William – Really Right

Abolitionist Responds

Many years ago, Christian recording artist, Steve Taylor, released a parody song that pretty much ended his singing career and a brilliant run of successful albums. His release of “I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good” was a bridge too far for some folks in the executive suite of his recording label. The song is about an ice cream man that blows up the local abortion clinic because it is depriving his business of future customers. The best line in it is,

Excuse me, sir

Ain’t nothing wrong with this country

That a few plastic explosives won’t cure.

Yesterday on Facebook, I took my turn as the ice cream man of the Abolitionist movement. I asked what I thought was a legitimate and honest question to a post stating that “IVF kills more babies than abortion”.

The guy that posted it was someone I have been Facebook friends with for about a year and a half. He has about 4,600 followers and is constantly posting about the evils of IVF.

I asked, “[name deleted] can you start talking more about alternatives to IVF instead of just condemning it?”

Folks, I think that is a fair and honest question. I think that I stated so in my previous post. But the response from Abolitionists followers was off the rails weird.

“Like all sin the best alternative is the gospel.”

“Adoption.”

I then restated my question. “… what alternatives can be offered to people that think IVF is their only option?”

Restating the question did not help.

Abolitionists were dumbfounded that I would ask such a question. It was so outside of their wheelhouse that it simply didn’t compute with them.

One person said that folks at the IVF clinic simply need the Gospel.

I said, I’m not talking about the Gospel or adoption. What help can you offer a couple walking in the door of the IVF clinic that can’t have children the usual way but wants their own biological children?

At one point I said, we have centers to send people as an alternative to abortion clinics. Where can you send people instead of the IVF clinic? I even mentioned the saying, “You can’t beat something with nothing.” There were zero responses to that question. I can only conclude that they don’t feel an alternative should even be offered.

Other that shouting to infertile couples not to kill their own baby, they seemed to have nothing to offer.

After restating my question for the third time in the same Facebook thread, the original poster of the anti-IVF remarks then started private messaging me and demanded that I call him personally. It was then that I learned that he was a truck driver by profession. He said that he couldn’t text and drive, although he managed to message me several times when he was supposed to be driving.

I finally called him and spent the better part of an hour on the phone. He treated me like I was visiting junior high youth group for the first time and stepped me through his thought process on why IVF was evil.

During this call, it was claimed that there are one million fertilized eggs in cold storage in the United Stated. These eggs are considered property and depending on the clinic and lab arrangements, the biological parents may or may not be considered the owners of these children. (If life begins at the beginning, then they are children.)

At points in the conversation, the man seemed to confuse IVF with surrogacy. He also stated that most people at IVF clinics were not Christians as Christians know better than to pursue IVF which is why giving people at IVF clinics the Gospel is so important.

I reminded him that that was a false assumption. I told him that statistically, there is no difference in the abortion and divorce statistics between the general population and those who identify as Christian, so why would he expect people at the local IVF clinic to be any different? He was dismissive of my remark and didn’t believe it. For someone claiming to be pro-life, this bothered me. The statistics that I quoted on abortion and divorce have often been used to show the ineffectiveness of the Christian Church in the West. I also said that I have never heard any church speak from the pulpit on IVF or abortion. (I am not talking about some throwaway line in a sermon but an actual sermon on the topic.)

After letting him talk for quite a while, I again brought up what alternatives that he could offer. Again, he said the Gospel. I pressed him on it, and he suggested that it was our duty as Christians to adopt all one million kids in freezers and bring them all into the world. Adoption was mentioned as part of this discussion.

Folks. As we were ending the phone call, he promised to send me a URL to a website with alternatives but all I got from him was 3 memes on the evils of IVF.

He also said that a minister that is big in Abolitionists circles named John Speed had responded to my question. I told him that I hadn’t been on FB in a while.

Speed’s response was in five points which I will summarize below.

1 Pastors need to preach about the unethical nature of IVF and that there is no ethical version

2 Pastors need to research #1 to be convinced that IVF is unethical.

3 When infertile couples come to their pastor for counseling, pastor must know NAPRO tech and natural methods to deal with infertility

4 Adoption

5 If you really want a kid, try to get an embryo donated.

Folks, if IVF continues and Christians start adopting frozen children then I think the situation will get worse from the Abolitionist point of view, not better. More demand will require more supply. Only if IVF is ended first would this form of adoption be a good idea.

Later, the original poster of the IVF comment gave me 10 bullet points on the Facebook thread. They include: being content in your current situation, prayer, fasting, adoption, get your “baby fix” at the church nursery, or lastly seek an expert in fertility that is ethical. (Several of the points were duplicate ideas just stated differently.)

This advice was followed up with “Let us “not” to do evil (make and murder babies) so good may come (one baby delivered) to begin with.”

So, there you have it. Abolitionists don’t have any alternate ways of a couple conceiving a child. Their answer, just be happy you can’t have a kid or go borrow someone else’s.

Oh, the initial claim that IVF kills more children than abortion is demonstrably false; if for no other reason than there are few that can afford IVF. Last I heard, we have about 2. 5 million abortions annually and there are about 50 million per year worldwide. Sorry, but the math doesn’t work to support a claim that IVF kills more than abortion.

