Semi-Retired Professor Steve Cox

How Christianity ended slavery: "Many people fail to realize that virtually every society has had slaves — from the Chinese to the Arabs to the Native Americans. In fact, there is only one worldview that gave rise to moral opposition to slavery — namely, Christianity. The first person to offer a moral and logical argument against slavery as an institution was a church father writing in the 4th century: Gregory of Nyssa argued explicitly on the ground that all persons are in the likeness of God — and therefore, he said, no one has a right to buy or sell another person. In the Middle Ages, Christians made various efforts to limit or outlaw slavery. As early as the 7th century, Saint Bathilde (wife of King Clovis II) became famous for her campaign to stop the slave trade.  St. Anskar tried to halt the Viking slave trade. Finally, in the 13th century, the great theologian Thomas Aquinas pronounced that slavery is a sin. But by then, it was not even a matter of controversy. It was the settled consensus among Christians that human bondage was wrong. This history makes it even more surprising that slavery later made a comeback in the United States. American slaveholders were going against centuries of settled conviction that slavery was wrong. And even then, who rose up to oppose the slaveholders? Who led the movement to abolish slavery? Mostly Christians.  Many abolitionists were inspired by the Second Great Awakening, a series of religious revivals in the 19th century, which emphasized that all humans are created equal in the eyes of God. For example, the famous revivalist Charles Finney, a Presbyterian minister, condemned slavery from the pulpit, calling it a “great national sin.” He refused to give communion to slaveholders. Finney was the president of Oberlin College, an important stop on the Underground Railroad, a network of secret safe houses for escaped slaves who were fleeing north. Finally, there was the Civil War. America is the only country on Earth to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of its own citizens in a war to end slavery. Sociologist Rodney Stark, in For the Glory of God, points out that it was not Enlightenment philosophers who crafted a moral indictment of slavery. It was mostly evangelical Christians, and they were motivated by their firm conviction that all people are made in the image of God." --"Slavery and the Image of God," Science & Culture Today. Link below

A bunch of people are arguing over who killed Jesus. Some say Jews did it. Others say the Romans did it. Some blame Judas. But I know the truth. I killed Jesus. You killed Jesus. We killed Jesus. And for that reason, we exalt His name in return for a gift we do not deserve.

You would legitimately be stunned to find what the American government and politicians did that was overtly and explicitly Christian when our nation was founded. - The first English Bible ever printed in America was funded and commissioned by Congress. - One of Congress' first acts was to select and pay Christian ministers as chaplains - Congress designated the House chamber for weekly Christian worship services in the capital building - This was the prayer at the first Continent Congress: "The prayer at the first Continental Congress on September 7th 1774: O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give. Take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; Defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; Convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause & if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, O! let the voice of Thine own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle! Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable Assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior. Amen." - Etc. It's not a departure from the original norm for the US government to openly treat Christianity as true; it has been a departure from the norm for the US government *not to* for the last ~80 years

@IAWoodShop Also, regarding the drawers in your sketch - I saw a workbench where the drawers like yours were made to slide out from both sides, so you could access the contents regardless of the side you were on. I thought it was an interesting idea.

2-I am in the process of designing the “guts” of the table. The design will consist of wood inserts. My question is drawers, doors or shelves. I currently have tools, hardware and materials scattered about my property. This table provides a lot of room for storage. Do I remove the toolbox? I have analysis paralysis on the design at this time. It will come to me eventually. Thoughts?

🧵1-Shelves, drawers or doors? I won this tall work table at an auction last year. I got it for under $100. I lost the bid for the tool chest, only to have to pay $50 when they discovered it was crammed into the blue frame. I met the kid who made the table for holding large grinding wheels, along with supporting a granite surface block on half of it. It is a beast of a table made of 2” x 2”-⅛” tubular steel.

@IAWoodShop I would say it you can remove the toolbox without damaging it or the table, that would allow you to design the entire storage area. I'm a big fan of design consistency, so having the whole space designed by you would be a plus.

@IAWoodShop @SinklarD Dang! That's a great price for the Bandsaw! I just purchased one for $900 and felt like I was getting a deal...

@SinklarD Nice score! Auction? Got these this summer-online auction. $500 Bandsaw $600 24" Bed Sander Saw two SawStops go for $500!

Loaded up and headed home. With more than I expected. Couldn’t leave the pin router there for the price he let it go and he just gave me the compressor for buying it.

