trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
The powers that be

{{languagenav}}
{{Sources needed}}
'''"The powers that be"''' as a phrase originated in {{wpl|Tyndale Bible|William Tyndale's 1526 translation}} of the [[Bible]], where it characterises ({{bible|Romans|13|1|2}}) the [[secular]] authorities (i.e., at that time, the [[monarch]]s and the [[aristocracy]]):
{{cquote|
# Let every soule submit him selfe vnto the auctorite of ye hyer powers. For there is no power but of God.
# The powers that be are ordeyned of God. Whosoever therfore resysteth power resisteth the ordinaunce of God. And they that resist shall receave to the selfe damnacio.|||Romans 13:1-2, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_%28Tyndale%29/Romans#Chapter_13 Tyndale's Bible]}}

(Romans 13 does not appear to discuss (for example) the case of defections to [[North Korea]] to serve alternative "hyer powers". Or "hyer powers" that are [[Dictatorship|grossly unfit to hold power]], for that matter.)

The editors of the [[King James Version]] adopted the phrase, but modern translations prefer a less archaic wording: it's "the authorities that exist have been established by God" in the [[NIV]].

Modern English vernacular language uses the phrase "the powers that be" with the same meaning ("the [[government]]"), usually in a satirical way. In the jargon of [[conspiracy theorist]]s, though, it is used as a placeholder name for whatever sinister forces CTs imagine to be actually ruling the world. (Partially because they can't reach an agreement whether it's ruled by the [[Freemasons]], the [[Illuminati]], or the 
[[Jew]]s
 [[Reptilians|reptilian aliens]].) The phrase is usually abbreviated to '''TPTB''', and it's often used by the rank-and-file inhabitants of forums like [[Above Top Secret]] and [[Godlike Productions]].

== See also==
* In the cultural sphere, compare the alleged role of the [[Evil Liberal Science Conspiracy]].

==External links==

* {{cite web |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-powers-that-be.html |title=The powers that be - meaning and origin |author=Gary Martin}}
* [http://www.godlikeproductions.com/search.php?q=TPTB A simple thread title search for "TPTB" at Godlike Productions] unveils a lot of hilarity.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|language}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powers that be}}
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Jargon]]

Categories: Conspiracy theories, Jargon
TheocracyWatch

{{uspolitics}}
{{cquote|How to Participate in a Political Party Rule the world for God.  Give the impression that you are there to work for the party, not push an ideology.  Hide your strength.  Don't flaunt your Christianity.  Christians need to take leadership positions. Party officers control political parties and so it is very important that mature Christians have a majority of leadership positions whenever possible, God willing."|||[[Pat Robertson]]<ref>[http://www.theocracywatch.org/taking_over.htm Taking Over the Republican Party]</ref>}} 

'''TheocracyWatch''' is a group founded by environmental activist Joan Bokaer and run by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy of Cornell University. It is concerned about the influence of the [[Religious Right]] and [[Dominionism]] in the [[Republican Party]] of the [[United States]].  

The group has an extensive website exposing what the [[United States|American]] [[Religious Right]] does and how they are [[Theocracy|Theocratic]].

==See also==
*[[Alliance Defense Fund]]
*[[Christian Coalition]]
*[[Compassionate conservatism]]
*[[Moral Majority]]

==External links==
*[http://www.theocracywatch.org/ The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party] The Official Website of Theocracy Watch
==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|Politics}}

[[Category:Christianity]]

Categories: Christianity
Theodosius Dobzhansky

{{sources needed}}{{Evolution}}
'''Theodosius Dobzhansky''' {{lived|January 25, 1900|November 11, 1975}} was a [[Russia]]n [[genetics|geneticist]]. Born in [[Ukraine]] (then part of the [[tsar]]ist [[Russia]]n [[Empire]]) as the son of a [[mathematics]] teacher, Dobzhansky studied at the University of Kiev before moving to the [[United States]] in 1930 where he worked at the California Institute of Technology and at Columbia University on ''Drosophila'' genetics.

