Should I Give To "Democracy Now!"?

 “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” (Luke 6:30, KJV)

Democracy Now! is an independent journalist organization that relies solely on the support of their readers.  Thus, they ask for donations all the time.  Yet, I am torn about this organization, because of their bias in favor of abortion "rights" and those of the LGBT.  It is obvious in their headline wording, implying "reproductive rights" and the "rights" of the LGBT.

The Bible commands us not to murder (Exodus 20:13, among others), and also commands against homosexual acts (Leviticus 18:22, among others) and effeminacy (which is what many, if not all transgender people born men practice, against I Corinthians 6:9).

So, in addition to Luke 6:30, which is not limited to financial giving, there's also this Scripture:

“Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.” (1 Timothy 5:22, KJV)

So, while I applaud the concept of independent journalism, I cannot in my current conscience support this organization.  Am I wrong on this? (Proverbs 6:23)

How AI Handles Biblical Exegesis

 “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15, ESV)

I asked Google Gemini for a Scripture-only interpretation on whether or not foot washing is to also be done to non-Christians.  It told me that the practice is limited to Christians because of the "one another" line, and the notion of having a "part" in Christ (John 13:8).  

However, Gemini did cite sources from sermons and commentaries, among whom was Hopewell Church (Calvinist), Working Preacher from Luther Seminary (appears to be Lutheran), Providence Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian), For The Church (their SOF is the Baptist Faith and Message), and Life, Hope, and Truth (Church of God).  This I wanted to avoid, because it feels a little like a Galatians 6:6 thing, and because of what I learned about the prevailing world of false Christianity, I doubt any of the churches cited are in the Truth (which reminds me of I Timothy 5:22).  I don't have all the evidence (I should "prove all things" says I Thessalonians 5:21), I am mainly admitting my doubts.

Besides all this, another bit of insight:  Jeremiah 17:5 says:

“Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5, ESV)

I thought I could work around this since AI is not man, but machine.  Yet, I forget one thing:  AI is TRAINED by man.  I asked Gemini if it is capable of performing Biblical exegesis without commentary?  The short answer, no.  As Gemini itself says:

While I can avoid quoting specific commentaries, my "understanding" of the text is still derived from the patterns and insights found in the millions of pages of scholarship I was trained on.

Now, the source used for that answer was one website:  drcone.com, which is the website of Christopher Cone, who appears to be a theology professor.  Upon further examination (I Thessalonians 5:21), it appears that he is a Calvinist (per the book title "Forged From Reformation: How Dispensational Thought Advances The Reformed Legacy") and that he promotes Psychology (per the book title "Biblical Foundations of Psychology and Counseling").  I believe such positions are heretical (Calvinism promotes "limited atonememt", which is against Hebrews 10:10, 2 Timothy 3:16 refutes Psychology as the answer to problems)

As for the other churches mentioned in this post (This is a work in progress):

Church of God: According to one doctrinal statement on their official website, they say the Bible is against drinking alcohol, yet John 2:1-11 promotes wine, and I Timothy 5:23 says "use a little wine" concerning health.

Lutheran:  According to the Wikipedia article on Lutherism, they appear to be ecumenical, meaning, they consider and partner with those whose Biblical interpretations differ.  This is dangerous, because by logic, all but one, if not all, are believing false teaching, this a false Christ, which cannot save (see John 1:1, 1:14, I John 1:1, I John 5:7, Revelation 19:13, also see Luke 8:12 to prove that the Word saves, also see 2 John 9).

Southern Baptist (from which the BFM drives): One of their entities is LifeWay (LifeWay affirms this), which publishes books that I have doubts on their doctrinal faithfulness.  Further examination is pending.

Presbyterian: According to their Wikipedia articles, not only are they ecumenical, they also approve of homosexuality (against Leviticus 18:22, among others).

I think that's all I know for now (I Corinthians 13:9).  I welcome any and all correction (Proverbs 6:23).

More Confessions of Contractual Wrongdoing

I'm sorry, but I have to do this, so I can be at peace. You know all those times when a website Terms of Service contract says something like, "By continuing, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the Terms"?  I haven't always read the Terms.  Lately, I've been more diligent to do so, but I haven't in the past.

Also, my failure to read the fine print has also extended to outside the Internet.  Last night, I was looking over my vehicle contracts from the dealership, and I discovered that I haven't read everything, even though I tried to at the dealership.  This morning, I recall that I probably didn't even read the fine print at all for my previous vehicle financing.

And, just to be more complete, there may be other times when I didn't read the fine print when I said or represented that I did.

