I asked Dr. Gary North the following question.
Dr. North,
What do you think are the 10 biggest/most dangerous myths taught by public schools?
Here are his responses:
1. Public schools are good for the nation.
2. Education can be neutral.
3. Federal debt does not matter.
4. The New Deal was positive.
5. The two world wars were necessary for America to get into.
6. Fiat money promotes long-term economic growth.
7. Ethics and culture are relative.
8. The Renaissance was rational; the Dark Ages were not.
9. The universe is 13.3 billion years old and will die.
10. The welfare state is legitimate.
I was surprised by some of his answers, but I really had to think about #8. He suggested the following links to learn more about the Renaissance and the Dark Ages (here, here, and here).
What do you think?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Palenque
Palenque is a well known, Mesoamerican archeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It has a stela on a structure referred to as the House D Pier. Here is a photo and two drawings of the stela (or bas-relief).
This drawing is by Merle Greene Robertson from Maya Cosmos page 274, by Freidel, Schele & Parker.
This drawing of the stela is even older. It is from the 1784 Antonio del Rio Expedition and can be found here.
The really interesting thing about this stela is that it dates from 700 AD, or about 800 years before Columbus discovered the Americas (Yes, I know they weren't lost to the people who lived in the Americas.) and brought Catholicism to the New World.
Maya Cosmos describes the stela as Pakal, the king dressed as First Father and a woman dressed as First Mother, performing the snake dance.
Contrast and compare this with Genesis Chapter 3:
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
In Christendom, we know First Father as Adam and First Mother as Eve and the snake is, of course, Lucifer or Satan.
So how did the Mayans know of these very Christian symbols and teachings 800 years before European contact? One word - diffusionism.
Diffusionism, is the concept that people migrate and spread ideas and cultures over potentially large distances - a sort of globalism that goes far back into history and even farther back into pre-history.
Curiously enough, the Book of Mormon has two major accounts of diffusionism that predate Columbus and can provide a possible explanation for this stela. One account was the Nephites that came to the Americas from Jerusalem in 600 BC and the other is the Jaredites that came from the land of Babel to the Americas even earlier. Both accounts, in particular, mention that their respective groups brought with them a written record of the book of Genesis (See 1 Nephi 5:11 & Ether 1:3).
Even more interesting, my college anthropology 101 professor didn't have an explanation for Palenque, which he never even brought up. I guess it wasn't in the syllabus, even though his area of expertise was Mesoamerica, where he had conducted digs and had them published in the National Geographic Magazine.
I assume he must have known about this stela. He just didn't ever bother to mention it to us as he denigrated the religion department as believing that Adam lived in a red brick house!
That's the beauty of teaching undergrads - they can't call the professors' lapses of omission or commission to account, since they are mere intellectual infants themselves. I discovered this stela myself, many years after my anthropology 101 class!
I wonder how many other stelas, engravings, hieroglyphics, writings, etc. there are around the world like this that attest to diffusionism, like that evidenced in the Book of Mormon?
Just don't expect any help from an anthropologist!
This drawing is by Merle Greene Robertson from Maya Cosmos page 274, by Freidel, Schele & Parker.
This drawing of the stela is even older. It is from the 1784 Antonio del Rio Expedition and can be found here.The really interesting thing about this stela is that it dates from 700 AD, or about 800 years before Columbus discovered the Americas (Yes, I know they weren't lost to the people who lived in the Americas.) and brought Catholicism to the New World.
Maya Cosmos describes the stela as Pakal, the king dressed as First Father and a woman dressed as First Mother, performing the snake dance.
Contrast and compare this with Genesis Chapter 3:
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
In Christendom, we know First Father as Adam and First Mother as Eve and the snake is, of course, Lucifer or Satan.
So how did the Mayans know of these very Christian symbols and teachings 800 years before European contact? One word - diffusionism.
Diffusionism, is the concept that people migrate and spread ideas and cultures over potentially large distances - a sort of globalism that goes far back into history and even farther back into pre-history.
