23AR28-27

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AR 28:27 - The highest calling in journalism?

In this issue:

BIBLICAL RELIABILITY - a "deep dive into the form and structure" of the Old and New Testaments' canon

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES - "Shunning videos" deleted by jw.org just before WatchTower's 2023 Regional Convention season kick off

SATANISM - more details come to light about Satanic Temple strategy and motive

Apologia Report 28:27 (1,624)
July 27, 2023

BIBLICAL RELIABILITY

Michael J. Kruger's Canon Fodder blog (May 9 '23) included an intro to Canon Formation: Tracing the Role of Sub-Collections in the Biblical Canon, edited by W. Edward Glenny and Darian R. Lockett. <www.bit.ly/43vHB1G> 

   Kruger reports that "the book's primary contribution, [is] namely a deep dive into the form and structure of the canon.... This involves, among other things, the order of books, their arrangement, textual divisions, and inter-textual connections.

   "The other feature of the book that I appreciate is the fact that it covered both Old and New Testaments. This allowed for scholars to observe ... links between New Testament and Old Testament writings. ...

   "[T]he essays here provide a wonderful update on how the scholarly discussion about canonical structure has fared over the last few generations. As a whole, the essays were balanced, even-handed and insightful...."

   The book says of itself: "Contributors to this volume examine the various collections of canonical sub-units in the canon, considering the state of the question regarding each particular collection. The chapters introduce the issues involved in sub-collections being accepted in the canon, summarize the historical evidence of the acceptance of these collections, and discuss the compositional evidence of 'canonical consciousness' in the various collections." <www.bit.ly/3Q6jML7>

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JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

"Jehovah's Witnesses Mysteriously Delete Shunning Videos" (avoidjw, May 24 '23) -- "As Jehovah's Witnesses kick off their 2023 Regional Convention season, something very odd took place.

   "Two videos intended for the Witnesses' online version of the convention have been deleted from the streaming versions of the assembly program, with no explanation. But not before they were captured by avoidjw.org.

   "The videos portray a disfellowshipped mother attempting to reach her single daughter by phone, but is rejected by her daughter, who struggles with the decision to shun her own mother. ...

   "The video dramas and reenactments are interspersed between and within the speeches given by higher-ranking members of the Church. The shunning videos were originally slated to be embedded into the Saturday Afternoon session during the speech titled: 'Better to Be Patient Than to be Haughty in Spirit: Imitate Abel, Not Adam.' The focus of this particular talk is on the benefits of enforcing the shunning of close family members who are disfellowshipped, with a special emphasis on parent-child relationships. The speaker chosen for the streaming speech was Corey Wadlington, announced as a member of the Wallkill New York Headquarters facility.

   "According to court documents sourced by avoidjw, Wadlington is a member of the potent and influential Service Department of Jehovah's Witnesses, and is identified as a Service Secretary, the right-hand man for the Deskman position. Deskmen and Service Secretaries are responsible for the management of the internal affairs and disciplinary processes used by the Jehovah's Witnesses, particularly in situations involving child sexual abuse, disfellowshipping, and other cases considered too complex for local congregation elders to handle on their own. The men in these positions correspond and speak with congregations throughout the Branch territory using a confidential system of 3-digit codes. These codes allow the Service Department members to conceal their identities when speaking with congregation elders.

   "The code currently in use by Wadlington as of February 2021 is 'SST' and has been associated with numerous child sexual abuse cases and corresponding documents, according to internal Church documents obtained by avoidjw.org and jwchildabuse.org."

   This is followed by speculation that the motive of the WatchTower organization in removing the videos is likely related to "the recent release of the documentary 'Rebekah Vardy, Jehovah's Witnesses and Me,' a UK-based program <www.bit.ly/3OxKr1Z> that delved into the harrowing effects of disfellowshipping, shunning, and the prevalence of child abuse among the Witnesses." <www.bit.ly/46XUYur>

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SATANISM

"After School Satan Clubs gain popularity amid legal victories" by Lexi Lonas (The Hill, May 5 '23) -- "The clubs, associated with the Satanic Temple and offered only in primary schools, began at the beginning of 2020 and quickly gained attention from parents who wanted an alternative to religious clubs, according to June Everett, campaign director of the After School Satan Club. ...

   "'We're definitely not interested in having children identify as satanists,' said Rose Bastet, who has been involved with the Satanic Temple for four years. ...

