Christianity – Page 6

Microsoft sadly proves war on Christmas is real

I was looking at a few of the tech websites that I regularly visited when I came across this article by an author that I think is Hindu and even he finally gets it.

The perceived wisdom is that the “War on Christmas” is merely a right-wing delusion and in general companies themselves are deciding to be more inclusive in celebrating the holidays rather than responding to complaints from anti-religious people who are offended by Christmas decorations.

It turns out Microsoft has proven that this was not the case, after responding to a complaint about adding a small Santa hat to VSCode, Microsoft’s open-source IDE.
Microsoft sadly proves war on Christmas is real

Due to one complaint by an anonymous guy on the internet, the offending Santa hat was banished.

Here’s the complaint.

The Santa Hat on vscode insiders and pushing of religion is very offensive to me, additionally xmas has cost millions of Jews their lives over the centuries, yet even if that was not the case, pushing religious symbols as part of a product update is completely unacceptable. Please remove it immediately and make it your top priority. To me this is almost equally offensive as a swastika.

Christian-Schiffer referred to an article on Sefaria listing the sins associated with Christmas which include:

Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly. For millennia, pagans, Christians, and even Jews have been swept away in the season’s festivities, and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration’s intrinsic meaning, history, or origins.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, a Christian god who came to rescue mankind from the “curse of the Torah.”
At its origin, Christmas is a 24-hour declaration that Judaism is no longer valid.
December 25 is a day on which Jews have been shamed, tortured, and murdered.
Many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents, and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of some extremely offensive and violent rituals

Microsoft responded to the complaint by saying:
@Christian-Schiffer we’re sorry we hurt your and other’s feelings. We’ll remote the Santa Hat.

The author of the article concludes:

In short, the war on Christmas appears to be very real.

Folks, I’m glad whenever other people agree with us—especially, that there really is a war on Christmas. The logical fallacies in the article cited as the reasons to oppose Christmas are frankly ill-informed, inaccurate, and just dumb.

First, the swastika is a Hindu religious symbol and is not the exclusive property or emblem of the Nazi Party as constituted in Germany. Hindus and others have used the swastika symbol for thousands of years before Hitler was born.

Second, a Santa hat is a winter symbol not a Christian one and people really wear similar hats in certain cultures. Oh, and there is zero proof that the real Saint Nicholas ever wore said hat.

Third, any holiday—Christian or not—can be celebrated by tradition and the real meaning can be forgotten. For example, in the United Stated we celebrate our Independence Day on July Fourth, but do you really believe that our people shun tyranny as a result? No. We have forgotten the reason and lessons of the Revolution. Our current government is much more tyrannical and oppressive than the British rule of the 1770’s. Our tax rates are way higher than those of the Stamp Act and tea taxes imposed by King George back in the day.

Jesus came to rescue mankind from the curse of sin not the Torah. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Torah and perfectly kept the Law. He ever said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17.

Christmas is a 24 hour declaration of nothing anti-Jewish. Where does that come from? Christmas is a 12 day celebration in the Church’s liturgical calendar beginning on December 25th and going thru January 6th. Twelve days of Christmas anyone? Messiah has come, first to the Jews—angels declare peace on earth and goodwill to all men on December 25th and January 6th—known as Epiphany—celebrates salvation coming to the Gentiles, as symbolized by the arrival of the wise men. Jesus was probably not really born in December although the 25th day of a month is mentioned in some early Christian literature. Since we don’t use the same calendar as they did back then, this discussion can’t go much beyond what I have just stated.

Evil doesn’t take a holiday and not all Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th so what does the fact that someone of a certain faith might be killed on a particular date? I’m sure I could find examples of people from almost any faith group that were killed on December 25; especially, over a span of over 2,000 plus years. I don’t deny that Christians have persecuted Jews at certain points in history but it’s not a teaching of the New Testament or tenant of our faith. In fact, persecution of Jews is the opposite of Christianity properly understood. There’s that pesky command to love our neighbor thing that gets in the way of such behavior.

The claim that popular Christmas customs are all the result of offensive and violent rituals is silly. We give gifts to others as a symbol of peace on earth and goodwill towards men—we keep circling back to this phrase—because God gave us His greatest gift in the form of sending His son to become a man and fulfill the requirements of the Law (Torah) and be the once and for all time sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Santa Claus is a composite of many traditions but Saint Nicholas was a real man that was best known for two things, giving gifts to the poor in the name of Christ and hitting a heretic (Arius) at the Council of Nicaea in about 325 AD. This was the first recorded time that any Christian decked someone in the halls.

Folks, the fact that one anonymous complaint can force a trillion dollar company to change something as trivial and innocuous as a Santa hat should really bother you and I hope it does. Especially when the same company is perfectly willing to repeatedly attack my Christian beliefs on issues of marriage and family and doesn’t care what I think.

Lee Ann Harper is an Incompetent Jackhole

By: Jake the Snake

Lee Ann Harper serves as the manager of the “Office of Youth Protection” for the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Connecticut. Sounds like a really important job and I guess in some respects it is. This office was created in response to the Catholic PRIEST sex abuse scandals, because… well, let’s ignore the priests and focus on regular married/single churchgoing volunteers. Yes, you read that right. If you sign up to join the Knights of Columbus—a non-profit men’s group whose purpose is to serve the church—you, not clergymen, must undergo a background check and get fingerprinted prior to being able to volunteer on church property. I found this idea somewhat objectionable because who ever heard of a crisis in Catholic Church volunteers and because KOC members hardly ever work with youth. Despite my misgivings about the need for such a review of my past—I had nothing to hide and was an officer in our local council—I complied with the request. This was four years ago.

I later found out that the results of said background check were sent to the local parish office, not the mothership in New Haven, Connecticut. I have major objections to this, as a close friend of mine was recently told by the parish office that he needed to be checked again because they lost his results. These folks in the parish office, are not Knights, we do not serve them, keep in mind the parish office or diocese (governing body of the Roman Catholic Church) have no jurisdiction over us.

This past year I moved into the important “Deputy Grand Knight Role.” In essence, a position comparable to the Vice President (the Grand Knight is the top dog). In this position, I also had to take the title of Family Director. Family Director is a largely symbolic position as we have an older parish. As a result, the Family Director does nothing as far as the church is concerned.

As a young single man with no family, I know my bounds. I NEVER volunteer at youth events nor volunteer my services to drive/chaperone. The parish office knows this… I do this because the optics look bad, and as a brother Knight, I took an oath to never bring scandal on the church, or our Supreme Pontiff (the Pope). I know my lane and I stay in it…it’s a symbolic position.

