Those who write weblogs and have websites naturally want to have people read their material, so they use various strategies. These include SEO, publicity, optimizing for mobile devices, submitting sitemaps to search engines, and more. Naturally, we want to be noticed on social media.
There are how-to guides on many of those subjects, and there are numerous guides about the best times to post on social(ist) media. Why? Because that is where the people are — potential readers, customers, converts, and all that good stuff. But those guides are lacking.
Smart phone social media, Pixabay / geralt (Gerd Altmann)
Up the trail a spell at Slimjim’s spread, there was a discussion about “Thoughts on Decrease of Blog Views Over the Years.” All of those things mentioned earlier play a part in decreases as well as increases, and the conditions also change. That’s one reason those “best times” lists are incomplete.
From what I saw, various social media have times when they had the most activity, therefore, those are the best times to post. (Those things focus on times in the Eastern US, since the rest of the world apparently isn’t as important.) One astute writer pointed out that yes, they are busy, but to schedule posts for those peak times also leaves you open to a lot of competition for attention. He suggested using the best time for you. Also, my audience at The Question Evolution Project is more active away from peak times.
Shared links from friendly people in our own tribes also help.
Those of us who have had experience in the retail world know that there is a plethora of merchandising based on motion pictures that are (or expected to be) blockbuster hits. If one of those has subject matter that sparks the interest of the public, they will search for it.
Weblogs on Christian theology, presuppositional apologetics, biblical creation science and that sort of thing are unlikely search subjects for people who are all het up about Avatar: The Way of Water. (Conversely, this child is not interested in that movie.) For certain niches to be noticed, it seems that they need a boost from a celebrity like Chris Evans or someone who publicly expresses an interest in one of the niches topics. If Patrick Mahomes mentioned our subjects, we may have ridden that popularity bronco through February 2023, but that would have probably calmed down in a couple of weeks.
Of course, if you have sloppy writing and poor content, tricks of online optimization are not likely to be much help.
Something else that should be mentioned is that people are using all sorts of browser enhancements (be careful you don’t add something that spies on you, check them out before adding) that add security and secrecy. Many browsers themselves also do that. My statistics counter promises to record hits, but I have serious doubts that it gets them all. F’rinstance, someone quoted part of my text back to me but his location (known to me) did not register, well, you get the idea.
Those of us who are not doing marketing for a living and want to follow the Lord’s calling for our lives should remain faithful. It gets difficult at times, boy do I know! We should desire to please him, not to get a prairie schooner-full of hits and the dopamine rush. If our areas of study and writing/speaking get popular for a spell, fine, be ready and go with it. Or not. Stay faithful.
This is a simple lesson that people can get from Question Evolution Day: Demand the science. Actually, this is something other biblical creationists and I have been saying for a mighty long time, but this is a time to emphasize it.
It is also very helpful to learn how to spot bad logic. The stuff these owlhoots spread is saturated with faulty reasoning, but since the secular science industry seems to work closely with Rusty Swingset and his crew up yonder near Deception Pass at the Darwin Ranch, their negative influence is seen. All sorts of intellectual and scientific shenanigans happen at the Ranch, but they sure do know their propaganda tactics!
Chimpanzees are portrayed as more intelligent than they really are, and assertions about having a common language between humans and apelike ancestors way back in the mists of time are just that: mere assertions. These things were followed by that confirmation bias stuff again. The bad reasoning and question-begging nature of the research involved should draw howls of outrage from scientists who have knowledge and integrity. I lack belief that it will happen, since the storytelling supports the Bearded Buddha.
There are a host of scientific problems with evolution. One egregious difficulty is an untestable proposition that people (and primates) evolved from an unknown common ancestor from an unknown time ago. As one evolutionist said, “When you look at the narrative for hominin [bipedal apes, including modern humans] origins, it’s just a big mess—there’s no consensus whatsoever.”
In addition, the evolutionary origin of the unique ability of human speech and language remains totally unresolved. . .
Undeterred, evolutionists expect to find part of the answer by observing “gestures that wild chimps and bonobos use to communicate,” since they allegedly share a common ancestor with us. But interpreting ape gestures is necessarily subjective. . .
It did not take long before numerous reports about images from the James Webb Space Telescope became plentiful. I simply posted them on social(ist) media. Biblical creationists were pointing out that evidence for the Big Bang (something sought by the JWST folks, NASA, ESA, and others) was not happening. Things were not looking good for finding the invisible friends of materialists, those rascally extraterrestrials, either.
A bone I keep gnawing on is that there is evidence for recent creation in our own solar system. (Feel free to browse Piltdown Superman for posts with links to relevant articles.) Instead of admitting that their worldview is fundamentally flawed, secular scientists conjure up rescuing devices to preserve deep time. Papa Darwin needs it, you know. Closer to home, or way out yonder in the big universe, the evidence continually refutes the concept of billions of years.
Secular cosmology is in disarray, and instances that cosmic evolution supposedly happened “earlier than thought” by secularists keep cropping up. Creationists don’t need excuses or data-tampering because God is indeed the Creator.
“If the evidence is so clear, why don’t scientists face the facts, Cowboy Bob?”
