Lies

The following is a take on the song "Stars," from Les Miserables.

There, out on the websites,
A couple of videos
Showcasing me
Talking 'bout me
Raised in the jihad.
I never shall rest
Till there's no more to see
Till those sad bloggers flee

I know some people up on top
I've got some fanboys to boot
Those who challenge the past of the Caners
I'll strike with lawsuits
And when I lie
As Lucifer lied
You see my fruit.

Lies
In their multitudes
Scarce to be counted
All filled with darkness,
Distorting God's light
Thank Baal for seminaries
Silent and blind
Feigning things are alright
Just calling day for night

They know I moved as a teen
And I make consistent claims
I say I was born in
Sweden, or Turkey...
Well, it's never the same
But if I lie as Lucifer lied
I use Christ's name

And in the masjid
I received my teachings
Through all forty days of Ramadan
Then I fell at an altar and cried,
Isa bin Allah!

Lumpkins go stop them
Those who oppose me
Take down their blogs
But I'll never yield!
I'll keep up this game
'Til I'm judged for my lies!

James White on Ergun Caner

James White's presentation on Ergun Caner's deceptions and falsehoods regarding his own testimony.

Ergun Caner, Frank Dux and Jesus Christ: A Comparative Study

A few days ago, Ergun Caner announced on Twitter that he was innocent and denied all charges against him. For those who are not familiar with the accusations made against Ergun Caner, this page where James White collected together his videos on the subject might help (by the way, the graphic at the top was made by yours truly). He added in response to one critic:

Whenever the Caner affair pops up its ugly head again, I can't help but remember similar charges made against someone else. Who is it? Of all people, it's actually one Frank Dux, whose real life experiences were the basis for the famous 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme flick Bloodsport. While the film of course made plenty of exaggerations and additions (some of which Frank Dux criticized), the basic premise is similar to how Dux claimed it unfolded in real life. This, of course, has led many to call foul and claim Dux is himself exaggerating or adding to his life story. Now, whether or not you think Frank Dux is the real deal, the point I'd like to make here is that he has responded to critics by providing evidence, or pointing to where the evidence can be found. One example can be found here, and another here. Overall, he's been pretty precise in response to his critics and naysayers.

Now compare this with Ergun Caner, who has done nothing in response to his critics except to repeat the mantra of "I'm innocent! They're being mean to me! It's a Muslim/Calvinist conspiracy!" Imagine, instead, if he release information to confirm or respond to his critics. Imagine if he presented evidence that he really was raised in the Middle East. Imagine if he explained the wild contradictions that exist in his various testimony presentations. Imagine if, once and for all, he told us who he debated in Nebraska! This sort of thing should not be hard, and one would think that at least some superficial evidence could be provided on this subject. For example, I grew up in my preteens in Europe when my father, who's in the military, was stationed there. If someone wanted to challenge this, they could easily research with the military on where my dad was stationed during my preteen years, to see if indeed it was in Europe. If I "misspoke" and said I was in San Francisco in 1991 when records showed my family wasn't there, I could easily correct it and say we were actually there in 1989, which could indeed be confirmed. The point is, these sort of things are easy enough to prove, and whereas Frank Dux, who (as far as I know) is not a believer, is capable of responding to such accusations, Ergun Caner, who claims to be a Christian and therefore worship He who is the embodiment of truth (Jn 14:6), does not even attempt to provide any answers or evidences. In fact, as precedence shows, Caner and his allies have a habit of simply trying to hide any errors and contradictions.

Now let's take a moment to turn to one other person: Jesus Christ. Ergun Caner said in the tweet above (as he has elsewhere) that Jesus never defended "against false accusations," and so he won't either. Of course, why did Christ remain silent against his accusers? Let's take a look at the accounts in the gospels:

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. [Matthew 26:59-60a]

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. [Mark 14:55-59]

Why was Christ silent? Because he didn't have to defend his innocence. It is said that these were "false testimonies," yes, but not only were they false but the "testimony did not agree." Christ's enemies were inconsistent, and if Christ had not been asked personally to assert his divinity and his Messianic status, he probably would have been a free man.

Now let's compare this to Ergun Caner's situation. Is he under attack by false testimony? Upon what basis is it false except his word against theirs - and his enemies have demonstrated their accusations, not simply launched into blanket charges. Is he under attack from accusations that are inconsistent? On the contrary, the accusations have been very consistent...in fact, the only inconsistent one has been Ergun Caner himself. People have not had to make up charges like they did with Christ, who was blameless before all, but there are serious charges and allegations against Caner which he has yet to provide any real response. Frankly, to use the innocence of Christ against legitimate questions and accusations is sickening and blasphemous.

Ergun Caner, if you read this post, please understand that this isn't being done out of hate. You bring a mark upon the gospel of Christ when you add to it your false stories and embellished testimonies. You're making it harder not only for yourself, but your family as well. Please, sir, repent of your sins, repent of your wrongdoings, and be an example for others out there who might be in your position. God has granted you this time to repent, but there will come a time when it will no longer be available to you. When that time comes, you will be held accountable for all you have done. Please, seriously consider these things.

"Ergun Caner"

Someone, in the spirit of satire, has been impersonating Ergun Caner, pointing out the "misstatements" made by Caner over the years as well as the hypocrisy coming from Liberty University's leadership and Caner's supporters. Here is one example video from his Vimeo account (he also has a YouTube account with a few of the videos):


Ergun Caner #5- Sometimes I Wonder About Charles from Dr. Ergun Caner on Vimeo.

