke culture today wants to erase most of our past, but I cannot fathom how a supposedly Christian person could see a revival of our founding principles as demonic.

That led me to question my own opinion of America’s founding ideals. Beginning with the first European colonists, our history is replete with honorable efforts and horrific failures. I am reminded of David and Solomon. Both they and we have checkered records. The Jews rightly honor David and Solomon as we do Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin et al. I don’t want to follow Jefferson in his disbelief of Bible miracles. I certainly don’t condone Franklin’s peccadilloes. However, they each have their moments of greatness. It is especially noteworthy that Washington’s farewell address revealed his solid Christian worldview.

I understand that being Christian doesn’t necessarily mean all their positions can be supported biblically. The early colonists mistreated the Native Americans. Washington held slaves. Rather than expunge the record of these misdeeds, we should look more deeply into their reasoning to seek understanding. The triumphalism of the Protestant colonists caused them to gloss over the clear Bible teaching that all humans are created in God’s image and due appropriate honor. The founders’ desire to keep the southern colonies in the new union led them to accept slavery, although many saw it as a temporary situation needing correction later. An accurate record of history does not necessarily condone everything it records.

There is another popular saying about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. David is “a man after God’s own heart” not because he is an adulterous murderer; his willingness to confess his sins and repent earned him that title. Thomas Jefferson is not remembered honorably for his dalliance with one of his slaves, but for his wise application of Lockian principles of government. If we can learn anything from the utter humanness of people in our past, it should be that perfection is unattainable. Even more, we should recognize that God does not expect perfection in His people. “He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” That does not give license to wallow in the dust, however. It should assuage our guilt over our own misdeeds as well as those of our forebears.

Israel never became the light to the nations it was created to be. America has never been a flawless Christian nation. The shortcomings of both nations should be not just remembered but highlighted. Paul told the Corinthians that they should take note of the failure of Israel to remain faithful so that they would not fall into the same unbelief. The principle applies equally to American history. Instead of tearing down statues of people who committed offenses to our modern sensibility, we should teach our children what the offenders did and explain why it was wrong.

Christianity is a historical faith. That means it is based on what God has done using real people, flawed people to accomplish His will on earth. The story of Israel without reference to David or Solomon would be significantly diminished. We can’t take the Jeffersonian approach and snip out passages of Scripture that we don’t like. “Question with boldness even the existence of God,” [Jefferson] urged his nephew in 1787, “because if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.” I am a proponent of reason as anyone who reads me regularly knows. However, I do not believe that leaving the Bible whole, warts and all, is an offense to reason. Rather, it is a testament to faith. Because I don’t “question the existence of God,” I accept His Word as the inspired revelation it is. We should do the same with American history minus the inspiration. Read and learn.

Related posts: What’s Wrong With Politics; Pandemic of Disrespect; Christians Are Responsible to be Politically Engaged

Conspiracy Theory Part II: The Great Reset

I am once again in the midst of one of the divine conflations God pulls on me from time to time. I’ve written previously about how God will take elements from disparate sources and bring them together to reveal a new way of seeing something. This time the sources are the book I have mentioned several times, N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope, a novel by James Lee Burke, and an article in Imprimis, the Hillsdale College publication.

The object of this present conflation first entered my thinking back in graduate school when a professor assigned the book by Ronald Sider, Rich Christians In An Age of Hunger. It struck me then that there is a disconnect between our profession of love toward our neighbors and our incredible wealthiness compared to the poverty of many of our global neighbors. Sider suggested some radical responses to this disparity, and he “walked the talk” by radically changing his own lifestyle. I will admit to feeling slightly guilty at the time, but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything substantive. As a struggling grad student and Christian school teacher raising three children, I didn’t have great excesses of anything, but I realized that even in my straitened circumstances, I was wealthier that ninety-plus percent of the world’s people.

My regular readers may be tired of hearing my references to Wright’s book, but it has again struck a chord that rings true and makes me think I should do something about it, although I’m not sure what to do. While calling the church to bring justice as part of its mission, Wright accuses much of the modern church of baptizing free-market capitalism as God’s own business. I have always believed that the American economic system has proven to be the most successful and egalitarian way to do business. I am not saying it is without its flaws. The term “robber barons” was an apt description of many powerful men in the early industrial era, and the virtual indenture of miners to “the company” highlight the major flaw: fallen men will always find ways to abuse any social structure.

