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Darkness to Light - Vol. XVIII, No. 4
Darkness to Light
Volume XVIII, Number 4
2020
Presented by
Darkness to
Light Website
Director: Gary F. Zeolla
In This Issue
Newsletter Notes
Don’t Blame God for the Coronavirus Outbreak
Don’t Apologize for Me to Blacks
New on my Christian, Fitness, and Politics Websites
You are currently registered to receive the Darkness to Light newsletter. This newsletter is published every other month, usually during the first week of odd-numbered months. To unsubscribe, use the link at the bottom of this newsletter. To subscribe to my FitTips for One and All newsletter, click here. It is published every other month, usually during the first week of even-numbered months. Comments on these newsletters are welcome. Just respond to this email. See the posted Privacy Policy for details on the handling of emails and related details.
God’s Sex Plan: Volume Two: What the New Testament Teaches About Human Sexuality - Many issues are discussed in this book that are related to sex, including but not limited to: monogamy, marital sex, polygamy, incest, homo-sexuality, premarital sex (fornication), extramarital sex (adultery), celibacy, transsexualism, reproduction, infertility, contraception, abortion, sexual harassment and assault, masturbation, pornography, gender roles, and school and other mass shootings (yes, those are related to this topic).
Newsletter Notes
Once again, I am sending out this issue of Darkness to Light Newsletter a couple of weeks early due to the timely nature of the two short articles in it. I will get back to my regular schedule with the next issue, which will be sent out the first week of September 2020.
Don’t Blame God for the Coronavirus Outbreak
Blame the Chinese Communist Party for Disobeying God
Trib Live is the website for my local newspaper. On April 17, 2020 was an article about churches reopening in “phase one” of the Coronavirus task force’s three phase reopening plan. I commented, “This is so good to hear.” Someone responded to my comment by saying “Tell your god to come down here and stop this virus.” My response to that comment would be too long to post there, so let me do so here.
Wet Markets
There are two theories as to how this Coronavirus (CV) pandemic began. The first is that it came from “wet markets” in Wuhan province in China via people eating bats. Biblically, bats are an unclean animal that should not be eaten (Leviticus 11:19).
At these wet markets, animal carcasses are piled up to be sold, and they are handled like any other kind of merchandise, with no regard for sanitary practices. The Bible teaches that extreme care must be taken when handling animal carcasses (and human bodies) and that a person is “unclean” after touching just one such carcass or body. The person is then unclean until he or she is purified (Leviticus 11:24-28. Numbers 19:11f).
As a result of these unsanitary conditions, these wet markets have been the source for contagions previously. The Chinese Communist Party (CPP) promised to shut them down, but it never did.
Viral Lab
The other theory is the CV came from a viral research lab in Wuhan. A worker was infected, left the lab and infected people in those wet markets. Then when the disease spread in that province, the CPP did not lock it down. But instead, those infected people were allowed to travel outside of that province into the rest of China and ultimately into the rest of the world.
The Bible teaches that if there is a possible contagion, it needs to be carefully investigated. If people are found who are infected with an infectious disease, they should be quarantined (Leviticus 13-14).
Watchmen and Lies
When the CCP realized they had a problem on their hands that could potentially affect millions, they did not warn anyone about it. They instead tried to hide it as long as possible. They even told lies about it, saying there was no human to human transmission long after they knew there was such transmission. And the CCP is continuing to lie to this day. The numbers coming out of China as to the number of CV cases and deaths are very obviously way off by orders of magnitude.
The Bible teaches that a nation should have a “watchman” who warms the people about impending dangers. But if that watchman does not do so, the blood of those who die will be on his hands (Ezekiel 33:1-6). But the CCP shut up its watchmen, imprisoned them, and ultimately killed them, keeping them from doing their Biblical job of warning the rest of us about the impending danger. The Bible also teaches that lying is a sin (1Timothy 1:10-12; Revelation 21:8,27, 22:15), but the CCP has been doing that in droves.
Counselors
The United States offered to send our health experts to China to help them investigate and control the virus. But the CCP refused, saying they could figure it out on their own. They couldn’t, and much harm resulted. The Bible teaches, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14 NKJV; also Proverbs 15:22; 24:6).
