News Weakly - 10/6/18

The Beginning of the End?
California has passed the law. Publicly listed companies with headquarters in the state will be required to have at least one woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019.

California lawmakers: "We don't actually believe in a system where merit is in play. We don't care about your ability to earn or to do a job. We don't care about your company and whether or not you can make it work. We care about gender equality. Except, of course, we'll do that halfway. Only one. But no more of that evil 'free enterprise' nonsense here. We will regulate you to meet our own arbitrary social standards. We do not believe in hiring on the basis of ability or talent. If we did, we wouldn't be in charge here, would we?"

This is what I am talking about
You remember Garrison Keillor, right? Prairie Home Companion. "Down home" kind of guy. Claimed to be a Christian. Accused of inappropriate sexual behavior. He denies it and it hasn't gone to trial, but he has been fired. His house is for sale. And he can't sell books. Guilty until proven innocent. "And, oh, by the way, you will not be given a chance to prove your innocence." There is no coming back from this. No redemption. No forgiveness. No recovery. This kind of accusation, today, is the end. And a large and loud part of America is no longer interested in justice. "Vengeance is mine," saith the public. "No thanks. Not really interested in discovering the truth." In today's climate, appearing to be friends with someone accused of these things produces outrage. Apparently you can be "guilty until proven innocent by association." I'm not defending the man or approving "inappropriate sexual behavior." I'm talking about the principle of justice that once prevailed in America.

The Society of the Offended
Some of you may not know who Ruby Rose is. She is an actress (sorry, I still call female actors "actresses") who has been tagged as "the most dangerous woman on the Internet." That's because malicious people are using her as a lure to get Internet users to unknowingly go to dangerous websites searching for info about her. Fine. Don't do that.

The other thing about Ruby, however, is that she was picked to be Batwoman in the new Batwoman series slated for the near future. Now, according to the new series, Batwoman is a gender-fluid Jewish lesbian. (Yeah, I know ... seriously?) And there has been "online uproar" primarily from the LGBTQ side about her being in that role. Why? Batwoman is gender-fluid; Rose is gender-fluid. Batwoman is a lesbian; Rose is a lesbian. Batwoman is "out"; Rose is "out". Oh, I see. Rose isn't Jewish, so she can't play a gender-fluid Jewish lesbian. Next they'll demand that only the real Batwoman can play Batwoman on TV. One complaint I read was "They case Ruby Rose because she's the only LGBT person that straight people like." Ah! Okay. So if you cast a gender-fluid lesbian who straight people don't like, then it's okay. The executive producer is homosexual and the writer is homosexual and the lead actor is homosexual, but they are "systematically ignoring the voices of the LGBTTIQ+ community." Seems to me that we've arrived at a society intent on being offended no matter what.

Coming Soon to a Country Near You
Alberta's Deputy Minister of Education has notified private Christian schools that they will lose funding if they do not remove biblical language from their "Safe and Caring" school policies. What kind of language do they find offensive? Things like "We believe men and women were created in the image of God, after His likeness, and therefore have transcendent, intrinsic worth" or "Upon receipt of a request for a club or activity, the principal shall determine whether the requested club or activities would create a safe, caring, welcoming and respectful environment and is consistent with the vision and mission of the school." Failure to remove this kind of content could result in loss of funding and "the suspension or cancellation of accreditation."

Here's the plan. Remove the real, solid backing for anti-bullying, mutual respect, successful parenting and families, and such, and everything will be peachy. God? We'll have none of that, even in your private schools. The claim that there is "truth" that precludes alternative views as truth is incoherent, right? (Hint: No. It is the only reasonable thing. For instance, arguing that "2 + 2 = 4" is not made better if we say, "But your alternative truth on what 2 + 2 equals is equally valid, too.") And don't expect that we here in America are immune to this nonsense.

Science "Wins"
The modern god is the god of Science. You can't trust people and you can't trust religion, but you know you can trust Science. Like this recent story. Researchers say that light alcohol use does not have health benefits. They say that even light drinking increases your chance of a premature death. "Now, hang on a minute," a savvy person might point out. "Didn't Science tell us that a little alcohol is beneficial for my health??" Yes, yes it did. That's why you know you can trust Science. It corrects itself.

Of course, Science corrects itself endlessly. "That study was wrong; ours says the opposite." "Oh, yeah? Well your study is wrong and ours says something else." It looks like it in the news. It looks like it in the studies of false claims. It looks like the evidence shows that "a lot of published research is false." Where's your god now?

Speaking of Science
On another scientific issue, we have the ultimate prediction of global warming. "A panel of climate change scientists from around the world issued updated prediction models Wednesday, confirming that global warming is expected to see a 'dramatic and deadly' increase the moment Jesus Christ returns in glory" based on scientific data and "a historical-grammatical reading of 2 Peter 3:10."

I'm convinced science has figured it out; it's right there on the Internet.