Charles R Coffey II

I just watched a video with JD Vance claiming that religious tolerance was a Christian invention. Wow. Freedom of religion in Europe did not arise from Christian theology. It emerged as secular rulers and reformist factions sought to limit the institutional Church’s power and to stabilize societies fractured by sectarian conflict. Many of the legal protections that developed — from the Peace of Augsburg to the Edict of Nantes — were political compromises, not theological gifts. They were frequently opposed by Church authorities and by leaders of various Christian sects. Still, these laws did exist, and they cannot be understood without acknowledging Christianity’s long history of schism, persecution, and doctrinal warfare. The suffering caused by intra‑Christian conflict — Catholics vs. Protestants, Protestants vs. Protestants, heresy hunts, inquisitions — created intense pressure for mechanisms that could prevent societies from tearing themselves apart. Many early American settlers fled precisely these persecutions, even though they often reproduced similar intolerance once established. The VP’s claim fits a familiar pattern: the argument that all beneficial modern principles were birthed by Christianity. This ignores the reality that Europe’s greatest advancements came from the tension between Christian cultural dominance and secular legal innovation. It was a balance of power — the same principle the American founders deliberately built into their political system. And crucially, the idea of religious tolerance long predates Christianity and appears in multiple independent traditions: 🕊️ Pre‑Christian or Non‑Christian Traditions of Religious Tolerance Ashoka’s Edicts — 3rd century BCE Explicit calls for mutual respect among religions, restraint in criticism, and learning from other sects. Rigvedic pluralism — c. 1500–1000 BCE “Truth is one; the wise call it by many names.” A philosophical acceptance of multiple paths to the divine. Jainism’s anekantavada — 6th–5th century BCE A doctrine of many‑sided truth, paired with strict non‑violence, fostering deep tolerance. Achaemenid Persian policy — 6th century BCE Restoration of temples, repatriation of peoples, and non‑imposition of a single faith across a diverse empire. Mongol religious tolerance — 13th century CE A multi‑faith empire where Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and others coexisted without forced conversion. These examples show that religious tolerance is not a Christian invention. It is a human political and philosophical development that appears across civilizations.

I remember them all. I grew up at the feet of men who served in WWII and Korea. They didn't talk much about the stories of men who did not come home. Oddly, the stories we did hear, because they were part of their everyday lives, were the stories of men who came home anything but whole. Men who seemed like just everyday normal guys, who were nice to us kids, and brought a new ball and jump ropes to family gatherings at other men's homes. Who would sometimes sit and drink alone, and also look very sad. Or some nice men who would, for no reason, sometimes yell about something meaningless and then spend the rest of the day devastated and sorry for doing something they didn't even know why they did. I had an uncle in the Marines, who left Harvard to sign up in December 41. He was a sharpshooter in a company where the Japanese tried to wade across one of those flat, slow, muddy rivers full of crocodiles along the coast of Guadalcanal. He was showing us his guns, and my brother asked him about the war, and he just started to cry. We never asked again. But I did learn that he somehow wound up on Peleliu, which was a whole other Marine Division. I studied that history for sixty years, but I never asked him about it after the day with the rifles. As I grew older and became aware of a larger world, there was Vietnam. Casualty numbers on the nightly news, and sometimes the names. One nice guy, Hal, dated a sister of mine when he was about sixteen. Took us for walks down to Taddy's in Brighton for a walk and a soda, or some fries. His platoon was sent into the jungle to find some missing guys who had disappeared overnight. They found them after the Viet Cong had. What was left of them. He got sent home, about six months later (Not the only one from his squad), because he had been sleepwalking in the jungle at night. Years later, after we had moved to South Carolina, his mom paid for a trip for him to come down and visit my sister. Hoping it might help. He had never married that I heard. I never forgot the story I overheard. I was about 9. I cried on my mother's lap for an hour. So many wars. Croatia, Iraq, Afghanistan. Places with smaller names, where there was a crash, my own father injured in the Azores. Or places with no name at all, a kid who they think fell overboard. No reason it was deliberate... I don't pray, but I remember them all. The fallen, the pieces, the guys who never stayed married or lost jobs a lot. The men at the VA Hospital in Augusta, so many who smiled so quickly but who moved very slowly. I remember them all. I always will. And I am grateful every day for what they secured for us at such great cost. It's also why I can't forgive people today, who do not know, and who want to throw it all away.

