Stranger Things: Was Vecna a Victim?

Apologetics, Christianity, cultural apologetics, FreeThinkingMinistries.com, Gospel, Henry Creel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Netflix, Richard Eng, Stranger Things, Vecna
***This review of Stranger Things Season 5 contains major spoilers. Consider yourself warned. It’s a new year, and the end of an era. Stranger Things, the wildly successful Netflix show, has officially concluded. I watched the show as a fan but also as one who is interested in the underlying worldview. No piece of media is completely neutral. In fact, the arts are meant to be an imaginative exploration of ideas. In story, you don’t just observe beliefs, you inhabit them as an “insider.” If you are not familiar with the show, I would warn that it contains language, violence, and at times depictions of what I determine to be demonic. Season 4 was particularly demonic, and I almost stopped watching. But I was a youth pastor at the time,…
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The Status of Women According to Islam

Apologetics, Christianity, cultural apologetics, Feminism, Gospel, Hadiths, Islam, Islamic Theology, JonathanMclatchie.com, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Muslims, women
The status of women in Islam is a subject enshrouded in controversy. According to many Muslims, Muhammad was a champion of women’s rights, bestowing upon the women in his community privileges and rights that they did not have previously. The notion that women in pre-Islamic Arabia had no rights, however, is demonstrably untrue. Former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi lists some of the rights that women had in pre-Islamic Arabia, which included ease of divorce, the ability to marry multiple men, and become overlords. Women were even able to propose for marriage, as in fact was the case with respect to Khadija’s marriage to Muhammad. To outsiders, the hijab is often viewed as a symbol of oppression. Since April 2011, wearing of head coverings (including hijabs) in public places has even been…
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Truth, Love, & Rage Bait

Apologetics, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk Assassination, Christianity, exploitation, Gospel, Gossip, https://www.facebook.com/JohnDFerrer, John Ferrer, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politics, Slander, Tyler Robinson
Thousands of amateur investigators across the interwebs are scouring the Charlie Kirk assassination case. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Many of them pose sincere questions and innocent curiosity. There should be no problem with a healthy exercise of free speech, free inquiry, and the marketplace of ideas. Mainstream narratives deserve a fair share of testing since they can’t all be trusted. But being popular, mainstream, or conventional never made anything false. Sometimes the truth is so widely recognized it becomes the majority view. Truth isn’t always sensationalistic. Sometimes it’s boring and predictable. Truth doesn’t care to entertain anyone. It just is what it is. But not every question is a fair question either. Sometimes questions are cloaked accusation, mean-spirited insinuation, manipulative suggestion, and trick questions designed not to reveal…
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Nick Fuentes in His Own Words

alt-right, Anti-Jew, Antisemitism, Apologetics, Christian Nationalism, Christianity, Donald Trump, Gospel, John Ferrer, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Misogyny, Nick Fuentes, Racism, Radical Right, white nationalism, White Supremacism
With the interview on Tucker Carlson followed by Ben Shapiro’s scathing response, and the failed diplomatic intervention of Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, Nick Fuentes ias no longer under the radar. I guess we have to talk about this guy. I should have some comments to share soon. But in the mean time, it will be good to hear Nick Fuentes in his own words. As much as possible I linked to his own, original clips. In a few cases they’re paraphrases. The effort is to let him speak for himself. For people who aren’t familiar with his rhetoric, they are liable to think his critics are exaggerating or treating him unfairly. I get it. So, this is a chance to see him, for yourself without spin doctors in the…
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The Persecution of Christians on Campus

Apologetics, Campus Life, Christianity, college life, free speech, Gospel, IsChristianityTrue.Wordpress.com, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Persecuted Church, Religious Freedom, Steve Lee
[Editor’s Note: “The point of peak persecution on American soil is the University” – John Ferrer. This article from Christian Apologetics professor and high school Bible teacher, Steve Lee has been his passion project spanning most of his teaching career at the high school and college level.  Over the past 14 years, this list of anti-Christian incidents has steadily grown with the most recent example being perhaps the most significant religious and political assassination in this generation: Charlie Kirk’s shooting at the Utah Valley University. Readers should note that this list is not exhaustive. There are many more examples beyond this list. Also, these persecution events on U.S. college campuses is not intended for petty games of comparison, as if our persecution is more important than someone else’s. No, this…
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Inside the Antifa Mind, Part 1: The Myth of Oppression

