Nah... I saw in a doco recently that the Catholic Church still has 1.5 billion members [despite the recent troubles] while the Orthodox Church has something like 250 million. Still, they are both real Churches. Damn shame they split in the 11th century... probably over politics more than the 'filioquo'.
As for Protestantism it is pretty much collapsing as an organized religion... in complete doctrinal and organizational disarray. This is why the so-called Protestant countries are so susceptible to the inflooding of all these new barbarous, or rather, over-civilized beliefs.[/Q
The current Pope is leading his Church toward Universalism which is not Christianity,Maybe the Pope will start back up indulgences again...
It is hard being a Christian
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To play the devils' advocate, what about the U.S. record with police corruption (i.e. police shooting unarmed black people and getting away with it, or planting drugs on people). Jeff Sessions has removed any federal oversight that was in place before. When you had the Justice Department in the previous Obama Administration finding all sorts of racism and corruption and constitutional violations in virtually every police department that was investigating and the current administration encouraging injustice then something is wrong with the soul of a nation that professes to be Christian.
Where am I going with this? White Evangelical Christians helped Trump and his racist goons get into office and nobody is really stepping up against the injustices that are going on. The "White Supremacy" construct undermines every argument you could say when you see that land was stolen from the Natives, labour was stolen from the Africans, and people were raped and murdered in the system of slavery and what happened afterwards.
Until White Evangelical Christian organizations start denouncing the social injustices that are occurring rather than just blindly giving their support for any Republicans then there is also blood in their hands.
That being said, I really do agree with everything that you have said. We could dismiss what I'm saying by saying that not everyone who professes to be a Christian is a true Christian. The minute you start treating people badly and unjustly and don't care, then you don't really have a relationship with God, you just have a nominal identity and are not really following the text. However, a true Muslim would be a barbarian because their text instructs them to be like that.
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Bible_Belt
Master Don Juan
The only Muslims who follow the Koran literally are ISIS, and they are an extreme minority in the faith. It would be like Jews sacrificing animals, because it says to do so in the Old Testament. In fact, some still do, but they are a minority: https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/.premium-1.716147
glass half full
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Me too...my parents, and therefore as an influence, my daughter.
They think they are perfect, they give my daughter lots of confidence. But me- not so much.
I have not been perfect. And I can't do a damn thing about it.
I am mentally fukd tonight because of such treatment earlier today.
Sometimes I just want to jump im my car, leave everything behind and head straight to Denver, and stay stoned all the time. No sh!t...
I have a very, very tough time fighting this idea.
glass half full
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I have read about Adam having a wife before Eve, whose name was Lilith. She rejected Adam and went with Satan, and multiplied.
Sometimes I wonder if this is one of the removed books of the early Bible. As this does indeed sound like what many women would do.
Just something to think about...
Sometimes I wonder if this is one of the removed books of the early Bible. As this does indeed sound like what many women would do.
Just something to think about...
It's quite liberating to be an open-minded free thinker with a conscience who accepts this imperfect world for what it is and doesn't get mixed up in all this nonsense.
OP, the world is tough. But don't let it compromise your belief in the important values that Jesus tried to teach people. Those values are important even if you don't have faith that God even exists. They should give you strength to accept the world for what it is. We wouldn't even need those values if the world was a perfect, painless paradise.
OP, the world is tough. But don't let it compromise your belief in the important values that Jesus tried to teach people. Those values are important even if you don't have faith that God even exists. They should give you strength to accept the world for what it is. We wouldn't even need those values if the world was a perfect, painless paradise.
Be frustrated, be overwhelmed, put in a good workout then get your head together and think of your blessings.
I raised a kid by myself, 18 years, there were times i wanted to literally strangle myself, take a half hour and Work out or hit a bag or play a videogame and realize it is normal, then come back to reality and realize it's normal to feel that way.
glass half full
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That's what I need, a new heavy bag...may be my next purchase. Lol. Still have my gloves.
I basically raised mine myself til she was 12, couldn't deal with wife/stepkids anymore. Way too much pride/rebellion vs. me/my daughter. So her and I moved out after a verbal confrontation and I've never looked back. Fook that shyt!