Thoughts on IVF, Abortion, and Abolitionists

For decades, the Pro-Life Movement was defined by the seemingly impossible goal of defeating the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973. Every Republican President since Ronald Reagan claimed to be opposed to this ruling but refused to appoint known opponents of Roe to the Supreme Court under the guise of judicial objectivity. Meanwhile every appointment to the Court by Democrats was a known and vocal supporter of Roe.

In fairness, please note that it is true that Reagan was the only sitting US President to write a book opposing abortion. After his death, Nancy Reagan did her best to block efforts to reprint Reagan’s book, but I think it is back in print. I know because I have an original copy of the book somewhere.

Anyway, Donald Trump comes along and appoints judges to the Court that eventually did away with Roe. This effectively blew up the Pro-Life movement. Many supporters of biblically based political movements are only fair-weather, short-term adherents to such efforts anyway. After decades of defining of victory as defeating Roe, the Life issue now looks very different. In the aftermath, many are asking if defeating Roe was just a pyric victory.

Some in the Pro-Life camp were hailing Trump as its champion during his first term and now many of these same people are claiming that Trump is the archenemy of Life in his second term. Folks, Trump hasn’t changed, just their definition of Life.

That is what I’d like to explore in the next few paragraphs of my blog post.

There is a relatively new group of people in the Pro-Life camp that seemingly didn’t exist up until the Supreme Court tossed out Roe. These folks call themselves “Abolitionists.”

For those not too up on the issue, originally “Abolitionists” were those people that wished to wipeout slavery in the years prior to the American Civil War. Part of the argument against slavery was that black folks were human too and the color of one’s skin did not diminish their value.

With the rise of Darwinian Evolution, many people had a “scientific” fig leave to cover their blatant racism. They asserted that the darker one’s skin color, the closer to apes that they must be. Some men were clearly genetically superior to others. These, so called, scientific facts were the basis of many mass genocides in the 20^th Century. This included Hitler and his “Final Solution.”

Praising the same values and rubbing shoulders at cocktail parties with such Elites as those that later became the core of Hitler’s government, was Margaret Sanger, of Planned Parenthood fame.

Now in 21^st Century America, there is a new Abolitionist movement. This one is to eradicate abortion in all its varied forms. Folks, in theory, I support the goals of the Abolitionists, but… and you knew there was one or I wouldn’t have much of a post today, but … these guys are going scorched earth on their fellow Christians more than the guys they claim to oppose.

I have spent, and yes possibly wasted, many years in the political world. In politics you meet people that generally fall into two categories, what is possible and what should be. Guys in the, what should be basket, say stuff that sounds really good if you don’t examine it very closely. One go-to phrase is, why should I ever have to vote for the lesser of two evils? The what should be crowd usually votes for long-shot third party candidates or not at all. Guys like Ross Perot, Ron Paul, etc. come to mind.

The quest for perfection before I’ll vote for them, is really dumb. Typically, the folks that whine about no candidates that are good enough for their vote in the General Election sat on their butts doing zero for anybody when the Primary process was underway. Thus, they claim moral superiority over the rest of us and did zero work or investment of their time, treasure, and resources to make their part of the world a better place.

They are worthless leaches that look down their noses at us, the unwashed masses.

A lot of rhetoric from self-identified Abolitionists is firmly rooted in the what should be bucket. Anybody that isn’t hip and up to speed on their issue is their enemy.

Folks, it took over fifty years to convince a ragtag group of Protestants that abortion was wrong. The Roman Catholics were the backbone of the fight for many decades and standing alone for most of the fight. I am hesitant to say that the Pro-Life side could ever claim a majority supported them.

Folks, the Abolitionists, in the minds of many, have moved the goalposts. Victory was always defined as overturning Roe v Wade. It’s done. Roe is no more, and many thought the fight was over.

However, like the proverbial hydra, the head that was removed from Planned Parenthood has spawned several others. I can think of three new fronts on the battle for Life. Think of Planned Parenthood as being the evil corporation in some Hollywood movie, since most villains in their movies are corporations, this analogy won’t be far from the truth anyway. Since surgical abortions are not in vogue anymore, they have been forced to diversify their portfolio of evil. Revenue and death is what they are all about.

Planned Parenthood is the biggest supplier of transgender drugs in the world. Planned Parenthood is knee deep in the abortion pills by mail business. And then there is IVF (in vitro fertilization).

I personally have seen nothing from the Abolitionists about the transgender drug distribution perpetrated on the youth of America by this organization dedicated to weeding out the unfit from society.

The other two categories have both been used by Abolitionists as battering rams to vilify President Trump.

On the one hand, the FDA is continuing to approve generic drugs used for mail order abortions while Trump and his appointees are trying to stop them; or so it appears. I think there are some rogue folks doing what they can to thwart Trump and give him a poke in the eye whenever they can. I’m not convinced that Trump and his administration are ok with mail order murder of the unborn. This issue is leftover from the Biden Administration, and I think it will be dealt with in due time. Putting the proverbial genie back in the bottle, will be difficult with both New York and California encouraging mail order abortions and allowing the drugs to be freely sent to other states. Yet another use of the Interstate Commerce Clause that disrupts its proper application.

Lastly, is IVF (in vitro fertilization).

I don’t know if this is true, but for many years it was alleged that IVF was typically needed because women that had abortions when they were younger, finally wanted children when they were older, and couldn’t have them.