Learning from This Pandemic
Putting this all together, the reason we are dealing with this pandemic is due to us the CCP disobeying God’s explicit commands in multiple ways. As such, if God come down here and miraculously delivered us from the results of such disobedience, we would never learn from it. The CCP would be left to continue with its dangerous ways. But now, there will be (or at least there better be) repercussions for the CCP, so that future such dangers from their disobedience can be avoided.
Moreover, maybe now people will think twice about eating Biblically unclean foods, and maybe they will realize the need for sanitary conditions when handling animal carcasses. In addition, hopefully researchers will take better precautions to keep dangerous viruses from leaking from their labs and will quarantine anyone who is infected by them.
In addition, the Bible teaches God blesses nations that obey His commands, while those that disobey Him are under a curse (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28). Among those curses are plagues, just like the one we are experiencing. Again, it came upon us due to the CCP not obeying God’s commands.
The point is, we will grow and learn from this experience. The biggest thing we will learn is that God knows what He is talking about, so we should take the Bible and its commands seriously.
Mad Cow Disease
An objection has been raised to the reasoning in the first part of this article, that being my insinuation that eating Biblically unclean animals can lead to disease. The corollary to this is that eating clean animals do not cause disease. But what about mad cow disease? It is caused by eating cows, which are a clean animal. For that matter, heart disease and cancer can be caused by eating red meat.
To respond, yes cows are clean animals (Lev 11:3). But God created cows to live in a pasture feeding on grasses. This is seen in that the Bible always associates cattle and sheep with pastures and hills (Gen 47:4; 1Chr 4:39-41; Psalm 50:10; Isaiah 5:17; Jeremiah 6:3; Ezekiel 34:12-18; Joel 1:18).
However, in factory farms today, cows are kept inside in pens and are fed grains and other foodstuff, an unnatural diet for them. That is why their meat is unhealthy to eat, as the cows are not being raised in God’s prescribed manner. But if they are raised in the Biblical manner, their meat is perfectly healthy to eat.
As for mad cow disease, it is caused by feeding cow parts, especially cow brains, to other cows. That is about as unnatural of a diet as you can get, as God did not create cows as carnivores, let alone as cannibals.
For much more in this regard, see my book Creationist Diet: Second Edition. It discusses the incredible difference between factory farm animal foods and what I call “old-fashioned animal foods.” By the latter I mean animal foods derived from animals raised in the old-fashioned and God-prescribed manner. It also addresses in detail the issue of clean versus unclean animals and the Biblical data thereabout.
Sin Always Affects Others
Another possible objection to this article is that since it was the CCP that sinned, God should only punish them with this plague, not the rest of us. The answer to that is sin always affects far more people than just the person who sinned.
Take adultery, for instance. The Bible clearly teaches it is a sin (Exodus 20:14). But when someone disobeys that clear command, it hurts not just that person but many others. If a man cheats on his wife with another woman, he hurts not just himself, but his wife, his children, and very possibly his relationship with his own parents, his wife’s parents, and others in the extended family. If the woman he sinned with was married, then the same would apply with her family, starting with her husband.
The point is; sin always reverberates far beyond just the person or in this case group of people that sins. This is not to say God “punishes” those other people. It is just that certain behaviors are detrimental by their very nature to not just the person who engages in them but also to others. God warns us what those behaviors are and calls them sin. That is why the Bible speaks so strongly against such behaviors and warns us that much harm will come if we do sin. Again, see Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
Caveats
In this short article, I have been careful to single out the CCP as opposed the Chinese people at large. The latter are just as much victims as the rest of us are due to the disobedience of the CCP, even more so, as they still have to live under that totalitarian regime.
Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) helped to promulgate the lies of the CCP. As such, they are just as culpable as the CCP for this pandemic. As such, there should also be repercussions for them. Spreading a lie is also forbidden in the Bible (Col 3:9).
Conclusion
Bottom line is, don’t blame God for the CV pandemic. Blame the CCP for disobeying God. And if God were to miraculously deliver us, we would learn nothing from this experience, except to expect Him to do so again. And we would all continue in our sinful ways.
But as it is, many will turn to the LORD and learn to trust Him and his Word for direction in life. And those of us who already have such trust can go through not just this but all tragedies in life with the knowledge that The LORD Has It Under Control, as the title of one of my books puts it.
