An Equality of Terror? Why an Attack's Modus Operandi Matters (Part 1 of 2)

The recent attack on the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, like the beheading at the Vaughan Foods plant in Moore, Oklahoma before it (2014), is certainly a form of terrorism, but they are not the same incarnation of terrorism as Islamic State's attack on Paris or even the attack on Planned Parenthood in Colorado. In the Paris and Planned Parenthood cases, the attacks were perpetrated by persons who did not have preexisting relationships with the targets or their victims. They were launched blindly in their aim (in respect to who specifically they would kill/maim) with only their extremist ideologies connecting them to their attack's modus operandi. i.e. The Islamic State attack in Paris - the plan and its instruction - were foreign in origin and the attackers did not work at the locations they attacked, nor did they target specific persons with which they had a preexisting relationship. The same goes for the Right-Wing Christian Extremist who attacked Planned Parenthood; he did not know his victims beforehand nor did he have a preexisting relationship with that Planned Parenthood.

Flag of California

The case of San Bernardino and that of the Vaughan Foods Beheading involve ad-hoc targets, victims, and locations. The reason the attackers chose their place of work as their primary target were to specifically maim/kill those individual victims. Pre-planning was involved and no doubt they were loaded for bear, but the San Bernardino attackers, like the Moore attacker, had specific intent based off of preexisting relationships with their targeted location and the victims inside. Workplace rage heavily influenced these two attacks. As preliminary reports suggest, the San Bernardino attackers were angered at a company gathering, left, and returned to attack. Likewise, the Moore attacker had recently been suspended from his only job (working at Vaughan Foods) for disciplinary reasons. If these attackers were truly motivated by their extremist terrorist ideology, and indeed their sole wish was to inflict wanton terror, they would have forgone their specifically limited contexts and targeted a soft location for maximum effect. In these two cases, however, because of the context of their specific workplaces, they limited the amount of death and destruction they brought about. So while these two attacks certainly wrought terror, they were not solely motivated by the simple desire to advance their ideological agenda by attacking as many innocent civilians as possible - as was seen in the Paris and Planned Parenthood cases.

Flag of France

The reason why this distinction is important is because the latter set of examples will be somewhat unavoidable. Whenever people are in an environment that involves stress, sustaining livelihood, and forced interaction - (a.k.a. the stresses of work) - people that are predisposed to hatred, violence, or psychotic attacks will lash out, regardless of the justification. As such, the average American is far more likely to die because of workplace violence than an act of extremist terrorism. These cases of terrorism, with the primary modus operandi of workplace targeting, will be limited to their respective workplaces. But because the modus operandi specifically targets a predetermined location, the potential harm arising from said situation may be possibly more confined than a target specifically chosen for the high potential for casualties (such as a crowded concert hall or medical facility). For example, in the USA, even the worst cases of workplace violence pale in comparison to pure extremist terrorism. In addition to the means by which an attack is carried out, the possibility for interdiction by law enforcement is perhaps greater with workplace violence as opposed to randomly targeted terror. In the two clear cases of workplace terror, preexisting connections linked the attackers to their targets - where even the coworkers could sense something ahead of time. In the case of Paris or Planned Parenthood, those overt warning signs were not there. That tactic of Lone Wolf Terrorism is what contributes to the lack of channels for interdiction by law enforcement prior to the attacks unfolding.

The true nature of extremist terrorism is terrifying for this reason. The selection of the location is not just chosen to settle a score or get revenge on one's coworkers, but rather to inflict as much death, destruction, and terror for the sole purpose of terrorism in the cause their are taking on. The pure terrorist attacks - whose modus operandi lacks a selfish ulterior motive - can happen to devastating effect without any warnings at all. In these instances, everybody then becomes a potential target, chosen at random, whilst lacking any ability to avoid the impending devastation.

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The purpose of these articles is not to reduce or belittle the tragedy or loss of life from these attacks. Rather, the analytical approach is carefully crafted to better understand these kinds of attacks in order to contribute to the conversation on how to prevent such horror from taking place again. This applied article is Part 1 of 2 in an analytical series on recent terrorist activity in the Western world. Part 2 of this series will look at the ideological justifications used by the attackers and how that correlates to society and politics from a wider perspective. Stay tuned for more...

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Dinesh D'Souza Indicted For Campaign Financing Fraud

     Known adulterer and noted documentarian Dinesh D'Souza has been charged with campaign finance fraud. If his name sounds familiar, it is probably from his immensely popular documentary 2016: Obama's America, which grossed over 33 million dollars in its box office run.

     Conservatives and Tea Partiers alike have been crying foul at this indictment. They continue to criticize the IRS and are accusing the FBI of this being another political targeting scheme from the Obama administration. Considering the fact that a major Tea Party principle is either lowering or eliminating taxes, investigating these groups further to make sure they are not already following anti-tax policies before they are even legal sort of makes sense. Nevertheless, Obama's opponents are still quite disgruntled. The new wave of alarmist calls citing totalitarian tactics on behalf of the Obama administration are misplaced. What Dinesh is accused of is quite plainly a crime - and enough evidence was gathered to proceed with the prosecution. In this case, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, Preet Bharara, was appointed by Obama. However, accusing the Obama administration of breaking rules in the name of cronyism, whilst absolving Dinesh by ignoring his connection to the former senatorial candidate, is a blatantly hypocritical double standard.

     In the (so far alleged) case of Mr. D'Souza, the investigation has a considerably more significant levels of justification. Here are the facts concerning the case and character of Dinesh D'Souza. He has been a staunch conservative, both religiously and politically. During the Reagan administration, Dinesh served as a policy advisor. An extremely vocal defender of traditional marriage, in October of 2012 he was exposed for having an extra-marital affair with a married woman. D'Souza tried to defend his actions, but regardless, they still eroded the sanctity of traditional marriage. In his defense, D'Souza did write an Op-Ed defending his actions, but ultimately the scandal cost him his job as President of The King's College in New York. D'Souza and the candidate in question, assumed to be Wendy Long, have a long history together. They both attended Dartmouth College and have been friends for a few decades now. Dinesh has been charged with (1) one count of causing false statements to be made and (1) one count of making illegal contributions in the names of others.

