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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


Pushback: Three Idaho University students sue school for punishing them for having opinions

Idaho University bans religious speech
No free speech allowed at this college!

They’re coming for you next: Three students at the University of Idaho have sued the college’s administrators for punishing them simply because they publicly defended their religious belief.

Peter Perlot, Mark Miller, and Ryan Alexander are members of the Christian Legal Society [CLS] chapter at the University of Idaho. When Perlot and Miller joined most of the other members of CLS at a “moment of community” gathering to condemn a discriminatory slur written at another campus, a law student approached them to ask why CLS requires its officers to affirm the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. Miller respectfully explained that the chapter requires this because it is the only view of marriage and sexuality affirmed in the Bible.

Soon after, Perlot left a handwritten note for the student and told her that he would be happy to discuss this further so that they could both be fully heard and better understand one another’s views. A few days later, the student and several others publicly denounced CLS’s actions at a panel with the American Bar Association. Alexander attended that meeting and explained that the characterizations were inaccurate, that the biggest discrimination he had seen on campus was the discrimination against CLS and its religious beliefs, and that he was concerned about the state of religious freedom on campus.

Three days later, the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigations issued Perlot, Miller, and Alexander no-contact orders against the student even though the CLS members did not receive notice that anyone had complained about them and were not given an opportunity to review the allegations against them or defend themselves.


The Alliance Defending Freedom is defending the students. You can read the lawsuit complaint here [pdf]. It specifically names C. Scott Green (university president), Brian Eckles (dean of students), Erin Agidius (director of the college’s office of civil rights & investigations), and Lindsay Evans (deputy director of the office of civil rights) “all individually and all in their official capacities.”

The complaint also describes the difficulties these students had getting their christian legal chapter formed in the fall of 2021. Members of the student government opposed it because of it required its officers to “affirm that marriage is between one man and one woman.” That opposition was so strong that the dean of the law school had to step in and personally approve the chapter in November ’21.

Subsequently law students staged walkouts from two classes taught by the club’s law advisor.

As a result of the college’s no-contact orders, the three students feared that they would be sanctioned further by the school if they simply expressed their religious beliefs publicly, a clear violation of their first amendment rights. The complaint specifically states that the university’s administrators violated the first and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution and Idaho’s own “Free Exercise of Religion Act”.

Essentially, the university’s administration decided that the only opinions that could be allowed were those that agreed with the queer political agenda, and acted unilaterally to punish these Christians for refusing to bow to that rule.

As always, I urge you to read the complaint itself. The close-mindedness of the students who attacked these three Christians is mind-boggling. It isn’t that they disagree with the Christian beliefs of Perlot, Miller, and Alexander, it is that they cannot even tolerate their existence or presence. Rather than openly and civilly discuss their differences in an open forum — something that is considered fundamental to what universities are supposed to teach — they strove to silence and blacklist Perlot, Miller, and Alexander. And they had the full support of the college’s administration to do so.

As a land-grant college, the University of Idaho is essentially a public college whose existence relies on the state’s legislature. I suspect those legislators might not look kindly at this behavior if the state’s citizens made them aware.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

10 comments

  • sippin_bourbon

    Wrong think will not be tolerated.

    This is doubleplus ungood.

  • Phill O

    “legislators might not look kindly at this behavior if the state’s citizens made them aware”

    We have been hiding in our small corners too long (IMHO)

    Very good point Bob.

  • Jeff Wright

    I didn’t expect this from Idaho of all places. If I had money I’d move there- away from the ‘hood. I already had some fool try to kick my door in while away.

  • BLSinSC

    Acceptance of other’s “beliefs” will NOT end the conversation! NOW it is YOUR belief that has to change and is NOT ACCEPTABLE! That’s how the LEFT operates and if they lose the ability to BRAINWASH little children into their warped world, they will eventually die out!

  • God’s even wants to REASON with us! God says… “Come now, and let us REASON together”…

  • Cotour

    WHAT HAS JOE BIDEN AND COMPANY ACCOMPLISHED? LET’S REVIEW. (Copy and share with a Democrat)

    This is what Joe Biden, who is but a beard for the clearly un and anti-American Democrat party political machine has accomplished so far in America and the world.

    * Flood America with illegals in order to drag it down and numerically control elections.

    * Shut down the oil and gas industry in America in order to cripple it and make it dependent on foreign suppliers.

    * Destroy the American economy with massive inflation in order to keep the people distressed and dependent on government.