The answer has nothing to do with science, old son. It is a spiritual problem. Mankind has fallen, which happened back in Eden. The natural person is at enmity with God, and our sinful nature interferes with pretty much every area of our lives — which includes the thinking processes. (This is indirectly supported by “9 Signs That You Might Be An Intellectually Dishonest Atheist.”) Christians are to presuppose the truth of the Word of God. Although misotheists and others say this is irrational, they are presuppositionalists themselves! That’s right, they presuppose atheistic naturalism. The light comes in through the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. The reality of spiritual matters is unthinkable to materialists.
I rounded up a passel of links that support our contention that the JWST is providing support for recent creation and not helping the Big Bang. The most recent article is first, then I drop down to some older ones and work forward. You savvy? Good.
13 January 2023: JWST Upsetting Cosmology — The James Webb Space Telescope continues turning up contradictions to consensus views on cosmic evolution
5 January 2022: JWST Finds Mature Galaxy in Young Universe — “We are dropping everything else” shouts an astrophysicist upon first look at a mature barred spiral in the early universe.
4 August 2022: JWST Surprises and Discoveries — Galaxies evolve quicker than expected, and stunning new images of Hubble classics dazzle the eyes
9 August 2022: What the James Webb Space Telescope Has Revealed About Distant Galaxies So Far — One of the prime objectives of the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to study very distant galaxies: ones that are too far away to be effectively observed prior to the JWST. How should creationists interpret the images from the farthest galaxies yet?
5 September 2022: James Webb Telescope Data: Challenges for the Big Bang? — Astronomers are thrilled by the extraordinary images provided by the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)—but some of the data already contradict Big Bang expectations.
9 September 2022: Creation Cosmology Confirmed! — Dr. Jason Lisle points out how he and others had their creationist predictions confirmed
31 October 2022: James Webb Telescope vs. the Big Bang — Suggesting a scientific test that creationists can perform that could clarify at least one basic issue in cosmology
Although an abolitionist, Darwin was a racist who believed slavery was a good result of his version of natural selection
It turns out I stumbled across another “Note” on Fakebook. This one is from May 2021. Since Notes are no longer easy to locate, I am copying them here and tweaking them a bit. Glad I didn’t do all that many.
Racism is being leveraged for power, but it is being portrayed as strictly the fault of “white people.” Not hardly! It has existed for millennia, but to quote atheist evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould, “Biological arguments for racism may have been common before 1850, but they increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory.” That’s right, evolutionary thinking magnified the problem. It was especially beneficial for white people who were in control.
We hear about Darwin’s 1859 book Origin of Species, but the full title is often omitted (I’ll allow that it’s cumbersome when compared to many books that have short titles these days): On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (emphasis added). It was revised six times, by the way. The Bearded Buddha was a racist, and his ideas were applied not only to African slaves brought to America, but also to Australia, New Zealand, and other places. The idea of “races” not not a biblical concept, but a construct based on evolutionary thinking.
People have tried to defend Charles Darwin because he was a product of his times, but that idea is not consistently applied to other people. Although Darwin was opposed to slavery, he did not do so in his major works and their revisions. (Here are more racist quotes from Darwin.) Also, he saw slavery as a beneficial result of his version of natural selection, and that various “races” of humans were less evolved that white Europeans.
Did you know that the majority of African slaves, after being sold out by other Africans (which should seriously complicate the “reparations” questions) were not shipped to the United States, but to other countries? Also, did you know that there were white slaves in America? There is slavery happening even now, but that is not considered important by leftists and their supporters.
Do I really have to say what so many others are saying? Out of fear of being called “racist”, many facts cannot be presented. We cannot even have serious conversations due to fear of reprisals and censorship. The past cannot be changed. Rioting, looting, murders, people doing secular penance over imagined white guilt by wearing chains or shining shoes… In addition, black people who are Christians and Conservatives are “not really black” because they’re not “down for the struggle”, nor are black people who are educated and have jobs. Those who form companies, recording artists, cereal company mascots, and others change their names for appeasement is galactically stupid. Be honest.
This “protest” stuff is not about George Floyd and injustice, it is a planned movement by leftists who were waiting for an opportunity — it did not happen for other black people on this scale. Know what Lenin supposedly called sympathizers in the West? Useful idiots. The anti-Christian Marxist ideology of Black Lives Matter is using people who are useful idiots to them, and BLM in turn is being used as well. We believe that black lives matter because all lives matter.
Where are the marches and protests for black-on-black violence and racism —
You betcha. In fact, I recently received permission from a black neighbor to ask a blunt question on this subject. She said, “Oh yes! It exists”. Imagine one black calling another “monkey boy” because of his skin color!
Where are the protests about black-on-black violence and racism, murders of black police officers, the bigotry of the left telling people that they are too stupid to survive without putting leftists in political office? There are outcries, but Thomas Sowell, Dr. Voddie Baucham, Darrell B. Harrison,, and many others don’t count in the eyes of radical leftists. Why are people like Clarence Thomas, Candace Owens, Ben Carson, those mentioned above, and others pariahs to the left? Black people should be inspired by them instead of hating them.