I hope Great Britain finds its courage before it is overtaken by darkness. They brought light to every corner of the world. Now they only need to bring it back to one small island.

As an atheist, I often hear that I must be missing something profound engraved in human existence — the wonder, the meaning, the awe. I just smile. Because what I see is so much larger and more beautiful. Billions of years ago, when our universe was far smaller and hotter, it cooled enough for the first stars to form. Those stars were titans — vast beyond imagining — living short, violent lives. They forged the heavier elements we’re made of: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and more. In their final moments, they exploded, scattering their ashes across the cosmos. Those enriched clouds of gas and dust were churned by stellar winds and shockwaves, like wheat in a windy field. Gravity eventually drew them together again, giving birth to new, smaller stars — including our gentle Sun — and the very materials that would one day become us. In countless places across the universe, where calm puddles form, an inevitable chain of chemistry follows. Through that chemistry and deep time, the universe wakes up and looks at itself. For a few short turns around this modest star, a small part of reality gets to feel sunlight on skin, watch dew sparkle, fall in love, and wonder at the night sky. This is not a lesser story. Burning bushes and walking on water are impressive special effects, but they pale in the light of the true spectacle: we are stardust that learned to wonder, to love, and to understand where it came from. Best of all, every word of this story is true — because it actually tells us who we are. It’s not that I love stories any less. I simply find richer and more profound meaning in this universe — deeper continuity, greater wonder, and a continuation of our essence that doesn’t end even when our individual names are forgotten… even after our worlds have ended. Our families, our atoms, and this cosmos remain, creating new wonder by recombining us — yet again — into an endless, magnificent dance. That is why I smile when you share your “wonderful news.” I'm just thinking about a much older story.

One of the most frustrating aspects of today's news isn't just media dishonesty—it's how many people lack the basic knowledge to spot specious arguments or outright lies. Nowhere is this more evident than with Islam and jihad, where misinformation vastly outnumbers reliable sources. Even AI responses often reflect the dominant, sanitized datasets on these topics. The solution? Go to the primary sources and scholars who engage them directly. Books like Robert Spencer's The Critical Qur'an, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), or The History of Jihad have repeatedly helped me challenge and refine AI outputs, yielding answers that align far more closely with Islam's core texts and historical record. Spencer's latest, The Tragedy of Islam: Failure and Excuses, delivers a clear, approachable overview of this urgent issue. In his 32nd book, he cuts through the excuses and fantasies that persist in the West—despite repeated evidence of societal and individual failures under Islamic frameworks. With decades of experience, Spencer presents the data with rare clarity and no illusions. If you care about the world we're leaving to the next generation, this may be one of the most important books you read this year. Highly recommended. The Tragedy of Islam: Failure and Excuses - Kindle edition by Spencer, Robert. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. @jihadwatchRS