Someone asked me how I can be a Christian and support Trump. Well first of all, I DON’T support everything Trump does, or has done. I don’t know anyone that does. But that’s beside the point. Trump is a counterweight and not a savior. As a Christian I’m constrained to ask “which outcome restrains what I believe is more harmful?” So, the real question is NOT “Can a Christian support Trump?” The real question is: What is the Christian ultimately placing their hope in? My faith doesn’t find a determining factor based on who’s in the Oval Office, but rather Who is on the throne of Heaven. Contrary to today’s postmodern thought I can support certain things, dislike others, and find my identity in none of it. The moment you start acting like your political position is the litmus test for Christianity, you have already stepped outside the heart of the Gospel. Arrogant pseudo-spirituality that judges and criticizes based on political decisions in 21st century America is lazy at best. You can support Trump. You can oppose Trump. But if you can’t love your brother while doing it, then don’t pretend this is about Jesus.

No Kings explained for people who think they're fighting fascism. You're standing in a crowd on Saturday. You look around and think yeah. No Kings. This is what democracy looks like. Bro. You're holding a sign made by a communist billionaire who lives in Shanghai. You live in a constitutional republic. Elections. Term limits. A free press that spent four years calling the president a fascist without one journalist being arrested. The modern left's definition of fascism: You love your country? Fascist. You want to enforce the border? Racist. You think parents should raise their kids? Bigot. You want to know who's voting in your elections? Jim Crow. Being patriotic is fascism to the modern left. But every country has borders and enforces them. 176 countries require ID to vote. That's the definition of a country. But the Democratic establishment told you otherwise. And you believed them. Congress has a 15% approval rating. 80% of Americans disapprove. 97% of incumbents got re-elected. Chuck Schumer. 46 years. Longer than Stalin. Steny Hoyer. 45 years. Longer than Mao. Mitch McConnell. 42 years. 5x more than Napoleon. Nancy Pelosi. 39 years. Longer than Henry VIII. Maxine Waters. 35 years. Longer than Mussolini. Bernie Sanders. 35 years. Triple Hitler's entire reign. Trump. 5 years and 3 months. Won the popular vote and the electoral vote. But Trump is the king. Okay buddy. You don't hate kings. You hate kings that aren't yours. And Saturday they had you in the streets carrying their water. The Democratic Party installed a president without letting you vote. Biden quit on a Sunday. By Tuesday your queen was crowned. No primary. No debate. No ballot. First time since 1968. Three days before your march every Senate Democrat voted against photo ID to vote. During COVID you carried a vaccine card everywhere like a hall pass from the government just to eat at a restaurant. But getting a birth certificate or waiting two hours at the DMV to prove you're a citizen before you vote? That's oppression. The Democratic Party is pro illegal immigration. Counts non-citizens in the Census. Census determines congressional seats. More non-citizens means more seats means more power. No voter ID means no way to check. That's how you keep power without wearing a crown. Biden built a censorship machine. Pressured Facebook to suppress true information and admitted it in writing. Censored scientists. Censored doctors. Censored JOKES. The Biden White House told Facebook to remove "humor and satire." They literally went after people for making fun of them. UK does it better tho... Everything they censored turned out to be right. They just outsourced the silencing to Silicon Valley. And it doesn't stop at speech. The extreme left justifies taking children from families. Six thousand schools rewrite children's identities without telling parents. And the State has the right to intervene. The Hitler Youth did this. Mao's Red Guards did this. The Soviets built statues of a child who reported his own father. Same playbook. During Covid, your bakery got shut down. Church closed. You couldn't hold your dying mother's hand at the hospital. But thousands packed together during BLM to burn Minneapolis and THAT was essential civic engagement. Obviously. $2 billion in damage. 25 dead. 2,000 cops injured. 20 states burning. VP Kamala promoted a bail fund for the rioters. No investigation. No hearings. January 6. One building. Few hours. 1,000 prosecuted. Two years of televised hearings. Kings decide which violence counts. The left decided. Charlie Kirk spent his life walking onto campuses asking for honest debate. He was assassinated. CSIS terrorism database. 2025 is the first year in 30 years that left-wing attacks outnumber right-wing. Yet no one brings this up. 75% of liberal students say preventing a speaker from talking is justified. 27% say violence is acceptable. Liberals who went to Trump rallies: "I never felt unsafe." "The experience changed me." Conservatives who show up on liberal campuses get screamed at, blocked, and assassinated. One side talks. The other side screams. The Party for Socialism and Liberation marched with you Saturday. Their stated purpose in their own words: "Revolution." Not reform. Marxism. The system that killed a hundred million people last century. They had you holding their signs while they said it out loud. 500 groups. $3 billion in revenue. Pre-printed signs. The signs were ready before you were angry. The money leads to Neville Roy Singham. Billionaire in Shanghai. Attends CCP workshops. Funnels millions through shell companies at UPS mailboxes. Three Congressional committees have subpoenaed him as a suspected CCP foreign agent. You thought you were fighting for democracy. You were carrying water for Beijing. "Liberals are leaving the First Amendment behind." Spoken by the ACLU lawyer who defended Nazis in court because it was their constitutional right. Bill Clinton put 100,000 cops on the street. Reformed welfare. Said illegal immigration is wrong to a standing ovation. Told America the era of big government is over. Today his own party would call him a fascist. The 1990s Democrat defended free speech for Nazis. Yours censors doctors for telling the truth. The 1990s Democrat held open primaries. Yours installed a nominee without a vote. The 1990s Democrat trusted parents. Yours takes their children. Historians measure fascism across eight traits. Here's who checks the boxes in 2026: Censorship of political opposition. Democrats. Contempt for democratic process. Democrats. Tolerance of political violence. Democrats. State ideology forced on families. Democrats. Corporate-state fusion. Democrats. Scapegoating and manufactured enemies. Both sides. Cult of personality. Both sides. Ultranationalism. Republicans. Five for the left. One for the right. Two shared. You marched against kings on Saturday. You marched FOR kings. You just didn't know which was which. Stop being gaslit. I hope you understand what's at stake.

