 Many people assume that my political positions come from my dislike of Trump, but I actually worked out most of my views on politics and government during Obama's first term from 2008 to 2012.
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 Why do we have borders? What purpose do they serve? Where did they come from? And why are they needed in the first place? These are important questions that many people are asking, but remarkably few are able to answer.
 There's an interesting fact about the woman with the issue of blood that we often overlook. This unnamed woman is mentioned in three of the Gospels, and her miraculous healing has been the subject of millions of sermons in churches all around the globe. The account is known and cherished by Christians throughout the world, but we seldom think about its context.
 When Solomon penned the words "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11), he summarized a principle that undergirds the entire biblical approach to criminal justice. He identified delayed punishment as the singular cause of rampant criminality. Modern criminologists may propose complex theories about socioeconomic factors, psychological conditions, or systemic inequalities, but Scripture presents a remarkably straightforward explanation: people commit crimes when they believe they can escape punishment. This simple observation, that somehow seems to elude modern criminologists, finds support throughout both testaments and offers practical guidance for contemporary criminal justice policy.
 Most American Christians assume our immigration system represents a reasonable balance between order and compassion. We tell ourselves that America welcomes legal immigrants while simply requiring people to follow proper procedures. This comfortable narrative allows us to support restrictive immigration policies without wrestling with the deeper question of whether our immigration system is acceptable to God. Unfortunately, this narrative rests on ignorance of both what the Bible actually commands regarding immigrants and also what American immigration law actually requires.
 Over the past year, there have been many incidents of ICE officers ordering U.S. citizens to vacate areas, move their vehicles from public streets, and comply with various commands. In cases where citizens have refused to comply with these commands, ICE has often resorted to the use of force. But does ICE actually possess the legal authority to issue such commands? A careful examination of federal statutes and court precedents, demonstrates that ICE’s legitimate authority is constrained by significant limitations.  Since my picture is featured prominently on Mark Ward’s KJB Study Project, I figure he shouldn’t have any problem with me exposing some of the flaws inherent in his survey. I mentioned a few of these flaws to Ward as a passing comment in one of our discussions, and he dismissed my concerns by saying, “I did not perform this survey with academic standards in mind, because I did not and do not have academic resources.” That’s a poor excuse for the type of errors I found in this study. An honest evaluation of Ward’s infamous study reveals significant weaknesses in survey design, execution, data presentation, and interpretive framework that should lead any serious researcher to question the validity of the results.
 Most Christians are familiar with Christ's comparison of faith to a mustard seed in Luke 17:5-6, but not many of us take time to read the rest of the passage. Consider what Jesus said in the first two verses:
 The error in Ward’s claims about the word hell differs from those in his other videos in a very significant way. Ward’s entire video on this word can be refuted with a single exercise to expose his confirmation bias. Ward claims that the word hell describes a place where both the righteous and the wicked go after death before being ushered into either Heaven or eternal torment. About twelve minutes into the video, Ward said, “Here’s the key point: this is a place to which the righteous can also go. Presumably, it is the intermediate state. That’s really the key here.” Ward’s entire argument for hell being a “false friend” rests on his claim that the KJV translators sometimes used hell to refer to a place where both the righteous and the wicked go after death.
 When Senator Jacob Howard explained the Fourteenth Amendment's citizenship clause, he said: "This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States."
Most people today read this statement and assume Howard was listing four separate categories of people who would not receive birthright citizenship: |
Bill Fortenberry is a Christian philosopher and historian in Birmingham, AL. Bill's work has been cited in several legal journals, and he has appeared as a guest on shows including The Dr. Gina Show, The Michael Hart Show, and Real Science Radio.
Contact Us if you would like to schedule Bill to speak to your church, group, or club. "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning." (Proverbs 9:9)
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