Monday, October 3, 2016

Learning About Donald Trump

Trump

How well do you know Donald Trump?

Let’s find out.

Who said the following: “With the certainty of a sleepwalker, I am traveling the road Providence has set me down.”

Choices:

1. Donald Trump

2. Hillary Clinton

3. Adolf Hitler

4. Barack Obama

Only two people on that list have claimed that God is directing them. Of course, other prominent political figures have in the past, including Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry, but were proven wrong. At least, they haven’t made it yet to the White House, their chosen destination.

Answer: (3) Hitler.

Stone Jr.

The other choice is Trump. His confidant and former advisor Roger Stone Jr. told a radio audience that “I think that he believes that he’s been put here at this time and place to save this country. I don’t think he talks about it that way because, as you know, some non-believers would accuse him of being insane, but I think that there’s an internal guidance here that is very much a part of him.”

Thinking God is on your side will definitely cloud judgment.

Try this one: About whom was it said after a speech:

Clinton

“Every sentence was a lie, but I almost think an unconscious lie. The man is a narrow-minded fanatic. And he’s learned nothing.”

1. Donald Trump

2. Hillary Clinton

3. Adolf Hitler

4. Vladimir Putin

Maybe this will provide a clue: The Huffington Post kept track of lies during the first Presidential debate, held Sept. 26. The tally at the end of the day: Trump: 16 lies; Clinton: 0.

The answer to the question, though, is (3) Hitler again. The late Victor Klemperer, a Romance language scholar, who kept a now-famous diary about his experiences in Nazi Germany, wrote that observation after hearing the German Nazi leader in 1934 speak over the radio.

Isn’t it sad that many of you were no doubt sure the reference was to Trump, simply because he is well known for not telling the truth?

Why can’t he be honest? Maybe there’s a reason. “Pathological liars have a pattern of frequent, repeated and excessive lies or lying behavior for which there is no apparent benefit or gain for the liar,” said Charles Dike, clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale University and medical director of the Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital.

One more question: About whom was it written:

“The longer one knows him (her), the more one learns to appreciate and love him (her), and the more unreservedly one is prepared to devote oneself to his (her) great cause. “

1. Donald Trump

2. Hillary Clinton

3. Adolf Hitler

4. Mao Tse-tung

Giuliani

All four individuals, even those now deceased, on the list certainly have devoted followers. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is even willing to overlook Trump’s marital indiscretions by claiming everyone cheats. Of course, Giuliani would know: he has been married three times, and left his wife and two children to live in Gracie Mansion while he moved in with the woman he would later marry.

However, the correct answer to the question is (3) Hitler. Nazi propaganda guru Joseph Goebbels said that about his boss.

However, such a claim could explain support for Trump. After all, the nonstop lies, terrible business decisions that led to multiple bankruptcies and thousands of lawsuits, his failure to pay taxes, his unwillingness to release his tax returns seemingly would disqualify him for consideration by any sane voter, yet he commands the support of millions.

Hitler

As psychiatrists have noted, his supporters won’t respond to facts. After all, in politics, facts really have no appeal. Confronted by solid evidence against their candidate, supporters will actually cling even tighter to their opinions in what is known as the “backlash” effect.

As a result, Trump’s supporters don’t know him at all. They have projected their own insecurities and biases onto him, not caring what insults he hurls or falsehoods he tells simply because they believe in him.

That’s a concept Hitler would understand very well.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history with an occasional foray into American culture. He also speaks regularly at various religious organizations throughout Florida. He holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University and an M.A. in communication from Kent State University. You can reach him at wplazarus@aol.com.

He is the author of the famed novel The Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus as well as The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Comparative Religion for Dummies. His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers. He can also be followed on Twitter.

In addition, you can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion, at http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1

Friday, September 23, 2016

Does New Book 'Prove' Belief in Jesus?

Pitre

A new book supposedly “proves” that Jesus really lived, performed miracles and was the divine figure that modern Christians take him to be. Titled The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ, the text was written by Dr. Brant Pitre, a professor of sacred scripture at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. He previously wrote Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper.

He is also the latest in a long list of “scholars” who sell their integrity to religious fanatics. To do that, he must ignore hundreds of years of research and real evidence presented in the Gospels themselves.

Papias

To start with, he claims the four Gospels were written by Jesus’ disciples. If so, that would really buttress any of his historical claims. However, the disciples could not have written those texts. Mark, the oldest, wasn’t even mentioned until 130 C.E., about 100 years after Jesus died. Then, Papias, an early Christian leader, cited both Mark and Matthew. From inferences in the text, Mark had to have been written after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., when more than 1 million Jews were killed. That’s probably 40 years after Jesus died.

Matthew and Luke both borrowed extensively from Mark. About 80 percent of Matthew comes directly from Mark, not the other way around. So, Matthew and Luke had to be even later. As such, they could not have been written by a disciple, unless that person was more than 100 years old. No Christian writer mentions any surviving disciple, an omission that is impossible to imagine.