Given that the Family Director is just a symbolic position on the Knight’s generic org chart, I was surprised to find an email in my spam folder directing me to submit to a background check for this position, and of course I agreed.

This email was where issues began to turn ugly with the Knights. I found this out about 6 weeks later when I got an overnight FedEx letter stuck in my door. I opened said letter and it stated that due to my driving record, keep in mind my criminal record is clean, I was unfit to hold the position of Family Director and to contact this Lee Ann Harper to discuss my volunteering further.

Let me reiterate, the Knights of Columbus is a volunteer group, one which had no issue with my previous background checks. Again, this letter never specified which position I could not hold, and I hold a bunch of positions, as you will read later.

In response to the letter, I called the mothership and low and behold, Lee Ann was not working, so I spoke to her assistant. Said assistant was the definition of a re-moron (they can’t be classified as a retard or moron, so they get their own title) and I was told that my driving record makes me ineligible.

I hung up and sent Lee Ann an email, since she was out of town according to her hired help. She responded within 15 minutes, saying I could beg for my job back and she was so sorry this happened. This is the typical response of an incompetent Jackhole. First of all, her response was from New Haven, Connecticut according to my iPhone and second, I would never beg to keep my job in a volunteer group let alone a real job. Just to remind people, the background check was only required due to a ceremonial title, not a big deal.

Harper took matters as any other incompetent Jackhole would and decided to fire-off, yet another overnight FedEx envelop claiming I was unfit for the position and was removed as Family Director. You dunked on me pretty good sending this letter to our Grand Knight and Financial Secretary both of whom are great friends. I was embarrassed. Questions were asked, and again, I have no criminal record, not expunged or dismissed. I fielded calls from both men, and both were just as confused as I am. Your exact words in your ill-fated letter to my Grand Knight was that he was directly responsible to make sure I did not hold the position I took as Family Director. I could care less about symbolic positions that are in name only, what was interesting is the remark she made later in this letter “feel free to remain as a brother Knight and keep paying your dues.” Keep paying my dues, and remain as a Knight? Weird, kinda goes back to my other blogs here. The letter sent out by Lee Ann, essentially makes me out to be a person with pedophilia in my background, even though the “sins I committed” in their eyes lie in my driving record. Again, just to reiterate, I have no criminal record, and intentionally stay away from any youth events as the optic of an unmarried young man serving as a chaperone would look bad.

The letters I received saddened me in several ways. First being I never wanted to join this group. I have always believed there is an ugly under belly in every church group and I wanted no part of “seeing how the sausage is made.” I worked a shift as a volunteer with my father who is a Knight, at the fireworks booth, and I met a good Catholic gentleman who I consider one of my closest mentors and friends. When I call, he answers and is always supportive. I still didn’t want to join; however, my father got a bad cancer diagnosis and told me it would mean a lot if I joined…so I did. My father is okay now, and my mother had two bouts with cancer and as a result I strongly believe in the power of prayer. I joined and was viewed at first as an ugly duckling; a young person who wants to volunteer when its mostly an older person’s group. It was a struggle breaking in at first, but eventually I was welcomed. I took time off work to help set up for our events, and while I was always viewed as wet behind the ears, I did my darndest to help out. The turning point was at a crab feed five years ago. I signed up to help in the kitchen and they had too much help. As a result, I was sent home but on my way out the door, I was told to “give this tray of pasta to the youth group.” They were the servers, and this was their dinner prior to the event. I did as I was instructed and was ready to head to the parking lot when a wife of a Knight told me they needed another bartender for the event…I said I would stick around and help. I was a little disappointed about not being needed in the kitchen, but I cannot blame them, and a motto I live by is “a setback is a set up for a comeback” so I helped-out. I wasn’t great. I was pouring for tips and was reminded, we aren’t at a Friday’s or Chili’s, it’s a fundraiser. The head bartender took me under his wing and my volunteerism skyrocketed. While most of my staff is deceased, I have been the bar manager for 3 years. It’s a tough job, but I am good at it now. I would even say really good, as I have been asked to bartend weddings and other events by other brother Knights.

3 years ago, our Grand Knight personally asked me to be his number 4 in command, a great honor. I chaired the Recruiting Committee last year as the number 3 and while the job is not easy, I did my job and again I was good at it. Now as the second in command I have the respect of almost everyone. I hold positions as head bar manager, Deputy Grand Knight, Chancellor of the Admission (new member ceremony) team, and the Warden (formation degree team). Most would say, if you need a guy to run an event ask Jake. In addition, I even raised over two grand for Special Olympics last year at an event I bar tended.

Yet despite my track record of service, incompetent Jackhole Lee Ann Harper wants to end all of this in a dispute over a position in name only, that does literally nothing. It’s funny that Lee Ann wants me gone so badly. In my real-world job, I’m required to undergo a background check annually and they have no issues with my record…oh, and they require that my driving record needs to be clear. In addition, I coach high school football, and both schools for which I volunteer ran my driving and criminal record yet have no issue with me coaching or even driving the players. The owner of this blog has no issue with my driving or background…yet you do?

Despite all this Lee Ann, you want me gone yet you ignore the other Knights who have never completed this type of background check upon joining. What about the leader of our youth group who has a lengthy criminal history… and is also a Knight? I even sent you his criminal record, yet he is permitted to remain and work with children. The owner of this blog knows my history better than you and he keeps me around. Furthermore, I would say he considers me a close friend.

Lee Ann take my advice, resign! I have previously written about your superiors screwing up and you’re irresponsible and arbitrary actions have made you my current target to write about. I have been in contact with our master who claims he has gotten people in your office terminated. You are an incompetent Jackhole and I’m coming for you. No one likes you. I’ve overcome more adversity that you can possibly throw at me. I was born despite my mother’s umbilical cord wrapped around my neck more times than I can count. I accomplish what I set my mind to perform. During the time that I played on my high school football team, we never lost; I have a ring to prove it, you Jackhole! I’m coming for you. Start checking the want ads, I heard your skillset works at Burger King.

Jake the Snake

Oh, I heard Lee Ann approved a member with pedophilia in his background…. stay tuned for my next blog.

Review: Creekside Christian Church

My son, Really Right Jr, is taking American Sign Language (ASL) in school. As part of the class, he is expected to attend a number of outside deaf events each grading period. With a few weeks remaining in the grading period, he wanted to get his outside event completed during his Thanksgiving break.

We looked at a few options and decided to “stay within the lines” as they say here in Elk Grove and opted to attend the second service at Creekside Christian Church—the former First Baptist Church of Elk Grove.

