Category: Political

A Big Problem With Presidential Debates

What needs to be done to change the debates? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I’ve done debate before. Last year I debated Dan Barker on the existence of God. In many ways, I consider that debate more substantial than any presidential debate I have ever seen. I would say that about most debates I have seen on the topic of religion. Why is that?

I say this also as someone who enjoyed last night’s vice-presidential debate. I came in supporting Pence and on substance definitely, I think he won, but I also think he won on presentation and style. So this isn’t the case of someone saying “Last night’s debate was awful. Here’s what needs to be different” and having the reason because I don’t think my side did good. Now you can think Pence did terrible, and that’s fine, but let it be accepted that my thinking is not based on a disappointment and thus wanting to change the rules.

When Barker and I debated, we had a lengthy time to debate one question. Does God exist? After that, we then took live questions from the audience. If you have just one question and each of you has fifteen minutes at the start to make a case, you can make a substantive case.

So you sit down for last night’s debate and the first thing you hear is about 9 segments of ten minutes each. Sorry, but economic plans and matters related to climate change and abortion are not able to really be covered that substantially in just 10 minutes apiece.

Part of that is our culture has become a soundbite culture. We want an answer and we want it quick. If you want to give an economic plan, you need to be able to have time to explain why you think raising or cutting taxes will help and most people don’t read anything on economics to consider such a question.

What about health-care? Nope. You can’t really lay out a whole plan in that short amount of time. Not only that, we have to remember the other side has to have time to respond to that within a few minutes and then the original presenter needs to respond and wait, both of them are supposed to make a case in that time.

At the same time, I understand that especially in any case, the current president and vice-president are busy and won’t always be able to do a debate. What would I recommend? More debates from people that each party will say represents their side versus one on the other. Want to debate health care? Have a whole debate on that topic. Climate change? Racism? Yes. A whole debate.

Unfortunately, I doubt this will happen simply because most people don’t really have that kind of attention span anymore. We want quick and soundbite answers to questions and think everything should be able to be given in bite-size portions. It can’t be. That’s the nature of the beast. I don’t care who is giving the case. If this is a substantive issue, it requires work.

And dare I say it, maybe if you want to understand these issues, you will need to do that on your own some time. Watch on Facebook and when anything major happens, everyone becomes an expert on everything. We live in an age where we think we are worth listening to because we have an opinion. No. Your opinion might be right and valid, but you need to read up on it and give an informed reason for your case.

Ultimately, it all comes down to a public willing to better educate themselves. Unfortunately, I have no pipe dreams of this happening anytime soon. I also see no way to bring it about instantly. The best I would say is start with the churches being willing to educate themselves and hire preachers who know what they’re talking about and have educational credentials. If we want change to start with the world, it needs to start with us.

We could all bear to be more informed anyway.

Also, let questions come from the audience more often that’s there live. Let them tell us what is most important to us. Don’t let a moderator decide that.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

9/11 and the Past

How do we deal with grief? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

9/11 has come upon us again. It’s hard to realize that next year it will be twenty years since that day. We need to ask why is it that that day surprised us so much?

We remember Pearl Harbor, but not the same way. Perhaps because that was an attack on a military area. That was thoroughly understandable. It also happened in a time when a lot of the world was at war. It makes sense that when war is going on, nations will be attacked.

9/11 was different. There wasn’t a major war going on. These weren’t military targets either. These were ordinary civilians living their lives everyday and this was a prominent attack on a major landmark in our country. The second Spider-Man movie was even going to show a scene with a giant spider web between the World Trade Center towers capturing the bad guys. That had to be scrapped.

Yet as I thought about it, there can be a danger here. We should acknowledge what happened every year on the anniversary, but we need to remember that we do not stay there. Israel was to commemorate the Passover every year and their escape from slavery, but they didn’t do it every day. They were to remember and live like they were a free people.

There is an interesting story in Lewis’s The Great Divorce about a grieving mother who longs to see her boy again on the other side. The one she talks to says she can see him when she is ready. She is willing to do anything, but that is the problem precisely. She has become so laser-focused on her son, Michael, that she is forgetting everyone else. Her husband and her daughter were both forgotten.

The one the mother, Pam, talks to tells her that she needs to show love of God first, but Pam is starting for the wrong reason. She is loving God as a means to get to Michael. If you love someone as a means for another reason, you do not really love that person. It doesn’t matter if it’s a relative, a spouse, a friend, or God. Love for the other is an end in itself.

That includes if you love that person as a means just for your own fulfillment and not theirs. If a husband loves his wife and does it solely for the purpose of getting sex, he doesn’t really love her. He loves what she does for him. If a parent loves their child so their child can succeed and the parent can live vicariously through them, they don’t really love the child. They love what the child does for them.

Pam is told that her husband and daughter loved and grieved the death of Michael, but she had held them hostage by refusing to ever move or by refusing to change his room at all. They were all continuous victims of Pam’s grief. They were neglected while Pam focused all her attention on Michael, the dead one, instead of celebrating the living ones she had there with her.

In the end, she screams to the messenger speaking to her that Michael is hers and not even God will keep him from her and to tell that to his face. In her own words,

“…Give me my boy. Do you hear? I don’t care about all your rules and regulations. I don’t believe in a God who keeps mother and son apart. I believe in a God of Love. No one has a right to come between me and my son. Not even God. Tell Him that to His face. I want my boy, and I mean to have him. He is mine, do you understand? Mine, mine, mine, for ever and ever.”

