Wednesday, January 31, 2024
More on John 1:18 and the born god
The most recent recension of the Greek NT that I have is by Nestle. It adds an extensive critical apparatus to support its various readings. So I got around to looking at the authorities given for "theos" in John 1:18.
He gives only the available papyri plus the codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. He clearly regards any further readings as superfluous. And he is right. Those two codices are generally regarded as the best authorities for the Greek NT that we have and the concurrence of the papyri is particularly impressive. They are the earliest texts we have.
So when the exegetes cavil about variant readings, they are not doing so on the best textual grounds but rather on theological grounds. There is no real doubt about what John actually wrote in verse 18: "Theos".
I should probably add here that I don't write to discourage Christian belief. I write only to disparage acceptance of the absurd Trinity doctrine. Up until the work of Athanasius in the 4th century, NO Christian believed in the Trinity doctrine. It is a totally non-Biblical confection. It was a useful theological compromise at the time it was adopted but it is nothing more
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Gender ideology has torn our family apart': Montana family who lost custody of their 14-year-old daughter after refusing to let her transition to a boy
A Montana mom and dad who lost custody of their daughter after they refused to transition her gender have told DailyMail.com the ordeal 'has torn their family apart.'
Krista Kolstad revealed the family's nightmare began when they received a call that their 14-year-old daughter Jennifer told friends at school that she wanted to commit suicide in August 2023.
Later that night, Child Protective Services (CPS) went to the Kolstad's home in Glasgow to inspect the house and interview Jennifer, later determining that she needed to transition to get better.
Krista, who is Jennifer's step mother, and the girl's biological father, Todd Kolstad, said Jennifer had a tough upbringing and several undiagnosed mental health concerns, including attention-seeking behavior and lying, which they believe caused the urge to transition and were overlooked by social services.
Krista told DailyMail.com: 'It's been horrible... Our family unit will never be the same. Even if they returned our daughter to us now, you're not going to have the same family unit... it's created a lot of animosity on Jennifer's part towards us, she doesn't believe she has to listen to us as her parents anymore.'
Mr Kolstad said: 'I love my daughter unconditionally, and only want her to refrain from making decisions until she has the maturity and life experiences to understand what the consequences are for her actions.
It comes as a family in Indiana has asked the US Supreme Court to review their lost custody case. Jeremy and Mary Cox, who are evangelical Christians, lost custody of their son in June 2021 after they refused, for religious reasons, for him to start identifying as a girl.
California mom Abigail Martinez, has filed a document offering support of Mr and Mrs Cox. Ms Martinez lost custody of her teenage daughter, Yaeli, in 2016, who was put on testosterone and later died by suicide.
The Kolstads said Jennifer had a traumatic upbringing. Her birth mother walked out when she was young and was only around sporadically.
Statements from Jennifer and her sister's counselor showed the girls describing their biological mother as uncaring, abusive and 'crazy.'
Jennifer has also been repeatedly bullied at school. Mr and Mrs Kolstad even moved districts to try and give their daughter a fresh start at a new school.
'She's always wanted to be the super pretty, super popular girl, and who doesn't?' said Krista. 'But she's always been the crazy smart kid who was in math club.'
When Child and Family Services arrived at the family home, the family let the case worker inspect their house and speak to their daughter alone, but warned her that she had a history of making up stories.
During the interview, Jennifer claimed to have drank toilet bowl cleaner and taken an overdose of painkillers in an attempted suicide.
Her parents said this seemed highly unlikely because Mrs Kolstad had been working at home all day, and Jennifer did not have access to either substance and had expressed no symptoms of illness.
Despite their doubts, Mr and Mrs Kolstad agreed to take Jennifer to the local hospital to be checked. Blood work confirmed Jennifer had not consumed any toxic substances.
But medical notes mentioned that Jennifer identified as male and wanted to be called Leo.
'Our daughter began demanding that she be called Leo, he and him. We explained that this is in her history but not something we would agree to as her parents. The hospital staff ignored our request,' said Mr Kolstad.
Jennifer had first expressed her desire to change gender to her parents aged 13.
Her parents told her she was too young to make such as decision and sent her to counselling to explore why she felt that way.
Mrs Kolstad said: 'It wasn't new, but she hadn't brought it up in a year. She never came to us and said, "You need to call me this, you need to call me that." That was never an issue.'
Mr and Mrs Kolstad, who are Christian, let the hospital staff know of their objections, and asked that Jennifer be called by her birth name.
'The hospital continued to call our daughter Leo, even though she's a minor and after I stated it's against our wishes, our religion and our core family values.
'The hospital told me to call their lawyer if I have an issue as they will do what the patient tells them,' Mrs Kolstad said.
