The Secular Frontier

Previously, I've talked about how Trump is positioning himself that a vote against him is a vote against God. What better way to spend a political rally than as Christian Worship time, lol? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RJ86JGoX05o For anyone not familiar with evangelical worship practices, Noem is raising her hand filled with the Spirit. ... Read Article

According to the George Washington University website, Jonathan Turley is: ...a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal theory to tort law. Despite this, Turley has written an extremely misleading and deceptive editorial piece for The Hill, called “With fact-checks like these, how does truth stand a chance?” Although it is possible that Turley is just stupid or ignorant about the issues he discusses, and that the misleading and deceptive ideas in his editorial are the result of his stupidity or ignorance, it is much more likely that the falsehoods and deception in his editorial are intentional, and that the editorial displays serious dishonesty and untruthfulness by Turley. Of course, lawyers who LIE for Donald Trump are nothing new (John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Jeffrey Clark, Sidney Powell, Michael Cohen, and Alan Dershowitz come to mind). Perhaps Jonathan Turley has decided to become a m ... Read Article

Check out the trailer for our new Kids chapter book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GLemL5pm3g ... Read Article

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxiaZEhS3g8 There is a really interesting thing happening in politics right now. Politicians have adopted a lawyer schema where they defend their side at the expense of the truth. And, the people have responded accordingly. For the above example, liberal voters say Vance is avoiding the question, whereas conservative voters say Vance flipped the script questioning the interviewer. ... Read Article

An editorial by legal scholar Jonathan Turley was published in The Hill recently, in which Turley spewed LIES in support of one of Donald Trump's BIG LIES: The Justice Department’s released survey found that, under the Biden administration, there has been a significant increase in crime. Violent crime was up 37 percent from 2020 to 2023, rape is up 42 percent, robbery is up 63 percent... It's bad enough when the con artist and SOCIOPATH Donald Trump spews LIES like this, but for a legal scholar to engage in such LYING (or idiocy?) is intolerable, so I gave Professor Turley a piece of my mind in an email this evening: ========================== Jonathan Turley, According to the George Washington University website, you are: a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal theory to tort law. I don't understand how a legal scholar can FAIL to understand basic crime statistics, but you apparen ... Read Article

Washington (CNN) -Former President Donald Trump is littering his public remarks with fictional stories. [...] Elections in California At a September press conference in California, Trump claimed that “if I ran with an honest vote counter in California I would win California, but the votes are not counted honestly.” He had delivered an even more colorful version of the claim in an interview in late August, saying, “If Jesus came down and was the vote counter, I would win California, okay?” More rubbish. The votes are counted honestly in California, as they are in every other state; Trump loses California because it is an overwhelmingly Democratic state that has not chosen a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. He lost the state in 2020, fair and square, by more five million votes and more than 29 percentage points. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/politics/fact-check-donald-trump-fictional-stories The logic here is clear. Democrats usually vote for Demo ... Read Article

Washington (CNN) —  Former President Donald Trump is littering his public remarks with fictional stories. This isn’t run-of-the-mill political spin, the kind of statistic-twisting and accomplishment-exaggerating that political candidates of all stripes engage in. Rather, the Republican presidential nominee is telling colorful lies that are completely untethered to reality. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/politics/fact-check-donald-trump-fictional-stories Opinions of Roe v. Wade Facing heavy criticism from Harris and others for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision in 2022, Trump concocted a tale that this unpopular decision fulfilled the wishes of “everybody” – including “every Democrat.” “Every Democrat, every Republican, everybody wanted Roe v. Wade terminated and brought back to the states,” Trump said on Fox News in late August. This is not even remotely accurate. R ... Read Article

Last time I said: One popular idea on the internet is Jesus started out as a vague dying/rising savior myth who was later placed in historical fictions/gospels (Euhemerized). How do New Testament specialists teaching New Testament at accredited Secular universities respond to this? The key point is that the dying/rising salvation theme of the Jesus tale is a later development, and so is not at our earliest level of the Jesus salvation message. Against Christ-mythicism, Prof Bart Ehrman notes for Paul righteousness came through the cross/resurrection, that if it came through the law Chris died for nothing (Gal 2:21). Mark wrote a Paul-inspired propaganda document/gospel (euaggelion, as per the Augustus use of the term) selling Jesus’ cross and resurrection as the way to salvation like Paul argued, and yet contrarily Mark said salvation also came through repentance and the Kingdom (Mark 1:14-15), and following the law and giving everything to the poor (Mark 10:17-22). Mark unwittingly or deliberately (wh ... Read Article

