Free Speech Fights, Foster Care Failures, Fake Voter Fraud

KTF Weekly Newsletter

Hi everybody,

Happy New Year! We hope you got to enjoy a bit of rest and restoration over the holidays. We’re getting back into it this week with highlights about:

• How we misuse the idea of free speech

• The hardest cases in the foster care system

• Trump’s non-existent election fraud

• A song from a famous hip-hop artist and Jonathan’s accompanying prayer

• A Christmas Eve sermon from Palestine

• And debates over mining in one of America’s most untouched ecosystems

Also, quick announcement: we have a YouTube channel now! Please subscribe and share widely. We will be adding more and more content in the coming months to reach the many, many of you out there who prefer video to audio content. Sy can safely say he does not personally understand this tendency, but we want to reach as many people as we can with our message about the difference between Jesus and the idols of western Christianity. Check out one of our first videos, Jonathan reading his recent essay about addressing the shame he feels around his upbringing:

Alright, without further ado, let’s get into it.

Sy’s recommendations:

• While we were on our holiday break, writer and critic Andrea Long Chu wrote a very helpful article on common ways people misunderstand and weaponize the idea of free speech. She correctly points out that the constitutional right to free speech only applies to government action; private institutions can and always do legally censor viewpoints they don’t like. Using Israel and Palestine as an example, she argues those opposing the occupation should concede no ground to the notion that we should give equal airtime to opinions promoting Israel’s ethnic cleansing. Disaffiliating with or disinviting people with pro-colonialist views is not a violation of a sacred democratic principle, but a perfectly acceptable tactic in cultural conflicts which pro-occupation forces deploy all the time without hesitation. Chu’s position is refreshingly realistic, clear, and evenhanded. I hope you all read the article.