Reference:
Trib Live. Trump consults faith leaders on phased-in reopening.
God’s
Sex Plan
Volume One
What the Old Testament Teaches About Human Sexuality
Don’t Apologize for Me to Blacks
I have seen several Facebook posts with a similar message about the George Floyd tragedy that occurred on May 25, 2020. They start out decrying his death, saying it was wrong. On that point I agree. The videos are horrendous. I discuss them in depth at the beginning of my two-part article Protests Turned Riots, posted on my politics website. However, I will wait for all the evidence to come forth in the criminal trial to make a final judgment, as is proper in the American court system and as the Bible requires (Proverbs 18:17).
But then the Facebook posters go on to acknowledge the “hurt and wrongdoing” whites have committed against blacks. Then they apologize on behalf of all whites to blacks for the wrongdoings done to blacks at the hand of the white race.
I’ve been wanting to post a response to these messages, but I knew if I just posted a short response, it would be taken wrongly, and a longer response would not fit too well nor be very readable in the format of Facebook comments.
As such, I took the time to write out a general response to publish in this newsletter and to post on my Christian and my politics website. It is located below. Since these Facebook posters generally claim to be Christians, I have included many Bible references in my response. I'm writing this as if I am responding to one person, but it is really a response to an aggregation of comments on social media I have seen.
Personal Responsibility
I was very dismayed by your “apology” post on Facebook. My first thought was “Why are you apologizing for something you did not do?” I almost posted that in response, but I didn’t have the time to respond to the flood of hate-filled responses I am sure I would have gotten. But I do want to respond to what you said.
You are not responsible for the actions of anyone else, let alone all of the other members of your race. And you cannot apologize for anyone else besides yourself. The Bible is clear on that fact. Each person is only responsible for his or her own sins (Deut 24:16; Ezek 18).
If a white person has committed racist acts against blacks, then yes, he or she needs to repent. And if you have engaged in racist acts yourself, then yes, you need to apologize for those acts, as the Bible is clear that racism is a sin, since we are all created by one God and are all one in Christ (Acts 17:26; Eph 4:28; Col 3:11; Rev 5:9f).
However, I have not engaged in such acts. In fact, I find your implication that I am a racist simply because I am white very offensive. And even if I were, I would not need you to apologize for me. In fact, you could not. I would need to do so myself.
Racism in America
More fundamentally, there is not “widespread racism” in our country as you claim. That is a leftist lie that that you have fallen for, probably because of your public schooling. There most definitely was racism in our country’s past; but today, such widespread racism simply does not exist, except in the minds of race-baiters that turn every situation into a race issue.
Yes, there are isolated racists, but they are a very tiny minority. There is not even yet evidence that this particular incident was race-related, no matter how many times the media might make that connection.
Moreover, do you personally know anyone in real life that you could point to and say without hesitation, “That person is a racist?” I know I cannot. In fact, few people could, further proving racism is not widespread in our society today. Unless, of course, you say every white person is a racist simply because he or she is white. But that again defies the personal responsibility part of sin.
There also is not a wave of police killing unarmed black men, and the vast majority of cops are not racists. It is additional leftist lies that there is and that they are. In fact, there is a growing percentage of minority cops. They are by no means racists.
The Real Reason for Problems in the Black Community
The reason for ongoing problems in the black community has nothing to do with white racism against blacks. It is rooted in one simple fact—72% of black children are raised in homes without fathers. I document that statistic and expound on its implications in my book God’s Sex Plan: Volume Two. But here, fathering a child and not being involved in his or her rearing is a sin (Eph 6:4; Col 3:21). If you truly want to help those in the black community, then address that issue with them (Luke 1:17).
That is not just me saying that. Candance Owens harps on this point in her podcasts. I would suggest you check her out on IHeartRadio. She is a black woman who just turned thirty. You could learn a lot from her. I know I have. I started listening to her podcasts a few weeks ago, starting with the first from over a year ago and working my way through them in order.
In the meantime, I would suggest you read my two-part article on Protests Turned Riots. See especially the section under the subtitle “Lack of Respect” in Part Two. Then read the articles in the References under “Systemic Racism and Killings by Cops in General.” They document my points here and in that section. And be sure to watch the video by Tucker Carlson from June 3, 2020 on YouTube. Or click here. It is worth the 15 minutes.