While medical transitioning of minors is banned in Montana, Mrs Kolstad said the hospital told her that 'social transition' was a 'gray area of the law.'
Jennifer was placed under 24 hour supervision due to her threats of suicide, but Mrs Kolstad said an aide was placed outside her door who would regularly speak to Jennifer about having top surgery and how she was non binary.
Along with CPS, Mr and Mrs Kolstad agreed that Jennifer would benefit from specialized in-patient treatment and counseling at a mental health hospital.
There were six facilities in Montana, as well as one in Wyoming. Mr and Mrs Kolstad raised concerns about Wyoming, as the state allows minors to have gender-affirming care such as hormone blockers and surgical procedures.
They were worried this may happen without their consent.
But just hours later, Mr and Mrs Kolstad were informed there was a bed available in Wyoming Behavioral Institute and that Jennifer must go immediately.
They stated they reiterated their concerns and said they had questions that needed answering before they agreed.
Ten minutes later, CPS showed up at the Kolstad's house with police and papers removing their daughter from their care, accusing them of refusing treatment.
While Jennifer was in Wyoming, she was given men's hygiene products such as body wash and deodorant.
After a month in the Wyoming facility, Jennifer was moved to a Youth Dynamics group home in Montana where she has remained ever since.
Here, Jennifer has been allowed to wear a chest binder along with only men's clothes, shave her head and attend all-boys groups.
The Kolstads were assigned a public defender, who advised them to 'play nice' and go along with CPS's recommendations.
'We have followed their advice for the last few months and now our rights are being completely stripped away,' Mrs Kolstad said.
On January 19, the couple lost custody of their daughter to CPS, who said that allowing Jennifer to be transgender is 'in her therapeutic interest' and that her parents are 'not following recommended therapy.'
CPS was given custody of Jennifer for six months. After that, the plan is to place Jennifer in the care of her birth mother, who now lives in Canada but has never really been a part of her life.
Mr and Mrs Kolstad have chosen to defy a judge's order to remain silent on the case.
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We got it wrong: London Police apologises for 'causing offence' after volunteer officer told Christian singer to 'stop performing church songs outside church grounds'
The Met Police have apologised for causing offence after a volunteer officer told Christian singer to 'stop performing church songs outside church grounds'.
The force said the officer should not have told the Harmonie London, 20, to stop performing her songs - as she says she felt 'humiliated', 'sad' and 'bullied' following the confrontation.
Volunteer officer Maya Hadzhipetkova was accused of breaking the musician's human right to freedom of expression and religion today after she threatened to take away her instruments following a performance of Amazing Grace.
The Met has since clarified that the supposed breach was due to unlicensed busking rather than the content of the songs she was singing.
But they added: 'The officer was mistaken in saying church songs cannot be sung outside of church grounds.
'We’re sorry for the offence caused and will take the learning forward.'
The force added that they are aware of the commentary on social media regarding the incident and the clip was part of a 43 minute conversation between the pair.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline today, Harmonie told how the officer had threatened to seize her keyboard and speakers if she did not stop singing - having already performed Amazing Grace and the contemporary song Goodness of God.
It comes as Scotland Yard continues to investigate Ms Hadzhipetkova and review body-worn footage of the shocking incident on Oxford Street in Central London last Sunday. The Met has claimed the row was over a 'specific bylaw related to busking' - while Harmonie argues that she was not 'busking', but instead 'sharing the gospel'.
After telling the singer she could not perform, Ms Hadzhipetkova stuck her tongue out at the camera. Her actions drew widespread condemnation - including from ex-Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe who said 'some people have got a problem in this country with Christianity which they don't appear to have with other faiths'.
There are no laws against singing on pavements, Christian or otherwise - only council bylaws relating to having a busking licence and not blocking roads - and Harmonie said the incident breached her article nine rights to freedom of religion.
A section of the extraordinary exchange as onlookers watched on was shared on Instagram by Harmonie - who has vowed to continue playing and singing. Back out on Oxford Street today, she said she wanted to 'bring love and peace to the public'.
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Leftist piorities leave capital city short of water
I would not usually devote a column for The Australian to problems with a New Zealand local council.
Nevertheless, the city in question is the capital, so I will make an exception. Also, Wellington’s problems are indicative of the state of New Zealand’s local government more generally.
A decade ago, in 2013, then-Prime Minister John Key declared Wellington a “dying city.” It was controversial enough that Key had to retract his statement shortly afterwards. Today, however, many New Zealanders might agree with Key.
Wellington has recently made headlines, including in Australia, for all the wrong reasons. Most shockingly because there is a real chance that New Zealand’s capital may run out of water.