Curiously enough, the Book of Mormon has two major accounts of diffusionism that predate Columbus and can provide a possible explanation for this stela. One account was the Nephites that came to the Americas from Jerusalem in 600 BC and the other is the Jaredites that came from the land of Babel to the Americas even earlier. Both accounts, in particular, mention that their respective groups brought with them a written record of the book of Genesis (See 1 Nephi 5:11 & Ether 1:3).
Even more interesting, my college anthropology 101 professor didn't have an explanation for Palenque, which he never even brought up. I guess it wasn't in the syllabus, even though his area of expertise was Mesoamerica, where he had conducted digs and had them published in the National Geographic Magazine.
I assume he must have known about this stela. He just didn't ever bother to mention it to us as he denigrated the religion department as believing that Adam lived in a red brick house!
That's the beauty of teaching undergrads - they can't call the professors' lapses of omission or commission to account, since they are mere intellectual infants themselves. I discovered this stela myself, many years after my anthropology 101 class!
I wonder how many other stelas, engravings, hieroglyphics, writings, etc. there are around the world like this that attest to diffusionism, like that evidenced in the Book of Mormon?
Just don't expect any help from an anthropologist!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Baghdad Bob Traded to the Federales
I received this statement in the mail just the other day. You've probably received one also. It's from the Social Security Administration.
Problem is, I didn't know that Baghdad Bob had been traded to the SSA. You know who I'm talking about, the Pollyanna that worked for Saddam Hussein as a media stooge who would reassure his fellow citizens that all was well and the Americans were not invading, even as bombs were falling and distant rumblings of armored vehicles could be heard on the outskirts of Baghdad.
You will notice in the second column and second paragraph of the Social Security statement that it states, "In 2016 we will begin paying more in benefits than we collect in taxes."
Well, Bob doesn't read the New York Times. See this article. The title of the article is "Social Security to See Pay-out Exceed Pay-in This Year. The article was published on March 24 of this year, three months before Baghdad Bob sent me his "Statement".
Oh, and about the "trust" funds? Well, trust Baghdad Bob, those funds really are there earning interest. What's that you say? The Federales borrowed the money and promised to pay interest to Social Security. And dear reader, where will Obama get the money to pay interest on the money that was spent long ago? There are only 2 ways; print it or tax (at an ever increasing rate) a new generation of suckers.
Nothing to see here folks, now let's move along.
Baghdad Bob's Social Security Plan:
1. Send a big chunk of each paycheck to the name at the top of the list.
2. Add your name to the bottom of the list.
3. Upon retirement, you will receive thousands and thousands of dollars for the rest of your life!
4. Do Not break this chain, or bad things will happen to you.
Problem is, I didn't know that Baghdad Bob had been traded to the SSA. You know who I'm talking about, the Pollyanna that worked for Saddam Hussein as a media stooge who would reassure his fellow citizens that all was well and the Americans were not invading, even as bombs were falling and distant rumblings of armored vehicles could be heard on the outskirts of Baghdad.
You will notice in the second column and second paragraph of the Social Security statement that it states, "In 2016 we will begin paying more in benefits than we collect in taxes."Well, Bob doesn't read the New York Times. See this article. The title of the article is "Social Security to See Pay-out Exceed Pay-in This Year. The article was published on March 24 of this year, three months before Baghdad Bob sent me his "Statement".
Oh, and about the "trust" funds? Well, trust Baghdad Bob, those funds really are there earning interest. What's that you say? The Federales borrowed the money and promised to pay interest to Social Security. And dear reader, where will Obama get the money to pay interest on the money that was spent long ago? There are only 2 ways; print it or tax (at an ever increasing rate) a new generation of suckers.
Nothing to see here folks, now let's move along.
Baghdad Bob's Social Security Plan:
1. Send a big chunk of each paycheck to the name at the top of the list.
2. Add your name to the bottom of the list.
3. Upon retirement, you will receive thousands and thousands of dollars for the rest of your life!
4. Do Not break this chain, or bad things will happen to you.
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