All posts by Wintery Knight

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Bible study: the importance of truth in religion

Here’s an interesting passage of the Bible. What do you all think the practical value of this passage is?

1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep.

2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king,

3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”

4 Then the astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.

6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”

7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided:

9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”

10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.

11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”

12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.

13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.

14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact.

15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel.

16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.

17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven

20 and said:

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.

21 He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.

22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.

23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

24Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”

25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”

26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,

28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:

29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.

30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

This passage is interesting to me because it shows the kind of attitude that God answers. The King in this passage was tired of hearing man-made stories from his servants – stories that were undoubtedly influenced by the servants desire to survive the King’s wrath. The servants would only have told the King things that were vague and happy, so that they could never be proved wrong or found to be judgmental or offensive. But the King was tired of that. He wanted someone with authority to tell him the truth about the way the world was.

In the rest of the chapter, Daniel interprets the dream, and concludes by saying this: “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”. The King replies: “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

I think it is is going to be difficult for Christians living today to be able to tell people their dreams like that. But what we can do is talk about God’s miracles as revealed by science and history. We can study astrophysics, biochemistry and history and we can explain what God did in creating and fine-tuning the universe for life, in sequencing amino acids into functioning proteins, in creating brand new body plans in the Cambrian explosion, in raising Jesus from the dead as a matter of historical record, and so on. We have to show how great God is to people who do not even think he exists, and without assuming that they believe in the Bible. And we have to do it by focusing on what is true. 

Early last week, I got a message from a friend who was interested in a girl that he met on an online dating service. She claimed to be a Christian. My friend explained why he was so interested in some of the evidences I outlined above. She was not impressed. She said “I prefer to show people Christianity is true by not judging them, by being compassionate, by introducing them to a fun and affirming community”. There was no emphasis on truth in her approach. In fact, any religious group could do those things and “establish” their religion as true, by appealing to feelings. But this is clearly not what the God of the Bible intends for people who seek him. He is a God of truth, and truth is established by logical reasoning and supporting evidence.

There are still people out there like the King who are looking for someone who can speak to them with authority. All it takes from us is a little studying, and we can be like Daniel, too. But we have to know what God has done from science and history, and speak with authority about how we can know that God has acted supernaturally. Authority to speak comes from having knowledge about what we are talking about, and knowledge comes from studying and debating with people we disagree with. Nebuchadnezzar  was not a believer in the God of Israel, but he was still interested in truth. That won’t always be the case, but it is the case for some people.

Latest developments in Canada’s war on Christians and Christianity

I do like to keep an eye on how secular left countries are treating Christians, especially European countries and Canada. It’s important to keep an eye on things so I can stay ahead of any threats. Well, Canada has been making continuous attacks on free speech and religious liberty since they elected Justin Trudeau, who leads the far-left Liberal Party of Canada. Let’s take a look.

Here’s the latest story from Christian Post:

The mayor of a small town in Ontario, Canada, is facing a bank levy from his personal account following a legal battle with a pride group who compared their legal victory to sexual intercourse.

Mayor Harold McQuaker of Emo, Ontario, had funds garnished from his personal bank account following his refusal to comply with a Human Rights Tribunal order after the governing body found that the town of Emo — with a population of just 1,400 — violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by not recognizing LGBT pride month.

The decision stems from a legal case initiated by Borderland Pride, a local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, which accused the township of discrimination for voting against an official pride month proclamation in 2020.

The tribunal’s ruling, delivered on Nov. 20, penalized McQuaker personally with a CA$5,000 fine (about $3533) and required him to undergo Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training. Additionally, the township itself was fined CA$10,000 (about $7066), and the two other town councilors who voted against the proclamation were also mandated to complete the same training.

[…]Borderland Pride took to social media to announce that they had successfully garnished the mayor’s bank account.

“Sure, sex is great, but have you ever garnished your mayor’s bank account after he publicly refused to comply with a Tribunal’s order to pay damages?” the group asked in a post on Facebook.