    * Create massive amounts of murder, looting and crime with the no bail no jail criminal empowering Soros agenda in major cities and house the illegals there.

    * Destroy the country’s job market and drive down wages for black and minorities thus creating further stress and dependency.

    * Destabilize the military with woke agendas that threaten the security of the country.

    * Project confusion and weakness internationally in order to remove America from dominance.

    * Insist on mail in voting and other fraudulent systems in elections in order to remain in power.

    * Sexualize, rewrite history, indoctrinate and devalue education for the youngest Americans.

    * Install the “Great Reset” as per the Soros / Shwab / Gates World Economic Forum agenda of population and economic control.

    If you voted for Joe Biden and the “Woke”, “Progressive”, Leftist, “Fundamentally change America”, Democrat agenda, these items listed above are the results and accomplishments of your actions, are you enjoying them? Do you fully appreciate it?

    I want you to recognize that so that you can reconcile your choices in the next election…….if there is one.

    https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmediadc.brightspotcdn.com%2Fdims4%2Fdefault%2F9bdc770%2F2147483647%2Fstrip%2Ftrue%2Fcrop%2F4452x2337%2B0%2B182%2Fresize%2F1200x630%21%2Fquality%2F90%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%252F%252Fmediadc.brightspotcdn.com%252F80%252Ffa%252F633b16514c768340cf4e6ae522a5%252Fap-19206831642685.jpg&t=1651176063&ymreqid=dc7face7-d905-7706-2f2c-5a0b0401e700&sig=vWniUJXEcjqdXaooAaSaGw–~D

  • sippin_bourbon

    Cotour,

    You forgot the creation of the Ministry of Truth.

  • Cotour

    Sippin:

    That did not make my list because it is too new, and it remains to be seen. And I have not studied up on it. The administration is very busy contorting itself in order to find a way to short circuit what is on coming, their political power demise. This proposed “Ministry of truth” is but one element in their ability to try to do so.

    IMO they will be playing the “Domestic terror” ooooooh card via the Jan 6th committee. How are they going to leverage their “Investigation” to their benefit? (The government and their agencies are now the domestic terrorists. Pure S.O.M. theory, preserve your power at any cost. And I mean ANY cost, up to and including murder)

    And the list of what IMO are clearly treasonous actions by this administration is becoming so long that I have to triage my communications now and include in them what IMO are the most important issues and make it short enough that someone will be able to relatively easily read and absorb it.

  • Cotour

    ELON MUSK, A RADICAL FAR RIGHT BIGOT? (Copy and share with a Democrat friend, they need to see this)

    Elon Musk a far-Right bigot? No, of course not.

    Musk is an acceptable in American politics center Left flavor Liberal, a perfectly acceptable American political animal. What happened then? It is the extreme Left radicals in the Democrat party who are based in an anti-American, anti-Capitalist, Marxist based doctrine that have taken this long building opportunity in American politics to make their political move for power.

    And the extreme Left as is the extreme Right politics is unacceptable in America and the world.

    The beauty of the Constitution and what it structures is that as things become more and more contentious in politics it forces all to reveal themselves to the public in order that they can properly make the required adjustments in THEIR government.

    Elon Musk says ‘woke progressive’ extremists make him look right-wing (nypost.com)

    “The world’s richest man used his new $44 billion purchase, Twitter, to share a simple stick-figure illustration Thursday highlighting his position in the dramatically shifting political landscape over the last 14 years.”

    So, if you are a Democrat, if you are a friend of mine, I recognize the vast majority of you are good, center Left Liberal oriented people, and that is reasonable. But you must recognize that your political party, the Democrat political party machine which is separate from you has been high jacked, and you have been swept up and are now stuck with them as they fully reveal themselves for all the world to see and judge. The chaos and desperate grab for absolute political power is upon us.

    And that is just how simple what we all see ongoing in politics playing out is.

    https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2022%2F04%2Felon-musk-36.jpg%3Fw%3D1024&t=1651239501&ymreqid=dc7face7-d905-7706-2f2c-5a0045019a00&sig=DP_UeXWCfB2L8swJJENOyg–~D

  • Jay

    I saw a followup to this University of Idaho story: A judge issued a temporary block to a university policy that censored three Christian students who had expressed opposition to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. I like this quote that Judge Nye said “Some may disagree with Plaintiffs’ religious beliefs. Such is each person’s prerogative and right. But none should disagree that Plaintiffs have a right to express their religious beliefs without fear of retribution. The Constitution makes that clear,” he added.

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