In the first half of this video, Trucker displays the gravity of what is happening in our country. The young woman kneeling could be you, apologizing on her knees for her “white privilege” to a black man standing over her. As a Christian, you should never bow a knee to anyone or for any reason, except to pray to and worship God and our Lord and Savor Jesus Christ (Matt 4:10; Phil 2:10).
White Privilege vs. Black on Black Crime
As for “white privilege,” there is no such thing. We all have our struggles to deal with in our lives, be we white, black, brown, yellow, or red. If someone were to say that to me, I would challenge him or her to live in my body for a couple of weeks. With my myriad of health problems, he would see I am in no way “privileged.” And I am sure every person regardless of color could list struggles they have dealt with in their lives. But again, the problems in the black community are mostly self-imposed, via the sins of premarital sex and out of wedlock pregnancies (Deut 22:23-24). Yes, those are sins, as I detail in both volumes of my God’s Sex Plan set.
In the second half of the aforementioned video, Tucker presents statistics buttressing my comments in the preceding section of my two-part article. That video and the other links in that section also provide statistics on another important point, that black on black crime is far greater than white on black crime or even white on white crime. Simply put, blacks kill, rob, and rape other blacks at far greater rates than whites commit such acts against blacks or even whites commit such acts against other whites.
That is why blacks are incarcerated at a much greater rate proportionally than whites. It has nothing to do with alleged racism in our criminal justice system. It goes back to my previous point about absentee fathers.
Along with being crimes, all of those behaviors are sins before God and need to be repented of by those who engage in then, be they black or white (Exod 20:13,15; Deut 22:25-27).
Absentee Fathers and Abortion
In my Sex Plan books, I present statistics that those raised without fathers are more likely to engage in criminal behavior than those raised in a two-parent, husband/ wife households. They are also more likely to have physiological/ emotional problems, to not graduate high school, and then to get pregnant or to get someone pregnant out of wedlock. And the cycle repeats.
Note also, if there is a genocide occurring in the black community, as you are claiming, it is not due to white cops killing blacks. That number is in fact miniscule. The genocide in the black community is occurring in the wombs of black women. Black women abort their babies at a far greater rate that while women do. That high rate of abortion in the black community then feeds into the lack of respect for human life and the lack of a sense of a need for fathers in the black community.
Abortion then itself is a sin that needs to be repented of, again, whether it is committed by black or white women (Exod 21:22-25). Again, I detail that fact in my Sex Plan books.
Repentance and Faith Needed
All of these points are why there are problems in the black community, and none of them have anything to do with white racism against blacks. As such, please do not apologize for me to blacks. I have nothing to apologize for. If you really want to help the black community, then encourage them to address these issues in their own community and to stop blaming whites for their problems.
Again, all of the behaviors I have mentioned in this article are sins, from racism, to premarital sex, to murder, to robbery, to rape, to abortion. All who engage in such behaviors need to repent and trust in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for their sins (Matt 26:28; Luke 24:46-47).
That would be the best first step in turning things around in the black community and in America as a whole, as these sins are prevalent among those of all races in our country, though, as indicated, for most, at a higher rate among blacks than whites.
That last point explains the greater problems in the black community. Though only the person who sins is responsible for his or her behavior, sin always carries consequences that affect those beyond the one who commits the sin. That is why God so strongly warns against such behaviors, as He knows they are detrimental for not only the person sinning but also for society as a whole, while obedience to God’s commands brings blessings upon a society (Lev 26; Deut 28). I discuss that last point at greater length in my article Don’t Blame God for the Coronavirus Outbreak.
Conclusion
My heart has broken over the events of the last few weeks and months in this country. As I discuss at the end of my two-part article Protests Turned Riots, I fear the judgment of God is upon American for our many sins. Repenting of the sins mentioned in this article will go a long way towards healing our country and our racial divides, while improving life in the black community and in America in general.
Books Notes
The preceding is just a preliminary discussion of this very complex topic. I will be greatly expanding this article into at least a couple of chapters in a forthcoming book.
To explain, last summer (2019), I began working on a book to be titled, Breakdown of American Society. It was prompted by the wave of mass shootings we experienced that summer. Along with that subject, and somewhat because of it, that book was also going to address racism. In it, I had already addressed the killing of a black man by a white police officer here in my home area of Pittsburgh, PA.