You might remember that these Human Rights Commissions and Human Rights Tribunals are staffed by secular left activists, and they are able to punish people who disagree with secular left dogma. Canada does not have any authoritative statement of rights and freedoms like we do. They have something on paper, but that doesn’t apply when they want to go after Christians and conservatives. As I’ve blogged on before, if you disagree with the government, you’re likely to face gag orders, bank account freezes, and even being violently ridden down by a policeman on a horse. And in Canada, the judges and LGBT activists can trans your kid in a split second, and throw you in prison if you so much as voice dissent.

Here’s another one from True North, which is my favorite source of news about Canada:

A Canadian billboard company cancelled a contract with a Manitoba pro-life group, saying that the requested image “creates too much controversy” and that the company received “a lot of backlash” for similar designs in the past.

[…]The image featured a pregnant woman cradling her belly. The caption read, “Celebrate the gift of life!” and included Life Culture’s website address. Penner told True North in an interview that the billboard was meant to remind people, in a time of widely accessible euthanasia and abortions, that “life and pregnancy is a gift.”

[…]“Our government creates fear by pitting life and women’s rights against each other. Businesses fear the legal and economic consequences if there’s any indication they support life. Churches fear losing a charitable probation status…Individuals fear losing friends or acceptance,” Penner said.

Now, you might think that Penner would be able to log a human rights complaint, but like I said, Christians and conservatives never, ever win those cases in Canada.

And here’s an article from New York Post about the epidemic of church arsons in Canada:

According to Olivia Torrone of the Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) who runs the Church Attacks Database, there have been at least 40 church arsons since the wave began in June 2021, and this is just Catholic churches.

Non-Catholic churches are burning as well; in total nearly 120 churches in Canada have been vandalized, set ablaze, or burned to the ground, with a married couple living above one of them dying as a result. Yet, as of January 2024, only 12 people had been charged in relation to these — and just one person had been convicted.

[…]Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has given Canadians mixed messages on the fires, calling them “unacceptable and wrong” on the one hand, while on the other calling the motive for the attacks “real and fully understandable.”

Church arson in Canada is “fully understandable” according to the Prime Minister of Canada. It’s something Hitler might have said about Jewish synagogues, but that’s just how Canada is now.

Right after clicking “Publish” a friend of the blog, David H. left a comment on Facebook with this story from the New York Post:

Controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson has fled Canada as liberals push to pass legislation that he says will suppress free speech and turn the country into a “totalitarian hellhole.”

Speaking in a recent episode of his daughter’s show, “The Mikhaila Peterson Podcast,” Peterson said he opted to move to the US over the contentious bill, C-63, and ongoing feud with the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

“The issue with the College of Psychologists is very annoying, to say the least, and the new legislation that the liberals are attempting to push through, Bill C-63, we’d all be living in a totalitarian hellhole if it passes,” Peterson said.

Christians in America need to be vigilant about the secular left. They have a long history of using threats, coercion, and violence against their enemies. You can see it in the history of communist regimes, like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, etc. And today in North Korea. Atheists have no rational foundation for behaving morally in his or her worldview. Anything is permissible.

Most atheists in America act better than their worldview allows, because we are still living in Christian culture. But once that Christian influence is dead, the real atheism will emerge, and we are already seeing the start of it in Canada.

Is there an epidemic of violence against transgender people?

I’m busy today rushing around doing holiday errands, and then feeding the outdoor birds, and getting groceries. We have warm weather in my super red state, so it was a good time to go outside. But I saw this article a few days ago and wanted to say something about it. It seems like the kind of article I should add to my blog, because it will be useful to bring up in a debate.

Here is the article from The Federalist, and note that the article is by a conservative LGBT person.

In 2024 there were no reported murders of a trans-identifying person due to anti-trans bias in the United States. This might be a surprise, based on the routine headlines declaring that violence against transgender Americans is only getting worse. The Human Rights Campaign, one of the more prominent LGBT advocacy organizations, provides a list each year of reported murders of trans-identifying people.

The HRC – a secular left hate group – wants people to think that these murders are all being committed by white Presbyterian married couples who attend church weekly. And they are doing it because they are filled with hate. But I know enough about debating this issue to know that most of these murders are going to be 1) drug or prostitution murders that are caused by the victim putting themselves in very very risky situations, for example drug use and / or prostitution, or 2) intimate partner violence.