As can be seen, Pam’s focus is on herself. She’s not even thinking about the welfare of Michael. If she loved Michael, she would be asking about his happiness and well-being, but she is not. She is self-focused entirely.

This is not to say that families should not grieve loved ones today. They should. There is a proper grief though and we do not want to be held hostage by our grief. This is especially so if we are Christians. We mourn, but not like those who have no hope. We remember the promise of resurrection. We remember that we will see them, that specific person, again, provided we are all Christians.

And if that person is not a Christian and we thus do not know how God will judge them, we remember we have God. What does it say of us if we think we will be in the presence of God in Heaven and yet think we will mourn because one person is not there. Is the presence of God lesser than the presence of any other person?

Today, let us remember those we have lost, but let us not stay there in the past. Just as Israel had their Passover, so have we. We have resurrection to look forward to. We have the promise of God. Breaking free from foreign chains is a great accomplishment. Breaking free from the chains of sin and death is greater still.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

The Problem With Christian Entertainment

Why do we not impact people in the entertainment industry? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Yesterday I saw a post on Facebook, and whether it was sarcastic or not, I don’t know, about why Christians shouldn’t watch The Office. Now I have never seen an episode of the show. The most I know about it is I understand a lot of memes on Facebook are from it and I know about the Owlkitty video of it. That’s it.

This led me to thinking about something else. I know we all realize it, but for the most part, Christian entertainment sucks. It’s often just boring and preachy. There are some exceptions, but it’s nothing the world wants to see. I remember when Fifty Shades of Grey came out that the same day, a counterpart movie called Old-Fashioned came out. You might have never even heard of it. There’s no way it could compete with Fifty Shades.

If there is one clear exception to this, it is the Chronicles of Narnia. Yet do you see Christianity explicitly spelled out in that? No. There’s a lot of symbolism in the books of course that points to Christ and so there is also in the rest of Lewis’s fiction, but many atheists can even enjoy reading C.S. Lewis.

Christians don’t have anything in the way of entertainment. We think you have to spell it out explicitly. It’s not fun. If we make something for the purposes of entertaining, our aim should be that the product is actually entertaining. That doesn’t negate we do it for Jesus, but people won’t want to watch Christian entertainment or play Christian video games or read Christian books for fun if they are not, well, fun.

Back in the days of the NES, I remember getting the Bible games from Wisdom Tree. They were alright games, but the only reason I got them was that they were Bible games. That’s it. They honestly hardly even worked on the NES at times. Bible video games are often some of the worst games that they are.

Many of us who are Christians don’t like it when we see a series and the politics is out there in front and everyone knows it. We think we are being preached to, and in essence, we are probably right. I know a lot of people have complained about the newest Star Trek series thinking that it’s going on. They could be right. If we don’t like it, why think unbelievers will like it?

What would be good is if we had a series come out on TV that was actually entertaining or a movie at the theater that was actually entertaining or a book or a video game or whatever it is and people wanted to play it and then find out later on that it was a Christian series. I know some of you will disagree, but on my podcast I have had John Granger on to discuss the Harry Potter series as a Christian series from a Christian viewpoint. Even if you don’t agree with that, if it is true, that is something powerful. That is having it done right.

When we think things have to be explicit, we also assume our audience is stupid. We assume that they have to state it outright or else no one will get it. That insults our audience. No one wants to be assumed to be an idiot.

I don’t know if you should watch the Office or not, but I know the reason we debate this is because we don’t have our own entertainment that’s good. You may enjoy watching Pureflix, but how many people do you know who are non-Christians who are buying it? This is not to knock them at all, but if we are wanting to reach people, it doesn’t help that goal if people aren’t interested in our method of outreach.

God gives us all things richly for our enjoyment as is said in 1 Tim. 6:17. Shouldn’t we do something for the enjoyment of our fellow neighbor? If we want to show Christianity to them in a way that is something they will want, shouldn’t we show them something they would want to have and something they can actually enjoy? This isn’t to say fun is the main goal of the Christian life, but fun is the goal of entertainment. If you sit down to watch the Office, you likely aren’t doing it to study theology or philosophy. Rightly or wrongly, you’re doing it to have fun.

We’re also meant to be creative people in the footsteps of the creator. Our creator created some very fun things for us here. I’ve seen our cat running around here playing some tonight. The animal kingdom is a testimony to the fun of the creator in many ways. Yes, nature is red in tooth and claw at times, but it’s also very fun in many other ways. Shouldn’t we be creative that way? Shouldn’t we make music and TV and movies and video games and books that unbelievers even will want to live?

Let’s do better.

Then maybe we won’t have to debate the Office because not only will we be watching our own great material, but so will everyone else.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I Affirm The Virgin Birth.)

Book Plunge: The Madness of Crowds

What do I think of Douglas Murray’s book published by Bloomsbury Continuum? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I ordered this book on Interlibrary loan after I saw my wife’s priest recommended it, and I shortly forgot that I had. When I got it, I was thinking “I have so many books to go through already. Do I really want to go through this?” I saw an endorsement from Sam Harris on the back and seeing as I think the new atheist material is just horrible, that got me even more concerned. Do I really want to go through this? Still, I decided to open it up and give it a shot.

Within a few days, I was telling so many people they needed to go through it as well.