But then in September, when the impeachment inquiry began, I put that book on hold to work on a book on the impeachment. That turned out to be a much greater project than I envisioned, as it turned into a two-volume set. Then I got diverted from working on those books, as I wrote extensively about the Coronavirus crisis for my politics website (see Coronavirus Articles and Commentaries on Biblical and Constitutional Politics).
But now that I have said just about all I want to on that crisis, I am back to working hard to finish up my three-volume set on Dems Cannot Beat Trump, So They Impeach Trump. I hope to have that set finished by the end of this summer (2020).
God-willing, I will then get back to working on the Breakdown book. Again, it will greatly expand this discussion and provide extensive documentation for all of the points I raised in this article and many more related issues. It will also discuss in depth the two most recent high-profile cases of a white officer killing a black man.
Thus, again, the preceding article is just a preliminary discussion. There is much more than can and needs to be said which I will be addressing in that forthcoming book.
God’s
Sex Plan
Volume Two
What the New Testament Teaches About Human Sexuality
New on Darkness to Light Website
Below are new articles on my Christian website that have been posted since the last issue of this newsletter was published.
“404 Page Not Found”
If you tried to order one of my books through Lulu Publishing and got the above error message, please try again. Lulu recently updated their website. In the process, they messed up all of the links from my websites to their website for all of my books. I just spent the last two days fixing all of the links.
A couple of versions of a couple of books I could not fix. Those are marked as “Not currently available.” I will redo them sometime in they future. In the meantime, there are dozens of books, all available in multiple formats. Please use the links from my site to Lulu to order the books, as my links reflect the best priced and most recently updated versions of the books.
If you come
across any broken links I might have missed, please let me know. Thank you.
5/9/20
New on Fitness for One and All Website
Below are new articles on my fitness website that have been posted since the last issue of this newsletter was published.
Vol. XVIII, No. 3 is the latest issue of the free FitTips for One and All newsletter.
Revised Coronavirus Numbers (Healthy Habits are Your Best Defense) is a new
two-part article.
5/30/20
Sports Roundtable Podcast - May 26, 2020 is a new podcast. I
was a guest on a Sports Roundtable podcast. I talked about my sport of
powerlifting, its basics, and my background in it. We then talked about the
importance of fitness in general in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis.
5/28/20
2020 Tetra-Trinity #2 Powerlifting Training Plan: Rotations I and II of VI has been completed with all of my workouts this time period.
2020 Tetra-Trinity #2 Powerlifting Training Plan: Rotations III and IV of VI will
record my next two months of workouts.
5/27/20
New on Biblical and Constitutional Politics Website
Below are new articles on my politics website that have been posted since the last issue of this newsletter was published.
Protests Turned Riots (Lockdown Frustration, Domestic Terrorism, and Lack of
Respect) is a new two part article.
6/2/20
The following are new pages:
Coronavirus General Commentaries: June 2020
Coronavirus Trib Live News Articles Commentaries: June 2020
6/1/20
Revised Coronavirus Numbers (Healthy Habits are Your Best Defense) is a new
two part article.
5/30/20
Stay at Home Orders and Business Closures Do NOT Work is a new article.
5/7/20
The following are new pages:
Coronavirus Trib Live News Articles Commentaries: May 2020
Coronavirus General Commentaries: May 2020
5/3/20
My Multi-Group Plan for Overcoming the Coronavirus Crisis is a new four-part
article.
5/2/20
Different Perspective in Dealing with the Coronavirus is a new two-part
article.
4/21/20
God’s Sex
Plan
Volume
One
What the
Old Testament Teaches About Human Sexuality
Also by Gary F. Zeolla:
Zeolla.org
is the personal website for Gary F. Zeolla.
Author of Christian and of fitness books, Web sites, and
newsletters,
and a top ranked and multi-record holding powerlifter.
Fitness
for One and All website and
FitTips
for One and All newsletter.
“Helping people to attain their health, fitness, and performance goals,
with an emphasis on powerlifting.”
Biblical and Constitutional Politics
“Political articles and commentary from a conservative Christian and politically
conservative perspective”
All material in this newsletter is copyrighted © 2020 by Gary F. Zeolla or as indicated otherwise.
6/20/20