@lambeth981 It seems to me that Jack likes to make inflammatory statements - probably for engagement. A few years back he railed against The Chosen (but The Passion of Christ by Mel Gibson was totally fine).

One key literary difference between Narnia and LOTR is that Lewis dealt in allegory and Tolkien dealt in typology. But both are deeply Christian works of literature

Rep. Roy: "It is absolutely offensive to the people that we represent that the Senate would send over a bill that doesn't fund Border Patrol and the core components of ICE. Could the Senate be any more lazy than to send to us a bill that doesn't do the job and then leave town? So we're going to stand up and say NO to that. We're going to send back a bill that's responsible to the American people."

Hello Senator Thune, At 3 AM on Friday, March 27th, in a near-empty chamber, you passed a bill by voice vote that excludes all funding for ICE and CBP. Let me repeat that: voice vote. No roll call. No record of who was there. No accountability. Just you, Barrasso, and a handful of senators shuffling paper in the dead of night while America slept. You could have demanded a recorded vote. You chose not to. You could have held the line for five more days until the House returned. You chose not to. You could have used the same procedural tools Democrats have used against you for 40 days. You chose not to. Instead, you gave Chuck Schumer exactly what he asked for, DHS funding minus immigration enforcement, and called it a win. Then you walked to the cameras and blamed the Democrats. Let's be precise about what you did: 1. You caved to a demand Democrats made on Day 1 of this shutdown. Forty-one days of supposed hardball negotiation, and you settled for their opening offer. 2. You handed them a template. The next time Democrats want to defund any agency — ICE, CBP, or anything else — they now know: just shut down DHS and wait. John Thune will fold at 3 AM. 3. You punted to reconciliation. "Good possibility," you said. Not "we will." Not "guaranteed." Just maybe. Meanwhile, ICE operates on fumes from last year's bill with no certainty of future funding. The precedent you set: You have argued for months that the filibuster is sacrosanct. That the 60-vote threshold protects minority rights. That we cannot bend Senate rules for policy wins. But at 3 AM on Friday, you bent every norm that actually mattered: • Voice vote to avoid accountability • Empty chamber to avoid debate • Midnight deal to avoid scrutiny • Immediate recess to avoid questions You'll bend the rules to avoid a fight. You just won't bend them to win one. What you've actually accomplished: Democrats demanded ICE restrictions. They got ICE defunded. Not reformed. Not restrained. Defunded. And you're out here tweeting about how Democrats are the "Defund the Police" party while you just voted to defund border enforcement at 3 in the morning. The question you should answer: Why did this deal have to happen at 3 AM? Why couldn't it happen at 3 PM, with cameras rolling and every senator on record? You know why. Because you didn't want your voters to see what surrender looks like. Here's my message: We saw it anyway. Stop hiding behind "Democrat obstruction." You're the Majority Leader. You set the schedule. You control the floor. You chose this outcome. Own it.

