The Internet Monk Archives

How fake experts are used to mislead

How fake experts are used to mislead

On the BioLogos Forum frequent commentator “beaglelady” introduces a video from Dr. John Cook, Research Assistant Professor at Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University, author of the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, and founder of http://SkepticalScience.com . The video is entitled, “How fake experts are used to mislead”, and takes to task, in particular, “America’s Frontline Doctors” and Dr. Stella Immanuel. Snopes.com said:

A group that called itself “America’s Frontline Doctors” (AFD) took to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on July 27, 2020, in a self-described “White Coat Summit” to address a “massive disinformation campaign” regarding COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Additional investigation by Snopes seems to show the AFD was an ad hoc group put together for the demonstration on the Supreme Court steps, although since then, according to Snopes: “AFD registered for a second domain, americasfrontlinedoctorsummit.com, on July 29, according to Whois. As of Aug. 6, the group appeared to still be active on Facebook and Instagram with thousands of followers.”

Stella Immanuel, a licensed physician, currently practices at a private clinic in Texas. The Wiki page goes on to say:

As the founder of a charismatic religious organization, Fire Power Ministries, she has made various fringe claims about other medical conditions, especially as it relates to human sexuality, including that endometriosis, infertility, miscarriages, and sexually transmitted infections are caused by spirit spouses. She has also endorsed a number of conspiracy theories, including the involvement of space aliens and the Illuminati in manipulating society and government.

Although the fake expert has been around for a long time, the problem in American science was greatly exacerbated during the smoking debates of the 1980s. The tobacco companies used the strategy of the “Whitecoat project” to project pro-tobacco propaganda as alternative science. It didn’t matter if their scientists had any real experience in public health, they just had to look like they did.

Another cogent example is the “Global Warming Petition Project” that achieved 31,487 signatures of scientists. But when you looked closer at the signatories, 99.9% had no climatology expertise. It was fake experts in bulk—which is far better than one fake expert.

How do you identify a fake expert? Dr. Cook gave some examples:

You don’t become an expert in one field by having a degree in another field
Some people think their expertise in some other field gives them the authority to contradict expertise in the specific medical field related to the pandemic.
You don’t acquire expertise by standing in the vicinity of other experts.
You don’t become an expert because of a smart family member.
You’re not a scientific expert because you think you have a great brain.
Another red flag of false experts is when someone claims their own authority is superior to the consensus of experts in that field.
The only way to achieve expertise in a complex subject is through years of study, further years of scientific research, and having your research scrutinized by other experts.

One often hears from purveyors of fake experts the admonition to “do your own research”. But until you’ve had actual training in research in a scientific discipline, most people have no idea how to research a subject. They think it means type a subject into an online search engine. All too often, when we “do our own research” what we are really doing is looking for confirmation our particular position is right, which is all too easy to do online.

Dr. John Cook has a series of videos examining the logical fallacies, rhetorical techniques, and conspiratorial thinking in COVID misinformation. They are a very good series, well done, low key without adding his own overblown rhetoric. The critique of his effort is that he is preaching to his own choir. Would somebody caught up in COVID misinformation even sit through one of his videos? Probably not. Dr. Cook takes direct aim at Donald Trump’s mishandling of the COVID crisis. Any Trump supporter will likely run off shouting “fake news”. Is there anybody still on the fence that might be convinced by a well-reasoned argument? Maybe… I don’t know. A recent ABC news poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the COVID crisis. So maybe there is hope. I say keeping plugging away with the truth…

Announcement: Clark Bunch Is Replaying iMonk Podcasts

Note from CM: Our friend Clark Bunch over at The Master’s Table is doing a series featuring some of the iMonk Radio podcasts Michael Spencer made. I told Clark I would be glad to promote these so that more people can once more hear Michael’s voice and wisdom. Here is Clark’s introduction to the series.

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Introduction to iMonk Radio Series
By Clark Bunch

Most readers of Internet Monk have probably been around since the Michael Spencer days. The “original Internet Monk” began blogging shortly after the 2000 election, the year of the hanging chads, and built a large audience over the next 10 years. Mike Mercer, a.k.a. Chaplain Mike, has been hosting, writing and moderating in the years since Michael passed. You may have seen archived posts under the headings Sunday with Michael Spencer, Tuesday with Michael Spencer or Wednesday with Michael Spencer over the years. Most recently Mike Bell has been posting a Bible Study of Mark’s Gospel titled Reconsider Jesus sourced from material originally written by Michael Spencer. I had the opportunity to participate in that Bible study in person during the time we served together at Oneida Baptist Institute so if it means anything I give that study my wholehearted endorsement.

Michael described himself as “a free range, New Covenant, Reformation-loving, post-evangelical Christian with an appreciation for the ancient church, missions, Christian community and theological underdogs.” He always had multiple projects going at the same time. In addition to blogging at Internet Monk he started another blog Jesus Shaped Spirituality in 2008, hosted an online discussion at The Boar’s Head Tavern, and published two podcasts, Internet Monk Radio and Coffee Cup Apologetics. This was all in addition to serving as the campus minister at a private Christian boarding school and providing pulpit supply for a local Presbyterian church. As an ordained Baptist minister they could not call him to pastor; but he was their regular preacher and minister for over eight years.

I said all that to say this: At my blog, The Master’s Table, there is a page featuring a small archive collection of Internet Monk Radio podcasts. I put that tribute together in 2010, shortly after Spencer’s passing, consisting of material that was even at that time no longer available. Beginning this week, on Thursday August 20th, I will begin re-posting a series of those podcasts. They will pick up at podcast #103 and run through the end of the original series, podcast #167. I plan to post on Thursday each week for the next 60 some odd weeks so we’re looking at a little over one year to get them all out there. Some of the references to current events in the news or updates on the Cincinnati Reds may be dated. But just like the Bible study of Mark’s Gospel, some of the wisdom and insights are absolutely timeless. Andy Griffith and Star Trek still show in reruns and in this case we’re talking about the Old Story which never gets old.