This is one of the most important books on our society that I have read. Murray deals with four major areas today and with some smaller areas that have a major impact. He does not write as far as I can tell from a Christian perspective and actually I gather is a homosexual from what I read. I read through though finding extreme agreement with so much that I read.

Let’s start with the first section he has on homosexuality. He talks about a movie being played in a theater in England that a gay publication protested against so much that it had to go to a new venue to play. The story in the film was about people who used to be same-sex attracted and no longer were.

Murray wrote about taking the main man behind it who helps people who want to be rid of same-sex attraction. He says that he never forces anyone and they come to him and how he said we should take him at his word. He’s not out there trying to eliminate homosexuals from society. He’s trying to help people who want to be helped. We could question his methodology, but why assume base motives of him?

He then goes on to say that gay no longer refers to just who you sleep with. Consider Peter Thiel who spoke at the RNC convention in 2016 and made a remark about the great battle of the day in comparison to past generations was what restrooms can we use? That he was truly representative of the homosexual movement was called into question. Ian McClellan made a statement about Brexit that said that if you were a homosexual, it was clear how you were to vote.

Murray also points out that this view of homosexuality only goes one way in the sense that if someone leaves a straight lifestyle to embrace a homosexual one, they are said to have found their true selves. If they go the opposite way, then they are said to be traitors to the cause living in denial. I wish something had been said about how in the first case it can often leave a family behind that doesn’t really want the dynamic to change.

The next major area to be dealt with is the question of women. This has begun with the idea of women being sexualized, and again, there are mixed messages. Consider how when Harvey Weinstein was found to have a casting couch that immediately women jumped up to complain about the treatment.

Mayim Bialik of the Big Bang Theory talked about how she makes it a point to be modest and dress conservatively, except, of course, when she doesn’t. Murray brought up about her being on Piers Morgan’s show and how he was saying there was an event to honor someone who had died and he thought too many women were using the event to show off their cleavage and he didn’t find that appropriate, Bialik, who is on the panel, gets up and turns her back to the crowd and tears her dress to expose herself to Morgan in protest.

Murray writes about how women have complained about being sexualized, all the while while often wanting to be as sexy as possible. Too often, women want men to notice them and yet at the same time not turn them into object. One aspect of this I was surprised was not mentioned were topless marches. Women who complain about objectification aren’t helping themselves by doing this.

He also says the feminist movement has often gone to an extreme of “Kill All Men” which really doesn’t mean to kill all men for some strange reason. It really means that men need to realize how they behave and bring about change. Who knew? Men are vilified for the crime of being men.

If women want a world where men are not going to notice them physically, it’s really a pipe dream. This is especially so since women buy so many items that are designed to highlight their feminine features and be noticed by men. It is human nature for men to notice beautiful women and this is a power that women have in that they can drive men absolutely mad and make them do things they wouldn’t normally do, a power they can use for good or for evil.

As for believe all women, this seems to go one way. When a woman makes a charge about how a man has behaved towards her sexually that is inappropriate, that is to be believed. What happens when it goes the other way? What if a man complains about a woman? The man is part of the patriarchy and must be dealt with!

There is an interlude after this on technology. Social media has its benefits, but it has also been a problem. Now, anything you say can be found and used against you. A tweet made years ago in innocence can ruin your career today. A person could have made a statement back in the early 2000’s that was opposed to redefining marriage, which was the majority opinion then, and be called into question for it today.

Social media means everything you say can be found for all time and there is no distinction anymore between private things and public things being said. Also, many people say things online that they wouldn’t say in person. It’s easy to do that when the person isn’t right in front of you and you are safe that way.

The next major section is race. Here again we see the same kind of scenario that we saw with women. Charges of racism and cultural appropriation can show up anywhere and someone can be turned into the bad guy immediately. Campuses have had riots over a comment that most of us would see as innocent, but was perceived as racist.

Consider the case of a school where one day a year, minority students were expected to stay off of campus by choice to show the contributions that they have made to culture. Whatever one thinks of this, it is an event done voluntarily by a group to themselves. Then one year they decided to reverse this and have a day where no white people were to show up.

The difference is that the whites were not volunteering. It was told they should do this. One professor sent out an email in response saying that this is not proper and goes against our basic freedoms. Before too long, there were riots taking place with even the president of the college being in a kind of hostage situation and the professor who sent the email was being accused of racism and had to quit his job.

As with Peter Thiel also, race has become more of a political stance than a biological one. Kanye West endorses Candace Owens and then goes and meets with Trump. At this point, it doesn’t matter what you think of any of those three people. The point is that after this, Kanye is said to not be truly black.

By contrast, what about Rachel Dolezal who was a chapter president of the NAACP and whoops, she turned out to actually be white. Her parents are both white. What are we told? If she wants to say she’s black, then she’s black. So Kanye who is truly black is not black, but Dolezal, who is truly white, is black.

The next interlude is on forgiveness with some nodding towards the Christian tradition on this. Can there be any forgiveness in our culture? Someone gets appointed to a government position and everyone scours through their past tweets and Facebook posts to find any dirt that can be found whatsoever and ruin their lives.

I have gotten annoyed thoroughly with the apology culture where everyone has to apologize for everything. Just this morning I read about a Padres player who apologized for hitting a grand slam. Apparently, he was supposed to not get one because when your team has a great lead, you shouldn’t pile on the runs. Ridiculous! This guy plays the sport well and has to apologize for it?

Besides that, it’s easier to think today that these aren’t apologies. They’re a way of saying “Please don’t ruin my life.” Unfortunately, the crowds don’t know forgiveness.

