Dakota Beacon

 This month marks 100 years since the Scopes Monkey Trial. The national media swarmed to a small town in Tennessee to cover the trial—in fact, it was the first American trial to be broadcast by radio. So, what happened during the 11 days in July 1925? Why was the winner of the case perhaps not a winner today? In this article, Dr. Jason Edwards examines the famous trial and the subsequent erosion on the American foundation of morality. He writes, “Though Bryan won the battle, he lost the war, as H.L. Mencken and hordes of media elite used the trial to savage the traditional beliefs of Americans.” 

Does culture influence the language? Or does language influence the culture? One could make the case that, barring ulterior motives by certain actors in society, the relationship between culture and language would be symbiotic, that is, one influences the other and visa versa. But some actors use language as a device to skew cultural outcomes.

“And that’s it on Epstein.”  And with that flourish and a flippant smirk, AG Pam Bondi thought she could dismiss one of the key motivators in the election of Donald Trump.

Ah, no.  That won’t do. 

“History” does not occur in a vacuum. Ideas have consequences and we cannot separate the ideas of the Founding Fathers from the thinking of Reformation Europe. Our Founders understood two kinds of government. External government pertained to civil government (civil control). Throughout history external governments such as monarchies, tyrannies, and dictatorships imposed the will of the few on the many. Rights were granted by government alone.

Internal government pertained to self-government (self-control). It flowed from within each person outward to the family and finally into the community. The idea of internal self-government stressed individual responsibility and self-discipline. Our Founders’ idea of limited civil government rested solidly on the assumption of internal self-government. So, rights were imbued by the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God – not by civil authority.

The fight for Islamic dominance over the past 1300 years has not gone well for Islam. Universal longing kept alive in the hope for a great leader, or caliph, continues in the attempt to avenge perceived historic wrongs. The longed-for resurrection of the glory of Islam can only be achieved in the defeat of Western dominance.

Iran must NOT have a nuclear weapon. Iran with a nuclear weapon threatens not only the US and Europe, but its Islamic (Sunni) neighbors as well. Take note. Other Arab countries may be silent for now. But on the inside, they are standing up and cheering Iran’s nuclear loss.

So the message is this: If Republicans want to win elections, ideological soundness is not enough (though it’s a prerequisite for governing). They also should choose candidates possessing that star quality, that special something, that charisma. If the person couldn’t conceivably carry a podcast, he perhaps can’t carry an election.

This said, I certainly wish the above weren’t so. I wish people would vote based on knowledge and wisdom and not fancies and fandom. But too many don’t. Consequently, nominating a candidate competent but as exciting as watching paint dry just won’t cut it.

Charisma is the one thing Trump, Mamdani and Cortez all have in common. Never underestimate such a person, either. Because in politics, charisma is king.

Transparently obvious to the public, progressives show little sense of humor when it comes to their pet issues. They simply cannot and will not tolerate criticism. Progressives go berserk under the barbs of satire. How dare anyone mock their cherished ideological treasures! Their sacred gems range from climate change to animal rights to DEI to government giveaways and much more.

Enter -- the Babylon Bee (https://babylonbee.com/), a conservative Christian satire website publishing “news” articles on contemporary topics including politics, public figures, and current events. It has been referred to as the conservative version of the left-of-center The Onion (https://www.theonion.com/).

Invaders inevitably seek to change the nature of the place they invade rather than assimilate. The growing Roman empire did so in lands they conquered. When the Romans dominated new people, those people fought and lost. But at least they had enough pride in their culture to fight for it.

Today, across the West in general and the US in particular, millions of invaders from alien cultures have been welcomed with open arms. Segments of the US population labor under the misconception that welcoming these invaders with free amenities of Western life will somehow earn their respect and they will assimilate. Like a Fifth Column, those segments have provoked opposition calling their pro-illegal alien disturbances a “protest.” This violates all common sense.

Meanwhile, Washington fiddles while US cities burn.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, kicking off Pride Month in Washington, D.C., proclaimed the US capital to be the “gayest city in the world.” She made that announcement two years ago. Yet again this year she threw down the gauntlet. “I am proud to be the mayor of the…gayest city in the world.” Other cities since accepted that challenge.

Pride marches across the country began as early as May 18 this year. Turning Point USA reported on West Hollywood’s Pride Weekend where public indecency during the June 1 parade reached shocking levels.

Trump told Putin that he had no idea about the drone strike deep into Russian territory, nor about the railway strike.  This only makes him look weak or a liar.  If he did not know, if U.S. intelligence was employed without his knowledge and these attacks then carried out without his knowledge or permission, then he merely looks weak and irrelevant.  Either that or he is lying, in which case the American government and Trump himself are implicated in making war by stealth (for which we severely punished Japan back in WWII) without so much as announcing it.  At this point, Trump looks like a complete loser.