The novel by Burke, Wayfaring Stranger, chronicles the rise of a poor southern farm boy to the upper echelons of American business. As in all his stories, Burke reveals the worst in human nature pitted against his protagonist’s effort to remain true to good, if not godly principles. One of the themes of the novel is ecological destruction in service to the almighty dollar. This leaves our hero yearning for the simpler times when the beauty of the world was untouched by human greed. The current debate over the Keystone Pipeline and offshore drilling would fit perfectly into Burke’s tale. Economic progress and ecological protection are often at odds. There is no easy solution for a principled person.

The Imprimis article by Michael Rectenwald titled “What is the Great Reset” presents a cast of characters that would play perfectly in a Burke novel. When the COVID 19 pandemic (so-called) gave rise to all manner of draconian measures by governments worldwide, I began asking what possible motivation there could be for the unwarranted restrictions. (See related posts below.) In “Conspiracy Theory” I suggested it was about money and power. Rectenwald exposes the sinister (my term) forces that were behind the pandemic madness. According to the author, the corona virus outbreak was purposely used by power brokers behind the scenes to speed the transformation of our economic and social structures into their utopian progressive model: the great reset.

Rectenwald provides the documentation to prove my conspiracy theory. He adds the dimension of an economic paradigm shift to the lust for money and power I suggested. I highly recommend Rectenwald’s article to anyone who doubts there is a conspiracy afoot. While Wright and Burke help me realize that something needs to be done, I refuse to subscribe to the progressive agenda of socialism or, as Rectenwald reveals, a plan to institute, “capitalism with Chinese characteristics —a two-tiered economy, with profitable monopolies and the state on top and socialism for the majority below.” 

Without doubt, a reset is needed. American capitalism has run amuck. We have reached the point in our fallenness where national elections can be rigged, tens of thousands of small businesses can be destroyed, and personal liberty can be curtailed at the whim of political and commercial power brokers. The reset we need is not going to come from any of our secular institutions, however. I believe Wright is right to insist that the mission of all believers is to begin building the kingdom of God now in preparation for the ultimate “great reset” we know is coming in the recreation of all things according to God’s plan of redemption.

We are living in the great in-between. Immediately after the Fall, God promised He would set things right again. He told Abraham, “And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.” Israel missed being the light to the nations they were called to be; we now carry that mandate as the heirs of Abraham and fellow heirs with Christ. Jesus announced the coming Kingdom of God during His earthly ministry and proclaimed the initiation of it after His resurrection from the dead. One day soon, I hope, the Kingdom will fully come. Until then, we labor in the already/not yet state of the Kingdom of God. (See “What Are You Waiting For?”)

 The world is far from perfect, but we are tasked with making God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. The great reset is coming; we are the agents God has called to bring it. In “Bringing the Kingdom” I closed with this: “As Micah said, ‘He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’ That’s how we bring the Kingdom.” That is the Great Reset.

Related posts: Finding God in COVID 19; The Emperor Has No Clothes; Herd Immunity or Incredulity

Vax or Novax

The Biden administration is being accused of challenging religious freedom. The two issues that have received the most attention are LGBTQ+ and vaccination. (I have already written about the first; see Related posts below.) The demand of the New Testament to obey the mandates of government is crystal clear. Paul and Peter both make unambiguous statements recommending that believers should follow the rules made by their leaders. The only biblical incident in which someone defied the authorities is when Peter and John told the Sanhedrin they would not stop preaching Jesus when told to do so. Their reasoning was that they were compelled to obey God rather than man. This has been generalized over the centuries to mean that unless abiding by a secular law forces the breaking of a divine law, obedience is required.

The question then becomes whether there is a clear biblical concept that supports resistance to COVID vaccination. Like so many modern issues, the vax/no vax debate finds sincere Christians on both sides. Because vaccination is a modern therapy, there is obviously no Bible verse that specifically prohibits it. This leads many believers to take the shot in submission to the authorities as Scripture recommends. These folks often cite other reasons to follow the government request, chief among them is that it represents loving their neighbor by following the protective regimen. Of course, they also feel that it is prudent to guard against illness when possible.