The last issue is transgenderism. One theme in the book regularly is that we make a major change in society, such as many people have done on homosexuality, and before the dust can settle and we can see how this will work out, we’re off to the next one. Murray writes about children even as young as eight being given hormone treatment to transition and they’re not required to tell their parents about it, although their parents sure need to get permission if that child needs an aspirin in school. Parents get concerned and they are told, “Get in line or your child will commit suicide!” What’s a parent to do?

Long time feminists who speak out are condemned. This includes those cases where a rapist in a prison identifies as a woman and then goes to a women’s prison and, well, I think we all know what happened. What about men who transition into women and then compete against women in sports? They do have an advantage from their past. The feminist movement must be beside themselves since they have long complained about men being seen as superior. Now, apparently, men are also superior at women’s sports.

Where will this end? It’s hard to say, but the crowd is not getting any better. More and more people are being attacked for perceived wrongs and the worst motives are assumed every time. Discussion is automatically shut down when one person is said to be on the wrong side of history or a racist or a homophobe or transphobe or sexist or whatever. Such people exist, but why assume they are everywhere? Why not have a real dialogue about our differences?

I really encourage everyone to read this book. It’s incredibly eye-opening and very easy to read and shocking to read. Our society has a lot of problems and if we don’t reverse the trend, it will only get worse.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Another Rant About Research

Should you share that claim so quickly? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Christians are supposed to be people of truth. Some claims, of course, cannot be verified easily. They also cannot be falsified easily. Some are very controversial and have intelligent people on both sides. However, some claims are just bogus or at least highly insufficient. Sadly, too often I see these and get incredibly frustrated.

This is the internet. Imagine if you woke up one day and saw a story being shared on Facebook that you were a pedophile. You go about and refute the charges the best you can and most people believe you, but some do not. Stories are shared all over the Facebook and your reputation can be destroyed just like that.

That might be extreme, but consider whenever you spread false information about another person on the internet, you are doing just that. This is especially worse if you’re a Christian since you claim to be a person of truth. You are doing what James said not to do and using your tongue, or in this case, your keyboard, to destroy.

Not only that, you want people to believe you when you tell them Jesus rose from the dead. Right? Even if all you have is your personal testimony, you want people to believe that. Why on Earth should anyone believe you on stuff that can’t be studied in five minutes, if they cannot believe you in what could have been easily checked with an internet search?

So let’s look at some claims this weekend that I came across.

You know that Trump was supposed to hold the Republican convention in Florida? He was, but he cancelled. What was the reason? Well, believe it or not, it was because Black Lives Matter had a bunch of buses lined up ready to get protesters and rioters to the meeting and make a scene.

I also want to say that I do say this as someone who voted for Trump and who does not support the movement Black Lives Matter. Of course, black lives matter, but the organization itself stands for a number of issues that I cannot support. Therefore, in saying what I am saying, I am actually calling out a fellow conservative who shared false information.

So the claim was Trump cancelled this because of the protesters. What was the evidence? Pictures of the buses lined up. Let’s take a look at these.

In the first picture, the buses could hypothetically say Black Lives Matter, but you can’t tell for sure. It could say Black Ladies Aboard. It could say Black Looks Beautiful. There’s any number of things it could say. The second picture has a bunch of buses that say absolutely nothing like that.

Doing my own research on the picture, the nearest I can figure is that the top buses do say Black Lives Matter, but that they were also from the Toronto Raptors who were in Florida. Even if that wasn’t the case, let’s consider something else. Whether you love Trump or hate him, does anyone think he shies away from confrontation and/or a fight? I found it amusing that I, as a conservative, was questioned because I dared to ask questions about the evidence, but alas, the evidence for this one is lacking.

Sometimes people send me YouTube videos that are really conspiracy theories. Please don’t. I hardly watch two minutes of these things if that much before I know they’re absolute nonsense. Last night, I got sent one that said that anything in history before the 1600’s is highly questionable.

Please don’t bother sending me stuff like this. I really find it highly embarrassing to see this stuff and to see Christians spreading it. On that, let’s give a brief caveat.

I have said something about conservatives and Christians and I am both, but this is not a conservative or a Christian problem. This is a human problem. We are all inclined to believe things that tend to go with our biases at the time. Liberals spread conspiracy theories. Atheists spread conspiracy theories. (Yes. Jesus mythicism I count as a conspiracy theory for atheists) Let’s not go on about how one group is so stupid. It’s all of us.

Also, for many atheists, it’s really hard for me to take you seriously as a person of reason and evidence when I see you blindly believing something about Christianity. Many Christians are skeptical of evolution. That cannot be studied in five minutes, and yet they see you sharing Jesus mythicism stuff and you expect them to take you seriously on this topic?

So let’s go with a final one. Someone shared this and I went directly to the source material which apparently was another Facebook page. So what’s the claim? Apparently, Lady Gaga has a new album called Chromatica where she celebrates extracting blood from the pineal glands of traumatized children. Here, you can see a picture of her covered with blood and her children drinking blood.

Wow. That’s pretty serious isn’t it? Look at Gaga covered in that blood and those children with zombie stares on their faces drinking blood. That’s pretty serious.

Or is it?

If you saw the real picture, it would say Entertainment Weekly on the bottom left. Why would that be the case? Because this is a picture of Lady Gaga on the set of American Horror Story where she played a character called the Countess.