Dobzhansky was one of the principal engineers of the [[modern synthesis]] which united [[genetics]] and [[evolution]], notably holding a gene-centric view: he defined evolution as ''a change in [[allele]] frequencies in a gene pool''.

Dobzhansky was a tireless critic of [[creationism]], most famously in his 1973 essay "[[Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution]]", the title of which has become one of the most quoted anti-creationist lines.

He was also a critic of [[racialism]], and used his findings to show that the biological features of races are socially constructed rather than biologically defined, and that distinguishing races was only (marginally) useful for the practice of finding the where a person's ancestors lived geographically.

As a Russian [[Orthodox Christian]], Dobzhansky was a proponent of [[theistic evolution]].

==Bibliography==
*''Genetics and the Origin of Species'' (1937, third edition 1951).
*''The Biological Basis of Human Freedom'' (1954).
*''Mankind Evolving: The Evolution of the Human Species'' (1962).
*''The Biology of Ultimate Concern'' (1967).
*''Genetics of the Evolution Process'' (1970).
*''Genetic Diversity and Human Equality'' (1973).

{{crebox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobzhansky, Theodosius}}
[[Category:Biologists]]
[[Category:California]]

Categories: Biologists, California
Theorum

{{philosophyscience}}
'''Theorum''' (rhymes with decorum, apparently) is a neologism proposed by [[Richard Dawkins]] in ''The Greatest Show on Earth'' to distinguish the [[science|scientific]] meaning of [[theory]] from the colloquial meaning. In most of the opening introduction to the show,  he substitutes "theorum" for "theory" when referring to the major scientific theories such as [[evolution]].

==Problems with "theory"==

Dawkins notes two general meanings for theory: the scientific one and the general sense that means a wild conjecture made up by someone as an explanation. The point of Dawkins inventing a new word is to get around the fact that the lay audience may not thoroughly understand what scientists mean when they say "[[theory of evolution]]". As many people see the phrase "I have a theory" as practically synonymous with "I have a wild guess I [[PIDOOMA|pulled out of my backside]]", there is often confusion about how thoroughly understood certain scientific ideas are. Hence the well known [[creationist]] argument that evolution is [[Only a theory|"''just'' a theory"]] &mdash; and the often cited response of "but [[gravity]] is also ''just'' a theory".

To convey the special sense of thoroughness implied by the word theory in science, Dawkins borrowed the mathematical word "theorem". This is used to describe a well understood [[mathematics|mathematical]] concept, for instance Pythagoras' Theorem regarding right angled triangles. However, Dawkins also wanted to avoid the absolute meaning of [[proof]] associated with that word, as used and understood by mathematicians. So he came up with something that looks like a spelling error. This would remove any person's emotional attachment or preconceptions of what the word "theory" means if it cropped up in the text of ''The Greatest Show on Earth'', and so people would (in "''theory''") have no other choice but to associate it with only the definition Dawkins gives.

This phrase has completely failed to catch on—that is, if Dawkins intended it to catch on rather than just be a device for use in ''The Greatest Show on Earth''.

==See also==
*[[Fact]]
*[[Proof]]
*[[Only a theory]]

[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Science]]
{{stub|philosophy}}

Categories: Neologisms, Language, Science
Theory

{{fork}}
*[[Scientific theory]] — The ''closest'' approximation to the truth.
*[[Conspiracy theory]] — The ''furthest'' approximation to the truth.
*[[Critical race theory]]
*[[Game theory]]
*[[String theory]]
*The [[theory of evolution]] — Which, for the record, is '''not''' "[[just a theory]]".
*The [[theory of relativity]]
*The [[theory of everything]]
They

{{fork}}
* An unspecified group behind a [[conspiracy theory]]. Frequently a euphemism for the [[Jew]]s, but can also mean, e.g., [[intelligence agency]] people, [[aliens]], [[demons]] – maybe several such groups in some vague claimed collusion. See [[:Category:Conspiracy theorist scapegoats|Conspiracy theorist scapegoats]] for more.
* A gender-neutral pronoun in the [[English]] language, often used by [[nonbinary]] people.
* A term used to refer to the [[Other]], as in 'us' vs. 'them.'
Third Amendment

{{constnav}}
The '''Third Amendment to the United States Constitution''' reads:
{{cquote|No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.}}

==Parsing the Third Amendment==
This amendment was very relevant to the era in which it was first passed, since the forcible quartering of British Soldiers was one of the things that precipitated the American Revolution. It is considerably less relevant now as the US military provides housing for its troops - as do most militaries today.