FBC changed their name a few years ago and rebranded—this seems to be the fad in many Baptist churches. I spent over a decade of my life in and around Baptist churches so I thought I knew what I was in for but wow!

I have been on the campus of the church for various reasons in the past but never attended a service there before.

We arrived and took the first parking spot that we found which was far from the door. Parking is at a premium at this venue. We headed for the main building which was labeled as “Auditorium”. This is your first clue that this will not be a traditional worship experience. Why not a traditional name like church or sanctuary? Or even the more modern term worship center? Nope just auditorium.

Entering the auditorium building takes you into an outer room about the size of a large house. It was filled with a myriad of people. Near the entrance was a Christmas tree over 20 feet tall. Further in on the left was a generic Starbucks with gallons of various types of coffee and an assortment of donuts. The donuts were apparently for sale and not just given to members. I couldn’t tell if the coffee was complementary or for sale also. Many information tables were setup in the middle of the room. Of course the restrooms were located in this area also.

After navigating thru the chaos we finally made our way to the entrance of the auditorium proper. As expected, ushers were handing out bulletins to people as they entered. We let the usher know that our son was there to experience the deaf interpretation as a school assignment. He left his station and walked us to the area in the front where deaf and hearing impaired people were seated. Our son took a seat amongst the deaf folks and we found some open seats a few rows back.

The seats themselves were the kind that I really hate. They were padded but have interlocking hooks so all chairs in the row are linked together so you really get friendly with your neighbors whether you are comfortable doing that or not. I hate being cramped like a sardine. These seats make me feel like I’m in the lap of the person next to me. Think the stereotype of a Southwest Airlines flight.

After getting seated, we noted that there were no Bibles or hymnals available. We opened the bulletin and it was devoid of any information on the service order for that day. There was no kind of information on worship order or welcome to visitors or anything like that. It was devoid of song order, what we believe or similar doctrinal statement, and never even told us who would be preaching that morning. However, the back listed an extensive array of names that seemed to be mostly paid staff.

The other thing that you notice when you gaze around the room was the stage. It looked like a Hollywood stage for American Idol or some other television show with a little bit of a Christmas flavor added just to have an excuse for even more lights. There were two complete drum sets on the back left side of the stage which were both played simultaneously during the music, several singers, and guys playing electric guitars. A piano was on the right side but clearly missing was any semblance of a pulpit. On the back wall were large projection screens.

A few minutes after we were seated, the show began. The band cranked it up and started belting out songs that I had never heard anywhere before. Apparently if you go there a lot or happen to listen to “The Fish” radio station, you might know them.

Given the volume of the music, I can see why the church has hearing impaired people in the crowd. I thought the music was entertainment and not worshipful. By the second song, I was wondering if I had missed the popcorn line at the entrance. Maybe it was on the opposite side from the coffee. Anyway, as I watched the show, I was in the mood for a salty snack and cold ice tea. After a few more tunes, they took an offering and did another song.

Partway thru the show, a guy steps up to the microphone and starts talking. He made an announcement about the importance of a charity called Compassion International. And then he kept talking about Compassion. About 40 minutes later he finished talking about the charity. This was the sermon or done in place of it. I felt that I was at a live telethon and didn’t even know it.

Please understand that I like Compassion International and I’m happy whoever this guy is, does too, but typically I’ve seen stuff like this done at Sunday school or other non-worship time. Dare I say, even at concerts.

The program then continued and things really went strange… oh yes, there was more. Shortly after the presentation on Compassion International was finished yet another incongruity occurred. People were then invited to do Communion. Folks, I had a boatload of theological problems with how this was done.

First, the elements—bread and wine (or grape juice, not sure which)—were never blessed. There was no Scripture recited, no pray of thanksgiving, no “Do this in remembrance of me”, nothing. I’ve seen some fast and loose ways of doing Communion and felt a lack of reverence before but this one was just not there at all.

Second, the table was not fenced either verbally or in actuality. Folks this is a really big deal.

Communion was literally self-service and at a number of locations. I think Scripture makes it clear that there was one table where Jesus broke bread and said “Do this in remembrance of me.” Every Christian church service that I have heretofore attended has always had one table where Scripture and a prayer are said and then elements are distributed from there to the congregation. Jesus is The Bread and The Life. He is The Bread broken for you… This important symbolism of a foundational truth claim of the Bible was completely absent.

Also, Jesus’ body and blood were given for us. The symbolism of taking the elements out of unattended dishes where you literally help yourself instead of it being given to you by an ordained servant of Christ is just wrong. Yes I’ve seen unordained folks help in distribution but only after the bread and wine were consecrated.

Next, Scripture instructs us as to when to come to the table. We are told not to come unworthily. We come as sinners clothed with the righteousness of Christ but we are commanded to examine our hearts and be right with our brother before coming. No announcement (or even note in the bulletin) was made that you need to be baptized and not under church discipline to partake in Communion. Folks the biggest reason for someone to be ordained is to administer the Sacraments and these folks completely reneged on their responsibility. As I said before, no effort to fence the table at all.

Given the casual nature with which these guys approach the Sacraments, is it any wonder they dropped “Baptist” from their name. Baptists are well known not just for demanding that a person be baptized to receive Communion but also the method of baptism be immersion or it is not a valid one. “Believer’s baptism” is a real and unique theological term. The fact that it was never mentioned was frankly troubling given what I was expecting. Bread in a tray like Chick-fil-A mints and shot glasses of juice in unattended trays was deeply disturbing and irreverent. We didn’t go because we weren’t invited to and the elements were never blessed (consecrated). It was a mockery or parody of the Sacrament.

As I left the service, I was left wondering whether they held to anything other than good works as their “Christian” duty. Other than the pronouns used, what I witnesses could have passed for Methodist or any other group. Was this a clubhouse or a church? I couldn’t tell.

To recap:

You have money changers in the lobby hawking coffee and donuts
A “worship band” that drowns-out congregational singing instead of leading them
A sermon that wasn’t (I like Compassion International so I can’t complain too much plus they prefaced the presentation by saying it was out of format)
Self-serve Communion with absolutely zero clergy involvement

Folks I love most Christian rock music and listen to it often but I also feel that congregational worship is not an appropriate venue for this type of music. Rock is entertainment and I don’t go to church to be entertained. Entertainment is a musician saying look at me, while worship should be look at God. Confusing who is truly worthy is not helpful. I think of Christian rock as outreach not an up-reach.

But the real deal killer for me was the Communion service. I do believe that a Biblical alter call is going forward for Communion with God not visitors doing the sinner’s prayer and walking the aisle but the way Creekside did it was outside of the practices of the historic church.