This is probably the worst offender on this list today because this is an accusation of moral turpitude. None of us would like to be accused of this. It doesn’t matter what you think of Lady Gaga. I don’t particularly care for her stuff, but it’s wrong to share this information about her. I have my opponents on political issues, for example, but if you want to say something against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, you’d better make sure it’s true or at least has darn good evidence for it. I only want my opponents taken down in truth.

Christians. Please be better about sharing things like this. Please do your own research independently. It’s too easy to hit that “share” button on Facebook and share it immediately. You are damaging your reputation though if it’s false and someone else’s reputation as well.

I would just advise you to avoid conspiracy theories altogether. The best conspiracy to pull off, as J. Warner Wallace has said, is two guys working to commit a crime and at the end one of them shoots the other one. Please don’t jump on board with these things immediately. Do your homework. Do your research.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

On The Rioters

What do I think about the riots going on? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

By now, everyone should know about the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. If you don’t know about this, I can only assume you’ve been in a coma and are just now waking up and for some reason my blog is the first thing you want to read. If so, I appreciate it, but you need to just take a minute and turn on any news station and you’ll hear about this immediately. This is such big news now that I’m hardly hearing anything about Coronavirus any more.

So now some people are looking at this awful death that took place and are out there saying they’re demanding justice. Nothing says that like tearing up cities that had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the event. Right now, I am hearing from so many people that “We need to listen to the oppressed.” Oppressed people usually don’t have the means to destroy historical landmarks and break into stores and steal items they want or break into Planet Fitness and actually start using the workout equipment.

Furthermore, if you want me to hear, I need to hear more than just that you’re offended about something. I need you to give me real data that there is a real problem and not just that you think that there is. I also need to hear a realistic solution you want to see and not only one you want to see, but a way to get there.

However, if I see you going out and rioting, then I no longer see you as the oppressed. I see you as the oppressor at that point. After all, this event happened in Minneapolis and I write this just outside of Atlanta that had NOTHING to do with what happened, and yet we have rioters gathering. I remember reading one night about the College Football Hall of Fame being looted.

I don’t even care about football a bit and yet that bothered me. I couldn’t tell you a single college football player on the field right now, but I know that in that place there is some history and it matters to a lot of people. I know about other losses that have taken place.

I know about Historic St. John’s Church in Washington D.C. being attacked and firefighters having to put out the flames. I know about the Lincoln Memorial and about the World War II Memorial being vandalized. (Strange that rioters complaining about a black man being killed have no problem vandalizing a memorial dedicated to a man who freed the slaves.) I know about the black business owner in Minneapolis who owned a sports bar that he put his life savings into and he had to start a GoFundMe.

I can already hear the pushback though.

“Nick! These are all businesses! These are landmarks! I’ll grant you it’s horrible, but it doesn’t replace human life!”

That’s true. Human life is first. So let’s talk about human life. How about this one?

This is Dave Patrick Underwood. He’s a law enforcement officer who was shot and killed during a riot in Oakland. If rioters say they care about life and justice, then what about this life? What about justice for Underwood? Right now, he’s actually the only one I know about. There could be more and I am sure if this keeps up and he is the only one now, he is the first of many.

Wanting justice is a good thing, but wanting justice by doing injustice to others is not a good thing. No one is denying a right to protest. Whether I agree with your reason for protest is irrelevant. If some Georgians wanted to gather to protest the Heartbeat Bill here in Georgia, that is their right. I would think they are 100% in the wrong, but I would defend 100% their right to protest.

In this case, yes, I think the original police officers did a great evil. Also, here in America, I think they should get justice like everyone else. They should have a trial and get to present their case and be treated accordingly based on the evidence.

It has been a long time since I watched Batman Begins, but I read about a scene in it recently where Ducard orders Bruce Wayne to kill someone. Bruce will not do it without trying the man with a trial first. Ducard tells him that his enemies will not share that sentiment. Bruce responds that that’s what will separate him from them.

Right now, I know at least one officer has been arrested. Let him have a trial and be dealt with accordingly by the law. Unfortunately, what is going on now is just more injustice and more innocents are being hurt by it.

What about racism? Racism is a great evil wherever it takes place. Race is one of the central facts about who a person is and is something sacred. Rob Bell is definitely out there these days, but one quote I remember from Love Wins is that heaven will be a hard place for a racist to be. I think he’s absolutely right with that one. (This is in no way an endorsement of his teachings. It’s just acknowledging he got something right.)

At the same time, I have not seen the hard evidence any of the police officers who did this evil were doing it because of racism. It has just been assumed. I am not saying it isn’t racism. It could be. I am saying we don’t know.

However, what concerns me more is the narrative of racism. No one is denying that racism exists in this country. It always will. As long as there are sinful human beings around, some of those sinful humans will be racists. They exist in all races and groups as well. Anyone of us can succumb to that kind of thinking. No one is immune.

However, I also do not think it is the norm. The majority of Americans today do not live with a racist mindset. While I will grant I cannot prove this, I do not have any reason to believe it. If this is right though, then we have a problem where racism is treated like the norm instead of the exception. With that, we have what is believed to be a spark of racism and the world today pours gasoline on it.

That is far more concerning honestly.

I also think the media loves the stories that look like racism. The “Hands up, don’t shoot” was never true, and yet it was paraded around as racism. As a conservative, every Republican I see running for president has been proclaimed to be a racist repeatedly. After the first few dozen times, the cry just loses its effect.