An Open Letter: A Better Education Revolution Is Possible. For decades, American education has been trapped in an outdated industrial model: large classrooms, uniform pacing, and too little genuine expertise reaching students. Despite high spending, we too often fail to deliver mastery of fundamentals or to identify and nurture exceptional talent. We now have the tools and the opportunity to build something far superior. Combine the precision of artificial intelligence with strategic human excellence: Let AI serve as each student’s primary daily tutor — creating individualized lesson plans, adapting in real time to strengths and weaknesses, ensuring rock-solid mastery of fundamentals with unlimited patience, and generating rich longitudinal data to continuously improve individual instruction. Free human teachers to focus on small groups of five to six students, one or two days per week for deep discussion, projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. Most importantly, systematically place real subject-matter experts directly in front of students for targeted, high-impact sessions. Have Justices produce digital lessons on Constitutional law and place an attorney who has passed the bar in the room with the teacher to field questions about that lesson. This hybrid model would transform outcomes. Within ten years, we will have unprecedented data to refine teaching methods. Data that no researcher or educator has ever had. More importantly, we would graduate a generation with genuine mastery — young people truly prepared to become outstanding artists, writers, doctors, scientists, and engineers; but, more importantly, young people who have expressed an attraction for the very subjects for which they were then prepared. Doctors, Lawyers, engineers, poets, artists, mathematicians... to boost our economies and cultures as one. We would finally be able to identify and nurture rare talent early instead of letting it go to waste. No more Srinivasa Ramanujans pumping gas or flipping burgers because no one had the time or structure to truly engage them. A small group of mathematical prodigies could sit with a working mathematician and explore Fermat’s Last Theorem, witness the elegance of elegant proofs, and discuss open problems at the frontier of the field. To encourage and inspire that love for the subject, just as the AI pedagogue would continue to do. The same principle applies across disciplines: constitutional attorneys answering tough questions after digital lectures on the founding principles, geneticists discussing CRISPR with biology students, engineers exploring real-world materials science breakthroughs, historians providing context on complex civilizations, and poets mentoring students with exceptional linguistic gifts. Experts don’t replace teachers — they supplement them in limited, high-value windows. Many professionals would welcome the chance to ignite young minds directly. Structured contributions of a modest number of hours per year could become a natural part of civic responsibility for those who hold advanced credentials and licenses. Those contacts would improve the skills of the Teachers as well. It would be an educational system that could also respond to the changing needs of a global community or a global economy. Transitional new technologies explained. A lesson on Middle Eastern history, if that is an area of concern the students become more likely to face, can be quickly added with good data, clean facts, and critical unbiased analysis. We are entering an era of accelerating technological, geopolitical, and institutional pressure. We can drift forward with incremental failure, or we can deliberately choose the revolution we actually want: an education system grounded in mastery, individual potential, and the best human knowledge available. This model respects both the tireless precision of AI and the irreplaceable spark that only a living expert can provide. It prioritizes competence and human flourishing over bureaucratic convenience. And it gives us the best chance of raising citizens capable of understanding, preserving, and advancing a complex free society. It could even save money, though it is more likely that we will receive an order of magnitude worth of impact for the money we spend. The data will prove it. The students will prove it. The talent we unlock will prove it. I invite teachers, parents, school leaders, technologists, governors, and federal officials who are serious about results to reach out. Let’s begin piloting this approach in willing districts now. The tools exist. The opportunity is clear. The future is waiting. Let’s build the educational system we know we should, to create the world we should want.

Open Letter to the Supreme Court of the United States and the Office of the President January 10, 2026 Dear Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court and President Donald J. Trump, As a concerned American citizen (@Coffey3C1on X), I write to highlight a profound missed opportunity in our nation's civic education: the chance to harness the wisdom of our greatest Supreme Court justices to foster a deeper, unified understanding of the Constitution among our youth and fellow citizens. We have been blessed with brilliant minds like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Antonin Scalia—icons who transcended ideology to illuminate the law's core principles. Imagine if we had captured them on camera, in a lecture walking through the Bill of Rights: Justice Ginsburg explaining how these amendments protect non-majoritarian rights, ensuring every citizen's liberties against the whims of the majority; or Justice Scalia detailing the First Amendment's religion clauses, clarifying why protections for conscience sometimes appear to favor faith yet ultimately safeguard all from government coercion or hostility—balancing rulings on school prayer and beyond to preserve true freedom. Such lectures, shown to every student first in middle school and then again as seniors, could bridge divides, counter misinformation, and remind us "who we are" as a people governed by enduring principles. Interviews and speeches exist, but their integration into curricula is too often left to those who may prioritize agendas over impartiality. We need a national initiative: mandatory, accessible video series from past and current justices, produced under federal oversight, to make constitutional education a cornerstone of American identity. This isn't about politics—it's about citizenship. By archiving and mandating these teachings, we honor justices like RBG and Scalia while equipping future generations to uphold our Republic. I urge SCOTUS and the Executive Branch to collaborate on this, perhaps through the Federal Judicial Center or Department of Education, to get Americans on the same pageIt may seem a small idea, but in an era of great division, rediscovering our shared constitutional foundation could change everything. Thank you for considering this call to action. Sincerely, Charles R. Coffey II (@Coffey3C1) @SCOTUSblog @USSupremeCourt @POTUS #CivicEducation #SCOTUS #Constitution #BillOfRights