When I shared my idea with Chaplain Mike he was excited as well. I wanted to ask his permission and perhaps his blessing before doing anything so connected with the Internet Monk brand name. He offered me this platform to promote the new project. It has been a long time since anything I wrote appeared here and I appreciate the invitation. There is a huge online community today that Michael Spencer was instrumental in putting together. I hope that you look forward to hearing his voice again.

Jeff Dunn: Update re: Kathy and Prayer

Prayer. Photo by Fernando Sanchez at Flickr. Creative Commons License

Update re: Kathy and Prayer
By Jeff Dunn, 8/25/20

Further Update from CM: At 10:20 am today I received this text from Jeff…

WooHoo! The nurse just said Kathy is making great progress! Her oxygen requirement from a machine continues to decline, meaning she is breathing much better on her own. And that means she may be moved from ICU to a floor where I can visit her. She is on track to be discharged by the weekend!!!

Her nurse (today it’s John) is going to get her to sit up in a chair for awhile. She ate some breakfast this morning and that went well. All around great news!!!

Glory be to God in the highest!!!

Today, August 25, is a big day for me.

It was forty-seven years ago today I surrendered my life to our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Truly, it was the day I began to live. As St. Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ: and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Today is also the forty-seventh anniversary of meeting the woman who would become my wife. Kathy Riner was a cute, curly-haired girl who that day helped to introduce me to Jesus. Seven years later, we married. There have been great times and terrible times and all kinds of times in-between, but nothing has been as hard as these last two weeks. Kathy was infected with the coronavirus, resulting in Covid-19. She deteriorated to the point of death, and was placed on a ventilator. Her doctor, a very wise and experienced expert in infectious diseases, was preparing me for the worst. I expected the next call to be one telling me my wife was gone.

This brings me to the third great thing to happen on August 25—this time on this current August 25—today. They have taken Kathy off of the ventilator and removed her feeding tube. She is recovering! She’s going to make it!

Which brings me to the point of this essay: prayer. I’ve walked with the Lord for 47 years now, and I have to admit that I know nothing of prayer. I don’t understand even the basics. So often I’ve prayed just as Jesus taught us to pray, but with no apparent effect. I ask, but I don’t receive. I seek, yet He stays hidden. I knock, and the door remains bolted from the inside. I have asked the Lord for a loaf of bread, and He gives me a stone. I request a fish, and He hands me a snake. He says, “Ask whatever you will, and my Father will grant it to you that your joy may be full.” So I ask, and ask, and ask … nothing.

I know that some will try to correct me by saying, “You have to ask according to His will.” No, I say. That’s not what Jesus teaches. He said simply and plainly, “Ask whatever you will.” He doesn’t place some religious loophole into the agreement to give Himself an out. And I am not going to put something in this teaching that Jesus never intended. So, I keep pounding at the door, shouting, “You told me to do this! Now open the damned door!” And, somehow, I believe this kind of prayer pleases our God.

So, when my wife was taken to the Covid ICU at St. John Hospital in Tulsa, I was prepared to pound on God’s door until my fists were bloodied and raw. I was going to seek Him out everywhere. I was going to ask and ask and ask and not take “No” for an answer. I saw myself praying my guts out night and day for my wife’s life to be spared. And then … then, I couldn’t pray. Not at all. Nothing. I was numb emotionally and spiritually. I was exhausted physically from lack of sleep and keeping three dozen people up-to-date throughout each day on Kathy’s condition. The best prayer I could muster was “Heal her, Lord.” That was it. But then others stepped in to pray when I couldn’t. Family and friends—some I had not heard from in years—let me know they were praying for Kathy and for me. Many churches across the country came together in prayer. Some of you wrote to let me know you were praying for my wife. It was the same as when Aaron and Hur held the arms of a numb and exhausted Moses up so the battle would go the way of the Israelites. You were Aaron and Hur to me, praying when I couldn’t.

I was able to talk with my wife this morning for the first time in more than a week. She is still very weak and her voice barely audible, but one thing she told me is that she had given up hope. She was very close to death and didn’t think she would make it. (Wouldn’t it be nice if Christians always had hope, no matter the circumstances? But that is not reality, and Jesus only deals with reality.) I’d love to say it was the prayers of a loving husband that lifted her out of despair, but I, too, had given up hope. It was your prayers and the prayers of people from coast-to-coast that held her arms up and won the battle.

She still has a long road to recovery ahead of her. We don’t yet know the extent of damage done to her organs because of this foul disease. Her mom is close to death in Ohio, and I don’t know if Kathy will be strong enough to go see her one last time. My ALS symptoms keep me from doing all I want to do to clean the house and other chores before she comes home. But all of this takes a back seat to the fact that, due to prayer that I don’t understand, my wife will survive Covid-19.

From my heart I want to say to each of you, Thank You. Thank you for praying when I couldn’t. I may never understand prayer this side of eternity, but that doesn’t keep me for being grateful to those who pray, and to our Father who is answering these prayers.

Let’s discuss…abortion

Let’s discuss…abortion

* Update: I will cut off comments at midnight tonight for this post.

* Note from CM: I will try to moderate this closely today.

The “pro-life” (anti-abortion) movement has become invigorated since the election of President Trump in 2016, and many Christians support him largely on this basis. They cannot even conceive of voting for a Democrat or someone who supports a “pro-choice” position. They consider abortion to be pure moral evil, the murder of an unborn child.

