NewsWatch

Neanderthal Crab Bake

ICR.org, 3/9/23, “Neanderthal Crab Bake” [Excerpts]: The evolutionary science community said it perfectly in their headlines: “Proof that Neanderthals ate crabs is another ‘nail in the coffin’ for primitive cave dweller stereotypes.”

Creationists maintain there are monkeys and great apes (orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees), and there are people. Neanderthals have always been human. “A study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology shows that 90,000 years ago, these Neanderthals were cooking and eating crabs.” While creationists openly question how long ago evolutionists state this event happened, they see Neanderthals seeking, cooking, and eating crabs just like any people group today.

The evidence indicated to [Dr. Mariana Nabais of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), lead author of the study] and her colleagues that Neanderthals weren’t just harvesting the crabs, they were roasting them.... “Our results add an extra nail to the coffin of the obsolete notion that Neanderthals were primitive cave dwellers who could barely scrape a living off scavenged big-game carcasses,” said Nabais.

In fact, evolutionists think these people “may have spiced up menus with wild herbs.”

The authors cautioned that it was impossible to know why Neanderthals chose to harvest crabs or whether they attached any significance to consuming crabs....

A cursory look at the popularity (and expense) of seafood today might lead one to surmise that Neanderthals ate crabs...because they taste good?

https://bit.ly/3LrfP0M

A Brief Word on Paganicon

MidwestOutreach.org, 3/23/23, “A Brief Word on Paganicon” [Excerpts]: According to the Chairman of Twin Cities Pagan Pride & Paganicon, there were about 1,000 registrations [for 2023] and they have already set the date for 2024.

Several of us were there, including [someone] who was involved with Eastern religions prior to coming to faith. He has a passion for the lost and a love for missionary endeavors to non-Christian religions.

I thought this one item would be interesting to anyone whose churches promote Contemplative Prayer. In one of the workshops, “Shamanic Journeying,” the presenter was going through a checklist of what to do and what to expect while in the spiritual state of Journeying. She mentioned that any[one] present who has practiced “Contemplative Meditation” would be familiar with what would occur.

I posed the question of what happens if someone comes in contact with an evil spirit. Her response was that wouldn’t happen because “we call on a spirit guide to protect us while we are in the journeying meditation.”

It is interesting that Richard Foster gives the same warning in PRAYER: Contemplative Prayer—A Warning and a Precaution to those who engage in Contemplative Prayer: “I also want to give a word of precaution. In the silent contemplation of God we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as supernatural guidance that is not divine guidance.” 

Pagans would be quite comfortable in many Evangelical churches today. There is little difference in practices.

https://bit.ly/3oIknXA

Texas University President Cancels Drag Show

TheCollegeFix.com, 3/22/23, “Texas university president cancels drag show, calls it ‘demeaning’ to women” [Excerpts]: The president of West Texas A&M University has canceled a drag show planned for March 31 on his campus, arguing...drag shows are “demeaning” to women and “demoralizing misogyny.”

President Walter Wendler goes into great detail in his nearly 750-word letter sent March 20 explaining why he canceled the event, arguing “every human being is created in the image of God.”

The decision has prompted protests on campus and a petition to reinstate the event. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has also called on the university to reschedule the drag show.

[Wendler notes] “Does a drag show preserve a single thread of human dignity? I think not. As a performance exaggerating aspects of womanhood (sexuality, femininity, gender), drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood. Any event which diminishes an individual or group through such representation is wrong.”

https://bit.ly/3V2rczi