IVF was never a centerpiece in discussions about abortion. It is always talked about as allowing people to be parents that otherwise couldn’t be. In an era of declining birth rates, being parents should be encouraged. Isn’t that, at least in part, the message of Charlie Kirk?

If people are not educated on the nuts and bolts of IVF, why would you expect them to question the process? Isn’t the fact that many couples can have children as a result of IVF a societal good?

Opposing IVF is the line-in-the-sand or litmus test for many Abolitionists.

Yes, technically, the Abolitionists are correct, but … the vast majority of folks they want to vilify are just ignorant not purposefully evil.

I think they are wrong for demanding a top-down political decision. I think they need to spend their time educating the church. Lord knows we need it.

If Covid proved anything, it’s that our seminaries are broken institutions and the vast number of people in pulpits are hirelings not shepherds.

Randy Stonehill wrote many years ago,

We take our loftiest intentions

And engrave them all neatly in stone

And once they’re safely up there

We’d prefer that they just leave us alone.

Randy Stonehill Stop the World 1974

Sadly, for most churches, this was the fate of their Pro-Life and Pro-Marriage statements. Add them to a document never to be heard from again and then these same churches could bury their heads in the sand. Somehow sermons never happen on the topic of Life, or Marriage, or abortion, or anything else that Satan is using to attack the flock. Such messages might disrupt the amount being contributed to the collection plate, and we just can’t have such controversy. After all, Jesus said, “my kingdom is not of this world.” Too often we have a milquetoast church not the militant one.

The gripes of the Abolitionists, as I understand them, are these: many eggs are fertilized but only a few are actually implanted into the mother. The rest are literally placed in a freezer as backups in case they are needed later. This is because extraction of sperm or eggs, depending on which partner needed the surgery, and subsequent implanting of the embryos is expensive. Second, multiple fertilized eggs are usually implanted. Often, at a later date, multiple children are then aborted to prevent the birth of too many offspring at once. A woman can only handle so many babies growing inside her at a time.

Since President Trump is trying to make IVF more attainable, the above (batch fertilization and implanting multiple embryos) makes him a mass murderer in the eyes of the Abolitionists. I think there may be more ethical ways of doing the IVF procedure, but the Abolitionists simply want the IVF procedure banned by law.

I have been involved in the Pro-Life movement in various ways for my entire adult life, and I can’t name one alternative to IVF that allows a married couple to bear children. No, I’m not going to allow a discussion on adoption. That is a different topic. I am talking about biological offspring. What is the alternative when “doing the baby dance” doesn’t result in children?

Gary North had a few phrases that he liked to use in his books. Two come to mind as I consider this topic.

“You can’t change just one thing.”

“You can’t beat something with nothing.”

I think the Abolitionists need to educate their own people (folks in their various churches and denominations) on the subjects that they are passionate about before expecting the rank-and-file pagans to fall in line just because they say so.

Discouraging use of the hormones utilized for mutilating transgender people and stopping the distribution of at home abortion pills are issues that many traditionally Pro-Life people understand. IVF is a much harder sell because it is more complicated and multifaceted. IVF requires an alternative while the other two issues do not.

Again, what are realistic alternatives to IVF?

Can IVF be changed to be more ethical?

Few people try to get the IVF procedure, as compared to the number of women using abortion as retroactive birth control.

Also, how many women are taking the at home abortion pills that aren’t even pregnant? I’d wager quite a few.

Guys, I’d really like to get on the Abolitionist bandwagon, but I don’t know where you’re going or how you plan to get there. The idea has merit. I just can’t figure out if you are a grassroots religious movement or a political one. Lastly, might I humbly suggest that you get like-minded Christians on board with your views on IVF before trying to burn President Trump in effigy for his.

Peace in the Middle East–Dream On

Donald Trump is taking a victory lap for getting Hamas to release the Israeli hostages after two years of “war.” Can you say, “Pyric victory.”

Sorry, but this is just a pause in hostilities so both sides can regroup.

Hamas has no hostages, so now Israel can blow-up stuff with impunity. Also, thanks to Trump, the United States now has troops in the middle of this mess in Gaza. That can only mean that when some of our guys die, that we will green light even more bombardment of Gaza in the name of vengeance.

Hamas is ok with folks getting killed in Gaza. They are hoping that enough wanton destruction will force their Arab Brothers to retaliate. Dream-on baby. Iran and its proxies may funnel arms into the conflict, but most other nations will sit it out.

What has really happened is that Trump, Israel, and Hamas have just agreed to a genocide program to rid Israel of Palestinian Christians. Nobody speaks for them, and nobody cares.

If you weren’t paying attention, you may have skipped the part about Hamas publicly executing people just hours after the Israeli hostages were released. There are no coincidences. Hamas will not disarm or relinquish power. They have only learned to play in their own backyard.

Peace only comes through victory. This war is not over, just paused. I predict that it will continue, just via more subtle means.

Civilians always suffer, but even more so when combatants don’t wear uniforms.

It is stupid that we are involved in this war.

Other Thoughts

Israel is one of the biggest lobbying organizations in Washington D.C. That coupled with the false theology found in many Christian churches that have swallowed the lies of premillennial dispensationalism have created an environment where the current nation called “Israel” is the same nation as that found in the Bible. This is fantasy.

As a result of this false equivalence, many Evangelicals believe that national Israel can do no wrong, and whatever they do is in accord with God’s will, prophetic or otherwise. Thus, Israel is given a pass on behavior. For them, to question or oppose any actions by the current government based in Jerusalem, is to oppose God Almighty.

