More Christians killed by ISIS

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/58293/20151002/12-christians-brutally-executed-by-isis-refused-to-renounce-name-of-christ-died-praying-reciting-lords-prayer.htm

I have to say, I have great respect and admiration for these Christians.

It seems Christianity is coming full circle back to the days when Romans threw Christians to the lions.

If and when the time comes, I can only hope that I have the same courage.

Originally posted by whodey
http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/58293/20151002/12-christians-brutally-executed-by-isis-refused-to-renounce-name-of-christ-died-praying-reciting-lords-prayer.htm

I have to say, I have great respect and admiration for these Christians.

It seems Christianity is coming full circle back to the days when Romans threw Christians to the lions.

If and when the time comes, I can only hope that I have the same courage.

Same here... It would be a great honor to die and God being glorified..
But if you think about it, we are called to be a living sacrifice... We do more good in Gods name alive than dead, but there are times where we have no choice..

Originally posted by whodey

I have to say, I have great respect and admiration for these Christians.

So do I. What is happening is absolutely appalling.

It seems Christianity is coming full circle back to the days when Romans threw Christians to the lions.

Does it? Haven't Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus and other religious people been getting murdered - and murdering each other - over religious differences for thousands of years.

The heirs to the Roman Empire down through the centuries have been the Spanish, the British, the Russians, and arguably - for the last 60 years or so, the Americans.

How does the profile and reach and the dishing out slaughter of ISIS correspond to the relative profile and reach and the dishing out slaughter and power exercised by the Roman Empire (and its successors)?

I think the comparison is ahistorical and just hyperbole.

On a thread on the DF about a lone gunman killing nine people in a country of 320,000,000 you said: "My only point in bringing up Christians being targeted in shootings around the country is to show how there seems to be an increasing intolerance for Christians."

If he had killed school children, would you have cited his deed as "an increasing intolerance for school children" in the USA? If he had killed folks at random in a small town, would you have cited his deed as "an increasing intolerance for small town folks" in the USA?

I think you have serious concerns and serious things to talk about, and you are disgusted by many of the same things as I am, but your rhetoric too often lets you down, whodey, and makes you seem 'attention seeking through your fulminating' rather than a joined-up commentator.

So, you have looked at the sweep of history, and you've picked out ISIS as the inheritor of the mantle of the Roman Empire?

Do you have any links to confirmation bias blogs that have also distilled this perspective from history or distilled it for you?

Originally posted by FMF
[b]I have to say, I have great respect and admiration for these Christians.

So do I. What is happening is absolutely appalling.

It seems Christianity is coming full circle back to the days when Romans threw Christians to the lions.

Does it? Haven't Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus and other religious people been getting murdered - and mur ...[text shortened]... ation bias blogs that have also distilled this perspective from history or distilled it for you?[/b]

In the thread I posted in the debate forums, I brought up the fact that the gunman in Oregon was asking people if they were Christians. If they answered "yes", he put a bullet in their brain. If they answered "no", he put a bullet only in their leg. Obviously, he had issues with Christians, more so than other people.

One of the first school shootings that kicked this trend off was in Columbine in Colorado. Likewise, the gunman asked students if they were Christian, and if they said yes, they were likewise shot in the head. And lastly, the recent gunman in South Carolina shot up a church. Are we to ignore such facts? It is what it is.

As for history, Christians have been persecuted in such places as ancient Rome, most notibly by Nero. However, one of the most persecuted groups I can think of are Jews. The persecution of Jews in Europe spanning centuries is staggering.

Should we not try to understand the source of such hatred? I would contend that the gunman in Columbine and the gunman in Oregon were 100% unrelated, except what motivated them which is the powers of darkness in this world. Does one have to be a Christian to be a victim of such evil? No, but it seems those of faith seem to bare the brunt of such evil. But even if these people were not Christian, the powers of darkness will still target people because humans are made in the image of God.

Originally posted by whodey
In the thread I posted in the debate forums, I brought up the fact that the gunman in Oregon was asking people if they were Christians. If they answered "yes", he put a bullet in their brain. If they answered "no", he put a bullet only in their leg. Obviously, he had issues with Christians, more so than other people.

