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Showing posts with the label Total Depravity

The Unabomber dies at 81 by suicide: Why are his ideas becoming popular?

Published June 21, 2023  By Mark Legg - Posted at the Denison Forum: Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, captured the gaze of millions through not only his murders but also his far-fetched philosophy and mad story. Serial killers often receive widespread media attention, but the written words of one can hardly be more recognized or infamous: “The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.” These words make up the opening sentence of Kaczynski’s manifesto, “Industrial Society and Its Future.” Kaczynski maintained a niche following of environmental extremists and anarchists in prison, writing countless letters with apparent brilliance and wit to journalists and “fans” alike. He died June 10, two weeks ago, by suicide at eighty-one. Why should we care about the ideas and life of a murderous madman? The tale of Ted Kaczynski can teach Christians many things. Indeed, frighteningly, there is a surge in popularity for his ideas online. So who was t

Starkweather: Depravity, Dystopia, And The Death Penalty In The Heart Of America

Charles Starkweather 1958 - Source: Wikipedia  By Dr. R. Scott Clark -Posted at The Heidelblog: Published June 25, 2023 On this date in 1959, the state of Nebraska executed the death sentence upon Charles Starkweather, an admitted, notorious spree killer and mass murderer. Certainly, when “Charlie” (as he was known) was captured after a shootout in Douglas, Wyoming there was little doubt, and by the end of his trial, it was certain that he had committed a shocking and brutal series of murders in and around what was then a sleepy college town and state capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska. The only real question that remained through the trial, which persists to this day, is the involvement of Caril Ann Fugate, whose family Charlie murdered. It is unknown whether she accompanied him willingly during his spree, cooperated with or even committed some of the murders, or if she was simply a hostage (as she later claimed) and suffered from Stockholm Syndrome (wherein, in order to survive captivity, o

Addicted To Autonomy

 By Dr. R. Scott Clark - Posted at The Heidelblog: Carl Trueman’s two volumes on Modernity, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (2020) and Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists redefined identity and sparked the sexual revolution (2021) are essential for understanding what is happening around us. As he notes, what we are experiencing now has been a long time coming. I point my students to the death of René Descartes (1596–1650) as a convenient turning point. Descartes was a Christian who sought to defend the faith not by beginning with God or divine authority but by beginning with the human self. His argument may be very roughly boiled down to the sentence, “I am doubting, therefore I exist.” The subject of the verb in the sentence is I. Before Descartes and the rise of Modernity, the subject of the verb had been God, as in, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In Genesis 1 , God is the subject of the verb. He is sovereign. He is speaking. He is defin

Why the Doctrine of Total Depravity

 By Al Baker - Posted at Forget None of His Benefits: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the 28th President of the United States (1913-1921) was reared in a Presbyterian home. Wilson was five years old when the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America met at First Presbyterian Church, Augusta, Georgia in December, 1861 where his father served as pastor. Wilson grew up with the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms and no doubt as a child had memorized Question and Answer 18 of the Shorter Catechism: Q. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Origin

Nebraska Teen Charged for Having Illegal Abortion after Facebook Surrenders DMs to Police

By Milton Quintanilla - Posted at Christian Headlines : A teenager in Nebraska was recently charged for having an illegal abortion after Facebook reportedly turned over direct messages between her and her mother to the police. According to The Christian Post , court documents revealed that Facebook handed over the chats between 18-year-old Celeste Burgess and her mother, 41-year-old Jessica Burgess, as part of a search warrant by Nebraska police. The investigation had been ongoing since April, before the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June, which returned the abortion issue to the states. In Nebraska, abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Celeste, who claimed she had a miscarriage at 23 weeks of gestation, was reportedly given abortion pills by her mother in March. According to a sworn affidavit from Detective Ben McBride of the Norfolk Police Investigations Unit, a woman who claimed to be Celeste's friend said the teen took the first pill in April. Read

Black Teens Kidnap, Torture and Livestream Attack on White Teen: ‘[Expletive] White People!’

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network : CHICAGO — Four suspects are in custody after a live Facebook video showed a special needs teenager being bound, tortured, and taunted by African American youth, who yell “(expletive) white people.” Chicago police state that the 30-minute physical assault shows the bound 18-year-old with his mouth duct-taped having his clothes and scalp cut with a knife, while those that gather around him laugh, drink and sprinkle cigarette ashes on him. The four suspects repeatedly struck the mentally challenged teen, calling out, “(Expletive) Donald Trump! (Expletive) white people!,” as well as “Beat his (expletive),” and “He gonna be a corpse.” They also force the victim, who they called a “goof-(expletive) white man,” to say “(Expletive) Trump” and “I love black people.” Read more here.