In fact, for many, to criticize Israel is to prevent the return of Christ. Yep, oppose Israel, prevent or delay the Second Coming. Of course, these same Evangelicals also believe that the price of Christ returning is that two thirds of all Jews will perish in wanton slaughter which somehow causes the rest to believe in Jesus. Good luck with that.

Thus, folks like Ted Cruz support Zionism so that Jews will die which results in Jesus returning to rule. This makes Jesus the king of a ball of radioactive slag not king of a world that has believed the Gospel and been transformed by it. And we think Liberals are mentally ill. Good grief.

Thoughts on Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk was killed the other day. It was coincidence that I was in Utah when it happened. It does seem weird that shortly after I drove thought metro Salt Lake City that my brother in Christ was murdered.

Shortly after the Fox News alert, I got a text from “The Chief” informing me that it was a fatal shot. Chief stated that anyone viewing the video knew Kirk was dead. He told me the delay in announcing the death was to inform next of kin. As usual, my staff is Really Right.

Charlie Kirk was doing what he loved, arguing presuppositional apologetics with young skulls full of mush. Charlie was effective in removing the blinders from the minds of young people. He was quick on his feet and gentle in his rebukes to followers of the failed philosophies of our age. His mission was to turn the hearts of our youth toward the reality of God.

I find it remarkable that this unapologetic Christian has been praised by Protestants, Roman Catholics, and even Jewish folks of all stripes. In the wake of his death, people have been spontaneously doing what Charlie advocated, taking back our institutions. People praising his murder on social media are finding themselves unemployed and outcasts. People are seeing a chance to fight back via peaceful means and taking it. Chief was right that Charlie was just a guy with a microphone and a message that is older than our civilization.

Charlie’s methodology of discourse follows in the footsteps of folks you probably haven’t hear of like Cornelious Van Til, Rousas John Rushdoony, and Greg Bahnsen. Charlie Kirk argued that you need to stay consistent with your worldview assumptions. This, in essence, is using a presuppositional apologetic. Bahnsen called it “pushing the antithesis”. Don’t let folks borrow capital from a Christian worldview to prop up their failed philosophy. Look on YouTube for some videos of actor Kirt Cameron doing the same thing long before Charlie Kirk was old enough to shave.

Charlie Kirk touched the lives of many people and his reach on social media will allow his message to reach people long after he is laid to rest. Charlie’s message is eternal because the God that he knew is eternal. Charlie was able to communicate that love with boldness. Charlie will be missed. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” This has always been the truth.

Charlie, thanks for fighting the good fight. Well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter into God’s rest. (see Matthew 25:23)

Am I out of My Mind?

Yesterday I did something that I never would have considered even a few months ago. I will give the punchline and then the story.

Yesterday, I offered to pay the legal fees of a lady if she would file for a divorce. Yep, how’s that for a hook for my story.

I have known this person for a while via a business here in town. She is very attractive except for one thing, she is miserable. The Book of Proverbs references a person with a fallen countenance and this woman sure fits that description. She is in pain. I can feel it when I’m in her presence. Other folks that know her don’t get that sense at all but wow; how could you miss it?

She doesn’t wear a wedding ring, and I personally know some men that have asked her out for a casual date. They were brushed off but were never told that she is married. One of my neighbors is her friend and we had a chat after this woman did something nice for me. It was then that I learned that the woman was married.

I was able to chat with the miserable lady via text message. She initiated the contact, but I will not get into the details here. Via a text exchange, I was able to confirm her agony and marital status. She declined even speaking to me outside of work. The vibe I get is that she has been abused and abandoned. At one point, she said she would pursue a divorce, but not for another five years. Folks, I don’t think she can endure five more years of suffering.

I went to my collection of books and pulled out Second Chance: Biblical Principles of Divorce and Remarriage by Ray Sutton. In this book, Sutton covers biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage. In it, he discusses the fact that you can be married on paper but that you may have a partner that is covenantally dead. A spouse can commit sin such that they have destroyed the marriage. If that happens, the offended party has not only a right, but an obligation to file for divorce if reconciliation is not possible.

“Death is covenantal in the Bible, not mere cessation of existence. It is the loss of a relationship with God through an ethical violation of the original bond. It is the severance of the fundamental God/man union, due to disobedience to the covenant-terms…”

“Covenantal death … also means that if the spouse breaks the moral terms of the covenant, he will die to the relationship, and the marriage would be dissolved.”

Sutton lists six grounds for divorce (see his book pages 57 & 58 for more detail)

1 Idolatry, Blasphemy, and False Prophecy

2 Witchcraft, Divination, and Spiritism

3 Sabbath-breaking

4 Sexual Sins

5 Murder

6 Contumacy and Malicious Perjury

Most folks think of the reasons for divorce as adultery or abandonment, but Sutton shows that much more is in view. If a violation occurs, the innocent party is free to declare the marriage as dead and move on.

“… the innocent party is free to divorce and remarry when his spouse commits one of the capital offenses, since the guilty party dies covenantally to his covenant with God, and he simultaneously kills the marriage covenant at that moment. … the innocent party is always required to try to restore his marriage. … He is not obligated to divorce, even if the guilty spouse does not repent, but the innocent party is free to marry.”