For that matter, racism is not unique to white people — not by a long shot. Many of us would like to take people as they are, not as groups, not as members of an ethnic heritage. I resent attempts to place blame and hatred on me for the distant past, and we certainly do not deserve the death penalty for crimes (real or assumed) that happened before we were born.
It is interesting that rioters are being coddled (that’s right, I said it) and their bad behavior is rewarded. It’s not cool to simply walk up and commit battery on someone with a deadly weapon, steal and ruin produce, burn down stores and steal television sets in the name of “justice”. Holding cities hostage with threats of rioting and making leaders clutch their pearls in fear is counterproductive. Blaming racism for your own failures may make you feel better, but it solves nothing. Some even say that blacks have to kill white people. I wouldn’t be surprised if racism increases because of such actions and attitudes. You hate racism? Stop committing crimes.
I am not a “systemic racist” simply because I’m depressingly Caucasian. (My ancestors were not from the Caucasus Mountains, so that outdated evolutionary handle baffles me.) Having voted for Donald Trump does not make me a racist, and people who call him a racist are believing lies because the opposite is true.
Nor am I or any other melanin-deficient person automatically a racist because someone said so. I’ve got some bad news for you sunshine, there is a whole whack of racism against whites. It is not justified, but simply emotive reactions based on hatred. People who have read my work know how I react to arbitrary assertions. This is magnified when such assertions are used for hatred, violence, and political agendas. And how long will people be fooled by fake “hate crimes”?
As indicated before, Darwin can’t be blamed for racism, but he’d have a great time observing and probably telling the world that the actions of leftists prove his theory. Why aren’t this racist abolitionist’s statues being torn down? Why are Lenin’s statues still standing? How about Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood who wanted to cull the black population? They sure are doing a great job, but leftists sure are using those useful idiots to keep themselves in business.
According to the Bible and as affirmed by biblical creationists, there are no races. Ultimately, racism is a problem of denying our Creator, which is the result of sin. Social programs and abolishing the police are not the answer. People need to repent and humble themselves before Jesus.
Here is a message by Dr. James White. Now, I’m not interested in the One True Church™ views and don’t care if you’re a Calvinist or not (I take heat from both Calvinists/Reformed and Arminians), but just pay attention to the video below, willya? (Here is the MP3 download if you prefer, but on my Windows computer, it downloads instantly: https://mp3.sermonaudio.com/filearea/6192021111662/6192021111662.mp3
This article may appear to be one of those “atheists are nasty to me so I will pay them back” things, but if you’ll stay with me on this trail, you’ll see where it leads. (Edited for wording 1 September 2022.)
After all these years dealing with misotheists, I should no longer be amazed at their vitriol and bigotry. It seems to be increasing. (It may be a sign of the Last Days, but I will not delve into eschatology this time.) Many professing atheists (Romans 1:18-23) claim to believe in freedoms of speech, expression, and thought, but they seek out and ridicule Christians for doing those very things.
They frequently try to put us on the defensive by dodging what we discuss, introducing new subjects, ignoring replies, more dodging, and attempting to intimidate. They get furious — furious, I tell you — when we don’t let them manipulate us and play “Gotcha!” games.
If you study on it, you may also notice that Christians and biblical creationists are not “allowed” to argue from our own worldview. Those atheists insist that we engage on their terms and accept atheistic naturalism, but they call it “neutral ground” or some such. Christian, if you agree to “leave the Bible out of it”, you’ve just agreed with the atheist that God’s Word is incorrect when it discusses them and their rebellious condition! There is no neutral ground. You savvy that, Pilgrim?
There have been times where I have read comments such as this one: “My atheism is a side effect of being intelligent, rational, logical, and basing my conclusions on evidence.” However, they show an extreme lack of knowledge of science, evolution, logic, and Christianity. Then they make statements about God, the Bible, Christianity, Christians, biblical creationists, etc. Such remarks are simply prejudicial conjecture, indicating that those making them are not interested in serious discussions.
The one I quoted above has frequently stated that he already knows that the Bible, creation science, and other things presented by Christians are “wrong” and will not read them or watch the videos. This is being informed? No. I think that kind of arrogance is a cover for cowardice.
Indeed, he even reacted to a post and said that I don’t “understand what a theory is in science.” Boskus, the Page owner, humiliated himself yet again because he not only attributed the article to me, but if he had read it, he would have learned that it was written by a scientist. Scientists know what a theory is in science, if I recollect rightly.
Over and over, we get proven right by the atheistic goat rodeo denizens who do not display original thought, and especially their lack of critical thinking. F’rinstance, see how alleged Bible contradictions are shredded. Objections to Christianity and especially biblical creation are contumeliously thrown about by those with Atheism Spectrum Disorder, but for those of us with experience, we read and hear the same old nonsense. Mr. Bentley has a short, humorous article on the responses of atheists that I suggest you read.
My previous article on this weblog was a retooled post from Fakebook that examined alleged logic and morality from certain misotheists. It prompted reactions. One was built on complete dishonesty, including putting words in my mouth. I saw that he was just another angry bigot who was justifying his rebellion against Almighty God, and not worth my time. (I reckon he sent about ten visits here with his link.) If you go there, note that he doesn’t exactly enforce the comments policy for his sycophants.