And as long as they hold that position, there can be no reasoning or compromise whatsoever. And I agree. If all abortion = the murder of a baby, then there really is no discussion about the moral acceptability of the practice, except in certain health-related situations.

Here, for example, is a recent Facebook post by prominent biblical scholar Tremper Longman III, and excerpts from the comment thread that followed:

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Post: Why conservatives (and moderates like myself) should vote for Biden.

Link to article: Conservatives Have Only One Choice in 2020.

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Comment: interesting article. But please tell me how I can forget the abortion issue. I just cannot. And what’s my alternative?

Reply: Boom!

Comment from TLIII: Abortion cannot be the single issue. There are other pressing issues: climate change, immigration, poverty. Abortion is not an issue that can be “solved” by the government. The church needs to help men and women to make the right choices. Interesting that the Bible says nothing about abortion except when it says that a man should pay a fine if in a fight the fetus “comes out.” For more detail see The Bible and the Ballot. On other other hand, the Bible says a lot about helping the poor, immigrants and the environment.

Reply: … and administrations with a more tolerant approach to abortion but effective anti poverty measures, have lower abortion rates than anti abortion administrations that also favour the affluent.

It’s a poverty issue.

Reply: Would you vote for Biden if, instead of unborn, he promoted the murder of 5 year olds?

Reply from TLIII: Of course not, there is a difference at least according to the Bible.

Comment later in thread: the Democrat Party platform on abortion, completely antithetical to what scripture teaches (Proverbs 6:17, etc) on the sanctity of pre-born and born life.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/where-2020-democrats-stand-on-abortion?fbclid=IwAR2xbST8130DrSyOixG0RVWzDuWmNh5TSBUsHqTnasMLSiuN2t8k6ClZmwk

Comment later in thread: I’ll never vote for anyone who promotes the murder of Children

Reply from TLIII: Abortion according to the Bible is a moral violation because it involves the ending of potential life, but not murder. Notice that nowhere in the Bible does it talk about abortion, but a lot about being kind to immigrants, the poor, and taking care of the environment. Read my book.

Comment later in thread: You are a Christian in name only sir because you don’t have the wisdom and discernment (Isaiah 11:2, John 14:17, 16:13) that comes from the Holy Spirit that a real born again Christian has. There is no such thing as a perfect candidate, it’s always a choice between the lesser of 2 evils because all humans are imperfect and sinners (Genesis 3, assuming that you believe in Genesis, instead of the secularist creation myth, evolution).

Joe Biden is the worse choice between him and Donald Trump. Biden is an immoral and unprincipled liberal Democrat who supports such things as the murder of unborn children, and same sex marriage, 2 abominations that Bible condemns (Leviticus 18, Proverbs 6:17, Romans 1:25-28).

• • •

His book to which he refers is called The Bible and the Ballot: Using Scripture in Political Decisions (Jan. 2020). I think Longman’s chapter on abortion is well-considered, faithful to the texts of scripture, and reasonable with regard to the role of Christians living in a secular society. His concluding statement on abortion mirrors my own position.

In the final analysis, then, while Christians should keep upholding the sanctity of life and protesting abortion as an infringement on that sanctity, we should not put our trust in the law, but in our powers of persuasion to the gospel and to obedience. And, in the meantime, there may be wisdom in making abortion rare and safe. (pp. 152-153)

As Christians in America, we must recognize the necessarily two-fold nature of our positions on issues like these. This is one of those concerns where Christians tend to forget that we live as citizens in a secular society. Matters such as when life begins or whether or not a fetus has a soul from the time of conception may inform our theological understanding about abortion, but we cannot expect our neighbors or our legal system to accept these positions as inarguable.

The law certainly doesn’t care about these arguments. The specific issue in Roe v. Wade was not whether a fetus is a “human life,” but whether or not a fetus, especially in the first trimester, is to be considered a legal “person” — in the sense of a citizen due the full protections of the law — equivalent to someone already born and living in this country.

Longman observes that most people, even the most ardent “pro-life” advocates, tend to treat the fetus in the early phase of pregnancy as potential life — as human life but as something less than a fully developed person. Think, for example, about the way we handle miscarriages during those days. However — and this is important — as Longman notes, “To take the view that a fetus is the developing potential of life does not lead to a pro-choice position” (p. 149).

One can still advocate against abortion on the basis of the value of developing human life. Potential life “should be protected and not willfully ended or cavalierly treated” (p. 149). But one cannot simply say of all abortions that they represent “baby murder.” And when one realizes that more than 90% of all abortions happen in the first trimester, before fetal viability, that kind of passionate statement does nothing more than stop discussion about any possible nuances or other considerations regarding abortion itself or about the various factors that serve as context for abortion.

For example, we have not even begun to talk about…

women’s health and better care for women who are pregnant — why, for example, does the U.S. have such high rates of maternal mortality — last among other similar wealthy countries? Need I say also that this leads to a discussion about access to healthcare in general?
better education (about emotional health as well as sexual) and access to birth control, which is probably the single greatest factor preventing more abortions,
the difference between abortion by choice and therapeutic abortion (a distinction I rarely hear the “pro-life” movement talk about),
the societal conditions of family breakdown, poverty, and hopelessness that lead many women to seek abortions,
the importance of fostering self-esteem and good mental/emotional health in our children and communities through supporting families and infrastructures that will encourage them to practice good decision-making with regard to sex as well as life in general,
the role of men who demand (sometimes violently) that their partners terminate their pregnancies, making abortion something less than a “woman’s choice.” This has actually been the case in a number of abortion situations I’ve encountered, even in “Christian” homes and settings — but again, this is little discussed,
support for women who choose to give birth in difficult life circumstances, along with more investment to build and maintain access to childcare and other programs for single and working moms, as well as healthy foster care and adoption systems,
what would happen if Roe v. Wade were overturned. That would simply return abortion laws to the states and would not likely have a huge impact on the numbers with regard to abortion. Some estimate that the numbers regarding abortion in the U.S. didn’t significantly change in the years following Roe v. Wade (factoring in illegal ones), but what did change is that fewer women died from the procedure.