Based on the above info, I made my offer. My text to her can be summed up as, if you have a biblical basis to divorce then I will pay up to $3,000 in legal fees on your behalf.

She politely declined but later indicated that she was looking at filing papers now to end the marriage.

One of my friends that had previously asked her out wondered why she waited. My response was, better the devil you know…

Life in a small town can get really interesting in unexpected ways.

Epstein Client List

One of the holy grails of conspiracy theorists and disillusioned conservatives is who were Epstein’s clients and was he a Massad agent?

The second question seems to be “yes”, as I hear nobody disputing that Israel was a sponsor of his “pleasure island”. In fact, I think portions of our government were in on it too.

As for the client list, that is a bit richer. For years we have heard that not only is there a list, but each sexual encounter was video taped and carefully catalogued. Jeffrey Epstein was running a “honey trap” and a blackmail operation. Whether and to what extent the information was used to shape government policy and manipulate corporations, and government interests is not known.

Now, after campaigning on it, Trump and his minions now says there is no list! WTF? This is totally not credible. Trump got scammed on Covid in his first term and this is a scam that won’t go away. This Epstein issue is toxic and will erode his support in ways that the Democrats have been unable to do.

If Epstein had no clients, then there would be no victims, and no crimes. Thus, his assistant, Ghislaine Maxwell should be released from jail ASAP.

This is the flaw in the Trump Administration’s new claims that there is no list. They have the conviction of Maxwell, but she is now innocent!? Sorry, but the court and jury said evidence existed, hence a guilty verdict, then but there’s none now!? Are we to believe now that Hillary wiped the list with bleach and a battery-operated drill?

Help me out. We have a list of victims and criminal masterminds but no perpetrators.

Then there is the issue of Epstein’s murder. The proof of suicide, like the guy on the grassy knoll, seems to be cut from the video at exactly the critical moment of truth. The timecodes on the cell video are broken. Did the Swamp Rats, flip Trump again? Something stinks in this whole thing.

I really want some folks to go to jail, get divorced by their wives, and have their reputations destroyed. After what happened to the young girls who were victimized, such might be a downpayment on the justice they deserve.

The truth is that whoever releases a list first, it will be up to everyone else to decide if it’s valid and complete or not. Setting the narrative will be the benchmark in the court of public opinion.

Allan Dershowitz claims there never was a client list, but he knows the names that have been redacted in previously released documents. Dershowitz maintains that federal judges in the southern district of New York are blocking the release of information.

The alternate way of doing this is to follow the money and trace Epstein’s financial transactions.

This is why the whole record needs to be on the record. I don’t think Bill Gates and Prince Andrew should be the only guys on the hook. The amount of justice being obstructed fuels the speculation that Epstein ran a lucrative operation. He certainly rubbed shoulders with the rich and powerful and did “favors” for them.

Is the public argument now whether Epstein kept a spreadsheet or rolodex of names or just knew who was writing checks to him for pimping out young girls. I wonder if we are parsing words. Clearly there are lists, partial or otherwise.

Online Dating Independence Day Update

Folks, as mentioned before, I have been participating in some online dating websites. Yep, I have found fraudulent accounts and sketchy people, but I have found some nice ones as well. I’ve been especially impressed by two young women that live in the Philippines. One is a teacher and the other is, well I don’t recall. These ladies put the rest of the bunch on these dating websites to shame. They are not materialist, career-oriented feminists, but really on fire for God and live to tell people about Jesus. They are as beautiful as any of the fashion models that Donald Trump has on his payroll and the best part is that you know they are more beautiful on the inside. Sadly, they are both in their twenties.

As for the rest of the pack, I am corresponding with a few women; only one of whom is in the age bracket that I really want. The others are old. I can’t get my head around the fact that these ladies are grandmothers and are interested in me.

Warning I’m about to get really controversial so stop reading now or promise not to get angry with me. You have been warned.

Ok, so why the warning? I’m not old. I may be turning 64 later this year, but I’m still a kid on the inside. (My friends here in Idaho think I’m in my mid-fifties.) I’m looking hard at women between 35 and about 50 years old. Had my son made better life choices, I would be making different ones now, but it is clear that I will never have any progeny from him. Dude, Ellie freaking Mitchell had a huge crush on you and then you make your stupid life choices, thou fool. My son, you have made the stupidest life choice since Esha sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.

I want a proper heir to carry on the family name. There, I said it out loud. I currently have nobody to leave anything to. The thought of all my stuff being reduced to a few neglected boxes that Goodwill or the Salvation Army will reject is not the ending that I hope for. I’d like the family name to continue. To put this in words that you might comprehend, “There is NO other Skywalker.”

I have all the genealogy stuff that my wife accumulated from both sides of her family plus all the good antiques and none of her kids want it. It will eventually find its way to thrift shops or whatever, but what a waste. Nobody wants the fine China, the wedding silver, the tons of photos that I have (currently over 26,000 images and I have much more that needs scanning), her old books, or anything else. The only things the kids seem to have any interest in are the wife’s Hallmark ornaments which I could care less about. Sorry, but Hallmark has never meant Christmas to me.

Anyway, I have been corresponding with this young lady in Brazil. She happens to live in Rio, a place that I have visited twice while in the Navy. She has a two-year-old daughter. I don’t know what will happen, but I am willing to pursue her further. Oh, she is 39. Per Google, if I started paperwork now, by the time I could get her here, she will be about the same age as my last wife when we were wed.