Do you believe that this shows that there is increasing intolerance for Christians in the USA?

Originally posted by FMF
Do you believe that this shows that there is increasing intolerance for Christians in the USA?

Increasing tolerance? It only show intolerance. To show it increasing I would need statistics, but my guess it has always been this way on some level

Originally posted by whodey
Increasing tolerance?

No. Not tolerance. I wrote intolerance. Do you believe that the deeds of this guy called Chris Harper Mercer prove that there is increasing intolerance for Christians in the USA?

Originally posted by FMF
No. Not tolerance. I wrote intolerance. Do you believe that the deeds of this guy called Chris Harper Mercer prove that there is increasing intolerance for Christians in the USA?

As I said, it shows intolerance. As to whether it is increasing, God only knows.

Originally posted by whodey
http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/58293/20151002/12-christians-brutally-executed-by-isis-refused-to-renounce-name-of-christ-died-praying-reciting-lords-prayer.htm

I have to say, I have great respect and admiration for these Christians.

It seems Christianity is coming full circle back to the days when Romans threw Christians to the lions.

If and when the time comes, I can only hope that I have the same courage.

Well ISIS may see their demise fairly quickly if the article is correct.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/bombshell-isis-just-hours-from-destruction/

Originally posted by whodey
As I said, it shows intolerance. As to whether it is increasing, God only knows.

You said before that Chris Harper Mercer's murders show an increasing intolerance for Christians in the USA. Now you say you don't know whether it's increasing or not? What's changed in the few days since you made the claim?

Originally posted by FMF
You said before that Chris Harper Mercer's murders show an increasing intolerance for Christians in the USA. Now you say you don't know whether it's increasing or not? What's changed in the few days since you made the claim?

From my perspective these types of shootings targeting Christians in the US have increased. As to whether they have increased or increased world wide is subject to debate.

I suspect one would have to factor in increasing population as a factor, as well as a culture that seems hell bent on secular humanism of late.

Originally posted by whodey
From my perspective these types of shootings targeting Christians in the US have increased. As to whether they have increased or increased world wide is subject to debate.

What happened in the last few days to make your hyperbole change and for you to downscale your claim?

Originally posted by whodey
I suspect one would have to factor in increasing population as a factor, as well as a culture that seems hell bent on secular humanism of late.

So is your Roman Empire analogy a reference to the U.S.A.? The 'throwing Christians to the lions' thing, I mean. Or are you claiming that Chris Harper Mercer is the Roman Empire?

Originally posted by FMF
You said before that Chris Harper Mercer's murders show an increasing intolerance for Christians in the USA. Now you say you don't know whether it's increasing or not? What's changed in the few days since you made the claim?

What the actual FMF?
You're one of the--- if not the--- over-the-top trolls who has ever chimed in on this site.
If he said it before what could you possibly be after to ask what you already are certain of?

Go plant a tree, teach someone to read, pick up the garbage in the neighborhood, hell: pick ANYTHING which could be construed as being helpful and stop this shameful argument-baiting crap.

Seriously.
Stop.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
What the actual FMF?
You're one of the--- if not the--- over-the-top trolls who has ever chimed in on this site.
If he said it before what could you possibly be after to ask what you already are certain of?

Go plant a tree, teach someone to read, pick up the garbage in the neighborhood, hell: pick ANYTHING which could be construed as being helpful and stop this shameful argument-baiting crap.

Seriously.
Stop.

The point is, I think whodey and his hyperbole is so over the top, that the serious point he probably wishes to make is all but lost or somewhat discredited. The Roman Empire? Chris Harper Mercer's mass murder is indicative of intolerance in the USA? His murders are an atrocity; the slaughters perpetrated by ISIS are atrocities on a much larger scale.

And yet whodey, who is as appalled as I am, is more intent on making facetious rhetorical points. I think he could do better.

As for what you think about this topic, I don't yet know, because you opted - yet again - to make ineffective caustic personal remarks and directed them at me - and ignored completely the topic and the exchange that has gone on between me and whodey.