     Those charges stem from his alleged actions in Wendy Long's unsuccessful run to unseat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. At that time, the maximum total for campaign donations, per private person, was $5,000. While actively campaigning on behalf of Wendy Long, D'Souza donated around $20,000 to the election efforts. He was able to bypass the $5,000 limitation by claiming other people were the source of the extra $15,000. If he simply was acting as an aggregator for campaign financing, there would be no issue - but that is simply not the case. What Dinesh allegedly ended up doing was reimbursing the donors with his own personal funds. He participated in fraud, essentially in the form of money laundering 101: obscuring the source of monies, especially when in circumvention of a law. Knowing that the limit was $5,000, he was able to overcome that obstacle by way of shell donors. Dinesh's lawyer released a statement claiming that there was not "any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever ... at worst this was an act of misguided friendship by D'Souza." For a man that is so familiar with governmental policies and is often cited as a leading public intellectual, his alleged ignorance of the law has zero standing. Claiming innocence via ignorance once caught, in the case of marriage practices or campaign finance laws, illustrates a disturbing trend of willful disregard for the law.

DISCLAIMER: Since this is an ongoing case, these claims and accusations are predicated on the indictment and charges currently facing Mr. Dinesh D'Souza. As with all criminal cases, the accused are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. In the context of this article's verbiage, this contingency must be considered and incorporated in reading this article.

Moore Tornado: 20 Photos of Heartwarming Hope Arising from the Oklahoma Tragedy

The most exciting two days of my post graduation career began on Wednesday when I was hired on by SKY News to work as their local fixer. Based out of London, they needed an intelligence asset familiar with the area and highly adept and resourceful. After my interview with them early that first morning, they offered to retain my services. And thus my intriguing, emotional, and mind blowing journey into the ground zero area of Moore began. Yesterday, I wrote a PolicyMic piece that chronicled the destruction and devastation in Moore after the massive EF-5 tornado hit on Monday. On Thursday, my adventure continued, taking a much needed divergence from heart breaking to heart warming.

We started our day at the Wayland Bonds Elementary School where they were hosting the students from the destroyed Briarwood Elementary School.

We were the first news crew on site. Law enforcement did an impeccable job of maintaining security in Moore and keeping everything flowing on the roads. Here they were guarding the school.

The police were also there to project an image of safety and to let the traumatized kids know everything would be all right. However, this was just a minor precursor in comparison to what they had waiting for them inside!

We were the only news crew that was allowed into the Wayland Bonds Elementary School. I approached the school principal along with SKY News' correspondent Michelle Clifford. Over the past day, I had been training my British friends about the nuances of Southern culture and how they could help their reporting cause. I wore my hunting jacket, my Oklahoma City Thunder shirt, and my OU hat. Moore residents really opened up for us with me tagging along. Even with the day's ominous weather, kids and families began pouring into the school.

On Monday the storm destroyed their school during the last few days of the term. So this special event was a way for them to collect belongings that had been recovered and reunite with their teachers.

Here a mom escorted her young Cub Scout into the school.

Teachers, students, and their families continued to file into the school through the afternoon. The environment was cheerful and warm, with the kids full of smiles because they were handed brand new stuffed animals as they headed home for the day.

After we grabbed our initial shots inside the school, we retreated and filmed our live shots and interviews from the Church parking lot across the street. This was my SKY News crew today.

As the activity at the school began to lull, we decided to venture out. Our camera man, Jake Britton, and I ventured out for a human interest story. Before we were able to reach our targets, we were met with torrential down pour and flash floods.

Luckily Jake had rented a Jeep, so we were able to prevail onwards. What we found was the most heart warming scene of the day.

The volunteers of Southgate Pentecostal Holiness Church were eager to help, immediately offering us cases of water and a free meal. Pastor Lynn Ice greeted us as soon as we exited our Jeep and reiterated the offer of a free meal.

We of course were fine and told them we just wanted to grab some photos and possibly an interview. Everybody was so kind and we had to fight them off to make sure the food was given to the actual victims. Pastor Ice's mission was blunt: It did not matter who you are or what you believed, just that you had a stomach and wanted some food. As an atheist myself, I respected Pastor Ice's dedication to the victims and his passion to help others.

Shortly after we arrived, an Oklahoma National Guard convoy rolled in and began offering help and interacting with the church volunteers.

One of my favorite photos of the day was the one I snapped next. The picture was a perfect summary of the volunteer relief effort. Pastor Ice talked to the National Guardsman and was able to arrange for his grandson, Chapman McCully, to sit in the Humvee and have his picture taken. The little man was just a cute, energetic presence, smiling the entire time, but when he sat in the driver's seat, Chapman just lit up even more.

Chapman was one of the most avid volunteers, repeatedly trying to load me up with gatorade and a bag of chips.

The coolest thing about Chapman was his customized volunteer shirt. In permanent marker, he had sketched out the initials 'K.D.' on the back and had written the number 35 on his sleeves as an homage to Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

 

Jake and I quickly did a few more interviews and then we headed on our way. Our mission was now to go to Newcastle and see what damage was around the tornado's point of origin.

On the drive out there, we were met with the stark memory that while recovery efforts were well under way, the damage was still rampant.

As we continued along back country roads, we were met with road blocks. We had decided to take this back route to avoid the congestion on the main highway I-35. We went for the local secret of I-240 and while it was about 16 extra miles, it cut our travel time in half. We were making a good pace, but decided to pull over and have a look at these mangled power lines.

These twisted and pulverized metal remains looked more like a piece of modern art than a row of power lines. I threw on my high contrast black and white filter and snapper away.

From our vantage point, you could see miles of major power lines. It became quite clear how powerful and large the tornado was at just an earlier EF-3 stage. At this point in the corridor, the tornado had not yet evolved into the fearsome EF-5 that struck Moore. Regardless, the energy imparted on row after row of power lines was an immense kinetic force.

