Picayune Gods & Those Who Market Them

RWNJ Words? I doubt if I picked it up from there. You've all basically heard the old apocalyptic narrative about a one world government, haven't you? Currently the concept is a long way off, but were there to be a global crises, be it environmental, food, or lawlessness, the consensus would coalesce quite suddenly. Of course the US is a traditional leader in such a diplomatic emergency, but what if the crises were here and we became preoccupied with our own internal problems?

You are always a voice of reason around here. You explain all of your anecdotes in detail and you are also a rational patriot (as opposed to a fake January 6th one)As a Christian, I might point out that the strongest Christians in the world come from the global south where real persecution, poverty, and oppressive governments are far more common than up north with secularized Europe joining the weak "wokeness" of the United States. We do have a lot of good people left, however. The United States corrupted the whole concept of organized religion through the fake preachers, weak churches, and the ill fated marriage between politics and religion which tore out our true heart.Its not that I do not believe in a secular government. Its that I believe in freedom of religion and believe that Jesus not only belongs in every heart but in every mind.This does not mean that you or your family must support Him. Jesus was never a political figure way back when nor should He be one now. What we need is moderate leadership who has the integrity to not have to use Him on their platform.What we also need is for people to learn how to think.

*sighs*... No, just ranting I guess. What if there were a crises, though? Maybe its just that I fear crises! Point taken. Im trying to slow down my habit of anxiety and process my response better. Its a blessing to have a wife like that. One of my fears is that I live alone and have nobody to take care of me. Mom is gone, i'm nearly 64, and have no Mrs. Damselfly in the nest. Its just me and Jesus. Maybe I need to listen to Him more often. Good news! Ive been sober 34 days now from compulsive gambling! According to experts, it will take a long time to heal from this damage. Sometimes I think that my prefrontal cortex was addicted to chaos and crises as well as slots and action.

Where did this come from? I've never said not to help immigrants. All I have hinted at is that I am against open borders.

How would I regain that right? Some suggest that in order to do so I need to "give it all up". Others would simply tell me to be more Christlike--more loving and empathetic to the poor and unfortunate. I tried to make sense of this but need more information. Are you speaking of the roots of my anger and sense of entitlement?

We would likely agree that war is insane. If not, when is it ever sane?Look at this link. As China strengthens ties with Russia, the Israel-Hamas war deepens their divide with the U.S. The thing that gets me is that Hamas was the instigator and aggressor in this conflict. Both Russia and China are on the U.N. Security Council and both are opposing both the U.S. and Israel. Ordinarily, that would not be new news.

Yahoo News:

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While President Joe Biden has emphasized U.S. support for Israel, condemning Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack and backing “restrained” retaliation by Israeli forces, Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia have taken a different approach.

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In a broadly similar response, the two leaders have condemned attacks on civilians, urged a cease-fire, and offered to mediate, while failing to explicitly condemn Hamas.

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One would think that Israel's main sin was in denigrating the Palestinian people as being somehow less refined than themselves. One needs only to remember that Israel was born right after the Holocaust and that they fought 4 wars to keep their land. The Palestinians refused to even attend negotiations for including Israel in the Middle East. How could anyone expect them to entertain it now? Moreso, how could anyone expect Israel to give them even more land after what Hamas terrorists did?In light of this topic, is religion involved? If so, how can rationality prevail?

How do you propose killing religion? "It" gets stronger in hard times.Palestine's God is a God of Righteousness and perpetual hate and anger.Israel's God is a God of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.The U.N. itself could likely kill neither of them.(The Gods) If you think it's tough to talk sense into Hamas, try telling Israel that they must share and not control. They would fight the entire world for their right to exist.

Nor is Arizona your land. Would you fight to stay there or would you pack up and find a friendlier state?Both the US and Britain have made it clear that Israel will stay put forever.