A second reaction was written by an acolyte of the first writer. His comments on this weblog were the same old boilerplate rhetoric. When I stopped responding and allowing his disingenuous comments, he wrote his own post. I was a mite irked when I gave one reply:
To show the brilliance of The Mighty Atheist™, you begin with an ad hominem, using cowboy as a pejorative. This is followed by a hasty generalization about my knowledge of atheists based on just one article. I’ve got some bad news for you, Sunshine, I’ve been writing about atheists, theology, and other things for somewhere around fifteen years. That means I won’t fall for tricks. So, have fun with your argument from silence and other logical fallacies in your vindictive, petty post. Mayhaps when your frontal lobes develop and you can have a rational discussion, I’ll let you comment on my posts again, mmmkay?
I didn’t bother to read any responses.
There are a couple of things I’ve said on other occasions: The days of “You believe, I don’t, let’s turn on the game and watch it,” are long gone. Also, since evolution is foundational to the religion of atheism, they really get on the prod when fish-to-fool evolution is doubted. Things can be going well between a misotheist and a Christian, but express evidence against evolution and supporting creation (especially the Genesis Flood), and they’re ready to slap leather.
I know this trail is a mite long, but the end is in sight.
The secular science industry is dominated by atheists. Although the adored peer review process is saturated with difficulties and some even want it scrapped, they stay with it. A spell back, someone used a vile word and secularists rode into town and shot up the saloon. It began with a “c”. Yep, someone said “Creator“, and it wasn’t even meant in reference to the real Creator that we will all stand before in Judgment.
I mentioned earlier about a post that was written by a scientist. That atheist discussed earlier was angry because the title was, “Many Scientists Believe Scientific Theories Religiously.” It’s true. While they claim to believe things because of evidence, there is no empirical support for many of those things. Just-So stories (here’s a passel of them for example), inferences, bad science, fraud — sure. We get a prairie-schooner full of that. But nothing helpful.
Also, atheists and evolutionists hate presuppositional apologetics, but they are hardcore presuppositionalists themselves! Christians are to presuppose the truth of the Bible, but atheists and Darwin’s disciples presuppose evolution, deep time, that everything came from nothing, and materialism. There is precious little empirical evidence, and it is dragged down by the stones of all of those assumptions.
A post I saw this morning brought all these things together for me. There is a firefight among materialists about the Webb telescope and the Big Bang. Essentially, “Liar! I never said what you said I said!” Meanwhile, accusations against Eric Lerner were shallow, since he has rejected the Big Bang for decades. (His own belief has no evidence, however.) This link is to a secular article that affirms the “facts” of the Big Bang, but I present it here with a coarse wording warning.
All of this is to say that misotheists and evolutionists fiercely guard their origins myth, and despise freedoms of speech, expression, and thought. It is not about evidence, because they really don’t have any! It is a spiritual problem. God exists, they know it, but suppress the truth. Many hate his followers, like this sidewinder:
This example of atheist “morality” is posted under Federal Fair Use provisions for educational purposes
Many feral atheists have repented and become Christians. There are several in the biblical creation science organizations. Sin affects all areas of one’s thinking, and with salvation and the entrance of God’s Word comes light.
On occasion, I would write a “Note” on Facebook for fans of my Pages. Since Fakebook took away the Notes and made them very difficult to find, I’m putting a few on my weblogs. This one was originally posted in 2020. It’s been edited.
Those “freethinkers’ marching in lockstep, getting their “facts” from atheopath talking points clearinghouses, seem determined to argue with Christians and creationists about practically everything. Can’t let those st00pid dujmb theist be right, especially when they have corrected us on science, logic, theology, or anything else. Nosiree! Although I should not feed these attention-craving trolls, this is a good opportunity to do a bit of teaching.
Many professing atheists seek their identities in denying the existence of God, which is galactically stupid even on the surface. Study on it a spell. How many a-Easter-Bunny-ists write and sell books, form groups, make videos, have people pay money to join their “reason circle” to combat the Easter Bunny, use anti-Bunny profile icons, and more? It’s because there is no Easter Bunny, but they know God exists and suppress the truth! For some inexplicable reason, ridicule is an acceptable substitute for rational discourse and proves them right. Contradiction and ridicule are not refutation. You savvy that, pilgrim?
It is amazing that so many of Satan’s handmaidens reflexively contradict us, thrusting their atheopathy into the bright spotlight. For example, informed creationists often have to correct evolutionists and professing atheists on their own belief systems and scientific truth. Also, you would think that people who claim to believe in reason, science, and logic would have at least some skill in using those things. Instead, we are subjected to bullying and malarkey. Most are all hat, no cattle.
When caught making errors or lying, some simply double down.
Malicious Advice Mallard is giving malicious advice
Take a look at this example from an atheopath (whose biggest fan ridicules under a fake name) and pretends to be anonymous. He doesn’t even have the courage to read or view the creationist materials he assumes are wrong or lies (a fallacy of relevance that is called Bulverism):
Shared from The Question Evolution Project for (surprise!) the sake of ridicule. Used under federal Fair Use provisions for educational purposes.
Scientists know that dark matter exists because they can calculate the amount of mass and it doesn’t account for the amount of gravity.