Sorry, but I have zero interest in returning—except maybe if they actually have a good concert. I can honestly say that the sound system rocks and there’s plenty of free parking too.

Be True to Your School…Or Else

Back in the 1960’s, the Beach Boys admonished us to be true to your school. As a youth, I thought this song was about cheering for the football team and supporting your community. Boy was I wrong.

It turns out to be much more serious than that. If you thought being true to your school is what I thought, don’t go to Wisconsin. Such a casual view of school can get you thrown in jail. Say the wrong thing and you’re in legal jeopardy. No, really.

Anyone who delivers a speech at an event hosted by the school district in Appleton, Wisconsin, must submit the speech in advance and then swear under oath they will not deviate from the script. And that includes students.

“The opportunity to speak at a school event is a privilege, not a right,” the Appleton Area School District wrote in a statement.

The new guidelines require all speakers, including students, to submit their entire speech in writing two weeks in advance of delivery.

Speakers are also not permitted to wear “jewelry, clothing or accessories that reasonably could be understood to communicate a message to the audience when the speech is given.”

But the swearing of an oath is perhaps the most disturbing part of Appleton’s crackdown on free speech.

“Speakers that submit proposed speeches shall be required to certify that they will deliver the speech as written, except for minor and immaterial variances from the text of their proposal,” the district wrote. “Certification shall be in writing and shall be sworn under oath.”

The oath must be signed by student and adult speakers and must be witnessed and sealed by a notary.

The oath states, among other things, “that I am affirming the statements to be true and correct under penalty of law.”
Christian Crackdown? Students Must Submit Speeches, Swear Oath to School

Lest you had any doubts about this draconian policy…

Their new policies and procedures are meant to silence people of faith – specifically Christians.

Why did the district do this?

The new regulations were implemented after a Christian school-board member invoked the name of Jesus Christ during a graduation ceremony last June.

Oh how terrible. And worst yet, this school board member had the gall adlib his prepared remarks by deviating from the script. He “told students to ‘never succumb to the pressure of being politically correct’”. “He also changed the district’s prepared statement of ‘best wishes’ to ‘God bless.’”

The article ends with this controversial endorsement of the US Constitution and the First Amendment.

Every freedom-loving American should be appalled by the actions of the Appleton Area School District.

Heaven forbid the day comes when an American teenager or a pastor is dragged off the stage by security forces simply for uttering the name of Jesus Christ at a graduation ceremony.

To which I can only add a hearty and appropriate, “AMEN.”

Original article can be found here.

How to Ruin Boys Night Out

In the last few years, our family has been attending a Lutheran Church. My wife and I like many things about the church, but there are times that I just want to scream. Last night was one of those times.

Before getting into the details of my complaint, let me preface a few things. Within the Protestant churches that take the Bible as the Word of God, there are two traditions that are polar opposites when it comes to doctrine and worship.

On the one hand are folks like the Baptists and Presbyterians. While you won’t often see these two groups lumped together, they do have one thing in common; namely, expository preaching. They vary widely on doctrine but during the sermon, neither group is afraid to take a deep dive into their understanding of the Bible. In their worship, the sermon is the focal point of the worship and Communion is like the cherry on top or caboose of the train, nice but not necessary.

On the other hand are folks like the Anglicans and Lutherans. Their focus in worship is very different. Anglican and Lutheran sermons are shallow by comparison and rarely expository in nature. In these churches, the deep dive into theology is outside of worship, usually Sunday school or small group Bible study. In their services, Communion is the focus of worship and the sermon is typically a meditation on a passage of Scripture appointed to be read on that Sunday. In the Anglican world, depending on the Lectionary, the Scripture reading many have been selected for that Sunday several hundred years ago.

In a typical Anglican or Lutheran service, you will get a 12 to 20 minute sermon whereas the Baptist or Presbyterian sermon will be 30 to 50 minutes. Anglicans and Lutherans practice frequent, often weekly, Communion. Again, the former group tends to be much more focused on the individual and less on the corporate body while the latter group is the opposite. During their sermons, Baptists and Presbyterians expose everyone to the more difficult theological issues while in Anglican and Lutheran circles, individuals desiring more need to seek it outside of the weekly service. The difference is that some folks are stuck in the shallow end of the pool and the Baptist and Presbyterian folks expect everyone to swim. The irony in my experience is that the most scholarly people are the Anglicans. Their command of Church history and doctrine is better than any other group, you just don’t get that from their sermons because of the difference in focus.

Last Night’s Gathering

Twice a month, the men of the church which I attend, meet at a local watering hole to discuss some aspect of the faith. Since the Reformation started in Germany, beer is often associated with church gatherings. Trust me, Martin Luther was a big fan of beer. As a recovering Baptist, beer is something I can only tolerate in very small doses.

Anyway, last night was such a gathering. In attendance were a cross-section of men from the Lutheran church and perhaps a visitor or two as well. It started with one of the pastors talking about reconciliation especially as it concerns forgiveness and reconciliation to our fellow man. As we talked, people brought up relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children. A comment was made that single folks can’t really appreciate the depth of love that a parent has for a child. One guy said that he didn’t realize what this was like until he because a father. At this point in the conversation, a young, single man made a comment that sounded right out of the OAC camp. He said that he can’t imagine bringing a child into this world because of all the acrimony in our society and then invoked climate change and overpopulation as reasons not to be a parent.

Folks, I about hurled my meager dinner when I heard him say this. I was literally seated next to this guy and stunned. (I whispered to him that global warming was nonsense but I don’t think others heard me.) Instead of disagreeing with his comment, another guy chimed-in about larger families in the past and another about people in poor countries having larger families. A third comment was about the Bible not addressing what our lives and families are like today because it was written for an agricultural society. A fourth guy said that sometimes other people have large families for religious reasons—the way he said it implied that the people who believe this were not present at this table. I waited for the pastor to jump in but he never forthrightly corrected the comments.

I had many things rush thru my mind but knew that if these guys agreed with the first comment, then they were incapable of understanding what I was thinking. It was clear that many at this gathering were comfortable in the shallow end of the theological pool. It occurred to me that I had to say something brief because a multitude of words would be casting pearls. I pointed out that our faith is based on having many children. Thankfully, I had a few others agree with me.

Folks, I’m really angry and alarmed about the extent to which people in the Church have been deceived by the lies propagated by our culture. No wonder we aren’t salt and light to our world. When we don’t know what the Bible says about families, and worse yet, don’t think it speaks to the nonsense that passes for knowledge these days!!! Lord have mercy.