4 wars were started against Israel. Does that count? *pause*OK let me think and respond rather than reacting... *takes deep breaths...*I feel strongly about this topic because I have traditionally believed what I was taught about Biblical Israel being Gods chosen people. None of you know the teaching in the context of how I know it largely due to the fact that it is a critical part of Christian Apologetic s. You all have heard the term Judeo-Christian. From the Christian perspective, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was most certainly not Allah. From a personal perspective, however, I believe that ther is but One God who actually exists within the realm of belief on this planet. Critics will of course say that He just so happens to be the God I believe in, the Father of Jesus Christ.(Born of a virgin and all that.) The revisionists and mythicists among you will carefully point out your findings on the fallacies of the virgin birth and of how the Bible was authored, edited, redacted, and "sold" entirely as a product of man. Largely because of the fact that you are not believers in the traditional sense in which I was taught, reinforced through numerous Pastors, teachers, and friends.AZPaul3 is staunchly anti religious. He talks of "it" (the whole thought/belief process as a sociological poison infecting the otherwise rational humanistic minds of modern man. I can see the argument and follow the support behind it. I am not simply blindly pro Israel, even though your boy Joe Biden publicly reinforced the idea this past week as he hugged the tearful Israeli leaders and sat coldly with the Palestinian leader in his shuttle diplomacy which failed to quench the fire that is this war.
Throughout the tradition of what is taught in my group of organized religion, the perpetuated belief has been the idea that Jesus would return. Before this event happened, according to our reasoning based on scripture, God would allow humanity every possible opportunity to redeem itself and shake off the shackles of a colonialist,warlike, and privileged past. I grew up in the most prosperous country on earth. I grew up in a time of relative calm and prosperity unmatched by any civilization in History.
Of course we all knew---believers and non believers alike, that the world was facing some major challenges. Human population was approaching a time when this planet would no longer be able to support us in the lifestyles to which we were accustomed. In my mind, and in my experience, religion has been both good and bad but, regardless of ones opinion on the matter, belief is here to stay. For the martyrs in the world, it takes them to their graves. I'm working on it. Hopefully you will keep my feet to the fire whenever I react rather than respond thoughtfully.
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*Note...I edited my previous post* I agree with you that the US is as responsible as is Israel. I fear that we may see some backlash here in our own country...a country already divided ideologically. Progressives will argue for more empathy and perspective, as you are doing. Conservatives will call for an end to a neutered law enforcement that lets acts of shoplifting, robbery, and vandalism go largely unpunished.
As I have said before and am concluding, the world is settling into a pattern of war. Part of the reason is that societies can see their future and know that they will need control over vital waterways, resources, and opportunities for their people. In World War II, Germany referred to "it" as Lebensraum. The concept is morphing into more than just land and natural resources, although I suspect that Putin saw Ukraine as the breadbasket of Russia and not NATO, among other things he eyed. Countries seek alliances with other people who share a common interest and who are easy to get along with.(Hence NATO)
Israel is all alone in the world except for the United States. It may well turn out to be that BRICS is choosing its global allies while Putin indirectly forced the US to back theirs.
World War III is being set up...and humans are to blame. It is far bigger than simply religion. It is ideology.

JC??? I hope you don't mean Jesus Christ. You really should meet the man.

And what do you base this on? The data that fails to show any humans living forever (beyond death)? The apologetic is that He was both. Essentially He was the character of God. There is no hard data on God yet, apart from personal experience, but we are working on it.There is some data out there regarding hate and revenge, which explains the never ending cycle. The Jews always say Never Again. There are 9 million of them in Israel.Perhaps God, if God exists is equally as concerned about the Palestinians. It certainly rings true in my heart. The problem, as many of you have said, is the fact that the Palestinian population, most of them very young, are scarred for life by war. The god of war is not the same as the Prince of Peace.

oh stop! Much of my rants were due to a combination of high blood sugars, fear of being broke, and too many You Tube videos, as you have pointed out numerous times.

If I am in fact manic-depressive, my hope is that this war in the Middle East and other escalating world events wont send me into a depressive phase. Even as a believer, I wont simply count on God to fix everything wrong with the world. I believe that He has left much of that up to us.

As I read what you say, I dont feel or perceive that I hate anyone human specifically but I am not naive enough to imagine a world where everyone is happy and content--at least not without all of us experiencing as much personal growth as we can.Once we have collectively given rationality our best shot, then it is thought by some believers that God will step in. If we humans do solve our problems, there is no need for God to step in...in my opinion. But....It seems that stepping in is His plan.I would imagine that we all would have to collectively fail to achieve the necessary goals before He does that, however. ( I'm sure that this sounds neurotic and nonsensical to a non believer. I can just hear Tangle now... )