As most Americans know, the InternalRevenueService’sdeadline for filing 2023 federal income tax returns fell on April 15 this year. Millions of Americans probablywaited until the last minute to file those returns, in part because nobody likes doing the paperwork (even if it’s done on a computer with expert assistance), and in part because they dreaded the possibility of having to cough up even more money instead of getting a refund.

Forty years ago, journalists from three news organizations owned by Gannett News Service, KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, The Muskogee Phoenix, and ABC News “20/20” News Magazine, collaborated on what became a year-long investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, eventually earning a Peabody Award for the coverage.

Over the last several months we have been eager to explore the shared common ground existing between Christian believers and unbelievers. Those aspects of nature, and life, and history from which two people might engage in fruitful discussion. After all, it has been the Bible skeptic Michael that we have spent much time in discussion with over the months. We have explored common ground through observationsofthecosmos:themoons, and the planets, and the stars. We also found common ground through exploring the apparent evidence of design found in nature; specifically in biological systems. And, we have explored common ground among human beings who are dualistic in nature having a material body, and an immaterial spirit, or soul. Indeed, muchcommongroundexistsbetween Christians, and the Michaels of the world. But that is exactly what the Christian would expect being that all men are created equal “in the image and likeness of God” (Gen 1:26). Common ground. Common ground between believer and unbeliever, however, also extends to our most recent topic: moral law. The question is this: does a natural law exist? Yes? That is the argument the Christian makes, and it is the argument we made here last week; there exists a moral (natural) law, which implies a Moral Law Giver. One might say it is a law of nature—it is just how things naturally are. A binding set of moral obligations that bear upon every human being simply by virtue of being a human being. Natural law. Oxford dictionary defines “natural law” as: “a body of unchanging moral principles regarded as the basis for all human conduct.” The interesting thing is that almost all civil and criminal law traces directly back to a nonnegotiable set of “natural laws.” It is the basis for affirmation of human dignity and basic human rights. It is the basis by which the West (America) criticizes the East (China) for their human rights violations. In America it is the very fabric of our nation: “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowedbytheirCreatorwithcertain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Sound familiar? Sounds a lot like natural law codified into The Declaration of Independence! And yet it provides common ground between Christian and unbeliever. Legal scholar Robert George writes of the significance; “so if there is a set of moral norms, including norms of justice and human rights, that can be known by rational inquiry, understanding, and judgement even apart from special revelation [Scripture], then these norms of natural law can provide the basis for a common understanding of human rights—an understanding that can be shared even in the absence of religious agreement.” That is natural law. That is the basisfortheargumentthatthereexist absolutes, and one of those absolutes is the existence of an absolute moral law. Here is an interesting case; all people in all places in all times live as if the Ten Commandments are absolute moral truths. Can you think of a society where people are encouraged to murder, lie, steal, commit adultery? In fact, the Ten Commandments are instances of natural law that have existed for all of eternity past. It is the natural law that Christians claim to be written on the human heart of all men (cf Rom 2:15). Whether we realize it or not the world’s civil and criminal statutes and laws find their ultimate foundation in the natural law codified in the Ten Commandments. These are rock-bottom basics of moral behavior known to all people; if they were not universally known, then moral reasoning is pointless. Governments and the courts would have no recognized power, society would fall into utter chaos. There would be no system of justice, no human dignity, no human rights. Natural law lawyer J. Budziszewski says that human reasoning only works in one direction moving “from known to the yet unknown; persuasion, from the conceded to the not yet conceded. Without common ground, the movement could never get started. There would be no place for it to begin.” Sure enough, the justice system in America is lacking and neglected in many areas. But the moral law pillars upon which the legal system rests is rock-solid because it is based upon universallyrecognized,nonnegotiable moral truths. The international justice systemalsoworks,andonlyworks because it is based upon universally recognized moral truths.

The filing period for candidates wishing to seek political office in Oklahoma closed on Friday at 5 p.m. A total of 285 candidates declared their intentions to run for office, a relatively small number compared with other years, and several races had multiple people file.

Oklahomans do not want to see the values of Washington, D.C., dominating our state, and I am committed to ensuring that doesn’t happen. This year, House Republicans passed several pieces of legislation thatdismantled any attempts to implement Biden’s liberal agenda in Oklahoma.

We concluded last time by analyzing the popular “COEXIST” bumper sticker. According to this bumper sticker, “c” is the symbol of Islam, “o” is the symbol of the peace movement, “e” is the symbol for transgenderism, “x” is the Jewish star of David, the dot on the “i” is the witch worshiping Wiccan symbol, the “s” is the Taoist yin/yang symbol, and the “t” is the Christian Cross of Christ. One big happy family, they say. But that cannot be true because each one makes an exclusionary truth claim; each one claims to be ultimate and exclusive moral truth.

Last Monday, the Legislative Showmanship was held at the Oklahoma Youth Expo. Legislators from every corner of the state joined Oklahoma’s future farmers and ranchers for the Oklahoma Youth Expo, the world’s largest junior livestock show. It was an excellent opportunity to meet with the future agriculture industry leaders.