There are, however, plausible reasons to resist the vaccine, some biblical, some otherwise reasonable. The non-biblical resistance stems from the uncertain reliability and questionable safety of the vaccines. I have written extensively on the dubious nature of the government’s claims of safety and efficacy. I have also shown that the death rate for COVID has been wildly overestimated and the actual count of fatalities due specifically to the virus will never be known.

One must also question the reliability of the persons and organizations pushing the vaccines when they are becoming wealthy from their use. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the foremost proponent of universal vaccination, has become the highest paid federal employee in the US, surpassing even the President. We have no way of knowing what Fauci’s investment portfolio might look like, as Representative Jerry Carl pointed out last June. As a bureaucrat rather than elected official, Fauci’s finances are not public. Other individuals such as Bill Gates are making huge “donations” to research into vaccines that will pay large personal dividends when they are put into use. There is a great deal of money being made selling fear across the globe. (For more on the issue of fear see, “The Angel Says: Fear Not”)

This is going to be a weak biblical link, but I am going to suggest it anyway. Christians should not succumb to fear like that which is being propagated by the pro-vax cabal. The Bible clearly teaches that we do not need to fear any man, certainly not to the point of disobeying a Scriptural command. In early 2020 when the true nature of COVID-19 was unknown, churches were ordered to close. Mine did. That most congregations did shut down clearly violates the principle of obeying God rather than man. Once it became clear to thinking people that the threat from the virus was far less dramatic than originally advertised, a return to prudent flu season precautions would have been in order.

Unreasonable fear is also causing people to subject themselves to unproven vaccines which we now know are of limited value in preventing infection from the virus. If the vaccines are effective, why are masks and social distancing still being required in many situations? If the vaccines are effective, why are we hearing regularly about people who are vaccinated becoming infected and even some dying from COVID? If the original vaccines were effective, why are boosters continuing to be added to the requirements? The answer is fear, and the question becomes who benefits from the fear.

The evidence is increasing that the vaccines themselves pose a threat to an individual’s health. Because the major media outlets profit from the exposure that follows the fearmongering, it is difficult to find evidence of the true nature of the treatments being offered as vaccines. If you look outside of the mainstream media, you will find a growing number of physicians and scientists who can prove that the treatments currently being provided are not vaccines by any definition. More disturbing, many sources are claiming that the side-effects of the non-vaccines are quite serious. Following the principle of not putting anything harmful into my body, I think it is reasonable to refuse the vaccine on biblical grounds.

Just as it has done with the LGBTQ+ issue, the progressive factions in government have pushed against the religious interests of American citizens by supporting universal vaccination. While the vaccine mandate has not materialized on a national level for most of us (except for federal employees and members of the military), several cities have been emboldened by the White House’s insistence that it is needed and instituted their own mandates.

I have no quarrel with people who want to be vaccinated or with private institutions or businesses that choose to require vaccination. If proof of vaccination becomes necessary at the places I frequent, I will find other places that have not succumbed to the fear. What I will resist as far as possible is joining the lemmings and blindly leaping off the cliff. I also recommend that all my readers become knowledgeable about the policies of our elected officials and their bureaucratic allies. As I said in “Don’t be a Moron,” we owe that to our Lord and His kingdom on earth.

Related posts: How do you Read Paul; Clobber the Argument; Bake for Them Two; The Uncomfortable Subject; Who is Discriminating?

Delightful Garden of Encouraging Words

I am fairly certain that the administrators of the popular platforms we all know are using automated discovery methods to uncover specific words that may signal views that are contrary to those of the ruling class. Said administrators have admitted publicly that they monitor publications by their users to seek out contrary views. They then either make them go away or place addenda to the contrary publications guiding readers to articles which support the ruling class’ view. I have seen this done to my publications in the past, so I don’t doubt it happens often. For this reason, I am using arcane and unusual language to make a point here.

For over ten years, I have published my views on a platform provided by the popular Internet giant whose name begins with “G.” My only distribution point has been another popular place that begins with the letter “F.” For years, I had a small but steady readership number until the present social condition that has plagued most of the world since early in 2020. Since then, the number of hits I have experienced on the publication site has fallen dramatically. Suspecting some kind of sensoring [sic], I tried an experiment. I am now emailing a link to folks on my contacts list when I publish a new article. Perhaps it should be no surprise that my readership has soared past the previous average. (I would happily add you to that list if you wish to contact me.)