Yes, Senator Thune, it's obvious Democrats see your weakness and will keep applying pressure until you're the one left clearing the path to dismantle ICE. It's time to stop coasting on easy interviews and industry accolades and start making difficult, consequential decisions. Senator Thune, if you don't find a way to overcome this and finance DHS while passing the SAVE America Act, you will go down as the one who single-handedly destroyed the Republican party in 2026. Not Candace Owens. Not President Trump. Not anyone else. YOU.

Please share if you agree that the Senate should not recess until it has (1) fully funded DHS, and (2) passed the SAVE America Act

Hello Senator Thune, Let's expose what you're really doing with "reconciliation." You announced it yesterday, eleven months after the House passed the SAVE America Act. You're not trying to pass this bill. You're trying to kill it in a way you can blame on process. Here's how we know: Reconciliation requires the Senate parliamentarian to rule that provisions are "budgetary." Citizenship verification is not budgetary. Photo ID mandates are not budgetary. The parliamentarian will gut the bill. Then you'll shrug and say "we tried." We see through you. Meanwhile, you WON'T use the tools that actually work: Rule XIX limits each senator to two speeches per legislative day. Keep the Senate in continuous session, file cloture daily, and the filibuster exhausts in ~12-20 days. You dismissed it as "complicated." Because if you tried and succeeded, you'd have to actually pass the bill. Harry Reid nuked the filibuster in 2013 when he wanted results. Mitch McConnell changed Senate rules THREE times and canceled the August recess. Chuck Schumer used reconciliation within months on a 50-50 Senate. You have 53 seats. You've changed nothing, canceled nothing, and waited eleven months. Now let's talk donors: • Goldman Sachs: $150K to you - top H-1B user • Google: $75K - lobbies against E-Verify • Meta: $72.5K - Zuckerberg's FWD[.]us pushes mass immigration • Wells Fargo: $90K - banks undocumented immigrants Same corporations sponsor Punchbowl News, where you sit for "Fly Out Days" which nobody watches except Congress staffers and K Street lobbyists who pays premium bucks for legislative intelligence. Their reporter then telegraphs to the audience the SAVE Act "will ultimately fail." Corporate money flows to you AND to the outlet that frames your inaction as inevitable. We see the loop. You called grassroots anger a "paid influencer ecosystem." YOU are the paid influencer. You take the wrong side of a 80% issue because you are indistinguishable from a K Street mouthpiece, and an ineffective one to boot who won't bend the rules to get anything passed. What we want: 1. Force a real talking filibuster. 2. Stop hiding behind process. 3. Pass the SAVE America Act. YOU will become the reason that we will have our butts kicked in midterms. Not Candace Owens, not Nick Fuentes, not anyone else. You and you alone, and all because you want to make the 200 or so viewers of Punchbowl Fly Out Days happy. You're living in a K Street information bubble, addicted to the comforts and praises of lobbyists masquerading as journalists. You mistake the steak and martini dinners you get invited to as your own constituents. You are not "moderate." The SAVE America Act has 98% support among Republicans. Name one other thing that has 98% support. You are an extreme minority who prides himself on being a calm leader, when in reality you are well in the running for the most ineffective Majority leader of all time. Prove me wrong. Do the bare modicum of effort. Not symbolic. Actual effort. Cancel the recess. Get SAVE America Act passed.

@ChrisCPandolfo It's worse: Lucas = Luke S.

How did it take me 30 years to connect George Lucas and “Luke” Skywalker?

For shits and giggles, I decided to see just how hard it would be to replace my birth certificate, Social Security card, AND my marriage license, since Democrats think women are too stupid to figure it out. Here's how it went: 1. Birth certificate: Contacted the health department of the county where I was born. They OVERNIGHTED a certified copy to me the next day - total cost, $14. 2. SS Card: Contacted Social Security on their site. They asked if I was sure I needed the card, since I 'won't likely be asked for it.' I went ahead and got it - took five business days to arrive - total cost, $0. 3. Marriage License: Went to the 'vital docs' site of the county where we were hitched. Filled everything out online, arrived in three days - total cost, $5. It cost less than $20 to obtain all three certified/legal documents, and it took less than five business days to receive them. Note: if I had lived where I was born or married, it would have been a day. Tops. Anyone telling you this is too hard or unfair is lying and hiding the real reason they want to stop Voter ID. I know you guys knew that already... lol