Jake and I wrapped up this shoot and I went back into Moore to retrieve my truck. I still had one mission left. I mentioned it briefly at the end of the tornado article I wrote on Tuesday. Thanks to local Tulsa businessman Pete Womack and the generous donation from his company, I departed from Tulsa late Tuesday night with a truck bed full of water, powerade, and other much needed supplies. I had been offering water and refreshments to the officers working the road blocks, but they had largely cleared out or either had an abundance of bottled water already. As such, I too still had the better part of a truck bed full of water. So I knew what I had to do.

I returned to the earlier location of Southgate Pentecostal Holiness Church and was again greeted with hugs and the offering of food. I dropped my tailgate and helped them move the rest of my supplies to their donation intake center. And again they tried to get me to take a burger and a couple of hot dogs for the road, but I reiterated that there are people who need it more than I. However, I later learned that while I was distracted talking to the Pastor, somebody snuck over to my truck and threw in a bag of chips for me.

I said my goodbyes again and headed to the dinner with my SKY News companions. With that I completed my mission for the day. While stuck in traffic, something caught my eye. I grabbed my camera, stopped traffic, at least more so than it already was, and took this both heartwarming and heartbreaking picture.

Someone had taken a piece of debris from their house and spray painted a concise but profound message. From the destruction of the tornado, again, hope and recovery is blossoming.

For my fellow Oklahomans reading this article, please stay safe and take cover if the weather demands it. And for those not in the Oklahoma area, here is my Oklahoman's guide to passing time during a Tornado. Follow me on Twitter @TheNolanK and stay tuned for continuing tweets and updates from ground zero!

Faith Based Racism: Examining the Link Between "Piety and Prejudice"

An intriguing study conducted by USC examined the connection between religious groups and racism, arriving at a provocative conclusion. The analysis was led by Wendy Wood, Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at USC College and the USC Marshall School of Business. The purpose of the study is "a meta-analytic review of past research evaluated the link between religiosity and racism in the United States since the Civil Rights Act." The report observed that "members of religious congregations tend to harbor prejudiced views of other races." The study surveyed over 20,000 white Christians, citing their role as the largest demographic, both in terms of race and religious denomination, in the United States.

I was quite interested in the findings, because as a life-long resident of the South I often witness racist behaviors. I grew up only a few miles from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which often referred to as "the buckle of the Bible belt." In a region so proud of its Christian attributes, this behavior is quite baffling to watch. The study identifies root causes of this racist behavior in religious practitioners as well as speculates on the driving forces specific to Christianity. I want to discuss the report's two main points and postulate how these abhorrent findings can be overcome in the future.

The Exclusivity of Group Identity and In-group Prejudice:

In an interview with USC news, Wood stated that “all religions offer a moral group identity, and so across world religions - including Buddhism, Hinduism, Muslim, Judaism and Christianity - the religious in-group is valued over out-groups.” This notion is perhaps a basic human tendency, to value familiar social constructs over foreign or competing interests, often the driving force in tribalism and nationalism.

The message of Jesus was universal and most certainly did not include racism. One of my favorite quotes is attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” I feel this quote more than adequately describes the disparity between Christ's teachings and many of his proclaimed followers. A term commonly thrown around the discourse of perceived attitudes in regards to this Christian community is “holier than thou.” This attitude can best be described as holding an opinion of one’s self that is expressed by asserting their own opinions or actions are superior to another’s.

While Wood points out that this behavior is not exclusive to Christians; the connotation of “holier than thou” is most commonly associated with Christians in the United States. But the question begging to be asked is “what are the origins of this behavior?” The answer can easily be summarized as a side effect of the human condition. When instilled with a confidence that a person holds a truth that another may not be aware of, an air of conceit and arrogance seems to overcome the person holding the alleged ultimate truth. Christians want to be like Jesus because he was such an inspiring figure, however, there is a blatant problem that exists when attempting this emulation. If a person claims to be a Christian, most likely, their belief is that Jesus was part God-incarnate. Since no human will ever be a being of that caliber of supernatural stature, this emulation is inhibited, and presented in the "holier than thou" quandary. So if this truth is what stokes this fire of the human condition, it demands to be examined.

Morality as the key to Group Membership:

Wood also noted that "religion has a downside, like any group membership, particularly [when] a group membership is associated with morality." The logic is that morality and the practice of those tenets, ethics, are what determine a religious denomination. Catholics have their specific morality, while Protestants have theirs. In the context of today's religious plurality and spiritual marketplace, these denominations have more similarities than differences, when say compared to other non-Christian denominations, like Islam or Hinduism.

The study reported that "highly devout groups showed the greatest correlation between religion and racism." In my opinion, an affirmation of specific morality comes from John 14:6 - “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." More devout and strict adherents would likely hold that the 'correct' morality is limited to their religion, thus increasing the exclusivity of the group's membership. However, all throughout history examples of the existence of the morality and ethics echoed in the New Testament can be found in instances completely uninfluenced by Christian teachings; such as Native American tribes, Buddhist and other eastern traditions, and even in numerous Pagan theologies. The USC article bolsters this relationship between devoutness and racism citing that "her analysis found significantly less racism among people without strong religious beliefs."

Ending the Hypocrisy and Looking to the Future:

The report also uncovered a possibly remedy to the racism issue. Wood found that "people who are religious for conservative reasons [respect for tradition, social conventionalism], they have become less racist in recent years as racism has become less socially acceptable." With a nod to the old adage, 'time heals all wounds,' so too could racism vacate itself from Christianity. As liberalism of previously staunch and harsh social protocols often continue to ease up with future generations, simply put, racism in Christianity could die along with older, more prejudiced generation of practitioners.

According to Wood the report's findings "may ring false to practicing Christians in mixed-race congregations," noting however that "there aren't many churches that practice with a mixed-race congregation." Interaction and exposure to Christians of other races would easily help to eliminate the myths and false notions that fuel racism. What is quite ironic, and even hilarious, is that Christ himself was an Arab Jew, a Levantine native and dark skinned. Reality is quite contrary to the classical image of the white, hunky, and hippie-esque imagery that proliferated in medieval and renaissance Europe and still resonates in the minds of Christians.