This is the second time this week that I’ve crossed paths with supposedly Christian people that are embracing this environmental wacko crap without realizing that they are following a false religion that is the antithesis of Biblical Christianity.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were both shocked that a different pastor that we know prayed during the service for God to put out the forest fires in the Amazon—again more environmental hysteria which was nothing but propaganda.

Environmental Syllogism

Folks, the modern environmental movement is easy to understand. Here is the logic.

There is a crisis
The crisis is too big for you to solve
The only one big enough to impact the crisis is government
Therefore you need to yield more control of your life to government because only it can save you.

The environmental movement is really that simple.

Closing Thoughts

The Bible has the answers to real environmental issues. In part, it begins with a principle that is so simple you should have learned this as a child but again, common sense these days is uncommon. In essence, if you make a mess, clean it up. Don’t throw your trash over your neighbor’s fence and call it good, clean up your own mess.

Case in point is China. 30 percent of the plastic pollution in the ocean is from China. If you don’t like the garbage patch in the Pacific, evangelize China and most of the problem will go away. In addition, the United States needs to quit sending our trash to China because we don’t want it in our landfills, we need to deal with our own refuse, not dump it in our neighbor’s back yard.

Lastly, the Church needs to counter false doctrines and teachings instead of allowing them to be accepted by her congregations because her leaders are silent. God is in control of the creation and we are to exercise dominion over the creation. He’s told us what to do. We are to bring every thought into captivity and weigh everything on the basis of His Word.

Some of men from last night’s gathering have clearly never received proper biblical instruction. Christianity is a way of living not just something you do for an hour on Sunday mornings. Our faith must be applied to every area of our lives, our families, and our communities. Jesus is Lord of all; now, not at some distant date in the future. Until we start living that way, we will be blown about by every wind of doctrine no matter how ridiculous; including the myth of climate change.

Knights of Columbus Insurance Program Stumbles Again

By: Jake the Snake

I have written in this space recently about the Knights Insurance Program being a fraudulent racketeering scheme, we have linked the article here if you choose to revisit it. However just when you thought this scheme was coming to a halt, they find a new low. Get this, the insurance program is now open to not just current Knights and their immediate family, now it’s open to anyone! Yeah, they say only to practicing Catholics but how does one identify or define that these days? I know quite a few people who call themselves Catholic yet haven’t been to church in decades! Or better yet how about the “Chreasters” as I call them who only show up on Christmas and Easter? Better yet, the Insurance Agents who sell these policies have territories that cover multiple churches, no way they even know if these people are confirmed into the church!

So now anyone can sign up for our life insurance, annuities, 401k, and get this, long term care insurance! Pay most attention to the last one, almost no one sells long term care anymore because it is a huge money loser! CalPERS quit selling a long time ago and I cannot find any reputable carrier who sells these plans! So now we have opened the flood gates to anyone. The only requirement is…..wait for it……wait…….you must join the Knights within 60 days of buying the insurance. So in essence the Knights gain a member for each policy sold. So I guess this is a way to grow membership right?

Incorrect. This is merely a way to prop up their insurance scheme, that by the way, is seeing its coffers for paying claims getting closer and closer to zero. They will sell this product, then the insured will have to join a council, and in theory become a dues paying member. Here is the problem, if you are an insured member you do not have to pay your dues, because the order cannot drop an insurance member! Even if your dues are in arrears over 10 years…does not matter if you have an insurance policy that you pay on!

(Sounds suspiciously like the CRA membership model of not paying dues as long as you are willing to be a delegate to local endorsing conventions.)

But wait, there is more! The council that you belong to has to send a per capita payment each year to Supreme HQ back in New Haven, Connecticut, whether the local unit collected dues from you or not. Think of it like a pyramid scheme, the folks in New Haven get paid for every member from the local council, regardless of whether their dues are paid or not!

No one sells the pyramid like Billy Mays

That my loyal readers is the definition of a pyramid scheme, and they have made us dues paying members subsidize the non-payers for the betterment of the fat cats in New Haven.

In a pyramid scheme, an organization compels individuals who wish to join to make a payment. In exchange, the organization promises its new members a share of the money taken from every additional member that they recruit. The directors of the organization (those at the top of the pyramid) also receive a share of these payments. For the directors, the scheme is potentially lucrative—whether or not they do any work, the organization’s membership has a strong incentive to continue recruiting and funneling money to the top of the pyramid.
Pyramid scheme

However worst of all is they are poisoning their own local councils, due to the unknown. Rather than allowing the local membership to vet new candidates this process can be circumvented, allowing a member who is a complete unknown to have voting rights! Or even worse what if they try to spearhead a takeover? I used to belong to a church, who like any other Roman Catholic Church desperate for members let in quite a few homosexual couples, they worked their way onto the parish council (the governing body) and major changes happened. Suddenly the procession included streamers and dancers, the choir was replaced with a band, the congregation swayed during the songs, the sermon turned into something you would expect from a televangelist church! I no longer felt “in” and I left the church.

Sadly the same thing will happen to the local Knights councils. This is nothing but desperation on the part of a group who knows the gig is up. With no power to kick these members out, an aging population who uses the meetings and dinner as a chance to hide from their wives, or drink all you can for $7, the writing is on the wall. Word to the wise, I would buy no product from this group, as most of their insured membership will be looking up at the ground not down at it in the next 15 years.

The program is going insolvent and this is yet another last gasp effort to shore it up. The next step will be allowing any and every one to join the insurance program and the requirement of being a “practicing Catholic in accordance with the Holy See” will be removed. All this just so a group of incompetent jackholes in New Haven can make money off the dues paying members.

Lee Ann Harper, I am coming directly after you in my next blog, after what you did to me! She is the definition of an incompetent Jackhole.

Jake the Snake
Knight of Columbus

Why Don’t Conservatives Fight Back?

Folks, the way I see it, many states are running roughshod over the Constitutional rights granted to us as Christians under the First Amendment. This is especially true in regard to social issues. What I don’t get is where are the attorney groups that claim to represent us? In California, they all seem to have given up hope and just disappeared.

I think the defense for folks like us is very simple. Here’s a thumbnail of how it goes.

The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution as a necessary condition to insure its passage. Colonists wanted specific assurances that abuses that led to the revolt against Great Britain would not occur under this new government. The Constitution was presented as a framework for a limited national government with enumerated powers—only those things specifically granted by the Constitution were permitted; thus, anything not specifically allowed was off limits to the new government. Representation and the ability to raise revenue were both strengthened when compared to the Articles of Confederation which preceded the Constitution.