==Criticism==

''None! Zero! Zilch!'' This appears to be the only amendment nobody has had any issues with and can, generally, agree upon the interpretation of. But really, will that last?
<ref>If the experts are to be believed: [http://www.tomwbell.com/writings/3rd.html yes, it will last].</ref> Though this is likely to change with the Mayor of Washington D.C ejecting the Utah National Guard, who are considered soldiers under the law<ref>[https://www.history.com/news/third-amendment-constitution-james-madison].</ref> in the midst of the George Floyd protests. The only federal court that has incorporated (applied a portion of the Bill of Rights, which applies to the federal government, to a state) the Third Amendment is the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers the states of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.<ref><u>Engblom v. Carey</u>,  677 F.2d 957 (2d. Cir. 1982)</ref>

== Memorable Quotations ==

{{cquote|"You troops are just going to have to sleep on the patio" is a perfectly Constitutional thing for you to tell them.|||''Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort-Of History of the United States''}}

==External links==
*{{wpa|Engblom v. Carey}}, The only law case involving the Third Amendment.
*''The Onion'' - [https://www.theonion.com/third-amendment-rights-group-celebrates-another-success-1819569379]
*''History.com'' - [https://www.history.com/news/third-amendment-constitution-james-madison]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|law}}
{{Constitutionbox}}
Third World

The '''Third World''' is a phrase used denote the [[nation]]s that were not aligned with either the [[United States]] (First World) or the [[Soviet Union]] (Second World), listed in order of development. Today, it is used simply to denote countries that are not very well developed, such as [[North Korea]] or [[South Sudan]].

More recently, the term "developing world" has generally been preferred by some. Many [[people]] now break countries up into more new categories, such as economically-developed countries (EDCs), newly-industrializing [[nation|countries]] (NICs), lesser-developed countries (LDCs), and least-developed countries (LLDCs). In {{wpl|World Systems Theory||,}} they are known as periphery countries, being focused on exporting cheap labor and raw materials to the more powerful semi-periphery and core countries.

If you are reading this, you are probably fortunate enough to live in a newly developed country or better.

Unfortunately, "third world immigration" has become a [[Dog whistle politics|dog whistle]] term used by such unsavory sites like [[VDARE]] and [[American Renaissance]].

== See also ==
*[[Africa]]
*[[Vulture fund]]

{{stub|geography}}

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Geography]]

Categories: Economics, Geography
Thomas

{{fork}}
*[[Apostle#Thomas|One of Jesus's apostles]]
*[[Brian Thomas]], creationist
*[[Clarence Thomas]], hyperconservative [[SCOTUS]] judge
*[[Gospel of Thomas]], [[Gnosticism]]-influenced [[apocrypha]]
*[[Infancy Gospel of Thomas]], another noncanonical [[gospel]]
*[[Thomas Aquinas]], influential theologan
*[[Thomas Friedman]], [[journalist]] for the ''[[New York Times]]''
*[[Thomas Jefferson]], third [[POTUS|U.S. president]]
*[[Thomas Malthus]], Malthusian [[economics|economicist]]
*[[Thomas More]], writer of ''Utopia''
**[[Thomas More Law Center]], conservative legal organization
*[[Thomas Nagel]], [[philosophy|philosopher]]
*[[Thomas Paine]], [[Founding Fathers|Founding Father]] and author of ''Common Sense''
*[[Mental illness denialism#Thomas Szasz|Thomas Szasz]], mental illness [[denialism|denialist]]

==See also==
*[[Tom]]
Thomas Bertonneau

[[File:Thomas Bertonneau.webp|thumb|right|165px|Bertonneau.]]{{altright}}
'''Thomas F. Bertonneau''' {{lived|1955|2021}} was an American professor, reactionary, and [[white nationalist]]. He taught at a variety of institutions, and was a member of the English Faculty at SUNY Oswego from 2001 to his retirement in 2020. His articles and essays appeared in a diverse array of scholarly journals, and also in white nationalist publications.