The best part is at the 2:50-mark, where "Ergun" responds to a question about John 6:44:

"Well first, your Calvinist friend probably changed the syntaxes and the emphases and the Greek and taken from the Hebrew plural. For example, the regular...the layman...would say 'no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.' What Jesus was actually saying here was 'no man can come to Me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up on the last day.' You see...this is John 6:44...John 6...if you think about it...half of six would be three...John 3...then you bring the six back in...John 3:6...but it's not John 3:6, and see that's a common error. You would add the one between the three and the six...John 3:16, you see? I wasn't aware of that interpretation either until I had gone to seminary..."

Ergun Caner: An Inspiration for Us All

A few days ago, I was watching the above video by Dr. James White, which touched on the subject of Ergun Caner and his apparent return to his old ways: playing the persecution card and claiming a Muslim Jihadi past.Then it hit me: perhaps I could utilize Caner's tactics to start my own career path to fame!

You see, I'm a descendant of Roman Catholic Italians. My great grandfather came over from Italy in 1913, and my first and last names are of Italian origin. Granted, my middle name is Scotch-Irish, but we can ignore that...in fact I'll just make it sound semi-Italian. I'll start emphasizing the Italian side of my first name too. From now on, I shall introduce myself as "Antonio Alan Cucolo." I'll also claim that I'm 100% Italian...OK, so maybe I'm not. In fact one time I did the numbers based on my ancestry on both sides of my family, and I'm maybe only 25% Italian and 50% German, but hey - no one needs to know that.

Now obviously as my father is third-generation Italian American I can't get away with saying he came over from Italy and that I was born in the homeland (which is too bad, I could claim I was born in Rome). Don't get discouraged, though, because that really doesn't matter. What I can claim is that I was born Roman Catholic, just as his whole family is Roman Catholic. That latter part is true - the former is not. I was baptized into the Episcopalian Church, and my mother was Episcopal. What is also true is that for most of my childhood and well into my late teenage years, my family mostly went to Roman Catholic services, and for my first three years in high school I went to a privately run Roman Catholic school.

Ooooh, think of the possibilities with all that!

I, Antonio, was a baptized Roman Catholic: growing up a devout Catholic, practically raised in the mass, attending it every day, even sneaking away from class to attend church services. I studied Latin vehemently, and would gleefully use it at school, even if it isolated me from classmates who could not understand it. I could say that I did the rosary throughout the day, even in the school bathroom. I could claim that I had been taught by family and priests that all Protestants were inherently evil and that they all hated Roman Catholics. I'd assume that Protestants hated me for who I am. I could claim that I pledged to wipe out all Protestant sects in a new inquisition.

Then I went to a Jesuit-run high school (never mind it wasn't run by an order, let alone Jesuits, but rather just people who happened to be Catholics). There I was trained by Jesuit agents to entrap and humiliate famous Protestant leaders to bring them down (no I am not ripping off Jack Chick! Why would you claim that?!). Then, some nice Protestant brother (Steven, do you want this honor?) invited me to his revival. I went there in full Italian garb (doesn't matter I was born in America), and yet realized that Protestants, in fact, didn't hate me, and in fact loved me. Then I realized that Christ is our only form of salvation, and repented. And that night, which happened to be Friday...I had me some meat.

Good! I've got my conversion falsehood - I mean - biography down, I need to find a way to go about this. I'll go to churches around the country and brag about it, and add more stories on top of that. I'll claim to have made 1,000 debates, sometimes directly in Latin with Catholic priests from Rome. I'll claim the original Latin mass had phrases such as "Licius docius hintin du" and explain that it means "Give us your little boys" (what does it really mean? I dunno, I made it up). I'll claim that Lent is twenty days long. I'll claim that Catholic leader Robert Sungenis, before he died, said that the Peter is the Church (don't tell me Robert Sungenis is an apologist and not a leader, is still alive and well, or even that the quote supposedly came from Ambrose). I'll then later claim that I debated James Akin in Nebraska, even though Akin and I haven't even met (and I highly doubt Mr. Akin even knows I exist). I'll tell people the Immaculate Conception of Mary means she was bodily assumed into heaven. I'll say the rosary has 100 beads. The sky's the limit!

Now now, I know what many of you are thinking: what will I do if someone catches me on all this? Quite simple, really, in fact I have a full proof plan. If anyone points out that what I've said is a complete falsehood...I'll tell them I misspoke. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket! I misspoke! If that doesn't work, I'll accuse them of being in league with the Catholics. They might even be evil Catholic Communist alien ninja pirates. Yeah, that's right. They're always out to get me...me and my lucky charms...

I write this in the spirit of satire, but that men like Ergun Caner can get away with this when the blatant fabrications have been exposed ad nauseum simply makes me shake my head. While I feel bad for his family in the sense that they have to bear the indirect brunt of this, the criticism given to Caner is not unfounded, and they have continued because he has refused to repent. Many out there apparently still see him as a role model for young Christian men seeking work in apologetics and ministry.

The question is...what kind of influence is he giving?

Ergun Caner's Arabic

Dr. James White, with his Arabic tutor, reviews the supposed use of Arabic language by Ergun Caner.



EDIT - JANUARY 9, 2011: I received contact from a Lebanese Christian who came across this post and said she literally laughed out loud at how badly Ergun Caner was trying to speak Arabic. An excerpt of what she sent me:

There was an Arabic tube on your blog that made me laugh so so so much at the man who was trying to make like he knows the language! it's like not even close!!!...

We [Lebanese Christians] say that Jesus is Son of God
In Lebanon we use Yashu not Issa by the way and sometimes we do say Jesus Son of God. But in the right context, you know.

I am fluent in Arabic like really fluent, like it is the language i dream in it!! and this guy was hilarious! No but really, not even sounding close, like the letters and the way we pronounce is super super bad imitation! Like i can fake better German!!