   "Everett said the clubs are excellent alternatives to Christian after-school groups for agnostics, atheists and religious minorities, such as pagans, emphasizing that groups' actual activities can encompass nearly anything.

   "Bastet said her club focuses on learning about different animals. ...

   "'We have a lot of big plans for next school year,' she added. [Sure. Who can now rule out even non-secular satanism?]

   "The Satanic Temple has looked into expanding into high schools but says it is difficult because students must be more actively engaged to keep the club running, as opposed to primary schools, where the groups are adult-run and easier to implement. ...

   "She added that a new partnership with the Secular Student Alliance should help expand the After School Satan Club's reach.

   "'[Secular Student Alliance's] specialty is really college level and high school kids. So with their partnership, we hope to use them to help us get into more high schools and colleges,' Everett said." <www.bit.ly/3OoMeqj>

"How after-school clubs became a new battleground in the Satanic Temple's push to preserve separation of church and state" by Charles J. Russo (Education and Research Chair, Professor of Law, University of Dayton) -- "Over the past few years, conflict has trailed attempts to establish After School Satan Clubs sponsored by the Satanic Temple, which the U.S. government recognizes as a religious group. ...

   "The group has a history of filing suits to try to gain the same rights afforded to Christian groups, in an attempt to highlight and critique religion's role in American society....

   "Litigation around Satan Clubs arose in 2023 when a school board in Pennsylvania refused to allow a club to meet in an elementary school. In May, a federal trial court ruled that the school board could not ban the club, since it allowed other types of clubs. By allowing groups to use school facilities, the court explained, officials had created a public forum. Therefore, excluding any group because of its views would constitute discrimination, violating organizers' First Amendment rights to freedom of speech."

   Russo follows with a summary of the U.S. government's recent history related to the principle that "all student-organized extracurricular groups have equal access to educational facilities." He concludes: "In an increasingly intellectually diverse world, though, children are bound to encounter ideas with which they disagree - and I would argue each encounter can sharpen their critical thinking. As a federal trial court judge in Missouri once observed, provocative speech 'is most in need of the protections of the First Amendment. … The First Amendment was designed for this very purpose.'" 

   The essay opens with the disclamer that "University of Dayton provides funding as a member of The Conversation US." The Conversation, Jul 21 '23, <www.bit.ly/3Q7AgCo>

Ironically, Pew Research (Pew Charitable Trusts) <www.bit.ly/3DquXXm> also describes itself as "nonpartisan" <www.bit.ly/3O6Uz0o> while it receives funding from many of the global commercial giants of our day. Just a coincidence that it has sold out to the woke DEI gospel? <www.bit.ly/3q0yjgx> Pew recently announced alarming findings of diminishing support for the First Amendment among Americans.

   In this regard the Alex Berenson substack featured "The scariest poll you'll see this summer - And it's not about Joe Biden" (Jul 22 '23). In it Berenson explains: "The government should restrict 'false' information online, even if doing so blocks people from 'publishing or accessing information,' 55 percent of Americans said in a large poll released Thursday. Only 42 percent disagreed.

   "The antipathy to free speech represents a sea change in attitudes in just five years. It is driven by a powerful new hostility to First Amendment rights on the left. ...

   "The stunning finding comes from a survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center, a Washington think tank." His conclusion: "The poll had almost no good news."

   He adds: "And those of us who hoped the end of Covid and the manifest failure of the mRNAs would spell an end to censorship, or at least a serious rethinking of its pros and cons, appear to have been sadly mistaken."

   The day before, Berenson's focus was on the New York Times and its similar trajectory. "You may have heard that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified yesterday at a Congressional hearing about censorship. But unless you read the New York Times, you probably did not see how the Times - the world's most important newspaper, the outlet that sets the agenda for ALL non-conservative media - covered <www.archive.li/MuKpa> the hearing. ...

   "Yet the New York Times is now on the verge of endorsing government censorship, or at least saying that it shouldn't be dismissed, that its value is a 'thorny question.' ...

   "Today the Times prefers to be a quasi-official arm of the biomedical security state."

   Berenson ends with these words: "I truly do not understand what has happened to journalism, and the Times in particular. When I was there - and I was there for a decade, not a cup of coffee - investigative reporting was the paper's highest calling."

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