No, that’s a talking point (an erroneous one at that) based on presuppositions of the Big Bang. It has been Frankensteined over the decades, saw a bit off here, add something there…it has little resemblance to the “theory” of long ago. Biblical creationists reject it for both scientific and theological reasons. A few renegade secular scientists also reject it. (By the way, ever read The Big Bang Never Happened by Eric Lerner? I thought he was making a case for creation, but instead, he was spinning a yarn for something even more outrageous than the Big Bang.) For that matter, evidence for the Big Bang is so poor, some scientists say that the universe itself should not exist! No wonder that dark matter, a critical component of the failed Big Bang, cannot be found.
So they know something is out there.
Of course, by limiting other possible explanations and seeking to confirm a bias, evidence can be tortured so much, it will confess to anything. People like this should know that God exists because the evidence is all around them.
They just haven’t yet figured out exactly what it is.
Similar to Darwinian Evolution of the Gaps, wishful thinking and hoping that maybe perhaps possibly scientists think that some day, evidence will be found — that ain’t science, girlfriend, that’s blind faith.
But leave it to creationist knuckleheads to deny it.
We’re “knuckleheads” for denying something that scientists admit has no evidence other than something that is occasionally inferred? Makes perfect sense on your planet, but not in reality. They keep searching, but keep failing to detect dark matter. Here is just one example, which I used as a screenshot in the original.
For those who engage the genetic fallacy and reject material from biblical creationists, here is one example from a secular source. Do your homework, there are more.
In their rabid hatred of God, Christians, and especially biblical creationists, bigots like this are fond of perverting Scripture. It’s who they are and what they do, even when the truth applies to them — and they end up proving God right yet again.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18-23)
The inspiration for this article is…truly bizarre. Like so many other times, an inspiration arrives followed by other thoughts and even circumstances. It began with a shoe.
I found a pair of sneakers tucked away that I had forgotten. Since my wife and I were doing some walking in nature (here are a few photos), I wore those a few times. They seemed all right, especially with good insoles. Then I got a job that involved lots of walking on a hard floor. My feet hurt after the first day, so I used the sneakers. Some pain the second day, less exertion on the third day but I still had pain. Then one broke.
You see the sole and the shoe with the canvas
God’s Timing? Humor? Coincidence?
There have been several instances in my past where I believe God was preserving me. The most notable was around 1978. I was a young driver, and I was on the prod while speeding along a four-lane divided highway. My exit was a right turn, down the ramp, and a stop at the bottom of the hill. When I made the right turn, the car kept turning and I went into the ditch. Later, I learned that the tie rod broke. If it had broken while I was going at a high speed, it may have been the end. I wonder if the Lord had an angel holding on to it until then.
In a more recent car-related instance, I had an arrangement with my mechanic in another town a few miles away. He was going to junk the car for me. While leaving that workplace, something snapped and it steered funny. Okay, I was already a couple of miles closer to his place, so I kept going. I “limped” it along with my four-way flashers going and doing as much driving on the shoulder as possible. When I arrived, the mechanic examined it and said, “It’s a miracle that you got here!”
The shoe thing is less dramatic. I had been on those walks, and had worked in them. When I got home, I pulled into a parking place and started to get out — and stumbled. The guy in the car next to mine said to be careful. I told him I had just come home from work. He said, “See how the universe takes care of you?” What fresh evil is this? If I had been thinking, I might have said, “It’s how the Creator of the universe is taking care of me!”
A spell back, I wrote “Evolution, God, and Humor” about — well, what the title says. Was God playing a prank on me with the timing as well as showing his provision? We’ll never know this side of Heaven.
Little Things Matter
These often-overlooked things can be vital.
There is a proverb that has taken many forms for about a thousand years. Here is a common version:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of a message the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
As we have seen in analyses of fossils and bones of our alleged evolutionary ancestors, feet are very important in determining a critter’s locomotion. (Indeed, our “cousin” chimpanzees are uncomfortable walking upright for more than short distances. They have “hands” on their feet.) Foot, leg, pelvis, back, neck bone, skull work together. A bad shoe causes foot pain, compensation throwing one’s stride out of whack, leg and back pain…you get the idea.
There are other simple things that pull back the reins and holler “Whoa!”:
Clean drinking water is vital. It’s ironic when a place is flooded but people can’t drink that water.
If the BIOS on a PC or laptop is corrupted, the computer is “bricked.”
A horse can canter or gallop a long way in a short time, but can do almost nothing if it is hobbled. We read in James 3:3-4 that a horse is controlled by a bit, and a ship is steered by a comparatively small rudder.
The last prisoners of the Tower of London are ravens. A superstition is that if they fly away, the Crown will fall and so will Britain. So, their wings are clipped (flight feathers trimmed). Looks like Britain has essentially fallen and become pagan, innit?
Someone made a remark about an article on preventing shark attacks: It didn’t mention staying out of the water.
“Does this article have a spiritual application, Cowboy Bob?”
The Spiritual Application
In “Pinpoint Accuracy — The Takedown of Christianity in the West” (which this child highly recommends), Calvin Smith added something to my original broken shoe inspiration: ball bearings. Although the procedure was flawed, the idea was excellent: The Allies in World War II bombed plants that made ball bearings. Many German war machines relied on them.