Now to the point of this clandestine epistle. A couple weeks ago, I wrote on the “F” place that recent incidents of the scurrilous infirmity we all know about were increasing. I made remarks contrary to the ruling class’s view about the spike in incidents. The administrators of the “F” place added a box to my post directing readers to a site that offered information in line with the ruling class. I only discovered this because readers had published comments which caused my original post to reappear on my wall. All this got me wondering how a person is going to get knowledge that does not align exclusively to one point of view.

A TV show that is unpopular with the ruling class (host’s initials are TC) recently aired a segment with the co-founder of Wikipedia. The founder revealed that Wikipedia is the number one resource used in educational institutions across the country. He went on to state that because Wikipedia allows articles and edits to be placed by anyone without concern for peer review or even truthfulness, the site has become a tool in the hands of the ruling class, much as the various other popular outlets that people use. In a previous century, we saw Germany and the USSR do this type of thing to control what the public was able to see and know. The founder expressed his shame at this. This is troubling to me as well.

I began to wonder if it is even possible to discover things that are true anymore. It may be. When I was teaching college writing, my main purpose was to force my students to think for themselves and to ferret out the most reliable information possible. I did not allow them to cite Wikipedia in any paper, but I recommended that they use Wikipedia as a tool to uncover original material. Wikipedia often has footnotes that refer to the sources they used to compile their article. I recommended that my students follow the links to those background sources to seek a legitimate expert. It is not foolproof, I know, but it makes a searcher look harder than simply at whatever appears on the surface.

I am going to recommend this same technique to my readers who wish to be better informed than they would be if all they read/watch is the info-ganda of the ruling class. Go ahead and do what millions of people worldwide now do to look for information about anything: use the investigative utility that starts with the letter “G.” The administrators of that popular utility have admitted publicly that they push ruling class views to the top of their list of responses. Views contrary to the ruling class are often completely erased from the record as we have seen recently when our President was not allowed to use several popular platforms.

If you are interested in digging down to the level of knowledgeable experts on a subject, you could try going far down from the top of the list of responses originally provided, or you can read the ruling class articles that rise to the top of the list and see who they are talking about. It may be that you will find references to statements or opinions contrary to the ruling class’ view that you can search for independently. For example, if the ruling class’ article says Mr. So-and-so said this or that, you may be able to locate the original source Mr. So-and-so used. It is likely that if the ruling class disagrees with him, you will find his comments on a site that disagrees with the ruling class. This gives you the opportunity to judge for yourself which view you wish to adopt as your own.

My efforts here may be a complete waste of time because I have previously said so many things that are contrary to the ruling class’ opinions that my IP address and my name may already be on a list for review. I know that at some locations, the equipment that allows Internet access has flagged my blog as suspect, and it will not allow a user to access the blog. This is troubling to me because it clearly violates my rights as granted by the first statement of rights that the men writing in 1789 placed after our governing document. I hope this effort is successful because a democracy cannot run if the people don’t know the things that the experts know about important issues. I wish you success as you seek your own delightful garden of words.

(This has been a test. If this is a real emergency you will have been directed to a safe place where opinions of the ruling class are not challenged.)

Christian Responsibility

“Are they Israelites? so am I.” 2 Corinthians 11:22

“We have here a personal claim, and one that needs proof. The apostle knew that his claim was indisputable, but there are many persons who have no right to the title who yet claim to belong to the Israel of God…. O let us prove our gratitude by our devotion, and live as those who, having claimed a privilege, are willing to take the responsibility connected with it.” (Excerpt from Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, June 6.)

One must ask what responsibility Spurgeon is referring to here. I suspect that few Christians think of their claim of faith in Christ as a responsibility. An honor, yes; a gift, certainly; but a responsibility, not so much. If God leaves believers here, in but not of this world, He must expect something of us. The command of Jesus to make disciples as we go about our daily lives in the world is a large part of why we are still here. Astounding as it may seem, God wants us to further His kingdom by adding disciples to it.

God could have continued to send angels to proclaim the kingdom like He did at Jesus birth. But, in fact, we are completing God’s mysterious plan of the ages by becoming the kingdom on earth, and the angels are the witnesses. The Old Testament saints didn’t know the whole plan of God. According to Peter, before the Cross of Calvary, not even the angels knew exactly what God was doing. The church, the Israel of God for this age, is tasked with gospel proclamation.