Received one of the most pointless comparisons I’ve seen. Israel is not Singapore — you’re right about that — but it is multicultural. Roughly two million Arab Muslim citizens live there, along with Arab Christians, other Christian communities, Druze, Buddhists, Vietnamese Israelis, and more. Despite not having a formal written constitution, Israel’s legal framework — reinforced repeatedly by its Supreme Court — guarantees equality under the law regardless of religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. That is multiculturalism in practice, not in slogan. If you want to talk about ethnocentric states, you might look at the broader landscape: there are 46 Muslim‑majority countries worldwide (49 if you count OIC membership), and many of them impose significant legal restrictions on non‑Muslims — ranging from limits on worship and conversion to outright discrimination in family law, citizenship, or political participation. Twenty‑three of those countries explicitly declare Islam as the state religion. I assume you consider those ‘problematic ethnocentric states’ as well? And since you brought up Singapore: Gaza is also not Singapore. Gaza has received extraordinary amounts of international funding over the years. Had its leadership chosen to build a functioning, open, prosperous society rather than a perpetual refugee enclave governed by a militant organization, it could have become something remarkable. The opportunity was there; the choice was not taken. Pretending Israel is some kind of monolithic, exclusionary ethnocentric project is one of the sillier claims that circulates out there.

Aaron Clark @Acts17David No. You say you block Evil, but you block those to disagree with your support of evil. Not the same thing at all.

Francesca Albanese had her script ready long before Hamas attacked civilians: “Collective punishment” — invoked even before the IDF struck back. “Ethnic cleansing” — October 14, one week after Oct 7. “Genocide” — November 2, one month after Oct 7. Appointed UN Special Rapporteur on May 1, 2022, her bias was obvious. Tasked with reporting on “Palestinians,” she avoided calling Hamas terrorists, describing them instead as a “political service provider.” She even suggested the world stop calling them murderers. On Oct 7, she tweeted: “I unequivocally condemn attacks on civilians… Whoever launches them (Pal armed groups or Isr occupation forces) commits crimes.” That equated Hamas’s massacre with Israel’s defense, framing it as a “spiral.” Nov 15, Canberra: finally under immense pressure on her and the UN, she called Oct 7 a “war crime” — but immediately contextualized it as decades of oppression. Condemnation wrapped in deflection. The statement was a master class of deflection and equivocation. Albanese’s timing and loyalties have always been clear, and to many she was running off a preplanned script in support of Hamas. She worried more about Palestinian “human rights” even before Israel struck back than she ever did when Hamas killing Gazans.

House of Dynamite was less dynamite, more of a damp matchstick. When the reckoning comes, the great publishing houses of Alpha Centauri—might now be second against the wall. Whomever it was that produced that offal, we have all the proof we need that they are the kind of people who steal Halloween candy... from orphans.

Where once we had hope in our judicial and political institutions to make the world a better place, we are not compelled to build castle walls.

I've never felt that the Voting Rights Act was the best of all possible solutions. Just like I do not believe in former President Obama's intent to save democracy by giving control of elections to one of the most partisan legislatures in the land. I hope I'm smarter than that, and I think many more of you are too. We've come far since the shadows of 1939 and the storms of 1965—not as wards needing constant guardrails, but as one people perfectly capable of standing tall on our own. It's time we stop trying to force outcomes we think we need, and trust in a system that is fair and equal to work out in all of our best interests. Rigid maps and mandates that breed division—in this example, will never be as true as the profound trust we owe each other as equal citizens of our Nation, or States. To the Justices of the Supreme Court: Take off the training wheels. (Louisiana v. Callais @SCOTUSblog ) The Voting Rights Act steadied our wobbles in darker days, but we've matured. Americans are not perfect, but balance will only improve from the exercise of civic muscle. Legal braces only delay the process, and do not allow the benefits gained from every voter Keeping eyes on the path ahead, not on skin color. Outcomes are sometimes less than optimal, and intentions may be good or bad, but allowing a fair process with equal access for every eligible citizen, is more optimal than trying to force outcomes, based on individual bias and perception. Thornburg v. Gingles dilution test, isn't the test for today, equality within the franchise is the test we must face as one people. These ideals are best achieved through constitutional scholarship and fealty to the principles therein by establishing sound legal and governmental frameworks. @rickhasen @WilliamBaude @IlyaSomin @OrinKerr @BrennanCenter

