Few stories end with all (ALL) the “bad guys” killed. The Book of Revelations, the last book of the New Testament, ends with the battle of Armageddon where good fights evil and the “righteous” walk away for a nifty eternity. Morality isn’t all about abortion.

God did not write any of the books of either of the testaments, but people who believe he did include the book of Revelations as divinely written. If pressed for proof their fall-back position is to say the books are divinely…

Christians’ lines between “us” and “them” have been many and varied over centuries. Romans saw believers as a sect of Judaism until their Emperor converted. Rendering unto Caesar became kosher. The Reformation was 100 years of bloody war, Rome vs Protestants.

In the 1970s and ‘80s a belief that became more widely spread was fundamentalism, a belief the bible is the literal word of god. Evangelicals hold that belief, perhaps because simplicity holds so much appeal. A “strict…

There is a difference between an individual relying on a particular belief as a basis for her or his morality, and believers of a particular sect of a religion imposing their religion on others in the form of a theocracy. In the latter instance, advocates must prove their deity’s existence.

For example: a person has the right to believe in Zeus and the other Greek gods. Few people today believe those deities exist or existed. If someone seeks to dictate to us based on tenets of a…

There are basic truths about abortion. If you believe there should be fewer abortions, you favor free and ready availability of contraceptives and sex education, as studies show that is the best approach to avoid unwanted pregnancies. After all, people will have sex.

If leaders of your specific sect of religion say (1) contraceptives & sex education violate laws of the god you worship and (2) our government must obey that god’s laws, then you must prove: (a) our government is a…

Titled “Stark Contrasts,” Indiana GOP chair Kyle Hupfer’s weekly email says President Biden’s speech was “another stark reminder of the differences between Indiana and Washington DC.” He did not mean that Hoosiers have full representation in Congress unlike citizens in D.C.

First absurdity: economics. Mr Hupfer is alarmed by “reckless spending” by President Biden and “his handlers.” A person who supported the immediate past administration and its absurd economic “policies” is not in a…

Roots of Economics and Political Science. Value is “stuff”: land, natural resources, knowledge, labor, buildings, and other things like services, manufactured products and information. Political power has a lot to do with how stuff is controlled, by whom and how they are selected.

Control exists on a continuum, neither end of which works. A “free market” does not work as the USA learned in the late 1800s: e.g., factories dump poison in water and air without controls. Total control…

Rick Santorum is ignorant about many things. We can include pre-Columbian history. His April 23 assertion to a right wing youth group that “We came here and created a blank slate, we birthed a nation from nothing” is not true. I doubt he has read “1491” by Charles C. Mann.

Mann describes the extent and history of civilization in “The New World.” By 1621 “Europeans had been visiting New England for at least a century.” (p. 35.) Indigenous peoples saw Europeans as “often unbearably…

The State is the State. Becker v State, 992 N.E.2d 697, 701-02 (Ind. 2013). Whether the police,

Department of Correction (DOC), a county prosecutor or Department of Child Services (DCS). If you have children, you should be scared for them.

There’s one letter difference between “DOC”, the arm of Indiana government in charge of prisons, and DCS, the arm that terminates parents’ rights to, and relations with, their children. Our State and Federal Constitutions protect us in criminal…

The “elephant in the room,” a major problem everyone chooses to ignore, is not the GOP. The far- far-right elements of the GOP have been raucous (and made the far-right elements of the party look sane). The military is the pachyderm in our parlor.

Members of Congress, “D” or “R,” lack the guts to question the “defense budget.” In years past, Congress has dumped more cash on the Pentagon than the bottom-line number on its wish list. A common line of “conservatives” is that money…

Jamil Abdullah al-Amin’s statement that “Violence is as American as cherry pie” is difficult to dispute. Since “the shot heard ‘round the World” at Lexington & Concord on 4/19/1775, our history has been one of warfare, battles and violence.

Some of the warfare (e.g., WWII) and battles (e.g., by Union forces in the Civil War) were for values, freedom and justice, for which our nation long has expressed pride. Other warfare and many battles were wrong. Violence undergirded it…

We need doses of truth, especially today. [A friend said, if we did not get the message after a bunch of 6-year-olds got murdered, we never will change laws about firearms.] A notion of “freedom” is hand-in-shoe with some people and the 2nd Amendment.