The First Amendment acknowledges three areas of freedom: assembly, press, and religion plus the right to ask government to right past wrongs.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
U.S. Constitution – Amendment 1

I would like to narrow the scope of this post to freedom of religion; however, please note that the restriction is upon Congress not the States or the people. What is forbidden is a top-down mandate of the national government setting up a national church or interfering with a person practicing their religion. At the time of ratification, a majority of states had state sponsored churches.

This arrangement created by the Constitution was in place for about “Four score and seven years…”

Following the Civil War, the nation adopted three Constitutional Amendments. One of these, contains the infamous Interstate Commerce Clause, which was the basis of implementing much of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Lesser known however is that the Civil War Amendments also forced the States to adopt the Bill of Rights. This note is typical of what you find in the legal literature.

The 14th Amendment is important, but the first clause is the most important. Prior to the 14th, states were free to ignore the Bill of Rights; a series of Supreme Court rulings made it clear that the Bill was to apply to acts of the Federal Government only. With the establishment of the 14th, the Bill, or at least parts of it, is made to apply to state law, too.
Amendment 14 — Due Process

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a big deal when applied to the current problems that we are facing. Since the Bill of Rights must be enforced by the State as well as the national government and the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land; when the State, at some point in the future (like now) passes a law that conflicts with the Bill of Rights, they should lose every time.

Given this, I think any legal defense of religious beliefs must spring from this bulwark. To give the State any credence when they pass a law that violates our rights is unacceptable. When litigating a religious freedom case, we must lay a foundation that includes the idea that the authors of the Law were purposely targeting our beliefs and trying to outlaw and/or criminalize our beliefs.

For many years, the attitude of the Legislators in California has been if you don’t like what we do take it to court. They frequently state this in committee meetings at the Capitol. They may take an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution but in reality, they don’t care. They will do what they desire and make no effort to be guided by an awareness of Constitutional limits.

As a result of this disdain of their obligations, I think any case that cedes the legitimacy of such laws is flawed. In my opinion, the best defense is put the law on trial not your client.

I think that attorneys in such cases need to lay a foundation that does two things: enters necessary Constitutional arguments for appeal and offer the jury an opportunity to nullify the law by acquitting your client.

I know trials try to introduce the minimum amount of evidence to persuade a jury but in a case like this, you need to give the jury and appellate court enough in the record to work with. Both need to be reminded of the history and heritage of our system of government. What this case is all about is a conflict between a protected individual (or class of people) and a subsequent law which is imposing a different and conflicting worldview upon folks that are put in the position to “obey God rather than man” Acts 5:29. In the final analysis, any law, no matter how well intentioned, that is at odds with biblical law is illegitimate.

My preference in such cases is get to a federal court. I think that generally speaking, you’re wasting your time in state courts; especially in places like California. Machiavelli said that justice cannot be had without money and this applies to such Constitutional cases.

Should you ever be involved in such litigation, please note that the folks on the other side of the table are also created by God and are due the courtesy granted to those made in his image—however flawed we humans may be. As such, when a conflict occurs between your religious freedom and a law demanding that you violate your beliefs, you have at least four options. Please consider each in light of your particular circumstances.

Option 1 is duke it out in court and go the distance. Please prayerfully consider if God has chosen you to be the person to litigate this issue. As Jesus said, count the cost. Also, God has called us to be faithful and leave the result up to him. This does not guarantee that you will win just that he will grant you the grace to endure this trial.

Option 2 see if the other party is willing to agree to litigate the case just to see what the court has to say on the law. Courts only agree to hear cases and controversies. Courts are not into playing “what if” …games. It occasionally happens that parties may both agree to disagree, present a vigorous case for their point of view, and see what happens.

Option 3 could be that the government offers you what they consider “a reasonable accommodation.” This option may not get you the result that you desire, i.e. the law being changed, but gets you out of being the one in a compromising position. For example, you might get out of teaching the LGBQ lesson to your students because someone else is brought in to teach it. Not the optimum result in your eyes but your conscientious objection was accommodated by the employer. Some laws specifically ban the ability to opt out for conscience sake so what do you do then?

Option 4 is a direct appeal to cost versus benefit of litigation. Many years ago, it was not unusual to spend upwards of a million dollars to litigate something all the way to the Supreme Court. I suspect it costs even more now. I will pick on the Elk Grove School District for this example because about 20 years ago, they went all the way to the US Supreme Court over the issue of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Suppose a teacher with 16 years’ experience gets caught-up in a controversy related to a conflict between his religious beliefs and the school’s curriculum. In such a case, it would be better financially if the District just bought-out the balance of the teacher’s contract by paying the balance of retirement to the 20-year mark and discharging said teacher than it would to litigate the matter. Also, should the district lose, they then owe back-pay and perhaps some type of damages. Given that, writing a much smaller check to CalSTRS is a bargain for them, they might be willing to do this.

As you can see, some solutions benefit an individual while others all of us.

I do think we need to find a way to reintroduce jury nullification into our courts. Jury nullification exists to be a check on tyranny and clearly much coming out of state legislatures in Democrat areas qualifies as tyranny. This is where we need to be “wise as serpents and gentle as doves” Matt 10:16.

We need to lift a page from the other side and use linguistic gymnastics and find a more modern name for jury nullification. Perhaps this would be good to slip in when explaining that the Bill of Rights applies to the states now. Weave in some history about the evolution of the jury system as a check on the courts; otherwise why have a jury at all, just let the judge decide. Then in the closing remarks bring it back up again as the historic right of the jury to judge the law as well as the facts of the case. Once the judge allows the concept to stand via testimony many days or weeks ago prior to closing arguments, he can’t put the genie back in the bottle later.

I’m still working on articulating my thoughts on this issue, but I just don’t get the feeling that our side is putting up a vigorous fight in the courts. Is it me, or do you get the feeling that they’ve just rolled over and ceded the ground to the pagans? Let me know what you think. Am I on the right track with this line of thinking?

Dems Go for Pagan Vote

In their never ending pursuit to identify another class of victims, the Democrat Party has decided to embrace those that reject God. While most of us had thought they did this decades ago, they formalized the arrangement earlier this week by passing a resolution to be welcoming and inclusive of those unwilling to bend their knee in worship of their Creator.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) passed a resolution Saturday praising the values of “religiously unaffiliated” Americans as the “largest religious group within the Democratic Party.”

The resolution, which was unanimously passed at the DNC’s summer meeting on Aug. 24 in San Francisco, Calif., was championed by the Secular Coalition of America, an organization that lobbies on behalf of atheists, agnostics, and humanists on public policy. The group celebrated the DNC’s move as the first time a major party “embraced American nonbelievers.”

