Greg: From what I read of the lawsuit (I read …

Comment on LSU, Pacific Union Conference and North American Division Sued by Bob Pickle.

Greg:
From what I read of the lawsuit (I read the whole thing this evening) the church employees acted at best immorally and at worst illegally as well.

The thing is, you can’t just go by what a lawsuit says. There are reasons why so many people think that “honest lawyer” is an oxymoron.

Take a look at 18 U.S.C. § 2511 and see if you can find where it says that Graham or Blackmer or Jackson did anything illegal, as the lawsuit claims. In particular note ¶ 2(d) where it says:

It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person … to intercept a[n] … oral … communication where such person is a party to the communication … unless such communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious act ….

Did Lenny Darnell record the conversation for a criminal or tortious purpose? Thus far everyone has said that Lenny didn’t know he had recorded the conversation, and even ¶ 97 of the lawsuit says that Blackmer was the first person to discover that the conversation had been recorded.

Perhaps you could also help me with CA Penal Code § 632. I can find where it says that you can’t record a conversation without the consent of all parties, which could put Lenny in the hot seat. But I can’t find in that statute where it says that you can’t use or disclose what is thus recorded.

Can anyone else find it?

Bob Pickle Also Commented

LSU, Pacific Union Conference and North American Division Sued

Professor Kent: No kidding. And that’s why the argument isn’t whether God can restore a long-dead human to life, as you and Bob Pickle tried to make it. The reality is that Scripture makes many claims that are NOT backed up by empirical evidence and naturalistic science, and therefore one must make a choice as to whether they believe GOD or SCIENCE.

I still think you are twisting the issues. If you had said, “GOD or SCIENCE FALSELY SO CALLED,” then maybe you would have been correct.

And the argument as you originally framed it was whether God could resurrect a decomposed corpse. You said that science and all available evidence showed that the resurrection of Christ and Lazarus was impossible. You never said you were only talking about Caiaphas or Herod or Pilate or Tiberias resurrecting Jesus or Lazarus. Anyone who read what you wrote would conclude that you were referring to God resurrecting them, not people.

And thus your statement was indeed false. But you don’t appear to want to admit it.


LSU, Pacific Union Conference and North American Division Sued

Professor Kent: SHOW US YOUR SCIENCE–YOUR PHYSICAL EVIDENCE–THAT A HUMAN CAN BE RESURRECTED AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF DEATH.

Why are you shifting the discussion? Is this bait and switch?

You previously said that “science and all available evidence” showed that the resurrection of Jesus and the Lazarus was impossible. You now are narrowing the discussion to only physical, scientific evidence. Why the switch?

Perhaps after you acknowledge that you misspoke, that there is evidence for the resurrection of Christ and Lazarus, we can proceed to narrow the scope of the discussion. But for you to narrow the discussion before doing that would be disingenuous.

In the legal realm, the fact that something is missing is itself evidence. The body is missing, and I know of no one that disputes the fact that the body was missing 3 days after death. The only quibble I know of is regarding why the body is missing.

That’s but one example of many that could be presented of evidence for the resurrection of Christ. Another would be the Psalm you refer to which predicted that Christ would be resurrected.

As far as the resurrection in general goes, what Stephen said in Acts 7:5 is pretty powerful. “And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him.” Abraham will have to be resurrected in order for God’s promise of giving him the land to be fulfilled.

And so there is lots of evidence to support the idea of a resurrection, even though an infidel might reject all such evidence, partly to protect his religious beliefs, and partly because he rejects underlying presuppositions.

But I remind you of what I said before, that no laboratory experiments have ever demonstrated that God cannot resurrect a decomposed corpse. And that is a principal issue.


LSU, Pacific Union Conference and North American Division Sued

Professor Kent: At the GC Convention in Atlanta last year, Dr. Ben Clausen of the GRI spoke, along with his peers, of some of the limitations of science. One report that stirred the passions among faith bashers was this: “In conclusion he [Clausen] urged us to place our faith in the Bible because there is not enough support from science.”

Enough support from science for what?

Was he saying that the weight of scientific evidence is against the biblical account of creation? If so, then his statement was false, in my opinion.

Was he saying that there is not enough support from science to answer every last question some critic may bring up? If so, then his statement was true.


Recent Comments by Bob Pickle

Mandates vs. Religious Exemptions
“While the procedures were sloppy in this particular company, they do not appear to have significantly affected the overall integrity of the data.”

How do we know? a) How do we know that no other contractors were as sloppy? b) How do we know that “the overall integrity of the data” wasn’t “significantly affected”?

“Another reason I say this is because billions of people around the globe have now been fully vaccinated, giving researchers plenty of real-world data that clearly shows the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.”

Then why use randomized double-blinded trials at all if safety and efficacy can be clearly shown by just doling the real thing out to everyone?

Understand my question? The “real-world data” isn’t coming from something that is randomized and double blinded, and thus can never speak to the question of safety and efficacy like a randomized double-blinded trial can.