USC's study is quite illuminating, but regardless of why these racist sentiments exists or how they are justified, the fact remains that racism must go. I will close this article in the spirit of another quote attributed to Gandhi that easily solves this problem, "be the change you wish to see in the world."

Check out this article also published on PolicyMic!

Human Rights Campaign Graphic for Marriage Equality Goes Viral

I would like to thank everyone that helped share my article, the Human Rights Campaign, PolicyMic, and everyone else who endeavors to put an end to intolerance. Gay rights and marriage equality is the seminal issue for the millenial generation. I stand up for the marginalized, abhorred, and persecuted whether it is in the battle of Civil Rights or the the battle for freedom from a despotic dictator in Libya or Syria.

Originally I wrote this for PolicyMic.com. Often times I will write a piece for TheNolanK.com and then republished it in whole or in part on PolicyMic. However, this time the tables are turned. Here is my most successful article ever:

Human Rights Campaign Graphic for Marriage Equality Goes Viral

"You might have woken up this morning to find your Facebook or Twitter news feed covered in a pink and red equal sign and been curious as to the image's origin. Well, here are the details.

The Human Rights Campaign is the nation's largest advocacy group for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities. Their logo is a yellow equal sign set on a blue background. The current incarnation is meant to bring awareness to the cause for marriage equality in light of the Supreme Court hearing arguments for two groundbreaking cases in the fight for marriage equality. For the next two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, proponents of marriage equality are also encouraged to wear red to show their support. Also, using popular Twitter hash tags like #Equality, #UnitedforMarriage, #SupremeCourt, and #Love will help your tweets launch into the discussion taking place on social media.

Personally, I have never understood why a person should have to fight so hard just to be considered equal to the majority. But this view also comes from an American son raised by Canadian parents ... I am lucky to be a dual citizen. LGBT rights in Canada are a model for the world. Canada was the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage and actually the first country in the world to perform a same-sex marriage.

However, if you are in the constantly shrinking minority of those who oppose same sex marriage, then you will go down in history alongside those opposed to gender equality and race equality. Your picture will be in the history books next to those who were assaulting marchers with fire hoses and police dogs. Frankly it does not matter if you view marriage in the context of your theology, the aim of marriage equality is not to influence policy in your church or place of worship.

Rather, the fight for marriage equality is strictly a matter of state or national legal policy and the application of equal protection under the law. To deny a fellow human being the right to express their love for a fellow human being, in an adult and consenting fashion, just because they are a homosexual, is nothing short of hateful and vitriolic. Make no mistake, opposition to marriage equality is nothing short of hate, regardless of how you try and justify it. Opposing homosexuality may be part of your religious beliefs, but you have absolutely no right to make someone else submit to your beliefs in such an arbitrary manner.

Now some pessimists may write this graphic off as nothing more than slacktivism or pointless, but they are completely wrong. The belief is not that doing this will have an effect on the Supreme Court's decision, but rather that it will help sway the general public's opinion. Many people who are ignorant or perhaps just unsure of where they stand on gay rights might be surprised to see everyone dressed in red or may inquire about your new profile picture. This is a great foot in the door for discussing the case for marriage equality.

I myself have already had a few conversations on the topic and have explained the graphics meaning to numerous inquisitive Facebook friends. If people just see how many people support equality and civil rights, they may reconsider their negative views or become involved themselves. Don't believe me? Change your profile picture to this graphic and see how quickly you receive positive feedback and curious inquiries."

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Shortly after I wrote this piece it absolutely caught fire and went viral. My article quickly racked up tens of thousands of views and thousands of shares on social media. The current totals, a whole 48 hours after I originally published this piece on PolicyMic, currently stand at over 568 Tweets, 28,000 shares on Facebook, and over 57,000 unique views.

OU Religious Studies Student Journal

A research paper that I wrote was selected for publication in the OU Religious Studies Student Journal. This academic journal is published by the University of Oklahoma's Religious Studies Program. It was quite an honor to have my research selected for the journal. I take pride in my work and struggle to make it compelling and robust. This was quite a personal accomplishment in my academic career, as well as a nice addition to my CV.

Currently there is not an electronic version of the journal available for public perusal and the copies of the journal I am in possession of are limited for family and friends. Inquiries can be made with the University of Oklahoma's Religious Studies Program for a copy. On a more intriguing note, I have made available the research paper in the journal available here on my website - in the New Published Work section. The paper takes a look at the debate raging over evolution verses creationism and, more recently, Intelligent Design, and also analyzes the outcomes and implications of this contentious subject.

However, on a quite ironic point, as an atheist, it is quite an achievement to have my work on the subject of religion recognized in Oklahoma, in the heart of the 'Bible Belt.' I feel like this aptly represents the depth of my convictions. My disdain towards religion is not simply rooted in rebellion or defiance, but rather it is an understanding of its many elements. A person is entitled to their beliefs as their conscience dictates. I just like to make sure that a person really knows what they are talking about, regardless of their beliefs. I will engage in a discussion regarding a critique of Christian belief just as eagerly as when I aim to correct a misconception from a fellow disbeliever.

Lastly, I am again a member of the Religious Studies Club at OU this year. As the officer in charge of publicity, I am charged with the creation of the club's t-shirt. They are available for purchase and can be ordered anytime now until March 31st and they will be in around mid April. The cost of the shirt is $15 - and I can setup an invoice for electronic payment via PayPal and ship it if we cannot meet in person. They are 100% cotton and available in sizes S-4XL. Here is the link for the order form. Once you have ordered a shirt, e-mail me and once I verify the order, I will send you the invoice and delivery information. I really appreciate the support for the Religious Studies Club!

Jon Stewart: The Messiah of Political Satire

I originally wrote this article for PolicyMic, but slightly altered it from its original version. You can find the original published PolicyMic version here. In addition, after I published this on PolicyMic, the OU Daily also ran this article as an opinion column as well as a College News Aggregator UWire [Link Here].

President Obama on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on October 27th 2010

As a forethought, Yes, I am fully aware that I'm playing into the stereotype of the liberal-minded college student by saying this. Just like President Obama, I think Jon Stewart is brilliant.