As Longman says, I think there is wisdom in the saying “Keep abortion legal, safe, and rare,” while at the same time encouraging Christians to follow Jesus by investing their lives in their neighbors and in their own communities to make them better places where people can (and want to) pursue healthy relationships and life goals. To choose life!

If you want to discuss the topic of abortion with me, these are just some of the things I think we need to talk about. Don’t just end the discussion by insisting it’s all about murdering babies.

And I hope you’ll take all of this — and more — into account when you vote as well.

Reconsider Jesus – Roots (Mark 1:1-3)

Reconsider Jesus – A fresh look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark
A devotional commentary by Michael Spencer
Compiled and Edited by: Michael Bell
Table of Contents

Roots

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

Mark 1:1-3 – NIV

How well do you know your family roots? Genealogical research is a big business these days with many people trying to find out as much as possible about their ancestors. Everyone hopes that, like the Spencers, they are related to royalty, and no one wants to be a descendant of horse thieves or criminals. A person’s lineage was considered to be very important in New Testament times as well, and so the beginning of the Gospels⁸ are all about roots and establishing Jesus’ spiritual heritage.

When we look at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel we see that it begins with a genealogy that connects Jesus to Abraham. Luke has a genealogy too, along with a declaration of his intention to write an acceptable historical record of the beginnings of Christianity. John’s gospel goes back beyond the birth of Jesus to Jesus’ roots in eternity as the eternal word or Son of God. Mark doesn’t have anything like that. In fact, Mark doesn’t even have anything about the birth of Jesus. Does Mark know about the birth stories? It is quite possible he does not. Jesus does not speak of them and Paul does not mention them in his epistles.⁹ They appear to come from the inquiries of Matthew and Luke into the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. Matthew, the second Gospel written, has the birth of Jesus from the standpoint of Joseph, the story of the wise men, and Jesus being born a King. Luke, the third Gospel, has the traditional Christmas story that we all know so well: Jesus, born in Bethlehem, laid in a manger, and worshiped by shepherds. As for Mark, he starts with the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

In doing so, what Mark really wants to say is that Jesus’ family and roots are not that important. In fact, I will go ahead and warn you that, on the subject of the family of Jesus, Mark is going to surprise you. Everything you may have thought about the family of Jesus will be challenged when reading Mark. There is no interest in the birth, the family, or the childhood of Jesus. His only mention of Jesus’ family is in the conflicts Jesus has with them in his early days of ministry.¹⁰ Mark wants to say that the roots of Jesus are in the Old Testament, if you want to understand Jesus then don’t look at his followers, don’t look at his mother or father or brothers or the language he speaks or when he lives. No, look in the Bible, look in the Old Testament.

Mark is saying to us that you are not going to understand much about Jesus with your Bible closed. But with your Bible open and your mind and heart in the flow of God’s story from the Old Testament you will see who Jesus is and you will understand him. Jesus has roots that help us understand him but they are not family roots, they are Bible roots: roots that go down deep into scripture.

By starting with Isaiah, Mark takes us into the entire Old Covenant. The Good News begins with the promise and expectation of a kingdom that is the entire Old Testament story. Isaiah is particularly the prophet of the coming Kingdom of God, and Mark locates the beginnings of Jesus’ story not in birth records or a hometown, but in a prediction that someone would come announcing the way of the Lord. Scholars will point out, of course, that Mark is quoting a combination of Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. The two prophets touch on two different aspects of the coming Kingdom of God: judgement and restoration. John the Baptist brings these two parts of the Kingdom message together. The Lord is coming to restore his people, but it will be a time of cleansing and refinement, not just celebration.

John the Baptist is at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel because he announces the Kingdom’s arrival and insists we must prepare for it through repentance. While both preach and call to repentance, it is Jesus who performs Kingdom miracles and calls for faith in himself. Those who wish to follow Jesus must heed the message of John: Turn and prepare for the eternal Kingdom and the one who brings it now.

—————————————-

Footnotes:

[8] Gospel literally means “Good News”.

[9] The epistles refer to the letters written by Paul that are preserved in the New Testament.

[10] Mark 3:34-35

Notes from Mike Bell:
1. What questions or thoughts come from your mind from what you have just read?
2. Would you be interested in a paper or Kindle version of the book when it is available? Please email us at michaelspencersnewbook@gmail.com so that we can let you know when it is ready.
3. Find any grammar or spelling errors, phrases that are awkward or difficult to understand? Also send these type of comments to the email address above.

From Jeff Dunn: Not a Good Update

Fog and Sun. Photo by David Cornwell at Flickr

From Jeff Dunn: Not a Good Update
Received Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Let me start with where we are right now. Kathy is in the ICU at St. John Hospital here in Tulsa. She’s in critical condition with Covid-19 pneumonia, among other things. Today she was intubated (put on a ventilator) because her breathing declined swiftly and severely. I talked with her doctor today, an infectious disease doc who is the leading expert on Covid here in Tulsa (if there can be such a thing; this disease is still pretty much a mystery). He wanted my consent (and got it) to start Kathy on plasma and on Remdesivir, the only drug authorized to fight Covid. He also started her on blood thinners to try to prevent blood clots. She is sedated.