I really like children. I think God put us on the planet to have lots of them, something my wife didn’t let us pursue further. I could argue that her reasons for not having more children were the beginnings of the path that ended with her demise, but I won’t elaborate further in writing. Let’s just say that her decision still has consequences for the living.

My grandfather lived to be 96, and my dad is on track to get close to that age too; so, I figure that I may have three more decades in the tank too. Yes, I know tomorrow is not a certainty, but I at least have some reason to hope for more than the seventy years mentioned in the Bible.

Back to Rio girl. Assuming that she is real and not an AI chatbot which might very well might be the case (see update below), then if we continue on the path that we are seemingly on, I will have her visit in a few months. I think if she visits me for two or three weeks, we can know if we are compatible. My faith is important to me but trying to have deep discussions with someone via text messages whose second language is English is not really fair. Oh, her English seems to be excellent, but still…

So, if it works what’s next? Paperwork, we can’t have a government without lots of paperwork. Then there is the issue of making sure she is cared for if I do shed the mortal coil. Oh, if this does come to fruition, I plan to adopt her daughter as my own, something I could never do with my step kids while their biological dad was still involved in their lives. (Bet they never even thought to ask why that never happened.)

Having a few online friends is helping me be in a better state of mental health. I never have been fond of married people telling me to be happy that I’m single.

I’m also in communication with a nice lady in Oregon. Church wise, we are polar opposites but she is very nice and however things turn out, I’d like to keep her as a friend.

The Other People I’ve Seen Online

On the predominately Reformed Baptist website my general comment is no wonder the people on there are single. The Christian stuff they claim to consume is from the likes of John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul. In other words, they stay within their own bubble of knowledge and know nothing of other views. After consuming “spiritual baby food” for years, they know nothing and think they know it all.

I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy so I will bash both genders separately.

The guys out number the women about eight to one on this website. The vocal ones tend toward rudeness and want to argue theology until the other party submits unconditionally. They think the way to a mate is to find the perfectly completed female profile and then expect the girl will submit to their leadership without the guy having any track record of accomplishing anything. The other issue is that they have no idea what a biblical marriage is all about. A husband’s job is to die daily for his wife, not be waited on hand-and-foot by his personal handmaiden.

Many of the women on there, having secured their careers, and now wish to add a husband to their life in much the same way as a person adds a new pet to the family or pair of shoes to their wardrobe. Generally, they are unwilling to “leave and cleave” and start a new family. Alternately, they have child custody or other reasons and/or baggage not to be with their potential man. They erect unnecessary barriers or have unrealistic expectations such as “I want to homestead and home school my children”. They seem ignorant of the fact that their favorite YouTube personalities that homestead are being paid because they can’t earn enough to make a living homesteading unless they continue to generate extra money from social media by having you watch them. Having seen it up close and personal, homesteading is more of a work commitment than having children.

On the other website that I’m using, there is a persistent group of men that harass new female members. They come across as if asking the girl if she is a slut, if so, please call me on this social media account. It’s the same handful of guys spraying virtual graffiti on each account; like a dog urinating on their mailbox.

Both websites have this in common, there is a lot of ‘deadwood” or stale accounts being hosted on the website. I guess content over quality is the motto. One website has accounts that are older than seven years that are still considered people looking for a mate. One website tells you where they last logged in based on their IP address, which can easily be spoofed, but not when they last logged in. Neither website will allow you to sort by paid members to make it easier to interact with actual humans.

Between the two websites, I have hit “Like” on seventy or more different profiles. Generally, nobody even takes a look at my profile in return. I don’t mean they didn’t reciprocate interest by liking me, but that they never even clicked to see who liked them. To me this is more proof that the women I’m looking at don’t exist or lost interest long ago. I know some accounts are fraudsters, but some are not.

Online dating is not for the faint of heart.

My last comment is that the men in the group, and women too, need to read “The Boniface Option” by Andrew Isker. Our youth are stuck in “Trash World” and happy as pigs in their own excrement thinking this is the “normal” state of things. MacArthur and Sproul are safer choices because they rarely touch us in our everyday lives.

Update: I have had time to process (or ponder) some details of my exchanges with Rio girl and parts of her story have fragments of information that don’t flow. Also, in the process of looking at other women’s profiles, I found that AI, instead of trying to translate a profile into English, analyses it and generates a response based on the text that you give it. Just by cutting and pasting, you get instant responses in languages that you don’t have to know. This would explain her flawless English and obtuse details. Her daughter “is named Rose which is a type of flower”. Ok, what human on the planet doesn’t know what a rose is? A person would know but an Artificial Intelligence would not because it’s just another piece of data to it. Also, can you type on your phone in perfect English? She can and it’s a second language to her. Maybe Rio girl is fool me twice. If I hear from her again, which is debatable, (we ended things with me asking for live video chat), then I intend to talk theology. All I have to do is hit her with some misdirection and see if I get away with it.

Beginning July with a Rant

Good Grief!!

No wonder things in our culture are so upside-down.

I was warned this was futility, but I insisted on trying anyway. I have joined two online Christian dating websites. One is dominated by Reformed Baptists and the other with Seventh Day Adventists. This rant is directed at the Reformed Baptists.