In Barack Obama's recent Rolling Stone interview, the President said:

"I think Jon Stewart's brilliant. It's amazing to me the degree to which he's able to cut through a bunch of the nonsense – for young people in particular, where I think he ends up having more credibility than a lot of more conventional news programs do."

I certainly could not agree more. Jon Stewart's comedic genius has impacted me as a person on such a level that is only eclipsed by the late Christopher Hitchens. 

The earliest recollection I have of in regards to Jon Stewart is centered around 9/11. Much like everyone else, I remember the images of the planes smashing into the towers, the horrendous fires, and their eventual collapse. However, I also recall the moving and emotional introduction Jon Stewart gave on his first Daily Show after the attacks:

The Daily Show
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It was this episode with which I am able to pin down the point of genesis for my affinity of Stewart. Since then, I've been drawn in by his whirlwind of comedic political satire, confronting the likes of Tucker Carlson on Crossfire, inviting Jim Cramer as a guest, and countless other public figures. Furthermore, quite a few comedic powerhouses got their start at The Daily Show as well, including: Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and Ed Helms.

The comedic credentials of The Daily Show go without saying. But, in conjunction with this visceral and upfront humor, true moments of journalistic genius have emerged. Looking back on the countless logged episodes on TheDailyShow.com, this claim is easily verified.

Jon Stewart has quite often made remarks to the effect that if it weren't for FOX News, he would easily lose more than half of the potential material for his show. Now I think it is quite obvious that I do not claim to be 'Fair and Balanced' but I can admit, objectively speaking, accomplishing that is impossible. However, for the company that does claim that, Jon Stewart has lead the charge against FOX News, 'the most powerful name in news.' By using the same exact tactics FOX News uses in their 'reporting/commentary,' Stewart demonstrates two salient points:

1) FOX News' hypocrisy in attempting to tie "Ground Zero Mosque" leader Imam Feisal Rauf to terrorism. In this clip, Stewart reveals how FOX News would be considered a terrorist command center, when the same flawed logic is applied. In a quite poetic juxtaposition, Stewart uses a clip of a Charlton Heston NRA speech to solidify his point.

The Daily Show
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2) News Corp's [FOX News' parent company] second largest shareholder outside of the Murdoch family is Al-Waleed bin Talal,  the very same shadowy figure that FOX News launched a [hypocritical] scare tactics campaign against, also regarding the "Ground Zero Mosque."

The Daily Show
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To accentuate this point, here is one of my all-time favorite Daily Show pieces: 'Persians of Interest.' This entire series dubbed 'Jason Jones: Behind the Veil' demonstrates how they can accomplish extraordinary feats of journalism without having to use CNN or FOX News as their punching bag. The Daily Show set the gold standard in its coverage of the Iranian Green Revolution, which is an achievement to be heralded. Again, this is one of many examples where the Daily Show surpassed other news outlets in regards to critical world events.

Whether you lean to the right, the left, or forward, it is impossible to deny Jon Stewart's tremendous influence with Millennials. The Daily Show program is billed as a satirical comedy news show, but is certainly steeped in real world implications. From classic hits like 'Indecision' election coverage to 'Mess O'Potamia' Iraq war coverage, the Daily Show has remained consistently a cut above the rest. Whether a viewer is a hardcore fan like myself or a casual observer like President Obama, the gravitas of the Daily Show is easily perceivable. 

[Watching a Daily Show clip in one of my classes at OU.]

On a more official note, here are the list of awards the Daily Show has won:, according to Wikipedia: "Under host Jon Stewart, The Daily Show has risen to critical acclaim. It has received two Peabody Awards, for its coverage of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Between 2001 and 2011, it has been awarded sixteen Emmy Awards in the categories of Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program, and a further seven nominations. The show has also been honored by GLAAD, the Television Critics Association and the Satellite Awards. America (The Book), the 2004 bestseller written by Stewart and the writing staff of The Daily Show, was recognized by Publishers Weekly as its "Book of the Year", and its abridged audiobook edition received the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In September 2010 Time magazine selected the series as one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME"." 

So here's to hoping Jon Stewart extends his contract past the current 2013 agreement!

The Abrahamic Pyramid

I uncovered an interesting paper of mine from this time last year. The specific outline of the assignment that yielded this masterpiece eludes me at the moment, but the context was 'The Islamic Religious Tradition' course taught by Dr. Charles Kimball during the Fall 2010 semester. This was my first examination of the Islamic faith and this is what spurred my interest in studying at Bogazici University in Turkey for the 2011 Summer. Enjoy this fledgling work of mine.

Examining the Overlaps and Interactions 

of the Three Great Abrahamic Monotheisms

With religion being the number one identifying attribute of a person in the world today, and half of that religious population stemming from the Abrahamic faiths of devout monotheism, one needs to examine what makes them different from a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, and to realize that maybe they just are not that different. My personal outside view in regards to this Abraham dilemma can be explained by the idea of an “Abrahamic Mountain.” This is a theological pyramid of sorts with each of the three sides representing either Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. The fact that the same God is worshipped by all three religious communities alike allows me to make the likening to a pyramid, being that the conclusion or zenith of all three sides winds up being one singular and total point, accurately representing this shared idea of monotheism. But it is the ways of worship and daily life that creates the three distinct sides, where as the edges can sometimes become blurred.

So with the most familiar religion, in regards to the American mind, being Christianity, I will start with Islam. The central idea of Islam as it relates to the person is that humans are not evil by nature; it’s just that we are forgetful. It is through a strict regimen of prayer and daily ways to remember God and the Koran that helps to combat this issue of forgetfulness. The Major theological idea throughout mainstream Islam is that Allah is the single God and Muhammad is his FINAL messenger. Islam took rise in the early seventh century in what is now Saudi Arabia. It is believed by Muslims that the word of God was revealed to the prophet Muhammad and was written into what we now know as the Koran. During the rise of Islam, Muhammad and his few followers were heavily persecuted by the ruling class at the time, who where idolaters and did not hold to a conventional religion. So Muhammad and his followers set out to the different kingdoms of Arabia and the Middle East to find sanctuary. He found this in the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia. Part of the motivating factors for the allowance of Muhammad and his followers to stay there was that the king recognized the names of Abraham and Jesus and recognized this singular God as being the Christian God too. What most people do not know or realize today is that Jesus is not only mentioned in the Koran but viewed and glorified as a prophet. While not as devout on the God-incarnate implications that most Christians hold to, Muslims are still respectful of him, because he, like Muhammad and Moses, is just another prophet bringing forth God’s message. So even there one can see how the two religions of Christianity and Islam are linked in ideology. The main geographical place in regards to Islam is the ka’aba in the city of Mecca; believed to have been built by Abraham himself, it is the center for the hajj and became the focal point of prayer for Muslims after being liberated by Muhammad and his followers.

