Truth Project, Review, critique, Part 3

This is part three in a review, critique, and criticism of Focus on the Family the Truth Project.


What is evil?

The video starts with people trying to define evil. This is as usual rather funny. I have to admit I kinda feel bad for the Unitarian Universalist, as people in the group heavily picked on her.

This was a rather unfulfilling and somewhat confusing for some of the people I talked with. Which again, I had few if any problems with the whole thing.

There are serious problems with much of the logic and usage of terms that Dr. Tackett uses, as in other places, Tackett defines terms that he wants to use in the way he wants to use them. This of course is an issue about scholarship.

Let me take a minute and ask some questions on scholarship. One of the things, I was told about this study, this man is a great scholar. Tackett mentioned that while doing his doctorate work, in every class he came back to Maslow. Well this begs the question, what did he do for doctoral work?

Tackett received a Doctor of Management from Colorado Technical University. First, I have an earned degree from an online university as well as a brick and mortar college so I have no problem with non-traditional schools. The one problem is that CTU is not an accredited school. This does not mean much other then it does not have to meet certain standards of education. The degree is also not accepted by all other colleges. The degree is also a degree in management and not one in philosophy, religion, or anything else similar. Just a simple degree in management. According to his bio at Focus on the Family Institute, Tackett has never served as a professor or taught a classroom full of students at a college or a high school. He does teach a class at New Geneva Seminary (not accredited by ATS) called “The Church’s Ministry to its Culture.” He also has no professional memberships or Awards and Recognition (as of Jan. 31, 2009 at 16:16 CST). His articles include the non-peer reviewed articles in Focus on the Family magazines of various types. He has also published for the USAF. The funny thing is that Dr. Tackett would not qualify to be a chaplain in the Air Force. Dr. Tackett would seem to be more of a management trainer then a speaker for the church at large. So in my mind, Dr. Tackett is a spokesperson or an actor for The Truth Project rather then a researcher or a real professor. This is not an ad hominen attack. With this I am looking at the qualifications of the alleged expert.

Scholarship. Where do I start? Most of the quotes that are cited at second hand quotes. Rather then citing the original source, as in Maslow, he cites Summit Ministries, Understanding the Times book rather than the original sources. Why? This I have not figured out, other than basic laziness and poor scholarship. If Tackett knows the sources then he should provide them. If not, then do not claim with knowing all there is to know about Maslow.

The real question from the video is man evil? The answer has to be no. How can a person who is a ‘sinner’ do a selfless act, such as running into a burning building?

Many moons ago, I did something totally selfless, that was before I ever heard of the name of Jesus. So, how did I do something that was a good deed? Man has to be born at least mostly good. Hence, society may pervert man. Of course this leads to the “The Lord of the Flies” question. Remember though that these boys had already been corrupted by society.

I do believe that people, while not born evil, have the predisposition to evil and hence have the ‘evil inclination.’ Check on the link for the evil inclination also look here and here.

I would also suggest that Tackett define many of words for the average Christian sitting in the pew.

So what have I concluded from the study so far. It is still not at a decent level and moves way too fast for the average Christian. I would also question the qualifications of Del Tackett as the 'professor.'



This next week is Super Bowl, so no study and hence no review.



Technorati Tags: Truth Project, Tackett, The Truth Project, Evil, Church, Philosophy

Moving on Up

With the transition of power this week, I am sure that shipping boxes were heavily in use.

With the imacculation of President Obama, it was odd hearing of the all the moving that was going on. I sort of felt bad for the workers, as they had to move all the stuff from the Blair House to the White House.

Well I hope you have a great day.

character counts

I hate doing something really really stupid. Maybe I am going to need some effective diet pills for my nogggin. I have read some of what J. C. Watts has said. I have heard some of his speeches. He is / was a congressman I liked and thought was a good guy.

What I found out today, I have to say kinda surprised me. Psst. he is black.

