CARM Newsletter 10-07-04

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UPDATE:
I have not put out a newsletter in about a month because I have been very busy. Please excuse my tardiness. There have been many new developments with CARM. Presently, I am in a heated debate with an atheist (and by proxy, the rest of them) on my discussion board.  To see it, go here.  The thread that contains the debate has been looked at over 5000 times. The topic is atheism and morality. I proposed that atheists can make no moral assertions since their morality is subjective.  I also stated that beliefs lead to actions and that subjective morality would be manifested by the atheists.  So, during our debate I instructed the moderators of the boards (we have many people who help moderate and implement the rules of the CARM discussion boards), to not apply the rules to the atheists. In other words, let the atheists behave the way they want to.  As a result, the atheists started to increase in the number of rule violations . I compile the list of their violations and inserted it into our debate as evidence of my position.  The atheists became very upset with me. I have been accused of all sorts of things including setting them up, being divisive, being mean, etc. But all I did was state my position, stopped enforcing the board rules on them, and they provided the rest.

It turns out that some of the board moderators did not like the approach I used -- letting the atheists go unmoderated so I could cite their rule violations.  But, most of them thought it was great.  We found out that a couple of moderators who disagreed with me actually started feeding the atheists information from private conversations that only the moderators and I have access to.  There are so many more details (atheists hassling Christians, berating them, etc.) that could be mentioned, but suffice it to say, it has been an uphill battle defending the faith and keeping the CARM boards civil.  It turns out the atheists don't like being proven wrong.

ATTACK?
As many of you know CARM sells notebooks and CDs containing information from the web site as well as CD's documenting Mormons and JW's older documents. We use the income to pay the CARM expenses as well as supplement income for my family. This is something we have been doing for years as a nonprofit organization in hopes of moving to full-time status.  (Its getting much closer to reality!) Since the debate with the atheists began, several "coincidences" have occurred.  First, the server that houses the online school of theology crashed.  It took several days to get back up and running.  Second, the person working on the online school of theology server (and the soon to be released school of apologetics), has undergone some serious health and car problems.  Third, the system used to accept credit cards on CARM is now inactive due to a lawsuit with that credit card company and another company.  Sales that we have made are not being deposited into the CARM account.  They are frozen.  Add this to the problems caused by the atheist debate with the moderators, and it sure seems possible that CARM is being attacked yet again. So, please pray for us as we go about the business of presenting the gospel and trying to get back to normal.

THE MOVE:

Finally, our move to Idaho has gone very well. We are in the process of buying a home and hope to move into it in February. We will have a large upstairs bedroom that we can divide in two by putting up a wall.  I can then use part of it as an office. It should be big enough to hold me for a few short years. But then again, getting the house may not occur because my job is now at risk. I work at a large corporation keeping people's computers operating on site. The number of calls coming in for computer repairs has dropped significantly and there will probably be layoffs as a result. Since I'm the newest person there on the site, it seems logical to say that I am at risk of losing my job. But you never know. Therefore, please pray for the situation since getting a home depends on me retaining this having this job.  Lord willing, after we move into the house, I can much more easily move into full time status with CARM.  We are almost there.

E-MAILS:

• "I wanted to say that I really appreciate your work on this site. I've been using it like a fiend lately in my apologetic discussions. Without it, I would have been lost trying to find just the right bible quote, or background on a concept", Stephen.
• "God Bless you and keep up the SOUND THEOLOGY!" Todd
• "I just discovered your web site.  I read the truths about Christian Science and your insights into Parables and the Good Samaritan parable.  I loved the whole thing, especially your truths about parables.  It filled me with joy and understanding.  I will return to your site again and again." Albert
• "I am truely impressed about the shear volume of resources I have here for reserch.  You've done all the work it seems!" Robert

The requests for information keeps coming.  As I said in the last newsletter, the best I can do is put them on the to-do list and hope to be able to get to them in the future.  Once I get full-time with CARM, I will be able to produce a lot more information and, hopefully, finally get a staff to help work full time with CARM, not to mention positioning someone to take it over after I'm gone.

CARM STILL NEEDS SUPPORT:
As many of you know, the primary goal of CARM is to provide free information for the body of Christ to help Christians to defend the faith. There is a lot of false teachings out there and most Christians are not equipped well enough to be able to deal with evolution, Islam, atheism, etc. CARM does the research and provides the analysis.

The second goal of CARM is to go full-time so that I can provide more information. If you think CARM is worth the effort, then please consider supporting CARM financially. CARM is slowly producing a support base and I am potentially within a year's time of full-time status.  My wife and kids are very supportive of CARM and my wife wants me to go fulltime, too.  I'd be quite a commitment and a step of faith, but it'll be worth it.

You could support CARM through regular donations on the donation page (http://www.CARM.org/goods/donations.htm). But, you could also sign up for the online school of Christian theology ($50) and you get something for your support (http://www.CARM.org/online.htm).  The $50 for the online school is not tax-deductible, but other donations are.

Please understand that it takes a great deal of effort and expense to research groups. I must spend many many hours reading false doctrines, buying cult/atheism/evolution books, etc., finding members of various belief systems to discuss their beliefs with, and then analyzing them in a logical and coherent set of articles so that the Christian body can have them for free.   Its work.  I love it.  But, my family and I need support if I am to do this full time.  Is the information worth supporting?

SNAIL MAIL NEWSLETTER:
I am also contemplating beginning a snail mail newsletter. It would be a contact newsletter with information and updates. (The email newsletter has devotionals) The purpose is to provide a simple one or two sheet information-set on a regular basis that people could put into notebooks as they collect them. If this sounds interesting and you would consider being on this list, have suggestions for what you like addressed, or are potentially interested in contributing articles, then please e-mail me at CARMstuff@yahoo.com and let me know. If you put "snail mail" in the subject of your e-mail, I can more easily categorize the results. Thanks.

I'll produce a devotional next newsletter.

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In Him,

Rev. Matt Slick, your missionary to the  Internet. Equipping the church to defend the faith in a secular society.

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To view past newsletters, please go to  http://www.carm.org/more-stuff/newsletters.
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