Visitors are not allowed into ICU at this time. The last time I saw Kathy was when she was being loaded into an ambulance to go to ER at St. John. She started showing Covid symptoms two weeks ago; starting last Tuesday night, she began throwing up continually and running a fever that would not go down with Tylenol. I got her to ER last Thursday; they diagnosed pneumonia, but she didn’t meet criteria to be admitted. Sunday she was admitted.

Today, Wednesday, she is in critical condition with a machine breathing for her. I just don’t know what to say. Honestly, I’m numb and exhausted right now. I haven’t been sleeping for the last week. And I’ve been spending my time since Sunday morning texting and answering texts. I’m so very thankful for friends across the country who are praying earnestly for Kathy. I’m asking you to please do the same.

In June, we learned that Kathy’s mom, Patricia Howard, has inoperable bile duct cancer. She went from the hospital to Kathy’s sister’s house in Springboro, Ohio and is receiving hospice care there. (She probably only has a few weeks left to live as of this writing.) Kathy went there for the entire month of July to help her sister care for her mom. She got back to Tulsa on Saturday, August 1. WIthin two hours of her being here, I started showing symptoms of Covid. Since I have an underlying condition (ALS), I was at very high risk for it to go very badly. I was miserable for about nine days, but I didn’t have to go to hospital. Kathy, who has been in moderately good physical health (she does have clinically-severe depression and anxiety), is now near death. How can this even be?

I’m getting around ok. I am not concerned about me right now. Prayers for Kathy are what is needed. And any words of encouragement you might have lying around would not go to waste with me.

I’m so glad my cousin Steve is doing well after his liver transplant. And I know Cousin Molly has had an “adventurous” summer. We all have suffering we must face. Mine is no greater or lesser than yours. The great thing is this: Our God is far greater than any suffering we might face. We must trust Him at all times for all things.

That’s all I’ve got right now. I’ll try to keep you updated on further happenings …

Jeff

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: August 22, 2020

A discovery made by a geology professor turned out to be a bigger deal than he could have imagined. He stumbled upon the oldest vertebrate fossil tracks ever found at Grand Canyon National Park — about 313 million years old. They are among the oldest tracks on Earth of shelled-egg-laying animals, such as reptiles, and the earliest evidence of vertebrate animals walking in sand dunes. (CNN)

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: August 22, 2020

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MLB play of the week…

The Phillie Phanatic shows off the foul ball he caught among the cardboard cutouts of fans during a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets on Aug. 16 in Philadelphia. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

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It’s been too long since I’ve heard such eloquence spoken in a political context…

So what do we do now? What’s our strategy? Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, “When others are going so low, does going high still really work?” My answer: going high is the only thing that works, because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that’s drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves. We degrade the very causes for which we fight.

But let’s be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences.

And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrust with the only thing that can truly set us free: the cold hard truth.

• Michelle Obama, Aug. 17, 2020

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The latest in micturation technology…

To combat the problem of public urination, Amsterdam has installed 8 hemp-filled, sustainable urinals in the city’s “wild peeing” hotspots. The urinals — called GreenPees — look like traditional planters, with greenery sprouting from the top. Look more closely and you’ll notice an opening in the side. This is the target zone for urination. GreenPee is manufactured by Dutch company Urban Senses, and there are now a total of 12 of them in the city. (CNN)

The idea of using a public bathroom with see-through walls may sound like the stuff of nightmares. But a famous Japanese architect is hoping to change that view, using vibrant colors and new technology to make restrooms in Tokyo parks more inviting. “There are two things we worry about when entering a public restroom, especially those located at a park,” according to architect Shigeru Ban’s firm. “The first is cleanliness, and the second is whether anyone is inside.” Transparent walls can address both of those worries, Ban says, by showing people what awaits them inside. After users enter the restroom and lock the door, the powder room’s walls turn a powdery pastel shade — and are no longer see-through. (Satoshi Nagare/The Nippon Foundation)

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Who knew?

One of the most important revelations the nation received this week was that calamari is the official appetizer of the state of Rhode Island. By the way — WHAT DO YOU CALL A *JAMAICAN* SQUID? (Cala *Marley*)

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100 years ago…a historic vote for suffrage…

In 1913, the day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, thousands of suffragists descended on Washington for the Woman Suffrage Procession, organized by Paul and Burns for NAWSA. Inez Milholland, a 26-year-old suffragist, led the parade on horseback. Three years later, she would collapse while giving a speech in Los Angeles and die shortly thereafter. Her last public words were reportedly, “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?” (Library of Congress)

Ken Florey Suffrage Collection/Gado/Getty Images

This week marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee legislators voted in favor 50-46 to put the amendment over the line.

Winning the vote was a long and complex process. The New York Times has an excellent piece called Suffrage at 100: A Visual History at 100 that gives a photographic overview of the battle.

One of the interesting photos reminds us that winning the vote involved a hard-fought culture war then too:

“Counterintuitive though it may seem, there were women who actively opposed the suffrage movement. Some argued that having the vote would make women masculine, disrupt their traditional roles as wives and mothers and destroy American society. Their fears were illustrated in this cartoon by Laura Foster, published by an anti-suffrage group in 1915.”

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A different kind of faith message at the DNC…

Senator Chris Coons speaks at the Democratic Convention.

From Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons at RNS:

“People of faith have long led change, from abolition and women’s suffrage to the labor movement and the struggle for civil rights,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, Thursday night (Aug. 20) during his address to the Democratic National Convention. “Joe Biden will continue that progressive march towards justice, inspired by respect for the dignity of all people, people Joe believes were made in the image of God.”