How’s it going to end? Rioting won’t end it. If anything will end it, it’s the gospel. It’s changing people through the love of Christ. It’s recognizing everyone of every race is fully made in the image of God.

I have no delusions that the riots will end because I post this, but I can hope that someone might give up or might persuade someone else to not go out and do this rioting. I can dream.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

Should Christians Care About Economics?

What difference does economics make to a Christian? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Christians are not supposed to be of the world. Right? If so, should we care about economic policy? Should we not be busy with matters of the Kingdom? What difference does it make to us about economic theory?

I say all of this because we are in 2020 and this is a presidential election year and as has been said before, “It’s the economy, stupid.” This is one of the big drives for a vote this year. Some think the economy is doing great. Others have their concerns about it.

Another area of contention that is often had is how to help the poor. A mistake I think made here is to assume that one side does not want to help the poor. I am a highly committed capitalist who does want to help the poor. I don’t doubt my friends who are more socialist want to help the poor. What I doubt is their methodology. They may have good intentions, but good intentions do not necessarily equal good results. Too often, it is not assumed that I have good intentions in promoting capitalism. (Since I count myself among the poor, it’s hard to see what benefits I am getting.)

While we are to be about the Kingdom, we are also to be living in the world that is. It is not the sinful world as if anything in this world is pure evil. We are to seek the welfare of the society that we are in and strive for the best. That includes learning good economics.

My wife had a friend once who asked why it is here in America that there are fewer Black or Hispanic or Asian dolls. Why are they white? The assumption was that this was racist. I said it’s not racism, but it is rather supply and demand. Most people here in America are white and girls who play with dolls assume their children will be the same race as they are. If you went to Africa, black dolls would sell out. In Mexico it would be Hispanic dolls and in China it would be Asian dolls. If we are going to say it’s racism here, then it would have to be anywhere else.

There are plenty of great works on economics that can be read from all perspectives. Some are very capitalist. Some are very socialist. Economic thinking is also really a lot of fun. If you can learn to think well on economics, you can learn how to think better in every other area.

Also, if you truly want to help the poor, you need to find which methods truly do help the poor. The little boy trying to help the butterfly break free earlier by poking a hole in its home might be thinking he is helping, but in reality he is killing the butterfly regardless of his intentions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

This election cycle as in all others, it’s always good to be informed. Go get some good books on economics if you want to be. Don’t just go with what you read online or listen to on the radio. Really study some economic theory from some of the greatest minds in economics. Your intentions are not enough. You need a method that produces good results and for that, you need to study economics.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

More on Galli

So what do I think of Galli’s points on immorality? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Recently, I wrote a post on Mark Galli and his editorial on President Trump. A friend of Deeper Waters left a comment asking about Galli’s stance. What about the immoral behavior of Trump? Would we still want to live in Nazi Germany even if the economy was doing great and we had the judges?

To be fair, this reader immediately said we are not in Germany like that, and that’s something important to stress. If you don’t like Trump, that’s one thing, but if you say he’s Hitler, you’re being insulting. To Trump? Yes, but that’s mild. You’re being insulting to millions of Jews and others who died under Hitler and to their loved ones and to the survivors. I couldn’t stand Obama and Bill Clinton, but I wouldn’t have called them Hitler.

2016 was a strange year with the election. Most conservatives did not want Hillary Clinton in power. If you asked my wife why she didn’t, she would say one word. Benghazi. That’s enough. For me, I also knew Hillary is pro-choice and would appoint judges like that. I was honestly convinced and still am that our country could not have survived that.

Keep in mind at this point, I am not asking you to agree with my stance. You can think I am entirely wrong in it, but I cannot be wrong in that that is what I think. I thought the Obama years were a disaster and I did not want to see them go on and if anything, I was more concerned about Hillary since I think she had the capability to do a lot more damage if given power.

So we had to have someone to beat her. Now here’s the question that has to be asked. Why did so many conservatives flock to Trump? What did Trump have that made him so special that so many people looked and said, “I know he’s not the best guy in the world, but I’m voting for him.”

For one thing, we have seen several Republicans who seemed to bend over backwards to try to be friendly to the Democrats thinking they would get an olive branch in return. It never worked. McCain was one person who the Democrats loved, for instance, until he ran for president and then during that time he was a villain. Mitt Romney was someone the media couldn’t stand in his presidential campaign with stories of him about being a racist, causing cancer in people, abusing animals, and folders of women. Now he’s anti-Trump so he’s cool.

What was seen in Trump was someone who would not do that. Voters saw in Trump someone who fought back and stood up for what he believed in. He wasn’t afraid to step on any toes. This is something that was refreshing. With Trump, one never needs to guess where he stands. He comes right out and tells you.

Second, he wasn’t a politician. He didn’t have years of going through all these emotions. He was, in essence, an ordinary guy who wanted to do something for his country. He wasn’t worried about having a legacy to defend. He was an outsider to the system and maybe he could do something to make it work.

Third is he was talking about the issues people wanted to talk about. Okay. The Iran deal is something important to talk about, but most of us don’t wake up in the morning wondering about America’s relationship with Iran. We wake up in the morning wondering about how we’re going to pay our bills and what about our children and will we have freedom in our country or not?

Trump spoke to these issues. Illegal immigration was a great example of this. For many decades, people had got up and said illegal immigration is a problem. Trump just didn’t say it. He made it a focus. People liked that.

