@rajk999 saidSounds like the same "batch of baloney" you're always saying.
Sounds like another batch of baloney Christian dectrine developing. Christians are required to profess faith and keep the commandments, none of which were to... step up now and get involved … in the election, get involved in standing against these evils ..
Christians are not part of this world and its events. A good Christian will tell people about Christ an ...[text shortened]... Christian life is about, and its not about going to church or fighting with the evil in the world.
"Christians" are in the "world", but not "of" it. Christians have as much of a right to be involved in and speak out about what's going on in every sphere of human activity as anyone else . In fact, the scriptures mandate it.
It's all bigger than you. Thank you for your squeak, but Jesus isn't asking you for your opinion about how the church should function.
@fmf saidI can't find Trump mentioned in the OP.
Oh dear. What has Trump said now? I know he has condemned his opponents as "communists" and "vermin", the exact way the Jews in Germany were condemned in the 1930s, he's boasted in front of crowds about having had Hitler-type ideas - despite not having read Mein Kampf - and talks of foreigners "poisoning the blood" of America. And I know he has been promising to set up huge deten ...[text shortened]... ss probably with the help of the military. Oh dear, What has Trump said now to trigger you, josephw?
If you have something to say about the subject matter of the OP, then say it.
I will otherwise avoid your attempt to scuttle the thread with irrelevant comments I'm not interested in addressing.
@pettytalk saidThat's a distinct possibility.
Tyranny and the tyrant are said to, often times, arise from a democracy, with or without the aid of religion.
The USA is believed to be the most powerful and wealthiest democracy (republic) on the face of the earth. If the pattern holds, the odds are the USA will give rise to the greatest, most powerful tyranny and tyrant the world has ever seen?
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@fmf saidYeah, right! Go straight to exaggeration. Use as many hyperbolic terms as you can think of to derail anything said by those you are ideologically opposed to. You sound like a politician. 🤣
Yeah, FIRST the Johnson Amendment removing the tax-exempt status of charitable, non-political organizations - like churches - that disqualify themselves from tax-exempt status, NEXT Christians being dragged off in boxcars to the C21st manifestation of Treblinka and Auschwitz. Yeah, right.
And the Book of James’ assertion that “faith without works is dead,” clear ...[text shortened]... s going to be a new HOLOCAUST in America: the Book of James forgot to mention it. Yeah right.
Then quote scripture to support it.
@bigdogg saidThe public has always been divided about all manner of ideologies. No one in their right mind condones slavery as a viable life pursuit. Therefore it is incumbent on those of us that know better to stop that kind of thing. By whatever means necessary. Even civil war.
How many of us would have made a public stand against slavery if we had lived in a time when everyone around us thought it was acceptable? I wonder.
But now today we are faced with the specter of authoritarianism, as referred to in the article in the OP. The effects of which threatens individual liberty.
@pianoman1 saidTo be "enlightened", with regards to the subject of this thread, means to see clearly what is wrong, and do something about it.
@joseph
Oh dear, what nonsense. So, he wants Onward Christian Soldiers marching off to war, fighting the good fight against evil etc. A grotesque image. What I really don’t get is why he seems to think that religions have a monopoly of human virtues, that only the religiously pious can eradicate evil. Perhaps someone can enlighten this humanist agnostic.
"Human virtues"? Who, or what people group, best exemplifies human virtue? Do you?
And just what virtues are you referring to? Oh yeah, human virtues. The virtues humans have. The virtues they embrace. The virtues other humans may find wrong. The kind of virtues that lead to ideological differences they fight wars over.
Like in Nazi Germany. Like the kind of "Christian" virtues the German Christians had that caused them to sit idly by in their comfort zones while the Jews were being slaughtered perhaps?
You should take a closer look at what the author is saying with an unbiased eye. Demonstrate your virtue, and be enlightened. 🙂
@josephw saidYou got any examples of Jesus or the Apostles doing what you suggest?
Sounds like the same "batch of baloney" you're always saying.
"Christians" are in the "world", but not "of" it. Christians have as much of a right to be involved in and speak out about what's going on in every sphere of human activity as anyone else . In fact, the scriptures mandate it.
It's all bigger than you. Thank you for your squeak, but Jesus isn't asking you for your opinion about how the church should function.
The suggested course of action for a Christian confronted with evil seems to be stated here
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. (Matthew 5:38-42 KJV)
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21 KJV)
@fmf saidTaxing exempt institutions based on the content of what is preached from their pulpits is called tyranny when imposed by an authoritarian government that has in its constitution the idea of the separation of church and state.
Is this why politically active "church" financial entities should be tax-exempt?
The Biden administration is corrupt, anti-law and anti-constitution as will be seen, but the ignorant will never see it when it happens.
@josephw saidTaxing money-generating institutions is normal. Offering tax exemptions to apolitical charitable organizations is normal.
Taxing exempt institutions based on the content of what is preached from their pulpits is called tyranny when imposed by an authoritarian government that has in its constitution the idea of the separation of church and state.
@josephw saidIt's called satire. The text in the OP is breathless paranoid QAnon-esque nonsense. I was satirizing it.
Yeah, right! Go straight to exaggeration. Use as many hyperbolic terms as you can think of to derail anything said by those you are ideologically opposed to. You sound like a politician.