Coons, a Yale Divinity School graduate and an ordained Presbyterian elder, delivered the most faith-focused message of the convention.

…The past four days have emphasized the Democratic Party’s commitment to religious outreach and that has the potential to transform all of American politics.

…Jill Biden said her husband’s “faith is unshakable — because it’s not in politicians or political parties — or even himself. It’s in the providence of God.”

In addition to highlighting Joe Biden’s personal faith, the convention emphasized the role of religion in the Democratic Party. A diverse group of faith leaders — including Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox clergy — were invited to pray at the convention, including Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

…The convention held an interfaith service and Catholic Mass. And earlier Thursday, I spoke at a “Believers for Biden” virtual convention watch party with actress Jennifer Garner. My message was simple: The religious diversity of the Democratic Party is a cause of celebration.

Seventy-one percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners identify with a religious tradition, according to Pew Research Center. Yet we rarely hear about the religious diversity of the party or our leaders. The embrace of religion spans the ideological spectrum of the party, from U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama. Obama has been speaking eloquently about his Christian faith as far back as 2004, when he delivered his history-making address at that year’s Democratic National Convention.

For too long, an imbalance of public discourse about the role of religion in each party has led to a warped perception that the GOP is the party of God. The idea Republicans have a lock on God heightens political polarization and erases a key motivation of progressive politics.

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Goodbye and good luck…

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50 years ago…remembering a historic break-up…

The Beatles play their famous goodbye concert on the roof of their Apple headquarters in London, the final performance of their career: January 30, 1969

Paul has to chuckle, thinking about how future generations will look back at this — the Beatles, the greatest of all rock & roll bands, the world’s most legendary creative team, falling apart over such a trivial spat. Even on a winter morning as gloomy as this one, Paul breaks into a laugh.

“It’s gonna be such an incredible sort of comical thing, like in 50 years’ time, you know. ‘They broke up because Yoko sat on an amp!’ ”

Rolling Stone has a fascinating article on the Beatles’ break-up, called And In the End, with the byline: “Fifty years ago, the Beatles went through rock’s most famous breakup. Inside the heartbreak, the brotherhood, and why the music still matters.”

But as with most Beatles stories, the truth is a lot more complicated when you look closely. In the end, it’s really a story about four friends trying to hold on to one another in dark and confusing times — searching for a way to shine on till tomorrow. Like everybody else, John, Paul, George, and Ringo witnessed the end of the Beatles with shock and disbelief, no idea how to apply the brakes. None of them really imagined this was the end.

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Now here’s a feel-good story…

Brayden Harrington, age 13, was a highlight of the Democratic Convention this week. He told about his problem of stuttering and how Joe Biden, who also battled stuttering, helped him overcome it. Our own Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, faced this challenge too: Read **Remember the Stutterer**.

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August Gardens
Henry H. Bellamann

Failing petals and dusty leaves
And drooping flower-heads,
Beneath unpitying skies
Unpromising of cloud or change—
Yet some faint life still moves
In your pale veins;
Some dumb, unknowing courage
Meets each day’s mocking sun.

How you keep faith with wind and rain!

I watch you in your silence,
Touch your curled tendrils;
While my tired eyes
Search heaven for promise
Or for change.

Can you know in your dim nerves
The touch of one who waits, like you,
And still keeps faith with God,
As you keep faith with wind and rain?

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43 years ago…Long live the King! The King is dead.

Crowds wait outside Graceland mansion before the gates are opened for the public to view Elvis Presley’s body on Aug. 17, 1977.

On August 16, 1977, at the age of 42 Elvis Presley was found by his girlfriend, Ginger Alden, lying unconscious on the floor of the master suite bathroom in his mansion in Memphis, Graceland. He was taken by ambulance to the Baptist Memorial Hospital and, after attempts to revive him failed, was pronounced dead at 3:30 pm. Like many other stars of his era, Elvis’s death was the result of drug abuse, confirmed by the toxicology report after his death. However, this was hidden from the public at first, the original report saying that he died of cardiac arrest.

According to charges filed against his physician, Dr. George Nichopoulos, in 1980, in the last 20 months of Elvis’s life, the star was prescribed over 12,000 pills and other pharmaceuticals and carried three suitcases of the drugs with him when he traveled.

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Reconsider Jesus – The Beginning (Mark 1:1)

Reconsider Jesus – A fresh look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark
A devotional commentary by Michael Spencer
Compiled and Edited by: Michael Bell
Table of Contents

The Beginning

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God… Mark 1:1 – NIV

Every world religion has something to say about Jesus. To Islam he is a prophet. To Buddhism he is another enlightened one. To Judaism he is a good man but a false messiah. To Hinduism he is an avatar. To the New Age he is an example of Christ consciousness. Every political movement, cultural movement and effort to improve self or society borrows and reinvents Jesus. Even the hardened atheist must compare Jesus to other great historical figures to come to terms with him. How can we really come to terms with the question of truth if we haven’t made an effort to hear and understand Jesus for ourselves? How can we read and hear what others say about him if we haven’t sought him out in the pages of the first Gospel? The person who tires of hearing Christians go on and on about Jesus has no better response than to check out the primary sources and see just how the Jesus of modern Christianity harmonizes with the Christ of the first century.

The intent of the author of Mark was to introduce Jesus to a world that did not know him and already misunderstood him. That purpose still works today for anyone who is willing to invest the time. There is a timelessness to this Gospel that works for every reader. Whether you are coming to Mark as a devoted Christian, or a sincere Atheist, this short Gospel still communicates with clarity and vivid reality.