Mandates vs. Religious Exemptions
Sean, this article from the BMJ, authored by a double-vaccinated writer, is of interest: “Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial” at https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2635

The whistleblower was a clinical trial auditor, with a 20-year career in research. Her concerns about the conducting of the Pfizer trials weren’t addressed, the article states. It explains how the FDA doesn’t handle oversight issues in a timely manner, and gives examples. And all that calls into question the integrity of the Pfizer clinical trial data.

I found “How Fauci Fooled America” at https://www.newsweek.com/how-fauci-fooled-america-opinion-1643839 by professors from Harvard and Stanford also of interest. The observations made good sense.

I’m glad you aren’t in favor of vaccine mandates.


Dr. Peter McCullough’s COVID-19 and Anti-Vaccine Theories
Since you did not respond to my principal concern, I think it fairly reasonable to conclude that Jack Lawrence’s statement about the effect of withdrawing the Egyptian study from meta-analyses is at best of questionable accuracy, and at worst a prevarication, since you are unable to show how the withdrawal of that Egyptian study significantly impacts the particular meta-analysis I provided a link to.

And thus, there may really be a conspiracy out there, even if Ivermectin is not an effective treatment.


Dr. Peter McCullough’s COVID-19 and Anti-Vaccine Theories
Could you explain that? Above you said, “I have taken a look. And, I find no reason to conclude that this is not the case – as have numerous scientists who have also reviewed this study.” That can only mean that you already know what part of the study I’m overlooking. Why would you want to keep that a secret?

“… this isn’t something that interests me ….”

Certainly that can’t mean that you have no interest in making sure your links only go to credible sources.

The two links you gave to show that it doesn’t matter whether Jack Lawrence’s story is on the up and up or not:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777389 is only about mild illness, and even admits “larger trials may be needed to understand the effects of ivermectin on other clinically relevant outcomes.” Thus, this study doesn’t refute the entire meta-analysis I linked to, even if this study’s results are reproducible.

https://rethinkingclinicaltrials.org/news/august-6-2021-early-treatment-of-covid-19-with-repurposed-therapies-the-together-adaptive-platform-trial-edward-mills-phd-frcp/ contains no data regarding Ivermectin. But I did find a news article claiming that the results about Ivermectin have not been published or peer reviewed yet.

Any explanation as to why double-blinded RCT’s in Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, presumably Iraq, and Spain would yield different results than the one from Columbia that you linked to? Each of those are listed in the meta-analysis regarding mild illness. (I said presumably Iraq because the meta-analysis called it an RCT, but didn’t include the words double-blinded.)

Perhaps part of the issue is what the Ivermectin was combined with. Comparing Ivermectin with Ivermectin + something else does not prove that Ivermectin isn’t helpful if one of those regimens is less effective than the other.

The news article about the Together Trial decried conspiracy theories. I think a good way to refute conspiracy theories is to show that there aren’t any, by proving that Jack Lawrence is legit. Otherwise, if he’s only a pseudonym, or employed or paid by a drug company, that’s not going to help squelch conspiracy theories.


Dr. Peter McCullough’s COVID-19 and Anti-Vaccine Theories
Sean, could you please address my question? I didn’t see where you answered it above.

The quote from Jack’s article at https://grftr.news/why-was-a-major-study-on-ivermectin-for-covid-19-just-retracted/ :

“After excluding the data from the Elgazzar study, he found that the effect for ivermectin drops significantly with no discernible effect on severe disease.”

Is that really true?

Here’s a meta-analysis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8088823/

How does removing the Elgazzar study from this particular meta-analysis change the conclusion? I’ve looked at the various tables, and I just don’t get how Jack could make that statement, or how the person he’s citing could have made that conclusion.

If you think I’m misreading the meta-analysis, please cite or quote the relevant text or table, and explain what I’m overlooking.

I’m not looking for “I don’t see a problem.” I’m looking for, “Look at table X. If you remove the Elgazzar study from that table, the end result is that patients with Y disease receive no benefit at all.”

Above, you cited additional studies rather than addressing the truthfulness of Jack Lawrence’s statement as it pertains to removing the Elgazzar study from the meta-analysis I provided a link to. Those are two different issues.

Whether Jack Lawrence’s key contention is correct or not is essentially irrelevant to my question about his credibility. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t like the idea of taking Ivermectin, but whether one should take it or not is not my concern here.

If a masters student in London, whose hobby is to attack a conservative American Youtuber and who just happens to notice plagiarism in the intro of an Egyptian medical study, is so careless or ignorant as to not see that a claim about a meta-analysis is bogus, then something is dread wrong, and we aren’t being told what is really going on.

Why do I say that? Because the presumed level of astuteness that would lead to the detection of plagiarism would prevent the repeating of a bogus claim about a meta-analysis.

Perhaps the problem is that the meta-analysis I provided the link to wasn’t the same one reanalyzed by the person Lawrence cited. Still, due diligence would require that Lawrence make sure that the claim he’s repeating about meta-analyses is actually sound in the light of other meta-analyses, such as the one I linked to on the NIH website from April 2021.