I mean really. I had no clue. It did not matter if he was white or black or pink or whatever. I liked what the man said and stood for. That was just shocking. Do I think more or less of him? No. I still think the same.

So for the Dems out there who think that we see the color of a person's skin. Phhhhht.

I judge people by the content of the character and not the color of their skin.

The Dream has Been Unrealized

After Martian Luther Kings Jr Day we had the inguration of the first black President of the United States of America.

Less then 60 years ago black people were forced to the back of the bus. Seperate but equal ruled the day. We have come far. Barack Obama with his Oscar de la Renta suit on was sworn in. This is less then one person's lifetime.

Yet during the last prayer of the day, we were told that "When white will do what is right." What amazed me is that it seemed that the pastor seemed to be still be living the 50s or the early 60s.

This really bothered me.

Truth Project, Review, critique, Part 2

This is part two of review / critique / criticism of the Truth Project by Focus on the Family. This section is on ethics and philosophy.

Philosophy the queen of the sciences, at least that was the case a century or so ago. One would not even study philosophy until there was an understanding of another discipline or two.

The Truth Project looks at philosophy and ethics.

My first criticism of the Truth Project is a leftover from last week. The amount of area that is covered is 1. to large and 2. too small. The amount of material covered fails to even scratch the surface. What I mean here is, the vast amount of territory to cover is so vast that given one hour to cover philosophy and ethics one cannot even make a dent in the most teeny tiny point. Everything said, he makes only two small points, first, non-Christians cannot think outside of the box; and the idea of particular as opposed to universals. Both of these will be looked at in more depth later on. But how is to small?

The idea sometimes give by some is that this equal to semester of philosophy is absurd, what is given is not even equal to the second class of a semester long philosophy class. Hence, people are thinking they now know more than what they do. Of course my scary story at the discussion time should be an end to that myth.

The ‘lecture’ starts out with picking on everyone’s favorite kicking boy, Carl Sagan. Dr. Sagan first comments from Cosmos are given saying that, “The Cosmos is all that there is, or ever was, or ever will be,” uses assumptive language. Dr. Tackett went on to say how bas assumptive language is in speech. I lost count after 20 of the assumptive language used by Dr. Tackett. That was my first giggle of the night.

Let’s be real, we all use assumptive language. We have to or we have to explain everything every time. If we go by Dr. Tackett’s assumption conversation would become so cumbersome we would never talk again. Likewise, just because we ‘accept’ something, meaning not challenge it, we are not accepting the underlying premiss.

The bulk of the night was spent on the “Cosmic Cube.” This is the idea there are two differing ways of viewing the known universe. The first, is through the lens of this is all there is and there is nothing outside of the box. The second, of course, is there is G-d outside of the box. In this whole section, there is a cross between Philosophical Naturalism and Methodological Naturalism.

Philosophical Naturalism: the belief that the natural world is all that there is.
Methodological Naturalism: the belief that the natural world is all that is accessible for scientific inquiry.

Within this debate, these two are crossed all the time and when that happens it is usually ugly. Hence, Will Provine also has the same problems, since he is a Historian by trade and not a scientist. For the record, I have always enjoyed listening and watching Will Provine in action.

Tackett moves on in his lecture to discuss philosophy and points how the questions that is asked: what is reality, how do I know I exists, et. el. To this end he places the problem of the Universals and the Particulars. Socrates, Confucius, Kant, and the Buddha always tried moved to understand the Universals that applied to people. While admittedly Aristotle tried to understand the Universals from the particulars. Tackett makes the assumption that one the Christian G-d can deal in universals. This of course is about Ethics.

Tackett rightly points out that morality and ethics have merged though they are quite separate looks at life. Ethics deals with, what out to be. And Morality deal with, what is. Hence he moves to Plato.

Plato asks the question, where an act is right because god wills it? or is that god wills it because he knows it is right. If you watch this, you will notice that Tackett does not deal with this question. Instead he points out William of Ockham, pointing out that G-d cannot change. However, this does not answer the question. He answers with a red herring. This in my mind was tossed out to show how smart Tackett is, by asking the question.

