Jan-Dec 2020
Apr-Dec '18
UnShackled
for Life
Freedom to Go 'n Grow Together in Christ
Prager University Videos
I am a big, big fan of Prager U videos. They are short (typically 5 minutes), fact filled, and to the point. You can learn a lot about a wide range of subjects in a short period of time.
Obviously the videos are free. But donations are welcome, so if you like them consider visiting the Prager U website and donating. Also, their entire video library is available at their website. Here, we will simply be posting videos that will hopefully be of interest to the UnShackled audience. If you prefer YouTube, click here for a list. You might want to refine the search, however.
Many, probably most, Prager U videos are secular in nature, but many of great interest to us as Christians.
(05/28/2018)
Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings.
Political Correctness, Safe Spaces, Microagressions, Victimhood and more: these are all efforts to replace facts and truth with "feelings" in making decisions and forming opinion. When I say truth, I do not mean "my truth" or relative truth, but God's truth. For a blog post on that topic, see The Truth Will Set You Free.
Our colleges and Universities are among the biggest culprits in encouraging the preeminence of feelings over facts. Although college students have already been indoctrinated to some degree prior to entering college, it is our colleges and universities that should be teaching critical thinking skills. They are doing the exact opposite.
(11/30/2017)
Why No One Trusts the Mainstream Media.
People don't trust the mainstream media because in large part because the MSM has blurred the line between news and opinion. "Journalists" often present their personal opinions in news stories as facts, even when totally at odds with verifiable truth.
Trivial example which occurred after this video was made. President Trump calls Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas." Trump says "Pocahontas" is not a racist term. Multiple reporters declare that it most definitely is a racist term. What?!?
The main flaw with the video is by omission. Why the blur between news and opinion? Simply because the MSM has an agenda and that is to push the progressive narrative, not to provide unbiased news.
(11/24/2017)
The Key to Unhappiness.
The short - very short - version is that the key to happiness is gratitude, so that the key to unhappiness in ingratitude.
I had always divided the happy and unhappy into the optimistic and pessimistic camps. And to be sure, there is a relatively high correlation between being grateful and being optimistic. But Prager makes a better case for gratitude and I defer.
Prager goes even further. Gratitude not only makes people happy, but it makes them good. And the world would be a much better place if more and more people were grateful. Sadly, much of what our children are taught is just the opposite - the focus on victimhood and on self and on all that we "ought" to have but don't.
(11/24/2017)
The Speech Every American Needs to Hear
True, although it is in the context of a high school principal speaking to students about how the high school in now going to be run. And I say bravo to everything he says!
No more politics, especially the focus on identity. You will be judged by the character you display. No more promoting self-esteem; you will have to earn that self-esteem. No more bad language, no more disrespecting teachers. And more.
The focus will be solely on academics and on becoming better Americans. Yes, better Americans. This is America and it is an American school.
(09/03/2017)
The World's Most Persecuted Minority: Christians.
Yes, we are, primarily in Africa and the Middle East- namely in the Muslim world. This video is several years old and doesn't include any of the more recent atrocities, so the situation has actually gotten worse.
Why? Because in Muslim majority countries, Christians are infidels - they are inferior. And Muslims in these countries are treating Christians just as the Quran and Hadith tell them to.
The bigger question is: why is this so under-reported in Western media? It spoils the narrative. Watch the video for the details.
Note that we, the church in America, have not been doing a very good job getting the word out, much less doing anything about it.
(09/03/2017)
Black Fathers Matter
Of course, fathers of all colors matter. But given an illegitimacy rate in the black community approaching 80%, it is there that the problem is the greatest.
Larry Elder, who narrates this video, explains the importance of fathers and the negative consequences of not having a father. And in explaining how the rise of the welfare state, while actually having no discernable effect of poverty, allowed fathers to be replaced by government programs. This hints at a solution, though Elder does not pursue it.
Another issue that isn't discussed is why this issue isn't front and center. It is possibly the most critical social issue facing America, abortion aside, yet it is rarely mentioned. Why? Because it doesn't fit the narrative. The narrative is that racism is the problem, seasoned with some white supremacy.
(08/31/2017)
Was America Founded to be Secular?
The founders, over and over, made clear that our Constitution and form of government would only work if the American people were largely restrained by religion, which, of course, was primarily Christian at the time. The Bible was repeatedly referenced by the founders, even by the Deists.
Note that the video does not make the claim that America was founded to be Christian - merely that it was NOT intended to be secular. There simply is no case to be made that the founders intended a secular state, yet that is what many argue today. I have no problem with people who think America should be secular, though I 100% disagree. But to argue that the founders felt that way is dishonest.
For more info and great quotations from the founders, check out our America's Foundation page.
(08/25/2017)
A great introduction to Prager U is a series of videos on the Ten Commandments. Prager himself does these videos, and perhaps the fact that he is a Jew adds a little something to his commentary. If you like the video on the First Commandment, you can follow the links below to the remaining Commandments.
You cannot help but get great, new insight to the Commandments. I encourage you to watch them all.
8. Do Not Steal
10. Do Not Covet
(08/25/2017)
God vs. Atheism: Which is More Rational?
This video does not make the case for God based on the Bible. It simply makes the case for God versus the case for no God. If you are witnessing to an atheist, the first challenge is to persuade them that God does, in fact, exist. And this video provides some very good ammunition for making that case.
One of the standard arguments against the existence of God is that it is not rational. Quite the contrary, it is very rational and it would behoove us to be able to make the "rational" case as well as the biblical one. As Pastor Bob has said, it takes more faith to be an atheist than a Christian. Most atheists do not realize this, and it is our job to help them along.