Simply put, the gospel is the good news that God is calling a people to Himself. The tough news is that He is using the faithful to do it. I say it is tough based on my observation of the reluctance of most believers to become fully engaged in disciple-making. As I said in my book, Lead a Horse to Water, making disciples means making God look good to non-believers. In the book, I suggest many ways to overcome the reluctance to do the job we are called to do. The Scripture is clear that the primary way we do the job is to demonstrate love for one another. And I would add love for the lost.

There is another aspect to the responsibility of being a Christian. The day may not be too far distant when taking a stand as a Christ-follower in America will cost something. Forget for a moment the call to share the gospel; just living the gospel in our own lives is already being challenged as racist and un-American by many on the political left. The anti-religious feature of Marxism is an integral part of the neo-Marxist critical race theory that is being force-fed on all levels of American society. If you look closely into critical race theory, you will discover that it claims Christianity is one of the foundational sources of racism in this country.

In all levels of government and many corporate jobs you can be fired for expressing biblical truth. Instead of using class struggle for its basis as historical Marxists have, the new Marxists use identity. Identifying as part of the “Israel of God” can get you fired. This puts weight on the responsibility Spurgeon spoke of to live, “as those who, having claimed a privilege, are willing to take the responsibility connected with it.”

Hebrews chapter eleven is often called the hall of faith. In it we read of many who took responsibility for their faith in spite of dire consequences. “[They] were tortured… And others experienced mocking and flogging, and in addition bonds and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by murder with a sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, impoverished, afflicted, mistreated, ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about on deserts and mountains and in caves and in holes in the ground.”

There are Christians in various places around the world who are experiencing that kind of treatment today. I pray that we may never reach that level of persecution in America. I pray the church will rise up and take the responsibility that comes with the privilege of calling Christ her Lord. If we don’t stand up now against the rising tide of anti-religion and anarchy that is flooding the public square in America, I fear we will find ourselves in company with the stoned, the sawn, the murdered wanderers.

Related posts: Critical Race Theory; Truth Dysphoria; I Pray for America; America Held Captive; How Can They Think That?

America Held Captive

 Here’s a strange thought: maybe American Christians are being punished with a Biden presidency. I’m thinking along the same lines as when I wrote “Today’s Chaldean Chastisement.” Believers are about to be taken captive in their own land by the powers of darkness in the form of a government apparatus that will systematically remove the Judeo-Christian basis that has influenced policy since the country’s founding. I am not saying that America has ever been a Christian nation. I am not saying all Democrats are evil. I am not saying that there are no Christians who identify as Democrats. I am saying that the apparatus that will come to pass under a Biden administration will be decidedly un- or anti-Christian in many ways.

Some Democrat positions may be debatable by honest Christians; some clearly are not. For one, abortion at any stage of pregnancy takes a human life. An embryo that will eventually become a viable human being is nothing but human; killing it is taking human life. This is murder and is prohibited by Bible principles. Many in the Democrat party are only one vote away from approving infanticide; killing an unwanted child after birth is on their agenda. The neighbors of ancient Israel worshipped a god called Molech who demanded they offer their children on his altar as burnt sacrifices. The 21^st century god of the “Choice” movement is called Convenience, and the heinous nature of the act is the same.

Second, God created male and female humans as unique yet equal bearers of His image. He ordained family – “Be fruitful and multiply” – as the foundation of human society. Pretending that humans can choose what gender they wish to be is utter foolishness; simple biology teaches this. Worse, the resulting confusion of gender dysphoria damages individuals and ignoring gender roles destroys the meaning of “family.” Same sex unions cannot be considered marriage in the biblical sense because they do not create family in the biblical sense. A Biden administration will continue the spread of this unbiblical thinking and make it unpopular to think otherwise. Acting contrary to this thinking is already a criminal act in many situations.