Perhaps there is a third option which was not discussed. G-d does not will much in particular actions other then what is found in special revelation, aka the Bible. just a thought.

Tackett spends the rest of the hour, chiding the Church that they have not taken the worldview thing with real desire or forthrightness.

Now for the scary story:
We were in discussion time, and the question of Universals and Particulars come up. The issue was lying. Is it wrong to ever lie? I point out Kant and my wife Corrie Ten Boom who tells the story of telling the truth to the Nazis about hidden Jews. Kant said, that telling the truth is separate from the consequences of telling the truthful statement.

One member said, well maybe you could lie, because G-d will forgive you and it will not be bad (a sin). I asked, rather tongue in cheek, therefore, we should lie so grace will increase? A paraphrase of Romans 6:1 So then, are we to say, “Let’s keep on sinning, so that there can be more grace”? He sat there and thought about it. I further inquired, should we sin more so that G-d can forgive us more? He thought more, and finally thought it might be a bad idea.

Dr. Tackett, the problem is not having a Christian Worldview, it is not understanding the Bible.


Technorati Tags: Truth Project, Tackett, The Truth Project, Evil, Church, Philosophy

The Truth Project, part 1, Critique

Over the next 12 weeks, I will be presenting a critique of the Truth Project. I will be looking at this with my normally critical eye. The good news, since I have a vast amount of experience with the subject matter, I should not be overwhelmed.

You better not shout!
You better not waiver!
You had better believe!
The Truth Project is coming to town.

After trying to google for information on “The Truth Project” by Focus on the Family, I have found two type of articles. The first, was a whole bunch of stuff by Focus on the Family touting the greatness of Del Tackett and the Truth Project. The second was from churches and other groups announcing they are showing it and how great it is. However, the amount of a criticism or offering a critique of the program are quite scant.

I also found an article from Humanists of Florida writing how bad it is in a press release. That is bright, advertise for them!

I also found a small critique of The Truth Project from Hackman’s Musings.

I have only seen, so far, the first episode, and will be going back for more.

Before, the start the pastor/leader said three things that bothered me.

1. Focus on the Family does not have an agenda.
2. You will be challenged
3. You will be changed.

Of course the problem is several deep. 1. Focus on the Family does not have an agenda? Wow and to think I misunderstood James Dobson for 20 years. 2. I was not challenged. 3. I was not changed. So what does it mean if I was not changed or challenged? Not to sure.

The first problem, is the amount of territory superficially covered. I have a background in much of what was given and lectured on. I easily followed along with the lecture. Let’s be real this is close to two or three classes of what people would receive in a graduate level classroom environment. Here, the Truth Project tries to hit the common person with a high school education or a year of college.

Where are some of the problems?

First, is proof-texting. A proof text is a text that will back up what a person says regardless of context or original intent of the scripture. Most of the texts that were used were proof-texted. The easiest way to spot a proof-text is when a speaker is trying to make a point and they are skipping all over the place. What is proof-texting’s handmaiden?

The ugly twin sister of proof-texting is ripping a verse out of context. This is not a separate point because proof-texting relies on the lack of context. A prime example, using 2Thes 2:11 which says, “For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie (NIV)," Tackett wanted to point out that people will believe the lie. The problem is that this verse in context refers to end of times, when the BEAST will appear.

Second, what is the right answer? The question was asked, why did Jesus come? There are many verses that speak to the reasons why Jesus came to earth. Well Del was looking for a single answer that proved his point. Truth. Jesus came for truth.

Third, eisogesis, the speaker loves to use eisogesis, which is the reading into the text. Here on creation the devil was present and questioned G-d and the creation. Nowhere does the text suggest the mythical conversation that Del Tackett had suggested. Exegesis is reading out of the text. In other words the text can mean what it means. Del Tackett methods do not allow for good exegesis.


Fourth, is the division among people. Christians love dividing people up. There are Christians and non-Christians. Then there are real Christians and pretend Christians. Of course, it goes even further.