So far, not counting the crusades due to the fact that they were human creations and motivated by greed and personal gain of people and not the true religion, we can see a strong bond between Christianity and Islam. Next, I want to hit on the points of Judaism. The oldest and smallest of the three major Abrahamic faiths, Judaism is both a religion and an ethnicity. For the purposes of this essay I will be addressing the religious implications on Judaism. Judaism gets its start from the Old Testament and plays heavily upon the origins of Christianity, being that Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, was himself a Jew. Plus two other major players of the Jewish faith are also major players within Christianity; Abraham and Moses. Whereas the Christian Bible is based off of the Old Testament and New Testament, the Jewish Tanakh is based largely off of the Old Testament or Torah and its supplemental elements. The Torah itself is known as the five books of Moses. Once these major elements of Judaism are examined it leads into the third piece of the Abrahamic trio, Christianity.

Christianity is the largest and furthest reaching religion not only in the three Abrahamic faiths but in the whole world of spirituality. Based heavily upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the encompassing teachings and lessons, as written down in the Bible by numerous authors, Christianity has had the furthest reach out of the world's religions; holding to the idea of original sin and that we are sinful by nature, much like the Judaic interpretation. Comprising of the four main gospels and other letters and texts, the New Testament is only half of the Christian Bible. The other half is the Torah, the five books of Moses, or the Old Testament.

Due to the close intertwining of all three religions, we have major figures that lead into the next form of Abrahamic religion. Judaism gave rise to Christianity; Christianity led and aided Islam into its formidable years. All three religions having different bases from which they grew and how they were influenced lead up to a singular God, as originally taught by Abraham. While although they do have major differences in regards to topics such as prayer, diet, law, and the legitimacy of the other’s prophets or messiah’s, they are united in the fact that it is the message given to them by God which holds the highest importance, not necessarily in which means that it was delivered to them.

The biggest difference from the American’s “Christio-centric” point of view would be the interpretation of Jesus from the Jewish and Muslim standpoint. Being that in Christianity Jesus is viewed as God incarnated as man, born of a virgin, and righteous and god-like in nature, able to heal, bring back the dead, perform miracles, and overcome death (the physical death, not to say that he was ever actually spiritually dead). In Judaism the view is that although Jesus was actually Jewish and was a nice guy, he was not a messiah, had no association with the divine, and therefore they purveyed his execution. The Islamic perspective is that Jesus did in fact come from a virgin birth and spread the word of god as one of his prophets, but was not in fact god himself. So it seems to be a situation of all or nothing or in-between. This is an example of a common element throughout all three branches but their interpretations of Jesus are what determine the individual and separate view.

So the point is basically this, Abraham is the common base for this pyramid/mountain hybrid. But it is the conditions, elements, and aspects of life and how they reacted and adapted that form these similar but elegantly unique religions. These three defined faces regardless of their differences provide a way to reach the top, which is commonly viewed as the ultimate relationship between oneself and God. So from the perspective of a person who has no claim to or affiliation to any of the religions involved in the Abrahamic faiths it seems to me as if as long as you are a participant on the hike towards the top of the same mountain there should be nothing to quarrel about. Just because views may not line up, does not mean one should berate or tear-down the other, because even though the methodology differs the goals still do not.

I find it extremely ironic that religions claiming peace choose to find small and petty differences to alienate themselves from each other rather than identifying with each other on the major underlying commonalities that essentially defines each religion. Because if there was no Abraham, there would be no Judaism, no Judaism leads to Jesus not being a Jew and therefore adversely affecting the unfolding of Christianity, and if Christianity turned out different, there may have not been anybody to aide Muhammad during the infant years of Islam. While admittedly other factors come into play, this seems to be the yoda-esque factor that strongly unites and bonds all three religions together. It seems as if this could be realized by the participants of the respective faiths, together they would be able to make the journey to the top of the Abrahamic Mountain better and much easier for all travelers involved.

Blind Misinterpretation of Liberalism Leads to Blatant Misunderstanding

I was deeply disturbed by a misinformed opinion column in Tuesday's OU Daily student newspaper. I have quite frequently and publicly expressed my disdain for the low level of writing and unvaried point of views as well as the lacking of the editing department at the newspaper to allow these shoddy practices to continue. The column in which I was responding to can be found here. It was the classic 'holier than thou' not only is your view wrong but how you apply it is fundamentally wrong, false critique of Liberalism Ideology that ends up complimenting it more than it criticizes it.

Not only is this what I took issue with, but the fact that the newspaper allowed this blindly and incredibly evangelical fundamentalist writer to publish his personal and extremely limited worldview as some sort of authority in any of the matters he fallaciously addressed irks me to the Nth degree. If you know anything about writing, this overplayed line of incoherent argument, or how ideas are supposed to be logically developed so their conclusions follow with fluidity, it should also baffle you [as much as it did for me] how this entirely inept writer has made it this far in higher education and is supposedly a 'Professional Writing Senior' here at the University of Oklahoma - and also claims to share my major of Religious Studies, Yet I have never heard of him in the latter context, heard anyone talk about him in this respect, or have shared a class with him or even met him at a Religious Studies event. Which I must say helps to illustrate his dimness when claiming to participate in such an illuminating area of study.