Eightoutof10Americanscelebrated the Easter holiday Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation. It is a day of great religious significance for the 63% of Americans who classify themselves as Christians, so many more people recognize aspects of the holiday. Easter also is a big donation day for U.S. churches, seeing the year’s highest church attendance rates. Beyond faith-based giving, consumer spending was expected to reach a total of $22.4 billion tied to the holiday.

The German philosopher Karl Marx once stated that Christianity was “the opium of the masses.” Sure enough, religion in general, and Christianity in particular has often been portrayed by nonbelievers as “a way to control society.” Fredrich Nietzsche concurred. Nietzsche considers that because society is composed of two classes of people; good, and bad, or good and evil, there are two types of morality. The good class (of high value) is known as the master, and is composed of the noble, intelligent, aristocrats. While the bad or evil class (of low value) is known as the slave and is composed of the common or the lower-class which stands in direct antithesis to the master. For Nietzsche, this master/ slave structure touches all aspects of society but is most evident in what might be called the moral compass of a society. In the master-ruled society moral boundaries and values are established in accordance with the master’s preference, then forced upon the slave. You see, master morality is the morality of the strong-willed who define good as “whatever is useful.” After all, Nietzsche said that the purpose of life itself was nothing more than “will to power.” Considering that the aristocrats are more often than not the rulers of power, it stands to reason (or so they say) that something needs to be put in place to “subdue the masses” in the slave class. In that way, Nietzsche not only agrees with Marx, but also argues that Christianity slave morality is actually destructive to all that is noble because it is against the powerful master by extolling weakness, suffering, kindness, peacefulness; all the weak qualities of a society. In short, according to Nietzsche, slave morality (Christian morality) is hard against master morality because it “is a sort of tyranny against [human] nature” and is a “magnificent stupidity” because it represents a “narrowing of perspectives,” or so he believed. This narrowing, he argued, results in a belief that there is only one true morality rather than whatever the aristocrat wants. It is simply a herd morality that the slave clings to, and it hinders the aristocrats “will to power.” Nonetheless it seems to me Nietzsche argues in a circle. He argues that Christian morality is oppressive and unnatural, but at the same time he argues in The Madman, that without Christian morals (in the case were God truly dead) the world would be a horrific place. But this is not the point: this is not the root of the matter. Shall we ask then: what is truth? Let’s start there. Is there such a thing as natural morality? Nietzsche says “no;” the atheist says no; the naturalist says no; the humanist says no; the Darwinist too. Is there objective truth that a moral standard is built upon: a truth that is true for all people, in all places, at all times—absolute truth? Perhaps there is. Now,basedupontheprevious argument from consciousness we could say: The human beings that God freely chose to create consist of two substances; one material, and one immaterial; one body being uniquely human, and one spirit being similar in substance to God, who is Spirit. However, there is another characteristic that can help us answer the truth question, and it is a characteristic that is found exclusively within the consciousness of man. The Moral Law. Christians hold that there is a Moral Law “written on the hearts of men,” given by the Creator as an endowment of our creation. That means that the Moral Law is seated in the human consciousness. It is a nonnegotiable law, a law that everyone recognizes, a law that “just is,” a part of being human. It is an objective truth meaning it is true whether we like it or not, whether we follow it or not, whether we agree with it or not. The Moral Law applies to all people, across all cultures, and across all time. That is also the definition of an absolute truth; it is something that is true for all people in all places across all of time. Further, it is sometimes called Natural Law because it is in accordance with the natural world, with human moral obligations, and that sense of right and wrong written on the human heart. Absolute truth. But the atheist claims there are no absolute truths. He claims that your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth because there is no absolute truth that applies to all people. All truth is relative. The atheist says that truth is only relative to the person who believes it, not everyone else. Christianity is true for the Christian, andatheismistruefortheatheist,and that is okay as long as we respect each other because there is no absolute truth anyway, or so it is said. Thatnotionisbestillustrated by a popular bumper sticker that spells out COEXIST implying that all moral truth claims are equally true. According to this scheme, “c” is the symbol of Islam, “o” is the symbol of the peace movement, “e” is the symbol for transgenderism, “x” is the Jewish star of David, the dot on the “i” is the Wiccan symbol, the “s” is the Taoist yin/yang symbol, and the “t” is the Christian Cross of Christ. One big happy family, they say. But that cannot be true because each one makes an exclusionary truth claim; each one claims to be ultimate and exclusive moral truth. Join us again next week as we continue to look at moral truth claims. Until then, is God dead?

Oklahoma mining permit for Simpson Rd. silicates? I feel an essay or op-ed coming on here. The long and short of it all is “to get over it.” Because we fail to count our blessings andtrulyrecognizewhatGodandthis country have historically given us. I too have several pecan trees and we gleaned a bumper crop of some of the better paper shells I’ve seen in many seasons. Unfortunately the wood smoke of burning brush piles south of town to clear new land for residential housing is a constant eye, nose and throat irritant that has persisted for over a year now prevents me from picking the pecans up. The brush burning starts south of our public schools and half-surrounds our town. It is injurious to our school kids as well as older adults with or without asthma, emphysema and respiratory conditions, aside from COVID.