Category Archives: Tulsa Speaks

Hanson: The Matter is Not Over, Not Now, Not Ever

Editorial: It is a delight on X to read @VDHanson today. The format urges brevity and Victor David Hanson is one of the most coherent historians active in current debates. On U.S. President Joe Biden’s train wreck of a press conference last Thursday, Hanson goes quickly to the point:

“President Biden Thursday night hit rock-bottom as he gave a mean-spirited distortion of the special counsel’s report. And in the process, Biden further embarrassed himself, his toady press, and the country at large. In sum, the press conference disintegrated into an embarrassing free for all.”

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American Ministry Shelters Israel

For most Americans, bomb shelters are a relic of the past, a call-out to the early 1960s when Cold War tensions ran high. But for citizens of Israel, bomb shelters are a very present and living reality. Even more so since October 7.

In an announcement today, the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry in the US and United Kingdom reported donations of 14 bomb shelters to Israel in 2023. Of those, 12 after the ghastly October 7 terror attacks by Hamas.

The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry was founded in 1938 to provide relief and assistance to Jewish refugees who were fleeing the Holocaust. “With theological conviction, we took a stand against antisemitism through humanitarian aid and blessed the Jewish people as instructed by God in Genesis 12:3,” said Dr. Jim Showers, president and executive director.

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Purity Spirals Incoming!

Yet another form of group think/counter mass formation.

Since the fall of 2022 I have been struggling to describe a behavioral group dynamic that I keep observing which is operating within the “medical freedom movement”, and have used the historic term “Jacobin” (referring to one particularly brutal phase of the French revolution) to define a process which commonly tears apart almost all resistance movements. This natural process is actively exploited by opponents using methods such as “Bad Jacketing”; accusations of controlled opposition and the like, to sow mistrust and accelerate fragmentation.

But recently I have discovered more modern terms for the process. Moral outbidding and its consequence – Purity spirals, and “Othering”. These terms and the social behaviors which they describe are related to group think as well as to counter mass formation, but carry their own nuances.

Last night I allowed myself to remain on a podcast with a defrocked UK surgeon for 2.5 hours of the most aggressive, accusatory interview I have ever had. Bad on me. It started off with the surgeon telling me that a lot of people hated me (I should have just left then), and then proceeded to a series of accusations and purity tests which I was told to answer with yes or no, and then berated if I gave an answer which failed the host’s purity standards.

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Thinking and Believing

Over the past year, I have had several family members and friends pass away. Loss is a powerful and transformational experience for all concerned. These challenging situations have put me in contact with several hospice workers. There may be no higher calling than caring for patients and loved ones at this difficult time. When a veteran hospice nurse was asked what she had learned from her numerous encounters with people facing the end of life, she replied, “Don’t believe everything you think.”

At first glance, this response may seem illogical because too often in our modern society we use the terms think and believe interchangeably. What we think is nothing more or less than our observations or the observations of others combined with our logic to produce what we think about something. Our beliefs are core-level fundamental values. What we think can be changed instantly by simply altering one fact or updating a piece of data. Our beliefs should be more enduring and should only be altered after transformational experiences or overwhelming wisdom.

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‘Tis the season to be jolly, not jerks’

Editor’s Note: Tulsa Today welcomes submissions and provides this perspective by Rev. Jim Harden, M.Div. a medical ethicist, author of the newly published Ethical Theory and Pertinent Standards in Women’s Reproductive Health, and CEO of CompassCare Pregnancy Services. He pioneered the first measurable and repeatable medical model in the pregnancy center movement and has written extensively on medical ethics, pro-life policy, and executive leadership. Rev. Harden has developed materials and strategies used by hundreds of pregnancy centers nationwide, helping them become more effective at serving women and saving babies from abortion.

Opinion: There is enmity between Muslims and Jews. That has been obvious for ages. Muslims also don’t have much love for Christians. That is becoming obvious this Christmas season.

As Americans gather to celebrate Christmas, both specularly and religiously, Muslims—in particular, those of a pro-Palestine disposition—are disrupting Christmas events across the nation.

In Ypsilanti, Michigan, a pro-Muslim mob disrupted a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The mob ruined the joyful spirit of the celebration and scared children.

“I think we made the point. We came here, we disrupted the event, we canceled Christmas, so give it up for yourselves,” a protester yelled to the mob.

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