Third, I once heard a riddle that asked how you could tell that a politician was lying; the answer was that his/her lips would be moving. Lying is not a Democrat behavior only; Republicans lie also. Both are human and therefore subject to human frailty. The problem with our current crop of Democrats is the pervasiveness and consequence of their lies. The Clinton era lies (Whitewater, Lewinsky, their Foundation’s activities, etc.) were bad, but they mostly benefitted themselves personally. Biden era lies cover up activity that will eventually destroy America if it continues. The big tech/China cabal Democrats are trying to hide is the most dangerous threat to our country since Soviet communism. Trusting the major media outlets to uncover these lies is a fool’s errand because the media have become complicit in the project to lie to the American people.

Fourth, a takeover by China would end the religious liberty this country has enjoyed. There is no religious liberty under any communist state; certainly, there is none in China. Communism as a philosophy seeks to eliminate all religion. Although a political coup is not condemned by Scripture, and some were divinely ordained, the call to do whatever is possible to increase the spread of the gospel is biblical. Stopping the spread of communism is a biblical endeavor, in my opinion. A Biden administration would return us to the Obama days of reduced military strength and capitulation to the enemies of Christianity.

There. I said it. If you are a Democrat supporter and still reading, I suspect you are fuming. The fact is, as a representative democracy, Americans get the type of government the majority of voters want. Unfortunately, between 35% and 40% of voters in America want the “free” stuff the Democrats pretend to offer. They vote Democrat because they think it will improve their lot in life. They do this in ignorance because they have believed a lie. The truth of what a communist/socialist government will provide is demonstrated by China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Argentina, Cuba and a few countries in Africa. None of those countries is troubled by illegal immigration. Why? Because no one wants what they have to offer. If our public education system were doing its job, everyone would know this is true.

I believe the majority of Americans registered to vote would reject socialism on a straight-up vote versus capitalism. However, the Democrats are able to parlay the 35%-40% of ignorant voters into a 48%-51% “majority” in a national election through deceptive campaigning aided by a biased media and outright fraud in the elections. The apathy of conservative Christian voters also helps shift the balance in the Democrats’ favor.

What will it be like to live as captives in our own country? Individual rights once guaranteed by the Constitution will be gradually taken away. Free speech, religious freedom, the right to assemble, the right to bear arms and the right to privacy will disappear. Private ownership of property will decrease as massive, forced wealth transfers are initiated by a bloated Washington bureaucracy, universal health care, free college tuition and more of the “free” stuff people wanted.

The “Green New Deal” will drive up energy costs forcing average Americans to pay a high percentage of their income for necessities such as transportation and home heating. Eventually, the “Deal” will outlaw all petroleum powered vehicles putting an end to or making the cost prohibitive for many recreational pursuits. Endless government restrictions on manufacturing and commerce will hobble the economy lowering actual revenue to government causing repeated rounds of increased taxation.

Except for the 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th Amendment freedoms mentioned above, the rest of what Christians will lose is economic in nature. Because there is no biblical right to wealth (ignoring the prosperity gospel position), there is no sound biblical footing to oppose much of the Democrat program. Sincere Christians from both parties could honestly debate immigration policy, economic measures, the proper size and scope of government itself and many other issues.

The problem is that there has been no debate (see “What’s Wrong With Politics in America”). The progressive agenda (aka socialism) is taking the country by force. This is not a war won by armed troops and bombs; this war has been waged in increments by stealth. The root of “stealth” is “steal.” That is apropos: the freedoms conservatism cherishes and protects are being stolen from us while we sleep. I just hope that when we wake up in Babylon it won’t be too late to reverse the damage caused by the theft.

Related posts: “Obama Isn’t the Problem”; “Tsunami Warning”; and just for fun ”A Modest Proposal”

The Angel Says Unto You: Fear Not

Here is a shocking statistic that you may not have considered in all the noise about the COVID 19 pandemic. The mortality rate among humans is 100%. That’s right: every single person who ever gets born eventually gets dead. (The only exception will be those alive at Christ’s return, but that doesn’t really figure into standard statistical calculations.) I am not trying to be glib or flippant here. I mean no disrespect toward those who have lost loved ones due to the COVID 19 virus. What I would like to do is calm the fears many people have toward the COVID 19 pandemic.

The word “pandemic” sounds scary. A true pandemic is scary. The black plague that swept Europe in the middle ages killed roughly 50% of the population; that’s a pandemic. The Spanish flu of 1918 killed tens of millions worldwide and approximately 675,000 in the US alone; that sounds like a pandemic until you realize that it represents a mortality rate of only 0.5%. That means 5 people out of 1,000 died. That’s not happy times, but it’s not all that scary. I don’t know 1,000 people; I don’t think I am close enough to 100 people to know when one of them dies. In other words, I could have lived through the Spanish flu and not known a single person who died from it.