As discussed many times in biblical creation science apologetics, an assault on the most prominent parts of the Christian faith and the Bible is difficult for enemies of the faith. Instead, they chip away at the foundations because most major Christian doctrines begin in Genesis. Why trust the Bible if it is wrong in the very first verse? “Science says” evolution happened and the earth is billions of years old.
They get Christians to doubt the accuracy and especially the authority of the Word of God, and in many ways, they are succeeding. That’s why we have to strengthen and promote the truth of creation.
EDIT: I got some new shoes. They cost more than I wanted to pay, but my foundation is strengthened.
This child is often late to the party when it comes to reviewing books, movies, and videos. In this case, A Matter of Faith is a movie from October 2014. God’s Not Dead, which I have not seen, was released in March of that year. I watched this one on 30 April 2022.
Irrelevant, but a fun surprise for me is that it was filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I know the area, having lived near there for several years.
Christian movies are like getting grub from the chuckwagon: depends on who is doing the cooking. The genre has a reputation for Pollyanna-style material and bad acting, and some of that is deserved. For example, the A Thief in the Night films that began in 1972 had a good message about the end times, but acting and production were often poor. If I recollect rightly, the last two were improvements over the first ones.
To be fair, the movie industry is known for being hostile to presenting Christians in a positive light, so enthusiastic Christians filmmakers work with low budgets and whomever they can get to work in front of and behind the cameras. Many are using actors who make no pretense at Christianity, but still do their roles in a professional manner.
Things are changing. While many Christian movies suffer from weak writing, it is incorrect to assume that if it’s faith-based, it’s going to be bad. Can’t be using the genetic fallacy and rejecting the entire genre, we have to judge them on their own merits.
Here’s what happened that brought A Matter of Faith to my attention. YouTube recommends videos, so I looked. The entire movie is available there on a channel supposedly owned by the Christiano brothers of Five & Two Pictures who made it. It can be seen on the cutely-named Freevee (formerly IMDB TV), which is owned by Amazon (an Amazon account is required to use it, but not the overpriced Prime). It is also on Pluto and Tubi. Note that selections change, so it may not be on any of those tomorrow.
I went to IMDB and saw that it had a user review score of 3.7 out of 10. Atheists were out in force to vote the movie down. It’s who they are and what they do. Some were saying “worst movie ever made”, and one hatetheist equated it with ISIS propaganda (hyperbole much?), plus other extremely negative claims against Christianity — especially creation science.
After all, they are compelled to protect their fundamentally-flawed origins mythology because it is foundational to atheism. Many of the reviews did not show any knowledge of the movie beyond having watched the trailer, but yee haw boy howdy, they sure did use the word propaganda quite a bit.
One sidewinder said it had the “same merit as a Jonestown Koolaid commercial” and “I think the purpose of making this terrible movie was to try to enlist new members to a rapidly dwindling cult using hollow logic and citing mythical situations as “proof” to support their weak indoctrination attempt.” I could triple the length of this article by examining the false claims and blatant hypocrisy of many reviews, but we need to move on.
Rachel Whitaker was raised in a Christian home and she is going off to college. Her biology class is taught by Professor Kaman (Harry Anderson of Night Court fame), who has an agenda. He promises that if students attend the classes, they are guaranteed a passing grade. That’s a mite suspicious.
During her first few weeks, Rachel is too busy for church or reading her Bible. Professor Kaman, being the caiman that he is, makes bold evolutionary pronouncements with “evidence” that is strictly conjecture, and Rachel is accepting seeds of doubt.
Her father, Steven Whitaker, is upset that Kaman teaches evolution. (Where has he been? The secular science industry and academia are saturated with people who have a worldview based on atheistic naturalism for many years.) Steve visits the professor to respectfully complain about the evolution-only curriculum. Since the college needs a topic for an upcoming debate series, the professor cajoles Steve into debating him.
One trick is saying, “Evolution versus creationism“, and when -ism is used, it has a negative connotation for many people. That was the title of the debate. However (and this puts burrs under the saddles of fundamentalist evolutionists), both creationism and evolutionism can both be used. Indeed, many creationists have no problem with the word creationism.
A professor with training in evolutionism and a passel of experience in public speaking will debate an inexperienced parent of a student. Seems legit. Actually, biblical creation scientists have a difficult time in getting their secular counterparts to debate. Their challenges are declined or ignored most of the time. If Kaman wanted a hot topic for debate, he could have found several qualified creationists who would oblige.
Please pay attention. Although the professor is an atheist and evolutionist, he say, “I teach what my textbooks tells me to teach,” then praises evolutionary scientists. However, parents who take solace in the fact that there are Christian teachers in the public school system are deceiving themself. The reason is that, like Kaman implies, the curriculum given by the state takes priority.
Another student named Evan met Rachel and said that he had taken Kaman’s biology course. He pointed out that Kaman has an agenda and tried to get her thinking.
Rachel’s father wants to get is message out to Rachel and other students. She is appalled — appalled, I tell you — that her father is going to do the debate. Professor Kaman won’t change his beliefs. Also, it will “ruin me on campus!” Apparently nobody considered the possibility that if Steve pulled out, he would be labeled a coward and things would be worse for her.