I first met someone that I knew was a Reformed Baptist minister when I was finishing college. He lived in Laguana (now part of Elk Grove). He had ten children that we all home schooled by their mom. Their house was immaculate. It looked like a model home. There were no toys or books out of place, and I was amazed at the cleanliness of the place.

Several families in my current church are from Reformed Baptist backgrounds.

It would be difficult to explain the differences between a Reformed Baptist and your neighborhood Baptist church. Reformed Baptists are essentially proto-Baptists. If you froze Baptist theology in about 1,800; meaning, no fixation of futurism as presented by Scofield and Hal Lindsey or Tim LaHay, then you would be in the ballpark. In the Reformation period, Baptists were pariahs and regarded in some circles as heretics, but their image has softened over the years.

Anyway, I was on a live chat that was held last Saturday with folks from the Reformed Baptist singles site. The moderator kept trying to find topics for us to discuss. Boy was his selection, controversial. Guys, I love controversy, but I would never suggest the topics that he did. One was concerning some states passing laws to post the Ten Commandments. Several participants were against the idea, which I found curious. Another topic that he tossed out for discussion was infant baptism.

As a follow-up, one of the guys posted a poll that members were asked to vote on. The poll had four opinions on posting the Ten Commandments. The four options presented concerned having a state pass a law to post them, getting a local school board to unilaterally adopt such a policy, sit out the discussion and just home school your own kids, or concern that states mandating this for public schools would result in states issuing private schools mandates too.

Folks, I was really frustrated with the underlying assumptions that people had when discussing posting the Ten Commandments. Looking back on it, I think it was their unspoken assumption that government is neutral or should be on religious issues. As stated often on this blog, there is no such thing as neutrality. All law is by its very nature religious. The only question is which god is being promoted, and which one is being undercut.

The baptism question was also a trainwreck. While I expect Baptists to expound the virtues of “Believers Baptism”, for them to invoke the Covenant as a proof of it is simply ridiculous. Sorry, but me and God is not a Covenant formula. If a person is in covenant with God, then so are all his descendants, born or unborn. A vital part of a covenant structure in succession.

For a child to be born into a Covenant family is to experience blessing and to be outside is to experience cursing. Again, there is no neutrality. Some in the conversation argued that a child being born into a Christian family was not a blessing to the child. The assumption is that all children are reprobate pagans in diapers. Such a view is no covenant at all.

I mentioned Merideth Kline and Ray Sutton and said they need to deal with the Covenant in terms of what these men have published. All I got was crickets. The truth is that they wouldn’t know the Covenant if it bit them in the butt.

Folks if some schmuck off the street was this ignorant, I would expect that, but these guys think they are God’s gift to the Church and ready to lead the next generation of the faithful. As we used to say when reciting the Litany, “Lord have mercy”.

That they haven’t read everything is apparent, but to think they don’t need to is frightening.

The older that I get, the more I have learned that much of what is circulated in evangelical circles is just sentimental crap. Only by setting aside our preconceptions and assumptions can we really understand the Bible.

Much of modern church worship music is not. It’s just entertainment. The focus is me, myself, and I, not God, holy, righteous, and unapproachable.

Sadly, no English translation of the Bible gets everything right. Ditto for the Hebrew. Michael Heiser is on the right path with many of his explanations of mistranslation and once you understand the Bible as subverting the pagan cultures around ancient Israel, the odd parts come into sharper focus. Brian Godawa is worth reading for this very reason.

Andrew Torba, R.J. Rushdoony, David Chilton, Frances Schaeffer, and many others are seldom read today but all have things to say that should be heard.

Sorry but going to church one or two hours a week, so you can play Call of Duty the rest of the time is not a formula for successful Christian living or being a husband. Guys you need steak in your spiritual lives not warm milk.

June Comments

I’ve been slow to post anything lately as I’m still working through the death of my wife. Thanks to “The Chief” for making the bulk of new content here lately.

I’m sorting my wife’s treasures and purging a lot of them. She valued things in terms of sentimentality and not cash value. Sadly, granddad’s ratty leather briefcase and grandma’s old dish towels don’t mean much to me, and thus didn’t make the cut. Her children generally don’t want anything. None of the three children has offered to help go through any of their mother’s stuff. I’m left to either store what I think they might like later or chuck it out.

I have a huge amount of stuff to scan this next winter. Thus far, I have scanned over 26,000 images that need review. Most were scanned and the originals were scrapped. Frankly, almost all of this stuff is meaningless unless the kids decide to be parents, then maybe their past will begin to have some significance. But right now, they have no future or thought of perpetuating the species. (In fairness, one child is looking at adoption but that is different than having your own offspring.) The boys are seemingly content to spend their free time in front of small screens playing video games and having cyber friends in place of real relationships.

I have been fishing a few times in the last few weeks. I’ve caught trout in local rivers and bass in a local lake. I haven’t caught anything big, but I haven’t gotten skunked anywhere yet.

One project I’ve been working on is completing the railing for the deck. I bought the materials from Home Depot. Almost every box that has been delivered has been damaged. I have spent much time cleaning up the material so it can be used. I am still missing one box which should be delivered this week, or else I start complaining. I’ve been putting off the stair railing but may have to do that soon. (It’s the hardest so I have been saving it for last.)

I have set aside a small place near the front door for some photos of my wife. I’m lacking one more picture frame to complete this area. Meanwhile, the craft room is almost stripped bare, at least compared to how it looked before.