As a teacher, I suggest to my students that they do five readings of the Gospel, at least three in a familiar translation and the other two from something fresher and daring.² Multiple readings allow for increasing familiarity, while different translations have the opportunity to surprise us with meanings. As you read, listen for the character and voice of Jesus as Mark presents him. At the same time, listen for the purposes and voice of Mark. He is inviting you into his story and you must be willing to go inside of the Gospel and not simply stand outside. This is a story of conflict and intense feelings. Dispassionate observation is impossible here. You will have to choose sides and be willing to be carried along to the ending.

Mark’s concern to identify Jesus will be seen throughout our study, but it is significant that he tells us that we begin to understand the story of Jesus not from the point of supposed neutrality, but from the point of faith. In the words of Augustine,³ “we believe in order that we may understand.” Mark begins his story with the ending already in hand. The reader of this Gospel is told up front and in loud tones that this is the story of the Son of God, Jesus the Messiah. He is inviting us to see for ourselves what this confession of faith means. Like a well-crafted sermon or speech, Mark starts with his “big idea” and then follows with the evidence to support his thesis. In contrast to this he also tells us that Jesus himself initially discourages some from announcing this truth.

So what is this Gospel, this good news that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God? The first title Mark uses is the easiest to understand. “Messiah”, or its Greek equivalent “Christ”, means anointed one. The Jews of that historical time period were looking for God’s anointed one who would lead them in overthrowing the Romans and would restore his people. Jesus was certainly not the only candidate for Messiah in his time, but Mark says he is the real one, just not in the way that his fellow countrymen were expecting, as we will explore in greater detail later.

The title Son of God is more difficult for modern minds to understand. Son of God is not a term strictly of relation that applies to everyone, i.e. we are all God’s children. Neither is it a New Age idea of Jesus being a special avatar or appearance of divine consciousness. It is, first of all, an expression of the core fact observed about Jesus: He considered God to be his father in the most literal sense. He spoke of God as Abba or “daddy.”⁴ He prayed to the Father rather than to the many-titled God of the Judaism of his day. His teachings were premised upon this relationship.⁵ It was such a clear and unique affirmation that it was the basis for his trial.⁶ He experienced God as Father throughout his life in a way that was observable to others.

Son of God is also part of the Christian understanding of God as Trinity. This is revealed in scripture, rather than explained. In the baptism of Jesus,⁷ God is present as Father who speaks, Spirit who anoints and Son who is present with human beings. This is the Christian conception of God as revealed by Jesus. God is the Father/Creator, he is the Spirit who we experience and he is the person, Jesus, whom we see and hear. One God revealed in three persons. The beginning is about the Gospel of Jesus, not just the story of Jesus. Mark’s story puts the story of Jesus into a larger story which begins in Genesis and continues into the history of Mark’s own time. It is a story that continues in the lives of Mark’s first century readers, who are facing abundant bad news. And it is a story that intersects in the lives of those of us who read Mark today. As we discover that the Kingdom of God includes us and that faith lets us in, we find the “Good News” for ourselves.

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Footnotes:

[2] When teaching, Michael Spencer used the English Standard Version (ESV). In his writing he tended to use the New Living Translation (NLT) and in earlier years the New International Version (NIV). He would also quote from the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and New American Standard Bible (NASB). He recommended Phillips and The Message as alternatives. He also noted that he grew up with the King James Version and that it is the favorite translation of many of the churches in his area of Kentucky.

[3] Bishop Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430) was an influential theologian and philosopher from North Africa.

[4] Mark 14:36

[5] Mark 11:25

[6] Mark 14:61 and following

[7] Mark 1:9-13

We rely on science. Why is it letting us down when we need it most?

We rely on science. Why is it letting us down when we need it most?

I’ve run a number of posts taking evangelicals to task for not relying on science but instead propagating social media misinformation on the current Covid crisis in particular and any number of creation/evolution issues. But as this LA Times op-ed notes, sometimes scientists themselves contribute to the lack of trust by the public. The article states:

Science is suffering from a replication crisis. Too many landmark studies can’t be repeated in independent labs, a process crucial to separating flukes and errors from solid results. The consequences are hard to overstate: Public policy, medical treatments and the way we see the world may have been built on the shakiest of foundations.

The article points out that failure to replicate doesn’t necessarily mean misconduct on the part of the original researchers but it does call into question their conclusions, and other research that relied on them. The problem lies in the following areas:

Studies are published with insufficient detail or lack of access to the actual data.
Scientists care so little for replication because it doesn’t advance their careers. There is little interest on the part of scientists themselves to replicate someone else’s study when they can get credit for their own.

In 2013 scientists tried to replicate 50 high-profile studies on tumor growth. The article notes:

There are many similar cases. In 2013, scientists set out to replicate 50 high-profile studies on the biological aspects of tumor growth. They discovered that not a single one of the original published papers documenting the work reported enough information about the study methods to allow them to even attempt an independent replication. Eventually, after contacting the original authors, some researchers managed to repeat some of the experiments, with a mixed bag of results compared to the initial findings. Others among the replication researchers gave up entirely.

This is bad, folks. In fact the “Replication Crisis” has its own Wikipedia page for crying out loud. As the Wiki page notes: “In the US, science’s reproducibility crisis has become a topic of political contention, linked to the attempt to diminish regulations – e.g. of emissions of pollutants, with the argument that these regulations are based on non-reproducible science. Previous attempts with the same aim accused studies used by regulators of being non-transparent.”

This is part of the reason that distrust in “experts” has become… well… pandemic, especially during the current Covid pandemic. The “experts” bear some responsibility themselves. To my fellow scientists I say – C’mon we can and have to do better.