 

I'm tired of him and that whole deluge of decrepit reasoning that the Christian Right - or as I more prefer to address them as 'The Christian Rite' - first starting spewing in the public square of politics in the early 1980's. Not only do they not adhere to the Liberalism ideology, but they blindly misinterpret it which indubitably leads to a blatant misunderstanding which this writer has touted as a truth. He does however qualify his limited and lacking knowledge of this subject matter and frankly that is where his column SHOULD have stopped. But unfortunately for the readers of the OU Daily and the unlucky trees whose existence was wasted, he goes on in a self-evidently incoherent, fallacious, and non-sequiturial rant blinded by his own misapprehensions. I could continue into the realm of 'ad hominem-icide' but I feel my disappointment has been accurately demonstrated in regards to the declining editorial standard and constitution of the student newspaper and their staffed writers whose credentials are begging to be called into question.

I was able to [I feel] eloquently channel my passion and counter argument in the form of my latest Op-Ed submission to the OU Daily [which can be found here]. Hopefully by publishing my response in the coming days the Student Newspaper can redeem some of the integrity it has been conceding to increasingly shoddy standards.

Top 10 Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian

I got this from an informative and insightful website called 'www.EvilBible.com.' They have varied topics of interest concerning the negative and unbecoming aspects of the beloved Bible. They offer a realist and contrarion stance to the doe-eyed superficiality afforded to the glass half full embracing of the Bible. Now I do not necessarily support or endorse EVERYTHING on their site, but I do encourage exploration of it as it may and most likely will serve as a means for generating questions in yourself, from your own perspective.

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many Atheists, Skeptics, and Agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and Church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

Also, as sort of a fun extension of my site, a broadening of my Blog's breadth, and a celebration of passing the ***!!! 2,000 !!!*** [unique and individual] website views, I would love a couple of topics in my upcoming posts to be user-generated questions, theories, or ideas they would like me to address, explain, research, or give my opinion on. They can be original or quoted works, but nothing is off limits. When I receive the suggestions I will setup a poll/vote function and the 6 ideas I like can be voted on by the masses. I look forward to hearing from my faithful lions and would even like to hear from my divergent lambs. You can send all of the submissions to Nolan.Kraszkiewicz@ou.edu.

-NK

World Opiates in America

I received my graded Midterm Take-Home essay last week. I made minor corrections and edits and I have posted it HERE. The title of my paper was 'Plurality? Prove It...' The prompt was to talk about the course, materials, and experiences in so far as we have progressed in the class. The format was that of talking to friends, family, or a person interested in my class. My grade for this paper, much like most of my papers, was an 'A' with candid commentary from my Professor expressing his usual favor for my unique point of view and contrarion stance. Enjoy the paper!

Checkout My C.O.R.P. Page!

This is not an entirely original work, but a basic outline from notes from my Philosophy of Religions course I took in Istanbul this summer, examples from that class as provided by the Professor [Dr. James Kraft of Huston-Tillotson University], edits by yours truly, and the addition of my commentary and material I have learned from my Academic pursuits at OU; with a current focus on my Modern Philosophy of Religion class I'm currently taking.

Click Here to go to my New 'Criticism of Religion Page' [C.O.R.P]

For RELS?

     These last two weeks have by far been the busiest of the semester. My busy-ness seemed to have a correlation with this time of the semester being the Mid-Term week. This overwhelming pressure has yielded two diamonds. The first is a more in-depth and technical approach to Islamic Theology with a touch of Islamic Philosophy. The second, which I only finished about 15 minutes before it was due, is about the Presidential Dream course I am taking called 'World Religions in America' and the assignment was actually labeled as a 'Take-Home Midterm Essay Exam.' This served as a more general application of my semester experience so far and is an easier read for a general audience.

     I have received my graded Islamic Theology paper and have posted it on my Religious Studies Page [Here]. The Paper is titled 'How the Islamic Mind Comes to Know what it Knows.' The paper examines and analyzes Epistemology in the Islamic faith based on the writings of ‘Abd al-Jabbar [No, not Kareem], who is a Mu`tazilite theologian that pioneered Islamic Speculative Theology and advocated God's oneness and his justice. This is the Mid-Term version of what my Final paper will be about. While this isn't necessarily a  rough draft, it will be expanded upon, edited, and revised for a final submission at the end of the semester. This is the more technical of my two papers I will be posting, but my general audience paper is not that far away.

     I am a member of the OU Religious Studies Club and this year I was able to help design the club t-shirt and this picture below is the final product [pending]. I came up with the main catchphrase 'For RELS?' out of jest during a club meeting. My background in graphic design immediately came through and I started to visualize the shirt. Thanks to the website CustomInk.com the other club members were able to help influence the design, helping us to arrive at the masterpiece you now see. The price of the shirt currently stands at $15 and the material is 100% cotton. Feel free to Send Me an E-mail if you are interested in purchasing a t-shirt. The current projected date that we will have them available for sale is mid to late November.

OU Religious Studies Club 2011/12 Shirt Design

     


     As soon as I get my other paper and after I make the necessary and appropriate corrections, I will post it for reading and reviewing as well. Also I received information through the OU study abroad program about a photograph contest with the photos we OU students took during their stays in the host country for Fall '10, Spring '11, and Summer '11. I can submit 2 original photos in the competition, the only rule is that the photos have to be taken by me and there can be no editing, but minor retouching and corrections are allowed. I have posted the entirety of my Istanbul photos on Facebook. What I found to be really cool is that Facebook has a setup for the general public to openly view the galleries regardless if the viewer has a Facebook profile or account. In no apparent order and with minimal duplicates, here are my Istanbul Picture Galleries:   

Nolan's Istanbul Photos [Public Gallery] 1 of 4

Nolan's Istanbul Photos [Public Gallery] 2 of 4

Nolan's Istanbul Photos [Public Gallery] 3 of 4

Nolan's Istanbul Photos [Public Gallery] 4 of 4

     The submission deadline for the project isn't until February 2012. The categories for the general competition are landscapes, people, culture, or architecture. I hope to have a sort of comments section for my posts setup before then, but in the meantime if you find an image that you like that was taken by me, E-mail Me with a description of the photo so I can add it to my possible submissions.