A glaring error in the movie is that it was claimed that Kaman teaches that we evolved from apes. According to evolutionary beliefs, humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor. (The fact that our putative ancestors sure did look like apes apparently has no bearing on the situation.) The “evolved from apes” thing is something creationists should avoid.
Another weak point in the movie is something that should be discussed. Too many Christians and creationists attempt to defend our views with “memes” and clever sayings that would fit on bumper stickers, but are woefully unprepared in witnessing to atheists and evolutionists. These folks get slapped down by opponents who have learned their talking points and boilerplate rhetoric. Rachel’s father knew what he believed, but not why, and was unable to defend his position in the debate.
Kaman (if he had a first name other than Professor, I missed it) used rhetorical tricks including assertions, appeal to emotion, false definitions (including the common atheistic definition of faith), straw man, and more. He also used the category error of demanding scientific proof of God. While some may claim that the movie makers were creating a straw many with the way Kaman presented his arguments, other creationists and I have seen such things many times.
In addition, there are indeed professors who are openly hostile to Christianity and especially to creation. This Kaman jasper is a representation of many reports that drop down over the transom.
I left out details that would spoil the movie for y’all, but there were a couple of surprises. One had the professor giving what was said in the debate some thought afterward. There is no “everybody gets saved, let’s have a group hug” ending, but there were some unexpected events well as a couple of things that could be predicted by viewers.
A Matter of Faith was recommended by Creation Ministries International, Answers in Genesis, and others. It has some flaws beyond what I have said, but my agenda is to encourage people who watch it and keep in mind some of the things I have said. Ask yourselves and each other questions. F’rinstance, how would layman Steve have fared against Kaman if he had prepared from the numerous materials available online provided by creationists? How about if he knew and used a presuppositional approach?
To make the movie more realistic, they could have done a full, formal debate. (It would also have been quite a bit longer.) I mentioned earlier that Rachel told her father that he would not change Kaufman’s views. That almost never happens in a debate, although it may happen later. Good debates are for each side to present their viewpoints, and to see if they can withstand scrutiny. If you can spare 2-1/2 hours, I highly recommend the “Does God Exist?” debate between Dr. Greg Bahnsen and Dr. Gordon Stein.
Again, I recommend that Christians and biblical creationists see A Matter of Faith. They can spot some flaws, and learn about doing apologetics. Also pay attention and notice that evolutionists live by faith themselves. A link to the video was posted here, but I had to remove it because the video is no longer available to the public.
When I read that a vampire squid fossil had been named after the Fossil-in-Chief, I thought I was reading the Babylon Bee. Nope. This is real news from the secular science industry. Since they have been promoting leftist causes and often rejecting real science facts to do so (abortion is not murder, men can become women and give birth, math is racist, etc.), it should not be surprising that someone from the leftist state of New York chose to honor Joe Biden by naming him after a creature with blood-sucking tentacles. Republican, Democrat, or anyone else, this is quite funny.
Do people even think anymore? Democrats named this creature after him because they are happy about his policies for global warming. “Hey, let’s name a vampiric squid fossil in his honor!” They are not too bright. I doubt that Biden would cognate on the associations, since his mental abilities are rapidly failing (perhaps because he began politics in Grover Cleveland‘s first presidential term). The associations are fitting, though.
He has been known for inappropriate touching, and swimming naked in front of female secret service agents, offending them, back when he was the Vice President. What his socialism is doing to the formerly United States and the blood-sucking tentacles analogy is also appropriate. Add to this are how Darwinoids touted this as evidence for evolution, but the opposite occurs. Because they are locked into naturalistic presuppositions, evolutionists won’t get it that the evidence supports recent creation, not their paradigm.
This critter was discovered back in 1988 but not examined until recently. Evolutionists constantly try to rescue their fundamentally-flawed worldview from what has been observed. Once again, loss of features is somehow evidence for evolution. It’s also in the wrong place according to the evolutionary timeline. Want more? Okay. Soft tissue impressions shouldn’t last hundreds of millions of Darwin years. It was presumed to look and act like modern squids. No evolution here, folks.
The fossil challenges the evolutionary narrative about squids, says the press release from AMNH. The title, “New Species of Extinct Vampire-Squid-Like Cephalopod,” may add insult to injury to associate Biden with a blood-sucking monster extending its sucker-laden tentacles to pry the lifeblood out of its victims. They surely did not mean it that way, but it will be hard for Republicans not to snicker.
Vampire squid (vampyropods) had 10 tentacles compared to the usual 8 for octopuses, which are related members of the cephalopod (head-foot) class of mollusks. One reason for the problem with evolution of this fossil is that it represents devolution—the loss of features. In this case, the “understanding” devolved as well. Co-author Christopher Whalen explains:
To read the full article and see how Chris evosplains, see “Fossil Squid Named for Joe Biden.” (Image at the top: Pexels / Mark Newbury)
There are several aspects to Question Evolution Day that many people can support, such as biblical creationists and even professing atheists or agnostics who believe in freedoms of speech, expression, academic, and thought. Fundamentalist evolutionists and atheists find it execrable. They attempt to silence this day as well as creationists themselves through ridicule, misrepresentation, outright lies, and more. I thought an important part of rational and scientific inquiry is to allow the examination of contrary evidence, but I’m just a nobody. It is easy to think that those who claim to believe in freedom of speech only support it if the material supports the consensus.