Citizens in every city in the United States will march at 10:00 AM local time on Saturday June 14, 2025 (Flag Day) from their local City Hall to their nearest public grade school and back… in protest of “Passing On” the $37 Trillion (and growing) national debt to our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on. Your local organizing committee will consist of the first (up to one dozen) concerned citizens to arrive at your local City Hall at 10:00 AM local time on June 7^th, 2025.

Aroused by the same sense of curiosity, my latest acquisition, “The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous” by Joseph Henrich, promises to further whet my appetite. For starters, WEIRD people include a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic, i.e., WEIRD. In the eyes of the progressive left, such people lend themselves to slurs and branding as “racist” or “bigoted” or “homophobic.” More accurately, they are psychologically peculiar in a non-threatening way. Anthropologist Henrich chairs the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University (yes, THAT Harvard) where his research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making, and culture.

Racist: a word whose meaning morphed lately from legitimate to dishonest. Overused, misused, and abused, it no longer enjoys veracity. What if one person calls another a racist? Who’s to say they are -- or are not? Who cares? The word lost its potency long ago. Stupidly, race mongers now see Caucasians as automatically racist by virtue of their DNA! Enough!

Ponder this traditional definition of racism. Racism is hatred and animus held by an individual against a race different from their own. A Black can hate Caucasians. A Caucasian can hate Blacks. An Oriental can hate Latinos. And so on. It is that simple.

Knock it off! Enough already!

This past legislative session was business as usual. The North Dakota Legislature decided to take a position of status quo.

There was little change in the way legislators approached spending and the scaling back of state government.

It is apparent Republican leaders in the state don’t understand the Trump phenomena. His election numbers in North Dakota are historic. They all say they support the cuts in Washington, but in North Dakota it’s time to expand. We saw an increase in spending of a billion dollars.

I had to go to show my respect. I felt compelled to watch the motorcade escort this warrior to his true and final resting place. Glenn Herbert Hodak, U.S. Army Air Forces Corporal, of Cambridge Springs, PA, came home this week. As the motorcade passed by me, I was filled with both emotion and overwhelming gratitude. My dad, a Seabee Construction Battalion Navy man, served in Guam in WWII, as did Cpl. Hodak. My dad came back home to his family; Corporal Hodak did not, until now.

Corporal Hodak’s military service exemplifies the sacrifice experienced in the horrific happenings of war.

I wanted to re-visit the book because I wanted to peek inside Trump's head. In this case, his “head” at the time he wrote this book was the “Trump of 1987.” He was 41 years old at that time. Since then, 38 years have passed, and he has honed his skills. Among other things, Trump is known for his speed and decisiveness. He is not a shallow man, and he deserves respect.

Each of us negotiates every day, in one way or another. “I’ll pick up the kids from school if you’ll pick up some groceries.” “Okay, we’ll go to the beach this time if we go to the mountains next time.” Everyone benefits from learning a bit about negotiating, especially from an expert. Trump has written a fascinating insight into the life and success of a multi-billionaire. He gives every sign that he will use skill and ability – “The Art of the Deal” -- to go down in history as an extraordinary President.

…about transgenders being removed from the military?…about transgender bathrooms in schools…about taxes?…about pharmaceutical company advertising?…about “work for welfare”…about district judges handing down decisions applied to those beyond their district…about the $36.9 Trillion US National Debt…about non-citizens in the US through legal temporary permission…about the Alien Enemies Act

One wonders about the mental wellness of a more-or-less respected “political analyst”(here meaning out-right liar), Rick Stengel, who would comment on MSNBC that “only a few” Boers have been killed so far.

A select number of federal district judges have overextended themselves by intruding into areas of presidential authority. Their nationwide orders, or injunctions, toyed unacceptably with our legal system. The term “select” is consistent with “judge shopping,” the allocation of major cases to rogue federal district judges predisposed to blocking President Trump’s policies.

The American people are neither legal experts -- nor are they stupid. They see with eyes wide open. What corrupt progressive judges are doing now to block presidential authority they rehearsed using similar challenges hiding election fraud in recent years. Making up legal reasoning to justify judicial activism with “legalese” mumbo jumbo resulted in “legislating from the bench.” Whatever became of constitutional separation of powers?

Pray for two things: That our beloved Pope Francis experiences a holy and happy death and is welcomed into the Beatific Vision. And pray for the coming of a Trumpian pope.

By curtailing technology theft using high tariffs, the US will certainly restore her upper hand. This, in turn, will rapidly foster the reconstitution of the US’s economic and industrial base while reducing the irksome problem of technological theft.

Yes, the US will bear some temporary discomfort while correcting decades of dalliance. On the other hand, if the US does not use tariffs to her advantage, then, to coin a phrase, “America will continue to feed China until the dragon has grown past the point of taming or slaying.”