Bertonneau was a white nationalist with ties to [[Richard Spencer]]. He contributed to Spencer's online publications including the Radix Journal. Along with Spencer, Bertonneau had been a guest speaker at the annual H.L. Mencken Club Conference, described as a gathering of white supremacist academics by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]<ref name=splc>{{Cite news|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2013/11/01/white-nationalist-academics-gather-weekend-hl-mencken-club-annual-meeting|title=White Nationalist Academics to Gather This Weekend for H.L. Mencken Club Annual Meeting|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=2017-07-22|language=en}}</ref> and the Institute For Research & Education On Human Rights.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irehr.org/2013/11/01/2013-hl-mencken-club-event/|title=H.L. Mencken Club Gathering Brings White Nationalists Together Again|last=Burghart|first=Devin|date=2013-11-01|website=IREHR|access-date=2017-07-22}}</ref>

He also wrote for various far-right and traditionalist blogs, such as {{wpl|The Brussels Journal||,}} Orthsphere and Sydney Trads.

Bertonneau died 21 September 2021 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20211013194643/http://www.oswegocountynewsnow.com/obituaries/thomas-f-bertonneau/article_8dcdb906-1bd1-11ec-a764-1774e7c7c626.html Obituary]</ref>

==Works==
{{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=22em}}
* ''Declining Standards at Michigan Public Universities'', Mackinac Center for Public Policy, 1997.
* ''The Truth Is Out There: Christian Faith and the Classics of TV Science Fiction'', with Kim Paffenroth, Brazos Press, 2006.
{{div col end}}

==External links==
* [http://www.oswego.edu/academics/colleges_and_departments/departments/english/faculty/bertonneau.html SUNY: Oswego]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazis]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:White supremacists]]

Categories: Fascists, Neo-Nazis, Racists, White supremacists
Thomas Hobbes

[[File:Thomas_Hobbes_(portrait).jpg|thumb|165px|Old man Hobbes knows that the only way to live is to kill first!]]{{philosophy|1}}
{{Sources needed}}
{{cquote|Homo homini lupus<ref group=notes>Translated into English: “Man is a wolf to his fellow man”</ref>|||Plautus|195 BCE}}
'''Thomas Hobbes''' {{lived|1588|1679}} was an [[England|English]] [[Philosophy|philosopher]], [[Physics|physicist]], [[Mathematics|mathematician]], and [[History|historian]].<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes/ Thomas Hobbes].  ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''.  2009 March 11.</ref>

As a philosopher Hobbes contemplated the nature of reasoning, sensation, imagination, and signification.  He is considered to have been an [[Empiricism|empiricist]], a nominalist, and a [[Materialism|materialist]], the latter particularly contrasting his philosophy with that of [[Aristotle]].  Hobbes agreed with Aristotle, however, that reliable [[knowledge]] was gained through [[Reasoning|reason]] and an understanding of the relationship of cause and effect.

Hobbes taught that [[human]] beings are naturally selfish, brutish and violent and absolute government was necessary to prevent a "war of all against all". Well, he should speak for himself.

His principal work, ''The [[Leviathan]]'' (1651), which he wrote in English (and with liberal use of massive run-on sentences), advocated [[absolute monarchy | absolute]] government, either [[monarchy]] or assembly, as the best political system and believed a [[social contract]] was formed or should be formed to create that system. On a somewhat lighter note, these ideas were foundational traits of Hobbes in ''Calvin and Hobbes''.  He may or may not have been the product of [[John Calvin|Calvin]]'s imagination.