According to a Google study in 2020, about 160,000 people have died in the US (as of July) due to COVID 19; however, that is a sloppy statistic (based on Wikipedia and NY Times numbers). Even if that number was correct, statistics also show that 75% of 2020 COVID 19 deaths were patients in nursing homes. People go to nursing homes because they already have serious health issues. One study reports that only 6% of reported COVID 19 deaths in nursing homes were due to the virus alone. That means 94% of nursing home deaths reported as COVID involved comorbidities.

Here is what makes that fact really curious. In a pre-COVID study, it was found that 31.5% of nursing home patients die in any given year. According to the Nursing Home Abuse Center, there are 1.4 million nursing home residents in the United States. If 31.5% of them die in 2020, that is 441,000. Follow me: take 160,000 reported COVID deaths overall; make 75% of them nursing home fatalities and you have 120,000. Notice that is only a little more than half of the expected deaths in nursing homes by this time in 2020. I don’t mean to be crass, but almost twice that many people would have died even without the dreaded virus pandemic.

Between 2010 and 2017, deaths reported as flu-related ranged from a high of 51,000 in 2014-2015 to a low of 12,000 in 2011-2012. If you take the 120,000 nursing home deaths out of the 160,000, you are left with 40,000 COVID deaths outside the nursing home population. If that death rate in the non-nursing home population remains steady, we would lose 80,000 to COVID 19 in 2020. That number is highly suspect because there is so much hanky-panky going on with the reported deaths due to political and financial motivations. (For more thoughts on this see, “The Emperor Has No Clothes.”) However, if the 80,000 number were true, it still is only a tiny fraction higher in deaths per 100,000 than our recent flu seasons. Not so scary, really.

As a way to compare with other causes of death in the US, here are some facts. Preventable injuries killed approximately 160,000 people in 2018 – the same number as this scary pandemic is supposed to have claimed so far. On the other hand, over 650,000 people died in 2018 from heart disease; nearly 600,000 died from cancer. Those numbers are pretty scary. It is interesting to note that according to the Institute for Highway Safety, “There were 33,654 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2018 in which 36,560 deaths occurred.” They also noted that 65% of those fatally injured had alcohol in their blood at some level. Drunk drivers kill more people than die from the flu most years. Maybe the COVID bar shut downs will have some effect after all.

I said up top that my goal is to calm fears. There are people in our society who are trying to make us afraid. My fear is that the draconian measures that are being applied to the COVID 19 situation are going to so damage our economy that it will take several years to recover. Many small businesses may never recover because there is no “Reset” button for a lost life’s work. Millions of people will be harmed by the COVID 19 policies instituted by governments. I realize that’s not as bad as getting dead from the virus, but when you understand the truly tiny morbidity rate from the virus, you have to ask if the economic disaster is worth the cost.

There is another good reason not to fear. If you waded through all my statistical evidence and remain unconvinced, try this. For a true believer, death is not scary – sure, being drawn and quartered or sawn in half or burned at the stake would be kind of scary. Many Christians have had to face that kind of fear. But the truth is that death is the best thing that can happen to anyone whose life is hidden in Christ. Like Paul said, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That being the case, bring it on, COVID; I ain’t skeered.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

It is nothing short of astounding how quickly and completely an entire society can be duped, misled and systematically destroyed. There is no scientific or statistical evidence to support the wholesale shutdown of an entire country. None. However, there is substantial evidence of political shenanigans and profit-mongering that lies behind the draconian orders that have changed lives and lifeworks forever.

The truth, as I understand it, is that COVID-19 is not the frightening killer we have been led to believe it is. The mortality rate is somewhere below one percent, and even that number is probably inflated by a financial motivation to report COVID-related deaths. Back in March of 2020 some wildly speculative mortality numbers were predicted, and the fright storm began. In the intervening months, the numbers have been adjusted down dramatically several times. Even with inflated numbers caused by the profit motive of medical providers, fewer people will die from this flu than several earlier versions.