If you have ever been to Wellington, you may find this surprising. The city receives around 1250 millimetres of rain per year. Rainfall is spread relatively evenly throughout the year with no distinct wet or dry season. On average, it rains on one day of every three. It is not particularly warm, either.
All that rain falls on not too many people, which makes Wellington’s water shortage even more astonishing. Wellington City has a population of around 220,000, while the Greater Wellington population is just over half a million. There are 746 people per square kilometre in the city and 68 people per square kilometre in the region.
The fact that Wellington is not doing well reminds me of a quip by Milton Friedman: “If the federal government ran the Sahara Desert, there would be a shortage of sand within five years.”
The woes of Wellington are man-made. Or, more precisely, they are a product of local government.
To understand this, you only need to stroll around the capital. You will struggle to walk for more than five minutes without running into a puddle, even on dry and sunny days.
That is because leaks are everywhere in the city. Some are small, others create impromptu fountains, and most take weeks, if not months, to repair. While one is being fixed, another two or three typically crop up elsewhere.
On Wellington Water’s online map, you can check every reported leak and its effect on the local water supply. At the moment, most of the city is coloured in pink, meaning high water losses.
In Wellington, not only are freshwater pipes breaking, but raw sewage has occasionally run through the streets. In some cases, Wellington’s water situation stinks – quite literally.
For the capital of an OECD economy, a member of the Five Eyes, and a country that likes to think of itself as Godzone, this is not good enough.
Most people do not think much about getting clean water from taps or flushing their toilets. In any developed country, a reliable water supply is taken for granted. And, probably for that reason, running the waterworks or installing pipes is not seen as glamorous, visionary or exciting.
Over many years, Wellington’s mayors and councillors have presided over an ageing network of pipes that cried out for repair and renewal, but local officials found other projects more enticing.
There are, of course, different projects that appeal to politicians of different hues. The same holds for different electorates.
The electorate in Wellington is primarily made up of civil servants. It is the national capital, after all.
Wellington also has a vibrant arts and film scene. There is a university with students and academics, too.
The private sector, however, has largely withdrawn from Wellington over the years. Wellington’s ‘business differential,’ the extra rates charged to businesses compared to residences, is the highest in the country. There are few corporate headquarters left.
It is no secret that Wellington’s electorate has a left-of-centre tilt. It was in the capital where the Greens won two of their three electorate seats in last year’s general election. In Wellington’s local elections, left-of-centre candidates have usually won most wards and the mayoralty.
Without wishing to stereotype, Wellington City Council’s projects reflect these political leanings.
Cycleways have been built in places where few people ride bikes. The rainbow-coloured crossing in the entertainment district is, well, striking. Recently, the city installed solar-powered parking ticket machines capable of communicating with drivers in both English and Maori – when they work.
However, all the council’s investments in traffic slowing, traffic reduction and climate change outreach pale into insignificance compared with a few big-ticket items.
Right opposite the national museum, Wellington now boasts a swish new convention centre. It is called Takina. At NZ$184 million (AUD$170m), it was only a bit more than NZ$5 million over budget. What a pity though that Wellington’s ratepayers will be left funding 40 per cent of its ongoing costs in perpetuity because there is no need for a convention centre of that size.
Additionally, Wellington’s ratepayers will be responsible for the reconstruction of the city library and town hall complex due to the earthquake-prone nature of the buildings. Bulldozing the plot and starting again would have been cheaper, but heritage rules obviously must be followed.
Running through the city council’s expenditure of questionable value, it becomes clear that any possibility of funding water pipes has dried up. Never mind that Wellington’s local rates on businesses are the highest in New Zealand, and that residential rates are higher than Auckland’s.
Perhaps deep down, councillors hoped the national government would eventually come to their rescue. After all, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signalled a wish to nationalise all water infrastructure. And wouldn’t it have been nice to off-load all of Wellington city’s problems to Wellington, the capital?
Alas, these plans would have been disastrous in their own ways – not least because they would have been horrendously expensive. And so, Wellington is now left to its own devices to figure out how to deal with bursting pipes and drained taps.
Right now, no one has a clue, least of all the council. Meanwhile, all that new local government minister Simeon Brown can do for now is send ‘Please explain!’ letters to everyone involved in the fiasco.
Wellington’s water woes are a tragicomedy, but they are New Zealand’s local government problem in a nutshell. We should not expect good policy outcomes when cities are run by ideologues, when voters do not care for costs and benefits, and when councils speculate on being bailed out by the national government.
Wellington, of course, remains a wonderful place. With its temperate climate, scenic harbour and thriving population of friendly bureaucrats, it is always worth a visit. Just stay away from puddles in the street, and do not take long showers.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
<> http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See
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