Good morning,
We've been told "facts" and "faith" don't mix, yet Scripture makes claims demanding evidence in the real world. I end the week examining the false faith required to attack the facts of the Bible.
This is the Texas Minute for Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.
– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Abbott Orders State to Divest from China
- In a decisive move to protect Texas’ investments, Gov. Greg Abbott has directed state entities to halt new investments in China and divest from existing holdings linked to the Chinese Communist Party. Brandon Waltens has the story.
- One investment group specifically highlighted in Abbott’s letter is the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), which manages billions of dollars in assets for both university systems. UTIMCO has come under scrutiny after a Texas Scorecard investigation revealed its investments in more than 50 Chinese companies. This raised alarms about the potential risks associated with Texas' funds being entangled with entities tied to the CCP.
- "As Chinese aggression against the United States and its allies seems likely to continue, the financial risk associated with holding investments in China will also rise." – Greg Abbott
- Abbott's directive is the fourth this week concerning China and the security of Texans. The governor also issued executive orders to counter the CCP's harassment campaigns and to protect Texas infrastructure from Chinese interference and espionage.
UT Regents Approve Free Tuition for Families Making Under $100K
- Valerie Muñoz reports students with a family income of $100,000 or less will be eligible to receive free tuition at any of the University of Texas System’s nine academic institutions, the Board of Regents decided Thursday.
- The regents are expanding the Promise Plus program, which has provided financial aid since 2022 by assisting families at income thresholds of around $65,000. The expanded program will be funded through disbursements from various system endowment and investment funds.
- According to the U.S. Census, the median family income in Texas is about $76,000.
- The move received praise from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn but was panned by various others. State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) described it as "unelected executive branch bureaucrats" signaling they no longer need taxpayer funding. He and ten other lawmakers are demanding that UT explain how their plan passes constitutional muster.
- Others mocked the $100,000 threshold. "Free? Since when was it a $90,000 a year income considered poor," asked Tarrant County's Chandler Crouch.
Legislation Would Require Country-of-Origin Labeling on Beef
- Incoming Republican State Rep. Wes Virdell has filed legislation requiring all beef and beef products sold in Texas to carry a country-of-origin label. Addie Hovland has the details.
- Several other states—including Wyoming, Kansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota—have passed legislation similar to his proposal. Federal country-of-origin labeling was mandated in 2002 but not fully implemented until 2013. Just three years later, Congress repealed the law.
- “We deserve to know where our beef comes from!” – Wes Virdell
Paxton Sues Dallas Over Decriminalization of Marijuana
Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the City of Dallas and some of its local officials over the adoption of a city charter amendment decriminalizing marijuana possession.
Proposition R prohibits the Dallas Police Department from arresting individuals or issuing citations for marijuana possession. It also prohibits the consideration of the odor of marijuana as a cause for search and seizure. Nearly 67 percent of voters in this month's General Election approved the proposition.
Paxton’s court filing states that the charter amendment violates Texas laws, since recreational marijuana remains illegal. He is asking a district court to rule Prop R null and void and to halt city officials from implementing it.
“The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them. This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.” — Ken Paxton
Former School Police Chief Sues District
- The scandal-plagued Round Rock Independent School District in Central Texas has a new woe: the former police chief claims school officials violated the Texas Whistleblower Act when they declined to renew his contract. Adam Cahn reports on the story.
- In a new lawsuit, Dennis Weiner alleges he was removed from his position shortly after alleging that the district's leadership covered up a sexual assault of a five-year-old female student. He has claimed that the elementary school principal, area superintendent, senior chief of schools, general counsel, Title IX investigator, and the district's superintendent all knew of the criminal activity but failed to report it to the district police.
- Weiner also alleged that since he joined the district police, he “experienced numerous practices of non-reporting and delayed reporting of crimes and interference with police operations and investigations by district staff.”
- Round Rock ISD officials have not commented on the lawsuit.
Friday Reflection
Putting Faith in Facts
by Michael Quinn Sullivan
For far too long, we have allowed the foundation of faith to be relegated only to metaphysical "truth" rather than actual "facts." Indeed, many shy away from talking about the facts of their faith, preferring instead the personally emotive, distinctly modern, and substance-free "personal truth" as a guide for conversations.
I’ve grown weary of people talking about their "truth," when what they mean is their disjointed and often irrational opinion.
For generations, we have been told to think of faith in much the same way. It is a purely metaphysical experience, something in which we can "believe" without the burden—or support—of facts. This is emotional hogwash, driven by an intellectual inferiority complex that is foreign to the pages of Holy Scripture.
In 1 Peter 3:15, for example, the faithful are told "in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."
There is very little in the Old and New Testaments that we are asked to accept on "faith" without extensive evidence. Time and again, Scripture makes bold claims about things that happened in reality. Thanks to advances in the science of archeology, we have greater evidence than ever for the factual reliability of those biblically recorded events.
Pharaoh wasn’t asked to explore his emotions to determine the "truth" of Moses’ words but instead was given very public evidence of God’s demands. Jesus didn’t lounge around saying, "Trust me, I’m the promised Messiah.” He offered signs and performed miracles as proof.
Over the years, the intellectual elites mocked Scripture as fairy tales, claiming there was no proof for any of it. And so, the various schools of divinity and theology retreated. They sinfully treat the stories of Scripture as allegorical rather than literal.
Unfortunately, facts keep intruding on the carefully constructed disbelief of the fallen world. Here are just a couple of examples.
It was fashionable, up until a few years ago, for the anti-religion crowd to claim there was no evidence, apart from the Bible, for the existence of King David. Pretty basic, right? If King David was a mythical figure, then most of Scripture—Old Testament and New—is little more than fan fiction for a non-existent God.
Except… an ancient tablet was uncovered in the city of Dan referring specifically and unambiguously to the Davidic line of kings. One cannot have a Davidic line without a David.
Now, archeological digs taking place under modern Jerusalem are almost daily finding more evidence of life in the court of King David and his immediate successors.
Among my favorite recent discoveries are those of seals for two royal administrators from Israel 3,000 years ago. Ordinarily, such finds would have been little more than a curiosity attesting to an ancient royal court. Yet these two names appear next to each other in Jeremiah 38:1, and both are mentioned just that one time. In context, the discoveries powerfully attest to the overall reliability of Scripture in delivering verifiable facts.
It is almost as if God ordained their names to be placed in the Bible so that the discovery of their seals would serve as signposts to the skeptics three millennia later.
The examples go on and on and on.
Every time the intellectual elite claims the Bible cannot be true because there is no physical evidence of such and such, it seems another discovery is made, dashing those faithless claims. God makes evidence available for all who sincerely seek it so that their faith can be anchored to facts.
As evidence mounts for the factual reliability of Scripture, those who deny its basic truths are the ones clinging blindly to a false faith.
Yes, Scripture makes extraordinary claims – but backs them up with details that can be tested in the real world for those with the patience to do so. Facts are the foundation of Holy Scripture, which we disregard at our peril. An honest faith is found in how one chooses to apply those facts.
Quote-Unquote
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
– John Adams