More unreported truth: according to one study, nearly 75 percent of COVID-19 fatalities occur in people over 65, most of whom are housed in care facilities. Tens of thousands of these unfortunate senior citizens would have died from something else in 2020 (75% had underlying conditions contributing to their deaths), but their deaths are being attributed to COVID-19 because the government pays extra for corona-related patients. The average daily rate for non-corona patients is $200; those with COVID-19 get an $800 daily stipend from the government.

Finally, the death rate in many countries that have not practiced drastic shut-down policies is lower than in the US. The deaths per 100,000 population place the United States tenth highest in a list of 166 countries. It seems obvious that masks and social distancing have not accomplished their stated goals. The scientific fact is that the corona virus is actually fairly difficult to “catch.” It is not transmitted through the air unless an infected person coughs or sneezes in your face; even then, wearing a mask for protection has been likened to putting up a chain link fence to stop mosquitoes. You almost have to kiss someone or lick their fingers to get infected.

One may ask why the number of cases is rising. It should also be obvious that the more people you test, the more cases you will find. It is interesting to note that depending on the study, between 40 and 80 percent of people who tested positive for the corona virus had no symptoms. So, if less than half of the people who carry corona get sick, and if only a small percentage of the sick are serious, and if only a tiny fraction of the sick die, why are we so frightened? It’s because someone told us to be.

Hans Christian Andersen wrote “The Emperor’s New Clothes” in the nineteenth century. It really fits today. In the story, a vain, selfish emperor spends lavishly on his wardrobe while ignoring more important necessities. Two con men come to town and convince the emperor that they can make magical clothes that are finer than any every seen. The con is that these incredible clothes can only be seen by the most wise and worthy people. The emperor’s ego surpasses his IQ, and he hires the cons to make him a suit of clothes. The cons collect silk and gold from the emperor which they stuff in their bags while laboring away at looms with imaginary, magical fibers.

The emperor sends emissaries to the fake tailors to inspect their work. Naturally, the men can see nothing, but they don’t want to be seen as unwise or unworthy, so they praise the magical cloth to the emperor. Eventually he goes to the looms himself and has the same reaction. Needing to prove his wisdom and worthiness to be emperor, he too raves about the magnificent material. Finally, he dresses in the invisible clothes and sets out through town in a procession. A small child is the only person who dares to state the truth: “The Emperor has no clothes!”

I wish there were a few children like that child around today. Perhaps they could stand and say, “Emperor Corona has no clothes!” The media has jumped on board with the misinformed and sometimes miscreant politicians to trumpet the deadly dangers of the corona virus. Yes, if we do nothing about it, the virus will spread, and some small number of people will die. That has been the case with flu pandemics for centuries.

COVID-19 is not the deadliest flu we have ever seen. The death toll will not reach the number by cases per population count of several other pandemics. Why are we leaping off the cliff like lemmings led by unseen forces whose motives are suspect? I’m sorry to get political, but it has always been the goal of the progressives to wrest power from the people and put it in government hands. They want a population that depends on government for survival. I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet, but I see this situation heading in that direction.

The American capitalist system has produced the most successful and free society in all of human history. Capitalism depends on individual inventiveness and industry. A creative mind and willing hands can bring meaningful rewards in a free market, capitalist system. The progressives want a state-controlled system based on socialist or communist ideas which supposedly share benefits equally. If you want to see how that works, remember the Soviet Union, or visit Cuba or Venezuela. It has never worked. Period.

No society based on the socialist philosophy has ever succeeded as America has. Heather MacDonald gave an excellent address at a Hillsdale College gathering recently. You can read a transcript at their website. In her speech she details the malfeasance of our government leaders. Our economy is being destroyed; our freedom is being systematically eroded; sadly, even those in the party which should be against such things are being swept along. I don’t like the word revolution, but I fear a coming groundswell of people who can see this simple fact: the emperor has no clothes.

As believers, we also need to realize that our prosperity is not measured in bank accounts or job security. COVID-19 and the resulting economic stress should not faze us. I explained why that is true in “Finding God in COVID-19”, “Today’s Chaldean Chastisement” and “The Winnowing Fork of God.” If I am truly seeing this situation from a biblical perspective, I can either laugh at the foolishness of man, or I can cry because of their sinfulness. Either way, I rest in the fact that I know the emperor has no clothes.