Washington (CNN) —  Former President Donald Trump is littering his public remarks with fictional stories. This isn’t run-of-the-mill political spin, the kind of statistic-twisting and accomplishment-exaggerating that political candidates of all stripes engage in. Rather, the Republican presidential nominee is telling colorful lies that are completely untethered to reality. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/politics/fact-check-donald-trump-fictional-stories Harris’ primary performance Trump has repeatedly claimed during the last month that Harris was so unpopular when she previously ran for the presidency, in 2019, that she was the very first candidate to drop out of the crowded Democratic primary. “She was one of 22 people that ran. She was the first one to quit,” he said at a Pennsylvania rally in late August. Not even close. In fact, 13 other Democratic candidates dropped out of the race before Harris did – including the sitting&nbs ... Read Article

One popular idea on the internet is Jesus started out as a vague dying/rising savior myth that was later placed in historical stories (Euhemerized). How do New Testament specialists teaching New Testament at accredited Secular universities respond to this? Against mythicism, Prof Bart Ehrman notes for Paul righteousness came through the cross/resurrection, that if it came through the law Chris died for nothing (Gal 2:21). Mark wrote a propaganda document (euaggelion) selling Jesus’ cross and resurrection as the way to salvation, and yet contrarily said salvation also came through repentance and the Kingdom (Mark 1:14-15), and following the law and giving everything to the poor (Mark 10:17-22). Mark unwittingly incorporated material about the historical Jesus that contradicted his Pauline bias. Popular Christ Mythicists (Earl Doherty; Robert M Price, Thomas Brodie; Richard Carrier) ... Read Article

In Chapter 8 of their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA), Christian philosophers Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli make a case for the resurrection of Jesus, and they claim to PROVE that Jesus rose from the dead. Here is a summary of their case: 1. IF Kreeft and Tacelli refuted the four alternative (skeptical) theories, THEN Kreeft and Tacelli have proved that the Christian Theory of the resurrection of Jesus is true. 2. Kreeft and Tacelli refuted (in Chapter 8 of HCA) the four alternative (skeptical) theories. THEREFORE: 3. Kreeft and Tacelli have proved that the Christian Theory of the resurrection of Jesus is true. In a recent post about this case for the resurrection of Jesus, I argued that there was an obvious reason showing that premise (1) is FALSE, and thus that this case FAILS. The obvious reason that premise (1) is FALSE is that other Christian philosophers and apologists criticize at least seven other skeptical theories besides the four skep ... Read Article

In Chapter 8 of their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA), Christian philosophers Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli make a case for the resurrection of Jesus, and they claim to PROVE that Jesus rose from the dead. Here is a summary of their case: 1. IF Kreeft and Tacelli refuted the four alternative (skeptical) theories, THEN Kreeft and Tacelli have proved that the Christian Theory of the resurrection of Jesus is true. 2. Kreeft and Tacelli refuted (in Chapter 8 of HCA) the four alternative (skeptical) theories. THEREFORE: 3. Kreeft and Tacelli have proved that the Christian Theory of the resurrection of Jesus is true. This argument FAILS for two simple reasons: premise (1) is FALSE, and premise (2) is FALSE. So, their argument is UNSOUND because it is based on false premises. In this post, I will only discuss premise (1) and one obvious reason why it is false. ONE OBVIOUS REASON WHY PREMISE (1) IS FALSE There are various reasons that show premise (1 ... Read Article

Washington (CNN) —  Former President Donald Trump is littering his public remarks with fictional stories. This isn’t run-of-the-mill political spin, the kind of statistic-twisting and accomplishment-exaggerating that political candidates of all stripes engage in. Rather, the Republican presidential nominee is telling colorful lies that are completely untethered to reality. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/politics/fact-check-donald-trump-fictional-stories Harris’ identity Trump claimed at a convention of Black journalists in late July that Harris used to “only” promote her Indian heritage, then “all of a sudden” made a “turn” and “became a Black person.” Defending the claim, Trump reiterated at the September debate that Harris had “put out” at some point that “she was not Black.” None of that is true. Harris – who was raised in a Black community and graduated from a historically Black university – has embra ... Read Article

Masaccio’s fresco (1424-28), in the Brancacci Chapel, Florence, emphasizes the nakedness and shame of the original sinners. Photo: Bridgeman Images (wiki) 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (Genesis 3:4-7, NRSVUE) Paul's Conversion on the Way to Damascus, a 1601 portrait by Caravaggio (wiki) 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, ... Read Article

Washington (CNN) —  Former President Donald Trump is littering his public remarks with fictional stories. This isn’t run-of-the-mill political spin, the kind of statistic-twisting and accomplishment-exaggerating that political candidates of all stripes engage in. Rather, the Republican presidential nominee is telling colorful lies that are completely untethered to reality. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/politics/fact-check-donald-trump-fictional-stories Harris and the Russian invasion of Ukraine Trump told a vivid story on Fox News in late August about how President Joe Biden supposedly sent Harris to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022 in an effort to prevent an invasion of Ukraine. Trump claimed Harris was sent “to see Putin in Russia three days before the attack. She went. She said – she gave her case. He attacked three days later. He attacked three days later. He laughed at her. He thought she was a joke.” Trump also told a version of ... Read Article