Go with an aqua bag. Mine is 140 lbs. That bag u must wear gloves and wraps if you dont have top notch gloves. It will build power quickly
Bible_Belt
Master Don Juan
16 ounce training gloves are the way to go. It is a much better arm workout with a heavier glove. "Bag gloves" tend to be smaller. And if they are not Everlast or a real brand, they are junk.
I run Title, Fairtex and Fighting. Grant and winning are great as well. Winning best for protection but 330 bucks
glasshalffull,
There are a whole host of sexual demons that are rooted in the demonic Lilith. That would include Jezebel, Succubus, or any variety of lust/sex-demons which undermine the divine order of marriage between one man and a woman for life and introduces perverse relationship between a man and a woman.
There are a whole host of sexual demons that are rooted in the demonic Lilith. That would include Jezebel, Succubus, or any variety of lust/sex-demons which undermine the divine order of marriage between one man and a woman for life and introduces perverse relationship between a man and a woman.
I don't think it's really possible to realistically embrace these values if you don't have faith that God exists (i.e. which is a moot point anyway since just believing God exists is not enough to mean anything. You have to actually commit your life to Jesus which is another issue).
Jesus talks about more than merely the golden rule (love they neighbour as thyself), but goes on to expound more difficult ideas, such as sinning in your heart. If you don't believe God exists then you won't care about what is in your heart or mind, as long as your external actions add up to being a decent human being that doesn't behave worst than most people. Take adultery for example. We understand adultery to mean an affair between two happily married people out of the blue. That's not what Jesus teaches. He will say that you commit adultery in your heart before you do it physically (i.e. even if you don't end up doing it).
In terms of other hard teachings, the "turn the other cheek", "give to those that ask", "lend and don't ask for your money back", "love your enemies", "do good to those that hurt you".....I don't understand how these work as principles if you don't know God since people are motivated by self-preservation and these teachings are contrary to how people are hard-wired to behave and it would not benefit them.
Bible_Belt
Master Don Juan
That's the first impression, yes, that there is no benefit. But those ideas do actually work to one's practical benefit when they are implemented. So it can be a chicken and the egg type of question. Faith can certainly be the cause of one's actions, or faith can follow from good fortune later, after having done those things and seen your life work out well.
Reyaj
Master Don Juan
Ever wonder why the most brilliant people in the world don't believe in a personal God? People like Einstein and Hawking... People who's IQs are higher than all of ours at this forum.
How are you able to see something they can't?
And doesn't it seem kind of cruel that a God would make you with instincts and pleasures that you aren't supposed to do... Kind of cruel and tortuous isn't it? Plus you need to submit to him.. The idea of being some experiment being watched doesn't bode well for some reason.
How are you able to see something they can't?
And doesn't it seem kind of cruel that a God would make you with instincts and pleasures that you aren't supposed to do... Kind of cruel and tortuous isn't it? Plus you need to submit to him.. The idea of being some experiment being watched doesn't bode well for some reason.
ChristopherColumbus
Master Don Juan
Just wait until the culture wars morph into a hot war one day in the US. You may have a Puritan version of the Taliban, militarized in both beliefs and politics.
ChristopherColumbus
Master Don Juan
Oh dear, this is just allowing your own imagination to be over-awed by another human. This is just another version of the mass mind, which is over-awed by the current intellectual fashion of the day.
As for the instincts and pleasures, once you mind is rightly ordered, you take your highest pleasure in your highest instinct. This is also freedom of self-determination as opposed to the slavery of addiction. Mastery begins with self-mastery... and that in turn may hinge on the recognition of a divine and super-ordinate reality.
Reyaj
Master Don Juan
Why should I believe you over people with higher IQs?
Bible_Belt
Master Don Juan
Einstein had a lot of radical views.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Albert_Einstein
Einstein was in favour of socialism and in opposition to capitalism, as illustrated by the following quote:
"I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow-men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."
Albert Einstein, Why Socialism?, 1949 [49]
Einstein thought highly of Vladimir Lenin, saying: "I honor Lenin as a man who completely sacrificed himself and devoted all his energy to the realization of social justice. I do not consider his methods practical, but one thing is certain: men of his type are the guardians and restorers of humanity."
Very naive thinking.
Serial killers have had iq's over 160.
I could go on and on but if you can't figure this one out on your own, well then.
Oh btw, Tesla was a devout christian who stated many of his inventions came from biblical visions from God. Truth.
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