RE: The Way of War of Our Enemies In every hot war the United States has become involved in since the Korean War, we have enjoyed absolute tactical and operational dominance over our enemies. We win every tactical engagement, overwhelmingly. Operationally we can and do dominate any theater of our choosing. No one—and I mean NO ONE—can stand toe to toe with the US military. This has been true for decades. We’ve talked before about the elements of national power—the “DIME” (Diplomacy, Informational, Military, Economic). Our military power is unsurpassed. We are masters of diplomacy. We have the world’s strongest economy. So how do we lose? The INFORMATIONAL component. Our military opponents, from Ho Chi Minh to Osama bin Ladin, knew that the only way to defeat the USA is to demoralize the American populace such that it demands withdrawal and throws the then current Commander-in-Chief out of office. The ONLY way to defeat America militarily is to convince the American people that a war is unwinnable. The slow dribble of IED deaths in OIF was not actually targeting soldiers and Marines—it was targeting YOU, the American people. And CNN eagerly complied with death counts running across the bottom of the screen. The Tet Offensive? It was a decisive US victory that could have ended the Vietnam War in our favor. But Walter Cronkite instead declared the war lost, protests erupted nationwide, and the war was lost. The Highway of Death in Kuwait? We could have taken out Saddam Hussein in 1991 and never needed to go back in 2003, but international media made the attack on retreating Iraqis look “too cruel,” so we halted just short of the finish line. The strategic imperative of every one of America’s military enemies is to break the will of the American people with skewed information, propaganda, and extreme emphasis on America’s minor losses amidst overwhelming military victory. But the Ho Chi Minhs and Osama bin Ladins can’t do that by themselves. They need willing partners in the American media and government. And for Operation Epic Fury, boy oh boy do the Iranian mullahs have an over abundance of American morale killers to draw from in order to defeat America through the informational instrument of national power. Tucker Carlson. Senator Mark Kelly and the rest of the Seditious Six. CNN. ABC. NBC. CBS. NYT, WaPo. Pakistani bot armies on social media. X “influencers” like Cerno, Candace, MartyrMade and Ian Carroll. Every idiot claiming we are fighting “Israel’s war." There is an entire Army of American politicians and media figures who are willingly fighting Iran’s informational war on its behalf (and in some cases, at its behest). America is DECISIVELY WINNING the war on Iran in every measurable respect. Yet there are so many influential Americans who are desperately determined to make you believe otherwise. In days of old in non-US countries, such people would have been strung up for treason. Thankfully it’s 2026 and we have a First Amendment, so no one fear being treated in such a medieval manner. But we can still ostracize and ridicule such people and sources for the irreparable harm they are wreaking upon the USA as they do the bidding (intentionally or unintentionally) of Theo-fascist mullahs who are determined to set off a nuclear bomb so that the Twelfth Imam will arise from a well in Qom and precipitate the global apocalypse. We all need to choose sides. Are you with America, or are you with theologic-inspired, deliberate Armageddon? And anyone who chooses the latter needs to be the target of mockery, derision and clearly-stated facts disproving their lies. And if YOU are an American Patriot, you can fight that informational war on America’s behalf, right now, right here on social media, right there in your own living room. Your voice matters, and your voice is actually a part of the war. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.

@howertonjosh @EWErickson Don’t let up! Keep fighting this good fight!!

@EWErickson I doubted you, but beginning to think you were right. Have not seen Christians / pastors so ready to lead their people to keep him from happening, maybe ever.

I wasn't lying when I said Jasmine Crockett would be a stronger general election candidate.

Just so we are all on the same page... There was never a housing problem. There was an illegal immigration problem. There was never a debt problem. There was a fraud problem. There was never a border problem. There was an enforcement problem. There was never a crime problem. There was a prosecution problem. There was never a homelessness problem. There was a fraudulent NGO problem. There was never a failing school system problem. There was an indoctrination problem. There was never a funding problem. There was a theft problem. There was never a healthcare affordability problem. There was an illegal alien free-load problem. There was never an American dream problem. There was a Democrat problem.

@ChristinaPushaw @RichOToole One time - in the early-ish 80's - I had sushi at Anaheim Stadium while watching an Angels game. Bought it at the concession stand!

I am guessing you did not grow up in a city? California, at least L.A., had sushi restaurants way before the 90s. It was popular enough that normal grocery stores were selling it when I was a kid. 90s-2000s. Maybe that is because CA had a lot of Japanese immigration compared to other states.

I don’t think the younger generation understands that Sushi wasn’t really a thing in America in the early 90’s. I don’t remember even seeing a sushi restaurant till I was like 12 or 13.