The Honorable Donald J. Trump President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 @POTUS Dear Mr. President and Members of Your Administration: I am writing to bring to your attention the concept of hudna as understood within jihadist ideology, which may inform ongoing geopolitical strategies involving Islamist militant groups. This explanation is intended to aid in diplomatic and security analyses, particularly in contexts like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Islamic jurisprudence, hudna—derived from the Arabic root meaning "calm" or "quiet"—refers to a temporary truce or armistice, often modeled after the Prophet Muhammad's Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in 628 CE, which paused hostilities for up to ten years but was ultimately broken when circumstances shifted. From a jihadist perspective, hudna is not a pathway to permanent peace but a tactical measure: a binding but finite ceasefire allowing time to regroup, rebuild strength, and resume hostilities when advantageous. It explicitly avoids concessions like recognizing an adversary's legitimacy—such as Israel's right to exist in the case of Palestinian groups—and defers unresolved issues, like the right of return for refugees, to future generations. For instance, in 2003, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad declared a 45-day hudna as a confidence-building step, yet it was viewed by critics as merely a pause for rearmament. Similarly, Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi proposed a 10-year hudna in 2004, contingent on Israeli withdrawals, but clarified it did not imply recognition of Israel and was limited by current military realities, implying future resumption of conflict. Salafi-jihadist factions, influenced by al-Qaeda, often reject even this pragmatic hudna as a dangerous concession, favoring unrelenting confrontation. Understanding hudna as a strategic interlude rather than a sincere olive branch is crucial for negotiating ceasefires that mitigate risks of renewed violence. I urge your administration to incorporate this nuance into policy frameworks to enhance U.S. and allied security. Thank you for your time and leadership. I would welcome any opportunity to discuss this further. Sincerely, Charles R. Coffey II CC: @vp @SecState @SecWar @secstatewa @usun

The path this world is on sickens me beyond belief. The stupidity of these national leaders cannot be measured, because it is beyond even belief. Nothing will ever make amends for the damage they have done this day. It can be fixed, at greatest human cost, but it can never be made up for. In the end, I got the answer to the question that has bothered me since I began to read history at the end of the Nineteen-sixties. Why didn't people stand up to evils like Mao, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini? It turns out that many people did. they stood, and they talked, and they yelled and they cried, but to no avail; because too many more wanted them to be just what they were. In the end, there were too many people who were just as evil as they were. Just as there were far too many more who were too stupid to know the difference. The damage, the Evil, these people have done today can never be healed. It can be corrected, but now only at the greatest of human cost and lives. They put us on the road that leads only to war. Every world war comes with ever greater cost, and given the treachery and perfidy of our enemy, this one will be greater than all that came before.

Actually, she does. 1. Your take on this is pathological. It lacks empathy and never mentions that what is important here is what is best for the children, which a nurturing environment certainly is, being in the best interest of the children. 2. The Stepmother has legal obligations to safeguard the children who have been left in her presence. She can be charged with abuse and endangerment, or neglect, so she has the right to manage their care according to the requirements of the law and decency. I do not know how my comments in sympathy for the emotional toll on the stepmom, and the recognition of the great job she seems to be doing could devolve into yet another X pissing contest with the deranged element of our society. So, I'm sorry for your multiple divorces, and the fact that your children have never liked you as much as their stepmother, but I am beginning to understand what drove those events to take place. I do mean "pathological."

Replying to @Coffey3C1 @PalMediaOrg and @MenaceLordTruth No problem. I already gathered you're not someone who reads many books. It’ll be clear to others that mine wasn’t written for you—it’s just that you were the gum on the shoe that needed scraping off. Hang in there. I know life’s hard sometimes.

Sad that only one nation has the courage and conviction to stand up to a complicit UN, and a bunch of cowardly politicians who are trying to appease their own credulous left. You cannot enforce peace demands on the nation that has been attacked by Muslim terrorists for over a century when you are complicit with the actions of the terror groups. This is by far, one of the most compelling reasons so many are grateful that the US has a veto power that it earned during two world wars. I personally am pleased that it galls the UN and credulous left so much. Now, the US needs to cease all funding until the current leadership is removed and investigated, and UNRWA and UNIFIL have been removed.