Ignatius

Like Mark, Matthew is not mentioned until the end of the 1^st century Papias and then by Ignatius, who also recorded the star of Bethlehem and identified several Jesus quotes, which appear only in Ignatius' letters and in Matthew. That means that either Ignatius wrote the Gospel or the anonymous author read the letters and inserted the new material in the text. Either way, the information became available long after the disciples lived.

Matthew also separates Christians and Jews, reflecting a reality that didn’t occur until the end of the first century. For example, he cites “their synagogues” (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54), even though early Christians worshiped in synagogues.

John

Luke isn’t even mentioned until 140 C.E., and then by Marcion, who would later be declared a heretic. To him, Luke was the only valid Gospel, and he was referring to a different version than the one used today. Luke also borrows from Josephus, the Jewish historian of the day. Josephus did not publish his books on the Roman War with the Jews until 95. Luke had to have been written after that.

John is definitely to be much later, exhibiting Christian beliefs that only developed after Judaism and Christianity completely separated.

Then, too, as Pitre certainly knows: the Gospels don’t agree on much. Here are some very clear examples:

In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus traveled about as a preacher for about a year. John has Jesus ministering for two to three years. Jesus in the first three books goes to Jerusalem only once; in John, he makes three or four trips. He even has friends in nearby Bethany, which was located on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem.

In addition, the first three authors have a different scenario from John for Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. For them, the Last Supper was the first night of Passover. They insist the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body, met on a holiday to interview Jesus and then had him handed over to the Romans.

Modern view of Jesus' arrest

In contrast, John has Jesus arrested the day before Passover. He is also crucified and buried before Passover. That way, to John, Jesus represents the lamb traditionally sacrificed prior to the religious holiday.

The list of such discrepancies is very long: Mathew and Luke think Jesus was born in Bethlehem in different years; Mark and John do not. John thinks Jesus was 50; the other three believe he was about 30; and so on.

None of that counters Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus. Belief doesn’t require a single fact. At the same time, however, historical research has proven conclusively that the Gospel texts disagree and that they do not reflect actual history. In fact, as the Roman Catholic Church admits, the texts contain “the belief” of the authors and nothing more.

When an author tries to build a book on that kind of shifting sand, he is writing not to “prove” anything, but for two more compelling reasons: to buttress his own faith and to make money.

The latter incentive always proves the most powerful in the world of Christian theology, where believers easily invest gobs of money in any absurdity,

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history with an occasional foray into American culture. He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida. He holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University and an M.A. in communication from Kent State University. You can reach him at wplazarus@aol.com.

In addition, you can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion, at http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Birther Movement: Old Lie with a New Twist

Obama

The Birther movement refuses to join such absurdities as phrenology and astrology in the trashcan of history. Birthers believe Barack Obama was born in Kenya and therefore not qualified to be president of the United States since the Constitutional requirement for a president is that the person has to be born in the United States.

That issue should have dissolved once Obama produced his birth certificate from the state of Hawaii. However, that didn’t silence the lunatic fringe. The outcry wasn’t even muted when fact-checkers pointed out that Sen. John McCain, Obama’s 2008 opponent, was born in Panama. Or Sen. Ted Cruz, a 2012 and 2016 opponent, was born in Canada.

Obama birth certificate

Cruz went so far as to insist that being born of an American parent anywhere made the baby American, despite all legal evidence to the contrary. Besides, as Cruz, a birther, never hesitates to ignore, Obama’s mother is American.

Finally, the reality that Obama leaves office in January at the end of two terms has also failed to quell the birther claims. It seems pretty late in the day to continue such nonsense.

Trump as a Birther

The absurd claim has rattled on because Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has encouraged it long before he actually ran for office. As a candidate, he didn’t correct a speaker at a New Hampshire political rally who called Obama a non-American Muslim even though Obama belongs to a Southern Baptist church and has been Christian his entire life although his father was Muslim. After all, Trump has been a major proponent of the Birther movement.

Now, finally, he has recanted. Obama is really American. We can all rejoice. However, being Trump, he can’t resist adding a lie. He claims that Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent for the White House, started the movement. That’s untrue.

According to Politifact, an independent website that examines political claims: “There is no record that Clinton herself or anyone within her campaign ever advanced the charge that Obama was not born in the United States. No journalist who investigated this ever found a connection to anyone in the Clinton organization.”

Clinton

Moreover, if true, the Trump would be claiming he and Clinton actually agreed on something. That’s another lie.

So how did the Birther movement start? Supposedly, according to a published account, a Clinton volunteer in Texas, Linda Starr, initiated the rumor and then convinced an attorney to pursue it. A state Federal Court refused to hear the argument, and the appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. Clinton was not involved, nor was any member of her staff.

Actually, Clinton completely rejected the claim. Asked about it by CNN’s Don Lemon, she replied: "That is – no. That is so ludicrous, Don. You know, honestly, I just believe that, first of all, it’s totally untrue, and secondly, you know, the president and I have never had any kind of confrontation like that. You know, I have been blamed for nearly everything; that was a new one to me."

Of course, lying is not new for Trump. It allows him to deflect animosity toward him onto someone else.

The truth be damned.

An old journalism adage is that a correction never catches up with the original story. Trump is counting on that during his continual effort to ravage the truth.

In addition, you can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion, at http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1