And the author leads with an example of that:

Discussing the death of Quanesha Shantel, Human Rights Campaign Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative Tori Cooper argued, “It’s time for communities across this country to reckon with the fact that their silence makes them complicit. Hateful stereotypes, rhetoric and legislation fuels violence against transgender people.” This despite Shantel, whose legal name was Juquan Hamilton, being allegedly murdered by his former romantic partner, Jeremy Reynolds, who reportedly was furious over their recent breakup.

You might remember from our podcast episode on same-sex marriage that LGBT relationships, expecilally lesbian and trans relationships, then to have much higher rates of intimate partner violence. In fact, many famous murders that are labeled “hate crimes” by the secualr left are intimate partner violence. Consider the case of Matthew Sheppard, trying to claim that it was an anti-LGBT hate crime. Actually, according to LGBT activist publication The Advocate, “the perpetrator and victim not only knew each other but also had sex together, bought drugs from one another, and partied together”.

But let’s stay with The Federalist article, and see the details on these murders:

Looking at each of 29 such reported cases in 2024, the three most common categories are domestic violence (6), altercations (6), and accidents (4). Of all cases, four did not have sufficient information reported by authorities to make a determination on what kind of violence occurred. The deaths also included a suicide, the highly publicized death of Dagny (Nex) Benedict, a victim of a mass shooting, and a random act of violence.

Kita Bee and Honee Daniels were both killed in what HRC calls “hit-and-run” accidents — they involved negligent behavior and both drivers have been arrested. Jazlynn Johnson, 18, was allegedly accidentally shot and killed by his friend, 17-year-old Cesar Sandoval, while showing off a new gun, according to reports.

Finally, Santonio Coleman, who identified as a gay man who sometimes dressed as a woman, was found dead on a park trail, but he may have fallen, and no suspects have been identified. The headline reporting Coleman’s death states, “Family shocked after loved one brutally killed while walking on popular trail in Athens,” despite no current indications from police investigating the incident that Coleman was attacked.

The “altercation” category of reports indicates a fight occurred in which a trans-identifying person was killed. A transgender man, Righteous TK Hill, was allegedly shot by his cousin, Jaylen Hill, in an argument. Robert Clark Jr., named as Yella Clark, was killed in a prison fight. Clark was serving life in prison for the murder of another inmate while he was serving a 75-year sentence for armed robbery.

A 20-year-old named Dylan Gurley was reportedly stabbed to death in a dispute over money while staying in an abandoned house with a fellow homeless person, Michael Tooley. Another trans-identifying person listed, known only as Redd or Barbie, was killed by an unknown assailant in a mass shooting on a street corner while talking with several other people. Another homeless person, Andrea Doria Dos Passos, was attacked while sleeping by another homeless person in what appears to be a random assault; police have not reported a motive. The suspect has been charged.

And the HRC also misleads about race. They talk about the race of the victims, but they don’t mention the race of the attackers, because they want you to think that this is white on black crime.

Despite 82 percent of known suspects in the deaths of black trans-identifying individuals being black themselves, based on an evaluation of the reported cases, the HRC demands, “Young trans women of color — particularly Black trans women, continue to be disproportionately affected.”

Year after year, these reports end up the same. Domestic violence, interpersonal fights, random violence, and, more frequently, complete accidents, make up the majority of reported deaths of trans-identified people. Hate crimes do occur — they are simply very rare, upon review of reported cases.

Unfortunately, the constant repetition of this false narrative, always using alarming language and insisting on placing the blame politically, creates an environment of fear and hatred in the LGBT community. It sends a message that transgender identity is a privileged status that demands special protections from the government and the public. When every reported violent death of a trans-identifying person is elevated as a social failure requiring national mourning and outrage, the impact of real hate crimes is diminished.

This same deception that Black Lives Matter advocates do, when complaining about the handful of unarmed blacks who are killed by white police officers every year. BLM leaders don’t talk about the numbers for black-on-black crime, which are far, far greater. We did a whole episode of Knight and Rose Show on those numbers.

By the way, you might have noticed that there seems to be a higher rate of violence being committed BY the transgender community, like the attack on Congresswoman Nancy Mace from a few days ago. But you never hear the Biden-Harris regime talking about that.