“Religiously unaffiliated Americans overwhelmingly share the Democratic Party’s values,” said the resolution…

The move comes as Democratic presidential candidates have ramped up their religious rhetoric on the campaign trail, but the party announced it is targeting “nonreligious voters” to try to beat President Trump, who solidified the evangelical vote in 2016.

Political pundits have pointed out Democrats’ so-called God problem in the past and their efforts to solve it.

In 2012, the last election Democrats won, a headline from the convention read: “Democrats boo God.” In 2016, attendees heckled a preacher during the opening prayer. And on Saturday, Democrats took a shot at believers who use “religious liberty” to threaten the civil rights of LGBTQ Americans.
Democratic Party embraces nonreligious voters, criticizes ‘religious liberty’ in new resolution

Below is the resolution in its entirety.

After passage, the Secular Coalition of America issued the following press release.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) this past Saturday embraced American nonbelievers for the first time, adopting a resolution that recognizes their contributions to society and to the Democratic Party.

This move by the DNC, which was unanimous absent one abstention, demonstrates that they are living up to the big-tent inclusive values they regularly espouse, though it also shows they recognize the value of courting the largest, fastest growing religious demographic in the nation. It was first passed in the DNC’s Resolutions Committee on Thursday.

At nearly one quarter of the total U.S. population, nonreligious Americans—one third of which are Democrats and nearly half of which are independent—will represent a sizeable voting bloc in the upcoming election. This resolution marks the first time a major U.S. political party has specifically courted religiously unaffiliated people across the nation.
Democratic Party embraces nonreligious voters at annual summer meeting

Let’s breakdown the math in the last paragraph.

25 percent of the US population is classed as “Unaffiliated.”

6. Atheists and agnostics account for a minority of all religiously unaffiliated.

Most are secular. Atheists and agnostics account for only about one-quarter (27%) of all religiously unaffiliated Americans. Nearly six in ten (58%) religiously unaffiliated Americans identify as secular, someone who is not religious; 16% of religiously unaffiliated Americans nonetheless report that they identify as a “religious person.”
America’s Changing Religious Identity

So, a quarter of a quarter of the US population is atheist, agnostic, pagan, secular, or whatever you want to call it. In real math, that means about 6.25 percent of the nation falls into this bucket.

Given the bombardment of secularism and evolution in our culture, I’m surprised the number is that low.

As always, Democrats don’t care what you believe—or don’t—as long as your first allegiance is to the All Powerful State.

Speaking with the Dead

I’m surrounded by dead people; both physically and spiritually. At work or at home, I just can’t escape them.

I get emails, instant messages, and other assorted communications on my phone and computer from or about people that died years ago.

LinkedIn sends me reminders periodically from people whose funerals I have attended or have solid knowledge of their passing. Last week, I was asked to congratulate George on his 15th anniversary of his job, but George died about three years ago. I went to the service in Arizona.

Yesterday, I got an instant message from someone that died earlier this year. Although she likely supported Bill Clinton for President, I have no reason to believe that she is in Witness Protection. Again, I went to her funeral to pay my respects.

Every so often on Facebook, I get asked to congratulate people on their birthday and wish them well, again they died years ago so why is their account still active. My mother-in-law died five years ago but her Facebook page is still live.

With all the personal data the tech companies collect about their users, you’d think they could find a way to archive or retire the accounts of the dearly departed. Alas, there is no mechanism for doing this. Apparently, they need the deadwood (no pun intended) on their user rolls to get more advertising revenue. No social media website that I have seen, offers a way to report someone going to their reward.

At work it’s not much better. I get to send collection letters to people that I know for a fact are dead because the legal department won’t get off their backsides and write an opinion that it’s not worth our time to pursue the account. We have to do this because we need to check a box with the State Controller’s Office or they won’t let us write-off the money. Lastly, we never go after anyone’s spouse–even though this is a community property state–nor do we go after anyone’s estate. There’s more hope that the CRA can rebuild the Republican Party in California than there is that my lettering efforts will result in collecting a dime from the dead.

I’ve spent the last few days having a conversation with the spiritually dead and that has gone about as bad as can be expected. I offer evidence and he offers feelings. I feel like I’m whispering as I pass the graveyard. This guy’s worldview is so foreign that I have been unable to shift the discussion toward anything spiritual. I guess I’ll continue to pray for the poor fellow and continue to be friendly. In another post, I might get into the details of the conversation, I think there’s some valuable insights into how the other side views reality.

Sadly, I’m surrounded by dead people. Solomon wrote that the dead know nothing and I get to prove him right daily. At least the ones at work have some small chance of a spiritual quickening. I wish God would remove the cloud of spiritual darkness covering their eyes.

A Night Out with The Boys

I did something this weekend that I rarely do, I binge watched Amazon’s new show The Boys. It was not quite what I expected. It is billed as regular people who fight superheroes run amok. Some of the plot points in it rely heavily on Evangelical Christianity and I want to comment on that part of the program. This post includes many spoilers for the show, as such you have been warned.

The main group of superheroes in “The Boys” are a twisted form of the Justice League. Instead of Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, and a few others, you get twisted versions of these characters with different names.

In the Amazon series you have the big seven heroes working as employees of a large corporation called Vought, whose interest is profit not justice. Everything they do is to keep up their presence on social media and merchandize the heck out of their heroes.

The first five minutes of the show introduces you to four main characters, Queen Mauve (Wonder Woman), Homelander (Superman), A-Train (Flash), and Hughie Campbell. Hughie is on the sidewalk with his girlfriend. Both are regular—non super—people. In order,

Queen Mauve stops and armored car robbery by standing in front of the armored car and letting it hit her. This is one of the best CGI effects in the whole show.

Queen Mauve stops armored car with her body

Then Homelander shows up, confronts one of the criminals that gets out of the armored car and then casually tosses him up in the air. Seconds later, over his shoulder, you see the guy crash back to earth about a block away.

Homelander casually tosses a bad guy (circled above) that falls to earth a block away

Then the show moves to Hughie and his girlfriend, they each pledge their love to each other and then the camera switches to super slow motion and pans slowly to the girlfriend. All you see is an explosion of blood and fragments as A-Train literally runs thru the girl.

Hughie’s girlfriend shredded by A-Train
A-Train is in blue & white uniform at left side of the photo

Hughie is horrified and shocked. Following a memorial service for the girlfriend, a corporate lawyer show-up at his house to offer a cash settlement in exchange for him signing a nondisclosure agreement. He is offered money in exchange for his silence about what happened. Hughie decided to exact revenge on the corporation that shields A-Train from any wrongdoing.