     Keep checking back for more updates. I know it has been nearly 3 weeks since my last major posting, but my next few posts will be rapid fire and include the projects I have been working on during that time.  I'm almost at 2,000 website views. And as always, Thanks for Visiting and Viewing!

The Certainty of Religious truth*

[And the Fallibility of Faith]

     One of the major concepts that tend to be an underlying theme or thread of my works in both the academic and extracurricular realm is a pursuit of and a struggle for the truth. Just because a person is offended does not mean that they are in the right, especially when they are insulted by the truth; for they only have themselves to be angry with in that instance. This is partly why I never feel insulted by lies or misinformation for they are simply not true. Likewise one cannot and should not take issue with the truth. If an idea, concept, or theory turns out to be true there is no arguing with it. To waste energy in that manner is easily akin to banging one's head against the wall or repeating the same processes in an expectation of yielding a different result - which incidentally is the definition of insanity. These detachments from reality leads to a rabbit trail of epistemological disconnect.

     So embracing the truth now becomes a necessity and consequentially the only viable channel in which one should embrace reality. I often find people who make the claim that "Christianity is the foundation for their epistemic justification and knowledge." While this may [in their eyes] be a noble act of faith, I find that it is in principle inherently flawed. For the purposes of this line of thinking I will only be dealing with a posteriori knowledge. Also to be taken into consideration for the context of this is that this is just an 'out-loud' thought of sorts.

      If your world view is necessarily predicated upon and connected to your religious belief in such a manner that you 'see through a glass dimly' as a result of using that lens as your overall frame of reference, an interesting quandary seems to arise. Your knowledge of why Christianity seems to be right and just in your mind is mainly a product of what you have gleaned only after accepting Jesus Christ as your lord & savior. This is, as previously mentioned, what is referred to as a posteriori knowledge meaning that what you now know is based from experience. It is only your experience of Christianity from the lens of Christianity that now supports the main pillars of your faith. My two metaphors for this concept are 1) Like trying to pull or lift yourself up by your own hair and/or 2) Supporting a boulder with toothpicks. The proper philosophical term for this thought process is called the 'Cartesian Circle.' Its basic reasoning is that you know God exists with a certainty therefore you are capable of certainty because God exists. This pattern of reasoning functions as a retroactive reassurance mechanism.

-   ----  ------ ----------------------------------------------------- ------  ----   - 

The Overall Claim Effectively Being Made is This:

1) How do I know what I know and How can I be certain of what I know?

2) I know God exists with a certainty; ergo I am capable of certainty;

3) Therefore because I am capable of certainty, my epistemic justifications are certain;

----[**Here Appears to Be the Jump**]----

4) and Since certainty is a finite property in my nature and reasoning abilities regarding the formation of justifications, I have been certain of my knowledge the whole time;

5) I have all along been certain so everything I know is epistemically justified; therefore certainty can be applied retroactively to what I already know, regardless of how I came to it at the time;

6) Therefore I have been right all along!

-   ----  ------ ----------------------------------------------------- ------  ----   -

     This works for the religious believer; as this process is the cornerstone of the faith claim. However, for Atheists, Empiricists, and/or Skeptics this process of thought cannot be conveyed. Even looking at it from a broader perspective, in regards to anybody who has not accepted Christianity or is themselves not a Christian, the logic of the believer cannot be transferred to the other. It's akin to attempting to use something that is Windows PC formatted on an Apple Mac computer; it just simply isn't compatible. But the way the typical Evangelical Christian approaches their form of Apologetic-Proselytization doesn't consider this in their approach, for whatever reason. So when you confront the believer about this, [which I have done numerous times and is itself unavoidable in the buckle of the Bible belt known as Oklahoma], they repeatedly reference the content of the Bible in the justification in regards to the validity of the Bible. It goes without saying that the contents of the Bible can be used to critique, explain, or justify what is in Bible. Here is the fatal flaw, the believer will equate what I just mentioned in the last sentence as reason to empirically justify the Bible itself; further relying on a form of The Cartesian Circle or essentially saying "It's turtles all of the way down." Again, while this may work for the believer's mind for epistemological requirements, it will not and indeed cannot suffice as justification for the Atheists, Empiricists, and/or Skeptics. Because according to them, which I also deem to be a correct and logical assertion, the Bible has to be justified, demonstrated, and proven externally from outside of anything that is espoused in the Bible.

     This shows just how futile the believers attempt to debate with the Atheists, Empiricists, and/or Skeptics is. I say this because no person, no believer can assert with 100% confidence that the requirements of this process can be sufficiently filled without invoking the phrase "you have to have faith" or something akin to that affect. The believer is attempting to establish their belief structure on an incompatible foundation. So while knowledge and understanding of one's own religious beliefs in terms of the rhetoric, dogma, and historicity therein is a noble trait, just because the believer knows about their own religious theology does not mean they are informed or knowledgeable in the realms of religions and/or philosophy. That is why in this discussion, [between the believers and  Atheists, Empiricists, and/or Skeptics], the believers revert and default back to their knowledge, dogmas, and rhetoric of their own religious tradition and think they are adequately passing it off as philosophy and knowledge of other religions. This is a false attribution of what is entailed by their understanding of their own religious knowledge caused by their strict adherence of using Christianity as their foundation for all of their epistemic knowledge. Remove the Christianity and it follows that the knowledge based upon that is also removed; and since that has to be done to externally justify the Bible without invoking its contents as proof or evidence, they are repeating the same process over and over expecting there to be a different end result from each attempt. Thus by definition they are demonstrating a key component of what we know to be 'insanity' and when summed up this attests partially to the nature of religion and demonstrates that religious belief predicated and contingent upon faith is not rational or logically justifiable. Once this is acknowledged, the conclusion indeed has to be that 'truth' can never take the place of 'Truth' and to attempt to do so verifies and further illustrates the fallibility of faith.   

[* truth is intentionally spelled with a lowercase 'T' because it is a subjective truth and not an objective truth claim. I.E. an Objective Truth is like saying the sky is blue or that matter cannot be created nor destroyed (the first law of thermodynamics); whereas a Subjective truth relates to the claims of Jesus being a savior and an incarnation of God or that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the Best hockey team of all time. ]