Another thing that drives me a little crazy is when people misuse things they know very little about. As an example, the woman who spilled hot coffee on her lap at McDonalds. The problem is that there was a liability issue involved as the coffee was to hot as compared to other companies. The other issue is the woman who spilled her coffee was not driving and was pulled over to the side. Liebeck (the burned woman) was found to be 20% responsible for the injury. I realize that a straw man is much easier to bash around than the truth.

One of the real problems was view of non-Christians. The people are thought to be ‘captives’ by the enemy, aka Satan. Of course I wonder how the analogy really works? Theologically, all people are in Satan’s camp through ordinal sin. In many was the Christian is the one that is captive.


Of course the odd part was that he asked the definition of truth. Which is of course defined, accepting reality as it actually is. In other words if you do not accept reality you are insane. Since Christians accept the reality and truth about Jesus, this makes non-Christians who do not accept the reality of Jesus, by definition, insane.

The last is of course logical fallacies involved. The straw man leads the back by creating a dichotomy of how the data is dealt with. Faulty appeal to authority was used, as was appeal to masses, and a few others. I counted at least a dozen logical fallacies that were present.

My favorite thing about the video was of course the wonderful staged set that was used. Almost perfect audio, and just do pretty looking. But what else would you expect for a staged set.


Edit: I just looked up how he used truth from the 1828 version of Webster. The creative use of . . . (ellipses) meaning that words are eliminated. He uses these to move from the first definition to the 11th definition.

Edit 2: I need to stop looking at my notes. Faith? Is faith like jumping off of diving board. I know this is a common view of most people. How man times have I heard a blind leap of faith. Faith, as I have viewed it, is taking of a step. A single step of faith not a blind jump into who knows what.


Technorati Tags: Truth Project, Tackett, The Truth Project, Evil, Church, Philosophy

Paying Taxes it is Patriotic unless. . .

You are a democrat who is going to be Treasury sectary. Timothy Geithner who, showed up with his Breil watches on, is the nominee for Treasury secretary failed to pay thousands and thousands of dollars in taxes. This occurred even after he was warned to pay taxes.

Now we were told it is, "Patriotic to pay taxes". If this is the case why are we allowing a non-patriotic person to hold a cabinet position.

Now we are told this is an honest mistake. I just wonder how so. Here are the choices:

1. He has an incompetant tax person who is clearly a cheat and a thief. If that is the case he should not be Treasury Secretary because he is unable to judge the character of people around him.

2. He did his own taxes on Turbo Tax. The problem here is that it is almost impossible to change numbers on and do overrides. However, you can. Therefore, he deliberate cheated and should be in jail.

3. He did his own taxes by hand with paper and pencil. In which he could make an honest mistake. However, this means that he does not use his time wisely, hates technology and cannot follow simple instructions. Therefore, he should not be Treasury secretary.

Where is Global Warming

I hate to complain, and I know I do this every year, but WTF where is global warming? This morning the air temp was -22. That is 22 degrees below zero, for those of you who voted for Obama. I drive 23 miles to work encouage global warming and I had my car warming up for 10 minutes before I left. Guess what. My car was still cold by the time I arrived at work.

It is really cold

Fire And Problems.

I was talking with a friend with who live in So Cal. They just had to get a renewal on their home insurance. Needless to say they were a little shocked with the price increase.

It has to do with the rules of California. I heard that CA only allows Insurance companies to collect on what they actually pay out. So with all the new brush fires the amount they paid.

Well I just hope that you have a most happy day.

ZY2K

have to love some of these really fun issues that are out there.

I can just see it. Someone is walking down the street listening to their ZUNE and all of sudden it be broken. No longer playing. That is wierd.

Go home. Sync
Still broken.
Call MS
Not there (yet)
get on a board.
OMG what is going on every ZUNE has died.
Well not all just the 30G ones.
So much for an iPod Killer.

I bet Obama is happy now that he has a ZUNE