As the story unfolds, Hughie meets Annie January on a park bench and starts a friendship. They like each other in the present but neither talks much of their past. Annie was raised as an Evangelical Christian in the Midwest and finds that she has superpowers. Annie is new to town because she has been recruited to join “The Seven” upon the retirement of Lamplighter (Green Lantern). Hughie likes her without knowing that Annie is really the superhero Starlight. He discloses to her that he is getting over the death of his old girlfriend but avoids the cause of her death.

Annie and Hughie’s first meeting in the park

Annie is the most important of several gateways into this alt-universe version of Christianity that is found thru the first five episodes of this eight-episode series. The show lampoons much that is wrong with our faith and, sadly, it has at least some basis in reality. No denomination is singled out as the focus of criticism. The portrayal of faith in the show will be disturbing to many and rightly so.

The overarching religious entity in the show is a charitable organization called Samaritan’s Pulse (Samaritan’s Purse). The charity itself is not depicted in a bad way but some folks that have associated themselves with the charity are clearly more than hypocrites. They fake their faith as a way to purposefully manipulate the faithful. Chief among the charlatans in the group are a televangelist named Ezekiel and Homelander. Both are wolves that don the sheep’s clothing as necessary.

Ezekiel is first introduced in the program as a guy “hooking up” with two men in a club for people with superpowers. It is later that you see him on the stage preaching. Hughie tries to blackmail Ezekiel in a later episode with a video of the encounter in the club.

Ezekiel is emblematic of megachurch clergy and televangelists that are not accountable to anyone and do and say crazy stuff in God’s name. Sadly, we can all name examples of such abuses done in God’s name like needing a fifth private jet or building a hospital or a crystal Cathedral or whatever.

We also can name examples of sexual impurity among those clergy who say one thing and do something different in their own lives. The Catholic Church may be the poster child for this, but they are not the only folks with such problems. Such abuses can be found in every religious group whether they claim to follow Christ or someone else. Men are fallen and sinful and even those redeemed by Christ can fall into sin.

One obvious issue related to this subject is that many people will apologize for something when they are caught red-handed, but “apology” and “repentance” are two very different things. We are often willing to forgive people who apologize but doing so without them first repenting is a great disservice to them and God. Letting them off the hook without acknowledging that they need a changed heart results in no change in their behavior. This leaves them still in sin and out of fellowship with both God and their neighbor. How can someone in this situation be restored to fellowship with the church? They can’t; instead, people usually just pickup and go to the church down the street and join it with “no harm” and “no foul” or just stay home and quit the church altogether.

There are several recent instances of clergy admitting that they aren’t really believers and voluntarily leaving their positions, but sadly, many such clergy are “bitter clingers” to their position, salary, and expense accounts; they like the Pharisees of old, aren’t going to make it but also work to prevent others from getting into the Kingdom of Heaven as well.

What Ezekiel preaches is not the Gospel although the Gospel is talked about by others on the show. Steve Taylor’s lyrics “in it for the money as an idol show” come to mind. Ezekiel is a bona fide celebrity that reminds me of some in the Christian Music scene that had issues with moral failings. Sadly, that is a very long list.

Christianity is portrayed in this program as an archaic set of rules that are followed to give us salvation i.e. salvations is by our works. Christ and several Christian buzzwords are mentioned but the shepherds of Christ’s flock like Ezekiel live only to fleece the faithful. They know its not true but appeal to itching ears to empower themselves. Their message is not grace alone in Christ alone.

Homelander is shown as a callous, mass murderer that kills people simply because he enjoys it. He is a psychopath. Oh and a few episodes into the series they introduce him as an ordained clergyman. By that point in the show, it’s clear that he says it for ratings and makes no real claim to believe in anything but himself.

I think in episode 5 is when the faithful that paid $10K each for a meet and greet with Ezekiel are rebaptized by Homelander. Poor Hughie is held under long enough that he really could have repented before being let up.

Homelander baptizes Hughie accompanied by Ezekiel

Also, by episode 5, Annie has experienced a series of compromises in her values and is having a real crisis of faith. Annie is at an event sponsored by Ezekiel and is meeting with a group of fans. She is asked a question about premarital sex and Annie’s handlers persuade her to lie to preserve her image instead of answer truthfully. She falsely declares that she is a virgin and that girls should wait until marriage even though that is not true of her own life.

Annie then is expected to get on stage and read a speech prepared for her by the corporation to maximize her ratings with the Christian community. Remember, superheroes are owned by the corporation and their purpose is to maximize profit by maximizing their social media presence and merchandizing.

Starlight (Annie) starting a speech that she never finishes

Annie begins the speech as written but departs from the script and says she is tired of the compromises and mentions that she suffered the indignity of being forced to have a certain male organ in her face. No blue dress but you get the idea. She then renounces her faith–as defined by this group–although she still believes in God. She then walks off the stage.

Nevertheless, little nuggets of Annie’s faith continue to appear in later episodes.

At one point, we find Annie in a church listening to the choir practice with a small orchestra.

In another scene, Annie encounters the Queen Mauve character in the bathroom. Queen Mauve says that I used to be like you, but I gave up my soul one piece at a time. Don’t let that happen to you. Someone here must be the goodie two shoes, and it might as well be you. Without knowing, it Mauve just rescued Annie from compromising yet again.

In the final episode, Annie finally has the backbone to do what she knows is right. Annie forgives Hughie for luring her to a meeting in a previous episode where she is shot by another character. Whether Annie does this as an expression of her faith or because she followed her heart in a Disney Princess sort of way is not fully answered. I think of forgiveness as a Christian trait not one associated with Disney Princesses.

It seems at the end that Annie retains some measure of a personal faith but without relying on the organized church that she grew-up with.

This program is way different than the comic book upon which it is based—which is probably a good thing. Take a look at these Wikipedia pages:

The Boys Comic book

The Boys Characters

Amazon’s version is tamer than the comic books, but this program is not for most people. Frankly, I found myself hitting either the mute or fast forward button several times. Violence and profanity were expected with the M rating, but this show makes Deadpool look tame.

The sexual stuff is often disgusting and gratuitous. Drug use is central to the storyline. Many innocent people are wantonly killed in horrific ways by superheroes just to protect or enhance the corporate image. This show is not your typical Hollywood trope of all corporations are evil, but Vought certainly is.

If there was a rating north of M, this program would get it. It’s not for most folks although the way Amazon is promoting it, you probably wouldn’t understand it that way.

I don’t know if this program is a full-throated rejection of Christianity or just a rejection of the excesses that Americans tolerate from the pulpit. I got the feeling that at least one of the show’s writers grew up with an evangelical background.

Again, unless you were OK watching Deadpool, avoid The Boys. It is ruder, cruder, and really in your face but at least there’s no time travel sequence at the end.