In short, I lied.

I'm sorry, my conscience has given me great trouble these past few weeks, and I just wanted to make a confession to satisfy my conscience.  I apologize to any and all parties with whom I may have broken my word, including Google And Blogger.

I'm a Hypocrite (Maybe), and other Confessions.

 I once said in a post that since been deleted "Don't Create An Account With Reddit".  I unintentionally did not too long ago.  My apologies for any hypocrisy.  So why the "Maybe"?  Probably because I may have changed my views on Reddit.

Also, I do not fully understand the Privacy Policy, so I lied there.

My Debt Freedom May Have Been A Lie

I don't want to disclose the details, but I've recently been reconciling with people and organizations in my past.  Let's just say that my past debt-freedom may not have been entirely true.  Now, in biblical terms, of course it's not true.  I always owe love, says Romans 13:8.  But that's not what I'm talking about.

For now, that is all.

A Confession of Policy Violations and other Sins (In The Name of Honesty)

Updated 3/14/2026

For the last few weeks (as of February 2026), I have had several pangs of conscience over my past sins, even as far as back as a teenager (mainly concerning piracy, which have since been confessed and forsaken).

This confession piece is about my employer, USD 290.  I was a school custodian there, working as Lead Custodian at Lincoln Elementary.

Yes, I have received high ratings from my supervisor and praise from students, staff, supervisors, and the superintendent.

Yet, upon inspection of board policy and the district handbook, I discovered that I have fallen short of following the rules.  At times, I have used communication devices in disruption of my duties.  I have also used district supplies for personal things (such as using what may be district pen and paper to write an "infraction log", attempting to do what I am doing now on non-school equipment and supplies.).  I may have even violated the rules on gifts (to the district, not the kids as far as I know).  Oh, one more thing:  I may not have submitted every accident report I should have.  That, and I have not always followed my supervisor's orders. That, and I have not checked every single window and door of my school during building checks (I have neglected the roof windows and doors).  

As for non-policy violations, I have left lights on for an entire day at times (although recently I am thinking of ways of making up for that via less power usage, I doubt they accept payment for what is commonly trifling amounts of waste).  In the past, I also have not always followed flag protocol, whether that's also a policy violation, I don't know. 

There may be even other things I am either in violation of, or have sinned against (pardon the grammar).

Now, you may say, "These are petty things.  Who cares?". Well, I suppose God cares.  He sees every detail of my conduct, and knows when I fall short.

And you're right:  To my knowledge, I have not committed acts so serious as to warrant instant termination.  I suppose if I have, I would have already lost my job.

However, this post here is to ease my condemning conscience, and to provide honesty in case anyone asks for the reason why I say I'm not a great custodian or why I say I haven't followed the rules perfectly.

Not only that, but as a condition of employment, I agreed to follow such rules.  This, I have broken my word.  I have technically been unfaithful to the agreement.

Again, not only that, but I suppose I have never been faithful to any of the agreements I signed upon hiring and upon receiving my pay raises, when weighed against the above scrutiny.  At the very least, a few of my lapses of judgment have not gone unpunished though, as I was indeed written up in 2014 or 2015 for an incident of subpar performance.

If I am praised and awarded for outstanding conduct, I hope it's not because I followed the rules to the letter.  I have not.  And I suppose I will probably slip up in the future, not that this gives me a pass to do so, not at all but I just want to be honest.

And so, with this post, no one can ever say that I didn't slip my shortcomings under the rug.

A Response to the Charge of Proselytizing

 I went to a class reunion last night, and one of the things I did was share a book I wrote.  It was about my trip to Planet Comicon in 2022.  The book includes many references to Scripture and biblical doctrine, which I offered for free in one of the "reviews" of the book, in order to not violate 2 Corinthians 2:17, which says:

“For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:17, ESV)

This morning, I received a message on Messenger telling me not to bring religion into a group of people I barely know.

This was my response to him (I am not giving the name for protection of privacy.  If this is unbiblical, please let me know so I can make a correction (Proverbs 6:23)):

Hi [classmate]. I have unpublished the book I was showing people, only because I don't want anyone to think that I was selling religion. I wasn't. If I was selling anything, it was a story. My apologies for that.

Now, as for bringing religion into the evening, I don't recall me proselytizing verbally, yet I'm not ashamed of it if I did.

Let me know how I can reach you. I'd be pleased to talk with you on this matter.

(UPDATE:  For other reasons, I have removed the book from the marketplace and have deleted my Kindle Direct Publishing account.)