In addition to the [[social contract]] theory, ''[[Leviathan]]'' famously introduced the concept of a "Human nature", to describe human existence before the invention of government: Hobbes guessed that this life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short", "a war of all against all". Future [[Age of Enlightenment | enlightenment]] philosophers such as [[John Locke | Locke]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Rousseau]] took this as given, citing Hobbes. [[anthropology | Anthropological work]] since has shown this to not be the case: pre-civilization human life was socially organized and cooperative.<ref>{{wpl|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic?#Social_organization|Social organization}}</ref>

''The Leviathan'' has a telling definition of [[religion]]:
:“Fear of power invisible, feigned by the mind, or imagined from tales publicly allowed, [is] religion [...]."

==External links==
*[[wikisource:en:Author:Thomas Hobbes|Works of Thomas Hobbes on Wikisource]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=notes}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|philosophy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbes, Thomas}}
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:Historians]]
[[Category:Mathematicians]]
[[Category:Philosophers]]
[[Category:Physicists]]

Categories: British people, Historians, Mathematicians, Philosophers, Physicists
Thomas More Law Center

{{Law}}
The '''Thomas More Law Center''', named after the [[Roman Catholic]] patron [[saint]]{{efn|Interestingly, More is also a patron saint of sorts for [[communists]] for his 1516 book ''Utopia''.<ref>{{wpa|Alexander Garden Obelisk#The Soviet period}}</ref>}} of lawyers and founded by Domino's pizza tycoon [[Tom Monaghan]], is a [[conservative]] Christian legal advocacy organization based in Ann Arbor, [[Michigan]]. One of its more prominent cases was its defense of the Dover [[Pennsylvania|PA]] School Board in the [[Kitzmiller]] case. 

In 2011, the Center sued [[Barack Obama|Barack '''Hussein''' Obama]] in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan over the [[United States Constitution|constitutionality]] of [[Obamacare]] and lost. They appealed the decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which upheld the lower court's ruling.<ref>[http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/11a0168p-06.pdf Thomas More Law Center, et al. v. Barack Hussein Obama] (PDF)</ref> In 2001, the Center sued the San Diego chapter of [[Planned Parenthood]] to force it to inform women of a possible [[Evidence linking abortion to breast cancer|link between abortions and breast cancer]]. Clearly fitting the snowball clause, the case was dismissed, with the center ordered to pay legal fees.

==External links==
* [http://www.thomasmore.org/ Thomas More Law Center]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Law-related stubs]]
[[Category:Organizations]]
[[Category:Teach the controversy]]

Categories: Christianity, Law-related stubs, Organizations, Teach the controversy
Threat

{{Psychology}}
In persuasion, a '''threat''' is an attack on "deep needs" that forces the persuadee to act quickly.<ref name="pers">http://changingminds.org/principles/threat.htm</ref> As a technique, it is based on the ability to control another.  

"Threats do not change minds, but they are often very effective at changing how people act, at least in the short term.... The problems with threats is that [they] can cause a tremendous backlash in terms of the anger and other negative emotions that are aroused. Where a trust is betrayed, such as when a confidence is used against a person, their anger and hate can be very significant... You can use threats to cause short-term behavioral change, but be very aware that it can have a significant negative effect, including a long-term need for vengeance and subtle acts of revenge."<ref name="pers" />

The effectiveness, however temporary, of a threat is also dependent on the threatened person's belief in the ability of the threatener to ''carry out'' their threat. A mother saying to her child "I'll kill you if you do that once more!" is not likely to be believed and hence the threat is '''empty'''. Equally, "I'll report you to the [[FBI]] if you ..." is likely to be perceived as an empty threat [[Conservapedia:FBI Incident|when perpetrated by Wiki proprietors]].

In [[game theory]], it is assumed that carrying out the threat makes both parties worse off than allowing the threatened party to do what they want. Therefore, most threats are not believable unless specific action is taken to make the threatening party ''even worse off'' if they do not go through with it. This is either done by publicly "tying one's hands" or putting resources down to defend with the threat. Alternatively, cultivating a reputation of being an unhinged [[psychopath]] also works.

==See also==
*[[Argumentum ad baculum]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{stub|psychology}}
[[Category:Psychology]]

Categories: Psychology