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Bereans VLOG (10/27/2017)

27 Oct 2017

Mark Caleb Smith

The Bereans are back! Today they address:

Donald Trump and the GOP
Tax Reform
The Fed
Sexual Harassment

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William Tomlinson says:

October 28, 2017 at 11:44 pm

Fantastic video.
I certainly agree with Dr. Haymond in that we currently have a system that perpetuates crony capitalism through our tax structure. Due to the corporate structure we incentivize powerful individual actors (large corporations) to lobby their interests before congress and receive benefits as a special interest group. I affirm what Dr. Haymond said in that having a simple income tax will help reduce that lobbying incentive.

With regard to the sexual harassment topic, I fear Dr. Wheeler is right. The entertainment industry repeatedly produces perverse material because the American public wants it. As long as that is the norm in the industry culture, we can expect these natural sin issues to continue. While I do hope that sexual harassment of vulnerable women in the entertainment industry will end, I don’t think it actually will. I disagree with Dr. Clauson in that I fail to see how the industry is declining because people don’t want to see these movies.

In the last few years alone we’ve seen more and more explicit films come out and earn top ratings. Forbes reports that Fifty Shades of Grey topped 500 million and became only the 6th rated R film to top half a billion. The Wolf of Wall Street opened its first weekend just behind in revenue to major hits such as Frozen, the second Hobbit edition, and more. Other recent films include Fifty Shades Darker, Baywatch, and the explicit scenes featured in the Game of Thrones series.

While some may say there is little connection between these explicit films and the sexual assault issue, I believe it reveals an endemic problem in our culture of objectifying women and viewing them purely as a sum of their sexual appeal. THIS is the issue feminists should be going after. THIS is the way men (and some women) are subjugating women. Yet this is the issue that most seem silent on. Sexual promiscuity is being celebrated in our culture, and the left is looking the other way.
- Andrew B says:
  
  October 30, 2017 at 9:28 am
  
  While I must agree with Dr. Haymond on the existence of crony capitalism I had not thought of it so closely linked with our tax structure. If this is the case however, is it possible that drastically reduced corporate tax could fulfill the same role as his proposed simple income tax? I just feel that a simple income tax is so far removed from our current system as to render it extremely improbable to actually be realized. If that is the case then I wonder if something more achievable such as the corporate tax reduction would have similar results?
Julie A Williams says:

October 29, 2017 at 10:04 pm

I love Dr. Haymond’s statement on the Tax Reform as I have heard it in class. Lobbying and corruption comes from the corporation being taxed and a solution to this would be to remove taxes at the corporation level and tax only the individual. The only time I heard of this idea is from Dr. Haymond and I think it would work wonderfully to reduce corruption in tax.

Sexual harassment has become a norm in today’s society. I recently saw a social experiment where a young woman walked through the streets of New York City and was verbally harassed by men countless times. It is normal for women to be viewed as sexual objects due to our sin nature. I do think entertainment encourages this behavior but I do not think removing it from television would necessarily change anyone’s actions.
Carter Miedema says:

October 30, 2017 at 11:32 am

Dr. Wheeler and Dr. Smith, you both mentioned in the discussion on Trump and the GOP that the Republican party is in trouble. It is clear to see that there is a division between the elites and the rank and file; however, the Democrats also have a lot of issues; the election made this clear. If Trump has swayed and can keep the working class voters within the Republican party, do you see, as Dr. Smith mentioned, a change in the nation’s political parties? Is it realistic to believe that there may be some restructuring of the Democratic and Republican parties?
- Matthew Beal says:
  
  November 2, 2017 at 4:26 pm
  
  I’m not Dr. Wheeler or Dr. Smith, but I’ll give an answer. I think we’ve already been seeing some of this occur, and I can’t help but think this is the dual effect of culture change and demographic change. The parties have changed before, and I don’t think this is unprecedented. The Republican party is experiencing a sort of kickback right now, and I think this will persist for a few years, but I doubt this is permanent.
? says:

October 30, 2017 at 7:18 pm

Don’t Christians have some culpability in this? So many Christian leaders/churches have committed (or tried to cover up) similar matters, and just this past year, Christians overwhelmingly voted-in a verifiable sexual harasser and accused abuser.
- Jeff Adams says:
  
  October 31, 2017 at 2:00 pm
  
  Of COURSE, they do. Sexual harassment is a problem not only for the entertainment industry, but in our churches and Christian universities.
  
  For a particular sordid tale, the former son in law of Indiana minister Jack Hyles (an adulterer himself). Type in “Jack Schaap” and “rod.”
  
  As an alum, I can tell you about sexual harassment of students by professors who, thankfully, are no longer there. I was a male student harassed by one male professor, who looked me up and down in his office as if I were a tasty treat. I can still picture the incident as it happened back in Collins Hall (R.I.P.).
  
  We are all sinners. I am not casting stones, for I am not without sin.
- Daniel says:
  
  October 31, 2017 at 7:03 pm
  
  “Don’t Christians have some culpability in this? So many Christian leaders/churches have committed (or tried to cover up) similar matters, and just this past year, Christians overwhelmingly voted-in a verifiable sexual harasser and accused abuser.”
  
  This is why our only true hope should be put in Christ, the only man to live a sinless life. If we look for perfection in anyone today we will never find it and be let down by lofty expectations. This is not to say we can’t have role models. Just remember none of them are sinless and can let us down if we place too much in failed men over God.
  - ? says:
    
    November 1, 2017 at 6:36 am
    
    That’s fine…I was disappointed though that (in this video) all of the blame for the culture of sexual sin was laid at the feet of society at large, without any responsibility taken for the planks in our own eyes.
Tim M says:

November 7, 2017 at 3:01 pm

I enjoyed the talk on Trump’s actions and presidency thus far. It’s odd that conservatives even need to search for something he’s done right so far. However, I agree with Dr. Haymond’s point that Trump has suffered some unforced errors as well.
Austin says:

November 7, 2017 at 10:09 pm

I like the topic on Mr. Trump trying to “fracture the democratic party”, and how he targeted certain areas while running for president. Mr. Trump is trying to get the middle class to agree with him, and I would agree that what he is doing is making the middle-class people happy. However, I can’t think of too many bad things that could come from this. In the video, you say he risks losing people in his own party, but I think if he keeps the majority of people happy and does what Republicans want him to do, then the Republican party shouldn’t get mad at him.
Aubrey says:

November 10, 2017 at 9:40 pm

Tax reform is good especially for our corporate tax structure. However, I agree with Dr. Clauson who made sure to point out that spending must be addressed. Republicans tend to harp on cutting taxes which can be harmful to their other position of being anti debt.
YDNA says:

November 13, 2017 at 8:52 pm

I think one of the most powerfully potent and and malignant problems that is facing our society is sexual immorality. Sexual harassment is merely a branching off of the root, in which we have idealized sexuality for something that it is not meant to be – a gift from God meant to be enjoyed between man and wife in the parameters of marriage. I one of the additional roots of this problem is as they stated, the entertainment industry. As another quoted earlier, many of the highest grossing films are those that portray sexual/graphic nudity. This appeal is driving many of our industries today and is also as result of the damaging effects is ruining society. Women (and men in a vice-versa situation) have become seen as sexual objects – meant only to satisfy ones means. We have started treating sex like a product – something that one can buy instead of the most pure and intimate gift that God has given us. One of the ways to combat this, would be to prohibit sexual everything in the entertainment industry, however, I fear that that is too late as our society is so deeply intertwined with this perversion.

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