Th electricians have never finished the garage but I’m hoping that they will finish the job. It should only take one guy a day to finish what remains.

I’ve committed to connecting the upper stories of the house and garage. Hopefully my contractor can do the work as we discussed. I’m penciled in for August but that was before his daughter ran up $18K in medical bills. (The down side of not having medical insurance.) It was also before I decided to go to Ireland for two weeks.

Yep, I paid for a trip to Ireland. My wife made me promise to take a trip somewhere we would have enjoyed going together. I know I’m supposed to go because the recommended book to read prior to the trip is, “How the Irish Saved Civilization.” St Patrick is the best.

Anyway, that’s the highlights for now.

Firsthand Experience With Internet Dating Fraud

Folks, I’ve not only seen “The Beekeeper” with Jason Statham but even bought the DVD of the movie. The only reason that the movie works is that Jason knew where the evil datacenter was so he could burn it down. Sadly, I didn’t have this information.

Before I recap my experience, please note that I am leaving a few “tells” out of my account just so the bad guys don’t know the specifics of everything they did wrong lest they fix their scenario.

On Facebook, I received a friend request from some guy I never met before. His name was Dean. Dean runs a Christian Singles website. A guy in my church knows Dean personally and I have no problems with him. In fact, right after I joined the website, the guy from church gave me the contact information for Dean.

Dean’s website is Sovereign Grace Singles. With a name like that you should expect that it is oriented to folks from the Reformed Baptist tradition. I do not claim to be Baptist, but I do claim to be Reformed. I decided it would have less crap on it and be more likely to be populated by real people than Match or eHarmony.

Anyway, I put my shingle out, so to speak. Low and behold, this babe that was 20 years younger than me strikes up a conversation. So did a gal about my age. (For a guy like me to be contacted by not one but two females on the same day is kind of an ego booster.) I responded to both, but the younger one was really trying to set the hook. She ended up wanting to correspond via email. (Dean’s website doesn’t have a mobile app and its communication abilities are about 20 years behind the times.) Email was an upgrade to chatting compared to what I was trying to use.

Right out the gate, I get two photos of this gal in a sports bra. Going to the gym has never been my thing but I guess some of the younger set is ok with this. This was a little unusual. And yes, her profile photo was modest and staged to look like a selfie.

The conversation was also out of kilter. The profile made it clear that the woman was a second language person but even given that, her speech was not as it should be. Whenever I asked for details, my questions were ignored or deflected. Other times the answers were just weird.

Here’s one example. Her profile stated that she liked live concerts. I asked for some examples of the type of music that she liked and what live concerts she had attended. The question was initially ignored. I asked again and was told that she was going to see the Kingston Trio, but her mom was too sick, and she decided not to go.

The Kingston Trio? Really? Aren’t they all dead and buried? I looked it up on the internet and they are scheduled to play Oakland, California and Reno, Nevada and then they are off to Michigan.

This female claims to live in Bakersfield and she can’t name any music group she has seen but says she wished she could see the Kingston Trio! Think about the logistics to get from where she lived to a city hosting the Trio. Oh, the next day she said she didn’t own a car. In California? After 22 years of living there? That is ridiculous. Most welfare recipients and illegals own a vehicle of some sort or have access to one.

The story she told was full of holes and inconsistencies. It was clear that she never lived in California and was not writing me from the United States.

The second day she sent me photos in her workout outfit.

Both sets of photos were fakes. These were either wholly made via Artificial Intelligence or enhanced by it.

At this point, I called Dean on his personal cell phone. We talked for about half an hour. He could not believe me when I told him what was going on. He was in denial and tried to make it my fault. I gave him a few examples of why I thought this person was a fake. He was reluctant to believe this was happening. After pressing my case, he finally agreed it was possible, at least remotely.

The third and last day, I was sent a video. She claimed she had hurt her foot and was staying home from the gym. A few hours later I got a flawlessly focused 37 second video of her working out. The video was edited and was stripped of audio.

If you look at the video, it was clearly made in a hotel room. Entry door, bathroom door on the left, and small lounge area on the right. The lockset on the door is not standard either.

The lady is beautiful. Heck, I don’t think Jeff Bezos could land this fish without some effort. What would she see in me?

Oh, I look up the brand of socks that she is wearing in the video. $25 a pair biking socks from Turkey.

I sent Dean the workout video. He wanted to know how I got that. Like I requested it or something? Anyway, he suspended her account and asked for verification info on where she worshipped and who her pastor was. Immediately, she went dark. I have not heard from her again. I doubt Dean has either. (Dean late said he had not.)

Folks, the experience was surprisingly emotionally manipulating and hurtful. It was somewhat rewarding to flip the script on them and try forcing them to produce her in the flesh. It did give them pause but they still tried to go forward with the mom is sick and I need money thing. I didn’t continue to respond once she refused to get the plane ticket.

Lastly, if she had flown up to see me, I would have delivered her into the waiting arms of the ladies of my church. I pushed for certain dates to insure that would happen.

I’m trying to calm down and get my head together. Meanwhile, I’m making progress on the house and looking for a few vacation opportunities.

Oh, as to why I posted the photos and video is in case someone does a matching search on the Internet and gets a hit on the photos. If you do, please let me know. I’m sure a good story will accompany the discovery.