Here’s an area that I must confess to having inconsistency. There have been several misotheists and anti-creationists who want to slap leather with me over the years, and several times I have pledged to stop featuring their comments and such as examples of bad logic and bigotry. I was giving them the attention they seem to crave. Then they give me something else that needs to be used. C’est la guerre.
Used under Fair Use provisions for educational purposes.
The above image was posted on Fakebook and these misotheists did the usual: share for the purpose of mockery. First, I want to point out that the owner of that Page and his few fans complain when creationists point out that Charles Darwin was a blatant racist, they falsely claim that we are engaging in ad hominem attacks. Then they hypocritically use their own. Frequently.
By the way, notice the “ha ha” emoji. Atheists love those, even when they’ve been caught lying or given irrefutable evidence for something. No intelligent response, just a childish retort.
The two sentences in the comment on the “share” are chock full o’ fallacies, so let’s give them a look-see.
As I said, they usead hominems frequently. This one has “idiots”, “moronic”, and “clowns”. Some people defend the use of insults and say that are not ad hominems when not used in the course of an argument, but I disagree. It is still to the man and is a way to dismiss what another person or group has to say.
For that matter, an insult can also be a form of poisoning the well to discredit what the other says before any statement is made. If someone states, “No, that’s not an ad hominem, I simply insulted you”, it should not be allowed to stand. It does nothing to advance an argument or position, and is harmful.
Note the viperine conflation of evolution with science, which is common among anti-creationists. This is frequently expanded so that, if we reject atoms-to-atheist evolution, we reject science. Not hardly!
If you study on it a mite, you’ll see that their attitude is anti-science. You betcha, since those who
One need not be a creationist or Intelligent Design proponent to have doubts about evolution. It is in no wise “settled science” or “proven”, since science can’t prove anything, and a true spirit of science it so seek knowledge (which includes adjusting or even rejecting bad theories), not protecting the prevailing paradigm.
Dissent from Darwin has been signed by over 1,200 scientists (and MDs who are also professors of medicine). As discussed at Piltdown Superman, this is essentially blaspheming Darwin and, therefore, hazardous to their careers. If there were more professional, academic, and other freedoms, there would undoubtedly be more signers.
I am once again reminding people that there are many credentialed scientists in the creation community that have published in refereed journals in their own fields. Of course, evidence refuting evolution and supporting creation is not allowed in the secular science industry. It makes Darwin frown.
Interestingly, while I was writing this, another Admin at The Question Evolution Project re-posted something I wrote a spell back about how creationists embrace science. That same Page owner under discussion here called me a liar in his comments. Because atheism.
Implicit in the line, “As if a bunch of Creationist clowns are going to cause science to abandon evolutionary theory”, is an appeal to motive fallacy. Since that Admin uses the genetic fallacy as an excuse to avoid reading creationist material, he doesn’t know what Question Evolution Day is about in the first place.
When I started QED, I never said that it would cause the secular science industry to abandon one of their foundations. (Indeed, glance through this collection of Darwin Day images and notice the religious fervor. Somehow, a couple of QED images made it into the mix.) I am a nobody. Fact. I wasn’t being facetious before. And I know I don’t have much influence or power. This is a movement by and for the people who actually care about getting out the truth and prompting people to think for themselves instead of floating down the stream of “consensus science”.
This may put some people off, but mayhaps some of my history will be useful.
Creation Ministries International had a Question Evolution! campaign that included several videos and questions that evolutionists cannot answer. I made a comment that there should be a Question Evolution Day. Didn’t happen, so, being a cowboy at heart, I took the initiative and started the observance. Not much happened.
I asked for other people to participate, and had a boost a few times from Creation Today. Ian Juby promoted QED on Genesis Week a couple of times. Many other people wrote weblog articles (Duane Caldwell has done several at Rational Faith), and people on social(ist) media had their own material as well as sharing hash-tagged #questionevolutionday posts.
In addition, I sought out interviews on radio and podcasts (here is one of my favorites; a skilled interviewer brings out good responses from the subject). A few times I got my name “in print”, such as The Christian Post and The Washington Post (via Religion News Service.) Like I said, I was being a cowboy. Being a nobody, however, hindered getting doors opened.
Writing that stuff makes me uncomfortable because I have long said (and pray to remind myself) to seek glory to God, not glory to Bob.
Even so, one point to QED is that a passel of us common folk can get together and spread the world. We can hope and pray that people will realize that they are not getting all the facts from atheistic materialists. They may question evolution and realize that the God of the Bible is the Creator — that means he makes the rules and we should find out what he has to say.
As for angry atheists…they can’t hurt us. Sure, ridicule and say all sorts of evil things, it’s who they are and what they do. But they can’t stop the truth, and people don’t need to spend much time on hard-hearted trolls, you savvy?
I hope all y’all will get involved in Question Evolution Day, our protest against Darwin-mandated science philosophies can be heard!
The Creation Cowboy 