Each day I drive past a gun store/shooting range on the way to the post office. [It’s easier to buy a gun, in some places, than it is to register to vote so racists exercise their franchise via the 2nd Amendment. Huh.] On weekends the…

This past Tuesday, during my debate with Micah Beckwith, a minister of churches north of Indy, on the topic “separation of church and State, Mr Beckwith insisted the “founders” of this country were (1) Christian and (2) intended there be no “wall” between church and state.

Mr Beckwith was vehement that Washington was not “just,” but a devout Christian. That point is important because: (1) Washington chaired The Constitutional Convention and was first President and (2) It illustrates…

Last night a mass shooting occurred at Indy’s FedEx facility. This weekend is the Indy Gun & Knife Show “Show”). Hypocrisy: “act of pretending to have a character or beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not possess.” Exhibitors can’t “carry” & live rounds are banned at the Show.

A radio ad for the Show used to feature voice caricatures of Harvey (7-foot tall pookah rabbit) or Barney Fife. The ad for this Show had no such voices. Announcer simply stated dates, times and…

Tonight at 8 p.m. on “Mouthwash,” a FB podcast: “Separation of Church and state.” Micah Beckwith and I shall debate. There are reasons religion and government have been kept separate in this country. The Reformation was on the Framers’ minds in 1787. Let’s address today.

If religion is to be a part of our government, since a majority of adults (Pew Research, January, 2021) profess to be Christians, one may infer that god would be in charge. (Mr Beckwith, et al, would insist.) Problems…

Each of us should have a basic understanding of The Constitution. So should Micah Beckwith, who will debate me Tuesday, 8 p.m., on the Facebook podcast “Mouthwash.” Mr Beckwith is a minister north of Indianapolis and ran as a GOP candidate for INCD5 in 2020.

Mr Beckwith, on car-cam today, said the Constitution is a living document that changes with cultures. “We’ve seen amendments come and go. Like ah abolition. We got rid of alcohol then you see the 21st Amendment comes back and…

Each of us should have a basic understanding of The Constitution. So should Micah Beckwith, who will debate me Tuesday, 8 p.m., on the Facebook podcast “Mouthwash.” Mr Beckwith is a minister north of Indianapolis and ran as a GOP candidate for INCD5 in 2020.

Mr Beckwith, on car-cam today, said the Constitution is a living document that changes with cultures. “We’ve seen amendments come and go. Like ah abolition. We got rid of alcohol then you see the 21st Amendment comes back and…

Tuesday at 8 p.m. on “Mouthwash,” a FB podcast, minister Micah Beckwith and I shall debate separation of church and State. Mr Beckwith claims to be a “constitutionalist” and seems to believe the original intent of the founders of this country was this country be Christian.

1) If we discuss The Constitution, the people who wrote it are called The Framers. This is not mere word play. The National Archives calls the 55 delegates “Framers,” as delegates referred to themselves as building…

Short-term it is easier to ignore people who hold abhorrent views than to engage with them. We like to remain in “bubbles.” I ask that people please watch the FB podcast “Mouthwash,” hosted by John Schmitz, Tuesday at 8 p.m., for a debate about separation of church and State.

My opponent will be Hamilton County minister Micah Beckwith. When Mr Beckwith ran for the 2020 GOP nomination for INCD5, his website noted his (1) “deep understanding” of U.S. history” and (2) how he wanted to…

On Tuesday, at 8 p.m., on “Mouthwash,” a podcast produced and hosted by John Schmitz, I shall debate separation of church and State with Micah Beckwith, a pastor at several churches in counties north of Indy. This should be fun and informative.

Mr Beckwith was a candidate in the 2020 GOP primary for INCD5. His campaign website notes his “deep understanding of American history....” and he’s “answering the call to take the fight to Washington to defend true CONSTITUTIONAL conservative…

Few things are scarier than a self-righteous mob bent on saving lives and keeping people safe, facts be damned. In the middle of the night my cell phone went off. I looked at the screen. An AMBER alert had been issued. Another went off a few minutes later.

Little kids should not be in jeopardy. However, despite news items of individual successes or articles published by those who advocate for the system itself, a peer-review study suggests the alerts are not so…