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Holy Carp! I think I love this woman... not in a sexual way. She's takes apart White Evangelicalism.

Theres seldom a miracle in TWI because its an abusive cult loaded with doctrinal error. That'll do it.

Nah, it's not even cut and dried like that. By all accounts until the ressurection of Jesus Christ it wouldve appeared that satan had indeed won the war. For the most part in the Old Testament he carried what appeared to be the upper hand. I mean at times it came down to a very thin margin between God and satans victory. Our point of view is vastly different from what's found in the Old Testament. Its not now, and never had been some formulaic functioning of God limiting himself for the benefit of the devil and then allowing satan equal access. There is nothing anywhere that supports that point of view, except all the letting loose we grew accustomed to in the way international. We were taught to make the Bible fit around what wierwille insisted was the truth. We were lied to, God nor his Word bends to wierwille.

Rocky, thanks for posting these YouTubes! I’ve got to read her book! I the second video she references a book Wild at Heart , which I read a long time ago – but what was so captivating was her retelling of how that book prodded her research mind to trace how Christianity got coopted into fractious trends. To me the big ideas in her talks are extremely fascinating – and something that has intrigued me for a long time – matter of fact, not long after I left TWI I came up with some 20 topics of wierwille doctrine to look into. One of them was a SN Teaching tape by wierwille on Romans 13 – he had taught the higher powers were the gift ministries. Got into that recently on the Craig has offshoot thread – and not intending to get into politics there or here – and even after much study and looking at legitimate scholarly works on Romans 13 – it’s still a difficult and complicated concept to wrap my mind around. I believe things like free will, marriage and government are basic social foundations instituted by God. The first one – free will – has the major role in any social setting – be it marriage, family, society, governing. What Romans 13 indicates is that we should remember who assigned us the job of governing ourselves – God! He never specified what type of government it should be. If we find any faults in the system – it goes back to the people who design it and manage it – humankind’s free will does have its share of shortcomings. I’ve come across another term – Christian Nationalism – which seems akin to Kristin Du Mez’s White Evangelicalism – and this all reminds me of some of the influences in manifest destiny . I can’t wait to read Du Mez’s book! Thanks again for sharing.

Agreed.

You won't see me argue with that.

My point is.... that there might NOT be "multiple sources/links" because it's too hard to formulate any conclusive statement on the matter.

Maybe that should also apply to all "non-profit" foundations that are set up by celebrities, retired sports figures and the like where the administrative costs and payroll fees to family members are nearly 85-90% of the foundation.

Or, the opposite could be true as well. Lazy, addicted parents could be so undisciplined that when THEY do homeschooling.... there is little oversight and no curriculum to speak of.

Point well taken. My key take-away here is that they were able to establish a network, so it went beyond the scope of an individual homeschooler and into the realm of organized indoctrination.

Churches should be taxed, just like any other profit driven business. When snake oil ceases to be a profitable commodity, the number of people selling it will "miraculously" shrink.

I agree with much of what you've posted, Rocky. To me, it seems clear that these critical thinking skills need to be taught in a Humanities or Sociology Class as a Junior Level (age 17) in high school. Yes, in college courses, educators could devise a class that incorporates these principles into a larger package.... but then, not every student goes on to college. I could see several possibilities on a class format.... but subtitles would be useful. Having a Part 1 and Part 2 series of classes would generate thought and class involvement. For example: Give a one-hour view of how society reeks of con artists, scams and fraudsters. Then devise a two-hour teaching series (Part 1 and Part 2) on subtitles....1) Deception, 2) Manipulation and 3) Exploitation. Part 1 would give examples and short-clips of deceptive practices and how they are orchestrated. Part 2 would require class involvement on how to spot and dismantle the deception in one's own life. In this manner, the 17-year old is, at least, initially aware that Deception is a common practice in the real world by companies and shady organizations. Manipulation and Exploitation would add two more power punches to this teaching series.... and then, a one-hour closing session. So, around 8-10 hours of teaching would equip our youth with the underbelly tactics of greed in the world at large. Of course, at the college level... a semester class could delve into more granular tactics to overcome one's gullibility. Even in my college Marketing Class we went thru some examples of how marketing often involves deception. One such example was the Salem cigarette commercial... where a healthy couple is pictured walking on city streets, but then lighting up Salem cigarettes in the countryside. With a diddily cute tune, the song goes...."You can take Salem out of the country, but... you can't take the country out of Salem." This song plays a couple of times thru the commercial and when the commercial comes to an end.... you hear, "You can take Salem out of the country, but..... [ding]" The song stops with the 'ding.' From a marketing strategy viewpoint, it gets the customer or potential customer to finish singing the song (in his head). Salem Cigarette Commercial in early 70's .

This one, about Du Mez' book Jesus and John Wayne, is a longer interview/discussion at UChicago Divinity School. White evangelicalism and toxic masculinity are the main themes of the book.

Honest honest or Way honest?

What did he think - that all the moms were following the Scout motto "Be prepared?" Like they never knew when a batch of cookies might be needed. Sadly, it's just another painful image only this time about the rod of correction debacle.