Antifa, Apologetics, Christianity, college, cultural apologetics, DrOwenAnderson.substack.com, Gospel, Leftism, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Marxism, Owen Anderson, political theory, radicalism, rules for radicals, saul alinski, terrorism
​​Welcome to my new series on the belief system known as Antifa. If you’re a parent or student, you might be wondering: What do the Antifa professors on my campus actually believe? Why are they pushing communism? My goal in this first installment is to explain their ideological foundation—how they think the world works—so that you can recognize their framework, understand their appeal, and ultimately see why it collapses under its own weight. This helps you see that such professors, for all of their study, have failed to become wise and cannot explain the basics of reality. In the next part, we’ll expose the rational incoherence of that foundation. The public refutation of any movement takes away its influence over the minds of its adherents and potential converts once it…
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Legislating Religion Or Morality?

1st Amendment, Charlie Kirk, Christian Nationalism, church and state, John Ferrer, Legislating Morality, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politics, Religious Freedom, Theocracy
It’s often said that “You shouldn’t legislate morality!” But, as Frank Turek argues ably, “all laws legislate morality.” He’s got a point. Legislating morality is inevitable. The question isn’t whether to legislate morality, but whose morality to legislate.[1] This predicament sets the stage for a genuine power struggle. Whose moral vision should win that tug-of-war? The outcome has yet to be determined on this side of eternity. Legislating morality is unavoidable. Legislating religion, however, remains undecided. Historically, the United States has been a majority Christian nation, informed by broadly Christian values, ethics, and worldview. The laws of this land, unsurprisingly, have often reflected a judicious and humanitarian outlook rooted in biblical Christianity. That means a growing recognition of sanctity of human life, the presumption of innocence, and freedom of religion.[2]…
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Spiritual Foundation #4 Environmental Preparation

Apologetics, Christianity, College-Prep, discipleship, Gospel, Julie Loos, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, MamaBearApologetics.com, relationships
As we wrap up our blog series on foundational types of college preparation, let’s review what we’ve covered. We’ve surveyed laying a strong faith-based foundation with personal habits of Bible study and prayer. Then we built on the importance of intellectual preparation, largely using the study of apologetics and its related disciplines. Next, we discussed the need for relational preparation through campus ministry and local church involvement, as well as friendships and family support. In this final blog, we’ll explore how being prepared for the college environment can help your child be ready for a successful transition to college. Knowing what you’re in for before you step on campus can help students acclimate more quickly and successfully to this new environment of strenuous academic expectations, new social networks and dynamics, and the responsibilities of adulting. That’s why…
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Spiritual Foundation #3 Relational Preparation

Apologetics, Christianity, College-Prep, discipleship, Gospel, Julie Loos, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, MamaBearApologetics.com, relationships
As excited as I was to go to the university of my dreams, 40+ years later, I still remember the empty feeling of watching my parents and sister drive away. What would things be like at home without me? What would things be like at college without them? Will I make friends? Will I find my way? One of the first ways to prepare your child relationally for college is to prepare you both for your relationship to change. Going off to college is an adjustment for the entire family. Your relationship with your child is going to naturally change as they move toward calling more of their own shots (and calling you less). So let me give you my $5 piece of advice: Mama, you need to let go. And your cub needs…
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Spiritual Foundation #2 Intellectual Preparation

and Politics, Apologetics, Christian Mind, Christianity, College-Prep, Culture, Culture and Politics, discipleship Categories: Legislating Morality, Gospel, Julie Loos, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, MamaBearApologetics.com
In the previous blog in this series, we recommended starting spiritual college preparation with the faith-based foundation of Bible study and prayer. To that, we suggest adding several intellectual disciplines, which together help us love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We start with the faith-building strength training of apologetics. Intellectual Challenges Your Kid May Face    For a while now, the stats haven’t been good for Christian kids’ faith to come out intact after they hit the college campus or even after high school. (If you want the facts, just read a summary here.) In recent months there has been some better news about Gen Z: they are more open spiritually, and young men are attending church more. However, there are still questions about  that “spirituality” leading to Christianity and whether the habit…
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