In the end, one ultimate difference is we were quite sure that Hillary would be happy to turn against us if she got power. The rights of many Christians we were and are sure would go out the window. We would have more issues with abortion, the homosexual movement, transgenderism, etc. (Worth noting that all of these issues have to do with sex. Consider what that means.)

Trump was not one we suspected would do that, and so far, we have been right. We have seen two justices appointed to the court that we think want to be faithful to the Constitution. More and more judges are being appointed elsewhere.

But what about what Galli says here?

“The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.”

One big problem here. Galli gives ZERO examples of this. Now some we can see. The Access Hollywood tape was a concern for awhile, but Trump supporters went forward for the still the same reason. It was like we were given a choice between Diocletian or Constantine. It might have been good to have a candidate who had the same political stances as Trump, but had moral character. We didn’t get that.

However, here’s something to consider. Who else had a major impact on our society in a very good way, but he also had problems of morality, including women? Martin Luther King Jr. He was even a pastor who had numerous affairs with other women. For some reason, I have never seen a rush to remove Martin Luther King Jr. Day from being a national holiday. We still support the cause that he championed of dreaming of a world of racial equality.

Some of this could also depend on the state you lived in. If you lived in a heavily Republican or Democrat state and it was certain to go one way or the other, then perhaps you could have sat this one at home last time. If you didn’t though, then your vote made a difference. You could have changed a swing state to go that way.

For many of us though, we live in a world where we are seeing the rise of transgenderism, abortion, and homosexual behavior being normalized for us and our children. My wife recently shared pictures from a book a friend shared that was young adult fiction for students in school and had quite explicit homosexual behavior being discussed in it. Go against any of this and you’re a wicked bigot and if the left has shown us anything, it’s that they’re more than happy to shut us down.

“Okay. But with impeachment, why not let Trump take the fall and get Pence? He’s a good Christian. Right?”

Because it won’t stop. It never does. If it is shown that a president can be removed this way, it will happen with Pence as well. Some charge will be found against him. Let Pence get in for reasons such as election in 2024 or if a tragedy happens to Trump in office.

To get back to where we were, in the end, many of us saw that we could either vote for someone like Diocletian or like Constantine. We didn’t know if Constantine had the moral character or not, but we at least knew he wouldn’t turn on us. If the Democrats want to change that, they need to produce a better candidate and so far, I’m not seeing it happen.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

On Christianity And Guns

What are my thoughts on the shooting in Texas? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

So Sunday there was a shooting in a church. You might not have heard much debate about gun control because this one was stopped early on. There were at least seven people in the church who were concealed carry and I understand one of them was an elderly lady.

It’s kind of interesting to me that when a shooting takes place and no one is there to stop it, we ask how we can stop it. When it takes place and there is someone there to stop it, the message never gets out of “This is how you stop it.” Why not go with the method that works when it’s used? (Kind of like when abstinence is practiced, it works 100% of the time)

It’s also interesting that we also had this right after a rabbi was attacked and I saw people talking about anti-semitism immediately, and they should. However, when a church has a near mass shooting, did you hear anyone talk about the concerns of anti-Christianity? Yeah. I didn’t either.

So Monday I’m browsing on Facebook and see people talk about this and the question is asking how Christians should handle this. The shooter in the church was shot by a Christian. Is this the right response for those who follow the Prince of Peace?

To begin with, let’s talk about who is really destroying peace in these situations. In this church, Christians were going forward to take Communion which should be an especially sacred time in a church service. The peace was interrupted by a man who was bent on evil and he was not open to listening to reason.

Some people might say that Jesus turned the other cheek, but Jesus is talking about receiving a personal insult there in a private setting. He is not talking about anything that is life-threatening. Do we think Jesus could say today, “If anyone shoots your son, give him your daughter to shoot as well. If anyone kills your wife, give him your mother to kill as well.”

Where I have been debating this, I have had someone quoting all of Matthew 5:38-42 to me. In wanting to find out how much they take this seriously, I have brought up that Jesus says to give to anyone whatever they request of you. I then say I request you give all of your money to my ministry. I have yet to see any major deposits yet.

But doesn’t Romans 12 tell us to live in peace? Yes, if it is possible. Sometimes it isn’t. We all know people, sometimes sadly family members, that we just have to avoid. Romans 12 also says to not seek revenge. How does this apply? Let’s consider the movie Joker for an example.

The character who becomes the Joker, Arthur, is on a subway at one point getting beat up by these three Wall Street prep people. Suddenly, he pulls out a gun he has and shoots and kills two of them. The third one is wounded. At this point, Arthur chases after him as the man is trying to flee. He then shoots him again to finish him off.

I contend that the first two deaths in that scene were self-defense. The third one, was not. This was a man trying to get away and it was a kill that was done just for revenge. Sure, he had been doing evil earlier, but at this point he was no longer a threat.

But doesn’t 1 Peter 2 tell us to bear up under unjust suffering? Yes, if we are slaves who cannot do anything against our masters. That doesn’t say anything about real harm being done to innocents that puts them in a life-threatening situation.

But aren’t we told also repeatedly not to cling to our lives? Depends on the situation. If you take it in this hard and fast way, then if you have a terminal disease, it is wrong to seek treatment. If so, then shouldn’t Jesus have condemned all those people who came to Him for healing?

Some people might be concerned about the idea of good guys with guns. Keep in mind that apparently this church had several regular members who had concealed carries. This was the first instance we have heard of violence taking place in that church.