On “Soft” Racism

On “Soft” Racism

Hi, my name is Mike and most of my life has been lived in a culture of “soft” racism.

“Soft” racism is my phrase for the mindset of people — like me — who grew up in a homogeneous white culture.

I was raised in the Midwest, northern Illinois to be precise. Small town America. Surrounded by farms and endless countryside. As white as a sheet of typing paper.

My only exposure to people of color was through the sports and music I watched and listened to.

Dale Kelley, from Galesburg IL, when he played college ball at Northwestern

When I was a boy, we had an all-state basketball player in our little railroad town of Galesburg, Illinois (home of Carl Sandburg). His name was Dale Kelley, and he averaged 27 points a game in 1966, leading the Silver Streaks to the championship game of the Illinois state tournament. My dad took me to home games, and for those I didn’t attend I kept score while listening to the broadcasts on the radio. Kelley went on to have a good career at Northwestern, played in the ABA, and was admitted to the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Dale Kelley is a person of faith, who eventually became a Methodist minister on the southside of Chicago. He is black, he was a black athlete in the midst of lily-white Galesburg, Illinois. I don’t remember any others.

We lived for a time in my dad’s hometown of Dixon, Illinois (home of Ronald Reagan). I remember when the Harlem Globetrotters came and played in our high school gym. The great Negro League baseball star Satchel Paige was with them, and I got his autograph. It may have been the most black people the town had ever witnessed together in one place at one time in Dixon.

Our family moved into a new housing development in Chicago’s southwest suburbs in the late 1960s. Nary a black or brown face anywhere to be seen.

But few in my generation — me included — were able to resist the sweet sounds of Motown or the grittier records out of Memphis. I was too young to participate in the marches of the Civil Rights era, but I dug Sly and Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and the Temptations. I went to the movies and watched Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? I vividly remember the night Dr. King was murdered.

However, in fact, I don’t recall ever meeting a person of color my own age until I was a senior in high school, after we’d relocated to the suburbs of Baltimore.

The Bible college I attended was 99% white, and those who weren’t were from other countries.

I moved to Vermont, where the joke used to be that integrating the schools meant one bus taking the two black children in the state around to all the schools in Vermont so they could say they weren’t segregated.

Every church I’ve ever attended or pastored was almost completely made up of white folks. Even in the city of Waukegan, Illinois, which is in one of the most diverse counties in the country.

Now I live south of Indianapolis, the side of town some black people I’ve met have told me they’re afraid to visit.

There are many people who could write a resumé like this. We shudder to think of ourselves as “racist.” Most of us never heard a lot of direct bigotry expressed in our families or communities. It wasn’t so much that we were against people of color — we simply had no experience of relating to them, of living with them, of interacting with them in personal and meaningful ways.

They weren’t the enemy, they were the other. As foreign to our way of life as a businessman in China, a farmer in India, a burka-wearing woman in Saudi Arabia.

Manasseh Cutler, Massachusetts minister instrumental in opening the Northwest Territory for settlement.

This state of affairs in the midwestern United States was initiated at the outset of our country. I’m currently reading David McCullough’s book, The Pioneers, the story of those who settled the Northwest Territory, which now comprises the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota.

This land, the “Ohio country,” was given to the fledgling nation by the British in the Paris Peace Treaty of 1783. The charter for this “backcountry” was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, passed by the Confederation Congress two years before the U.S. Constitution. And one of its chief tenets was this: no slavery would be permitted in this territory.

From the beginning of the United States, a region was carved out that would never be desecrated by the institution of slavery. I’m proud that this is my geographical heritage. However, this commendable decision also had a (not so) unintended consequence: the Midwest became wholly the land of the whites for nearly a century.

Not until the 1860s did African-Americans begin migrating into the region. The flow increased after the Civil War and then multiplied during the Great Migration of the 20th century (1916-1970). However, the black cultures that developed were primarily urban, as blacks and other people of color came for industrial jobs and a new life away from Jim Crow oppression in the rural south.

In those settings where people of color came, settled, and worked, the north proved as inhospitable as the southern states from which they fled. There was a great deal of hard racism: direct bigotry, prejudicial practices such as redlining, discriminatory laws, and hateful xenophobic crimes that kept most blacks on the margins and held them back from building generational stability and wealth.

But for most of us, away from the cities and industrial centers, life remained pure white culture. The soft racism I have lived with most of my life was mostly just ignorant of people who were different from us. No developed theory of white supremacy. Few statements of outright prejudice. We simply lived in a different world — a white world. We weren’t exposed, except through the increasingly invasive power of television and other media, to anything other than the world we knew and loved.

Thankfully, I’ve had opportunities to overcome this ignorance in my own life. Overseas travel and cross-cultural engagement has been the most potent remedy. Time in Haiti, India, and Brazil exposed me to the wonders of cultural diversity and enabled me to have experiences and make friends among people I never would have met otherwise. Working in hospice with and visiting people of different races, religions, backgrounds, and cultures has been transformational for me. I feel my world is no longer so closed off, separated from the versicolor ocean of humanity that surrounds the little island where I’ve been isolated far too long.

The New Testament epistles of Paul have been of invaluable help as well, with their insistence that Jesus came to break down all walls between people that separate, divide, and create ignorance, suspicion, and tribal hatred. I’ve come to think that Paul was much more concerned about the inclusion of the Gentiles and other excluded people into the promises of God than he ever was about most of the “theology” we attribute to him.

I’m convinced that Jesus won’t be satisfied until he welcomes

…a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands, crying out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ (Revelation 7:9-10)

A multitude who not only luxuriate in the love of God but who also embrace one another with deep pleasure and appreciation.

I want that. I want to want that more. And more.

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