Take note of the number “2.1.” That is the fertility rate of live births per woman needed to sustain any nation’s stable population – no growth, no decline, just even. For many developed nations this number became critical decades ago and these nations are ageing fast.

More than a jest, the US has already reached this breakeven point. Other nations have fallen seriously below the number that would otherwise sustain them: US 1.62; Canada 1.48; Europe overall, 1.38; Japan, 1.32; Germany 1.25; Russia, 1.14; and South Korea, which has fallen below 1.0.

Demographers note a correlation between a deterioration in the post-Christian era’s values and a drop in the birthrate in Western civilization. The Apostle Paul spoke of faith, hope, and love as Christian virtues that must endure. Where these qualities have declined in the face of a more secular society, so has the birth rate. 

It is interesting, isn’t it, that so many of the same people who are calling for “reparations” for today’s black people who might be descendants of enslaved blacks 150 years and more ago, are also demanding that we allow more migrants because we “need” their labor?

Pierre Poilivre had a challenging task but without Trump’s interference and premature imposing of devastating tariffs, he stood a very good chance of success - the best chance in decades. 

Whether it’s a nuclear equation or a chemical reaction, it all comes down to power. Plain and simple. Either Jesus Christ had enough power to put down the enemy’s attempts to thwart his demonstration of the power to overcome death and hell or he didn’t.

Period.

Easter offers a time to reflect on the reality of Christ and the blessings flowing from a Christian culture. You may find the following instances refreshing to ponder. A Christian culture spawned these blessings.

This rich endowment comes from the impact of the Gospel spread by those who believed in, lived by, and sacrificed for that Gospel. They accepted Jesus Christ for who He said He was. Collectively and corporately over the centuries they formed a culture.

Today, whether from naiveté, historical illiteracy, or the voiding of traditions and conventions, western culture has become separated from an awareness of its own roots. Even Easter has become a casualty. Faced with mounting criticism and reproach, the Christian significance of Easter morphed into something rather secular.

Implications persist from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was not raised to institute a social welfare system or establish a university of wellbeing. The scripture record makes clear that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, came to restore and preserve a relationship with His creation. No preaching or theological diatribe here. Just recounting the written record, the New Testament, pointing to a mystery being revealed within believers every day.

As we traveled across America, I couldn’t help but think of the mothers of a trucker praying that their son or daughter gets home safely from that trip. While I drove many miles in those two trips, truckers do that every week, every month, every year. 

Whether it is fresh produce from California, steel to a manufacturing plant, gasoline to a fueling station, water to a frack site or wheat from a field to an elevator, we as Americans or North Dakotans would not have food to eat, gas to drive or products to sell if that trucker didn’t deliver the goods. We live and die by that trucker traversing across this great land we call America.

“From the mouths of babes and infants You have established strength....” (Psalm 8:2). A conversation overheard last week reminded me of the Psalmist words. What comes from the lips of children may be more riddle than wisdom. Even so, what children utter innocently and in ignorance may strengthen our own understanding and wisdom.

Everyone appreciates a good riddle now and then. Solving a riddle requires careful attention. In the wording, in the logic, or in both exists the key to solving a riddle. Sometimes words may hold a double meaning; sometimes the logic may “slip a cog.”

Kids sometimes speak in riddles. Imagine for a moment that you were with me last week when we overheard two kids talking. A teenager (Billy) waxed eloquently trying to impress his younger brother (Joe) with his wisdom of scant years. What I heard posed a riddle as the conversation went something like this:

The kicker is that anti-discrimination law doesn’t even eliminate all unjust discrimination—only discrimination the government doesn’t approve. That is, the law establishes “protected classes”; ergo, there are also unprotected classes, in what was meant to be a classless society. So if you don’t want that drag queen working at your daycare center, a costly lawsuit may be nigh. But if someone refuses to serve or hire you because you’re conservative (or liberal), unattractive, poor or a multitude of other things, well, tough luck. In other words, the government itself is discriminating—among types of discrimination.

Some may say that anti-discrimination law was at one time necessary (debatable). Even if so, however, those days are long past. Forced association is not free association, and coerced service likely won’t be good service—and does a disservice to the causes of liberty, fraternity and market-choice clarity.

Today Americans stare wide-eyed at the largest US internal migration -- ever. People leave the so-called “blue states” and move to “red states”. Some prefer the political climate of the red states. Others move in search of a more favorable social atmosphere.

Social and political reasons certainly count. But ultimately reasons can be traced to poor governance. People are sick and tired of the blue state economic environment – specifically the high taxes and the frittering away of their tax dollars. Bad economic policies drive cost of living higher, raise housing prices, and restrict job opportunities.