It’s also interesting that so many secularists keep telling me about how good man is and how far we have progressed, and yet at the same time don’t think your average man can carry a gun without wanting to shoot everyone. Now I fully believe that man is a fallen creature, but I also think, as well as I understand Aquinas did, that most of what we do in our lives is not sinful. Most of us do not live in fear of our fellow man constantly. Maybe some fellow men, but not all.

In the end, I contend that Christians ought to be able to defend the innocent from those who want to hurt them. I have often said that if someone wanted to physically assault my wife in any way, the only way they would be able to do so is literally over my dead body. I have a sworn vow to protect her from harm and intend to follow it through.

And if you are concerned about the evil within, well do something about it. I hear Christianity has a great system of repentance set up to deal with evil. Maybe give it a try?

In Christ,
Nick Peters

On Mark Galli’s Editorial

What do I think of what Mark Galli said in Christianity Today? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

So there has been no lack of controversy in evangelicalism with Mark Galli of Christianity Today coming out and saying Trump should be impeached. Immediately, liberal atheists everywhere started taking Trump seriously. On the other hand, a number of evangelicals accused of sinning against God had a few words to say, with about 200 of them signing a statement against the article.

So let’s state bias upfront in this. I did vote for Trump. Why? Very simple. Hillary Clinton is why. I had had enough of the Obama years and did not want more of that. I did not want the Supreme Court to fall into the hands of the left. My honest first pick was Ben Carson, but he didn’t really last long. The left has been taking our country on a route I don’t like and I wanted it to stop, so I held my nose as it were and made my vote for Trump.

But since then, I have been impressed. I have not approved of everything, but generally, I have liked the way things have gone. I definitely appreciate what has happened with the Supreme Court. I also like that Trump doesn’t just roll over and play dead and give in. He’s a fighter. I admire that.

But Mark Galli wrote an article saying he should be impeached. One statement he made was that the facts were clear about what happened with the Ukrainian phone call. The reality is, they are not. This often seems to be a more partisan issue. Conservatives like myself say they’re not. Those on the left are equally convinced the other way.

So if you’re saying “The facts are clear, but only people who agree with me think that”, then you’re starting off on a bad note. I know many people who still can’t stand Trump and will say that no, the facts are not clear. Anything that was done does not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Galli has also said elsewhere that,

“I know hardly anyone, let alone any evangelical Christian who voted for Trump. I describe evangelicals like me as ‘elite’ evangelicals … and this class of evangelicals has discovered that we have family members so different they seem like aliens in our midst. These other evangelicals often haven’t finished college, and if they have jobs (and apparently a lot of them don’t), they are blue-collar jobs or entry-level work. They don’t write books or give speeches; they don’t attend conferences of evangelicals for social justice or evangelicals for immigration reform. They are deeply suspicious of mainstream media. A lot of them voted for Donald Trump.”

And right here we have a major problem. The elitism. I know several evangelicals. I interview them on my podcast. I count many of them as friends. I also know many of them voted for Trump. My in-laws voted for Trump. Robert Gagnon has been quite explicit in his support of Trump and stance against NeverTrumpers. Eric Metaxas is another one. William Lane Craig has even criticized Mark Galli and Craig rarely gets critical like that.

You can say these people are wrong in their vote and you have all the freedom to do that, but if you’re an evangelical and really, even if you’re not, you can’t say they’re idiots. Many evangelicals who voted for Trump also do care greatly about Christian character. They saw themselves as voting for the lesser of two evils.

Galli goes on to talk about the character of Trump and says based on that, Trump should be removed from office. Unfortunately for him, that’s not how the system works. “We don’t like his behavior” is not a valid reason. I couldn’t stand Bill Clinton and didn’t care for his behavior, but he did get some things right. What got him impeached was not having an affair. What got him impeached was lying under oath about it.

Yet in a twist, Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, commented and said that his dad would have been disappointed. He had never wanted to say it, but then he told everyone that his dad voted for Trump. Therefore, the remarks Galli made would apply to the founder of the magazine he published them in.

A big problem we get to from all of this is the idea of “No true Christian would”. Why not say let each be convinced in his own mind? Many of us voted for Trump because we value the lives of the unborn and didn’t want Hillary to have power. The only means to do that was to get the other guy in instead. Interestingly, I know a number of people who were NeverTrumpers the first time around and have now decided they will vote for Trump because of what the Democrats have done.

Another interesting side effect now is that many of us, including some who I know at least did not support Trump the first time around, are convinced that due to the impeachment hearings, Trump has been sealed to win the 2020 election. Even the Babylon Bee had an article about this. It has been known from the beginning that they would not go anywhere and would be shot down in the Senate and it has been known that the Democrats have been looking to impeach Trump since day one and more and more people who support conservatives but did not support Trump, are willing to put a stop to that.

If anything, this also just furthered any divide. Most evangelicals would not mind disagreement on their vote for or against Trump. Most of them mind when they have their Christianity called into question because of it. It looks really like Galli wrote an article and knew he would retire and then went riding off into the sunset leaving the magazine to deal with the damages.

We can only see what will happen after the 2020 election. My prediction is Trump wins and wins bigger than last time. The Democrats will continue to seek to remove him, but at this point I am convinced they are hurting themselves more than the opposition and setting up a precedent they won’t like IF they ever get power again. I am also thinking it quite likely that the Republicans will retake the House.

We’ll see.

In Christ,
Nick Peters