Free will vs Omniscience

What sense does that make? So one guy has a house and sells it to give to the poor. So then he becomes poor? Utter nonsense! Hey I'm not saying in any way that Jesus expects us to give without grumbling or begrudgingly out of obligation. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. Today's modern Republicans tend to give if they can write it off of their taxes. Very few people are simply going to sell all that they have and go skipping down the road being like Jesus (Who had no place to lay His head.) Nevertheless He owned the cattle on a thousand hills. He became broken (and broke) for all of us. So in a sense I can see where you argue that He wanted us to do likewise.
Feed,Comfort and Encourage others.
Note, however, that He never commanded everyone whom He had contact with to give all that they had. Zacheus gave half...voluntarily. Mary and Martha likely had a place to live. And about this idea that the poor are not always the same poor....how exactly does that work?In essence, I am arguing with you (or with Jesus, can't discern which) that He surely is OK with how I am living, though He encourages me to become less selfish. As of yet, in all my prayers, I have never heard Him tell me to give it all up except metaphorically. And you argue that you are not expected to do so because you are not a believer. Some cop-out!

Has he ever told you to do anything you'd rather not? hmmm, do I smell another get out clause?

I'll tell you one thing...I'm not gonna walk around like a barefoot hippie preaching love if I don't even have a pot to piss in. If you guys get to keep your stuff I'm sure keeping mine.; Ringo and you insist that Jesus is just a character in a book of rules written by humans. Granted you can charge mee with making Him up, but I stand by the Jesus I pray to and commune with. He is no mere statue or icon.You guys just brought up the suggestion for me to give up everything I had in order to show me how weak my faith actually is.Thanks a lot!

Well that's ok with me, only a total loon would do it. We're just pointing out that your book requires it of you. Sure, we know that's what you think. Nope, we're just pointing out the contradictions in your belief. Welcome. But you didn't actually answer my question, has god ever asked you to do anything you didn't want to do?

Though I'm not 100% sure it was God asking me to do it rather than my intuitive mind, I believe that I have been told that I am to fast for 3 days. I know that it is logical and rational, yet I can't make myself do it. So far, that is...

Yes, I can see that that might be a difficulty... But you seem to be only having cause to doubt God's voice when it's asking you to do something you don't want to do? The words 'logical' and 'rational' don't apply here Phat.

It is always wise to question(not doubt, necessarily) what inner voice or unction that I have. The Bible tells us to test the spirits. Au Contraire, O Tangled One. A 3 day fast with water only will do more towards positively helping my health than any handful of pills or even a specific pill would do.

But you only seem to find reasons to question stuff that you don't want to do?

Well sure. Why on earth would I eveen want to find a reason to question God when he tells me something that I want to do? Even if it was not His voice, I want to follow that discipline anyway. As I said before, I find it harder to obey when it is something that i don't want to do. Now...granted you guys cleverly found something in "the book" that seemed to be a command in general.(sell all that you have and give it to the poor) and I promptly went into defensive mode.
I can come up with several excuses:
1) I don't listen to the character in the book if He is talking to a rich young ruler. And 2) I feel that there is evidence that Jesus (in the book) did most certainly NOT command the same from everyone He encountered. I feel that some of you...notably lingo...have no problem imagining Jesus as a socialist with no private possessions. Its easy to do if you have the power to own everything.
And I will admit that my faith is weak...I certainly wont be the first to give it all up.

Why would you question god at all? He's your god speaking to you directly ffs. He always right isn't he? Who are you to question the Almighty?You don't actually think it's him do you?

He also promised to make fourfold restitution to the people he had cheated. That accounts for the other half.As I have tried to show you many times, it isn't how much you give that counts; it's how much you hold back. He also kills tbe ones who hold back - e.g. Ananias and Sapphira. It ain't rocket science. A guy loses his job and he's poor for a while. Then he gets another job and something similar happens to somebody else.What Jesus said is NOT an excuse to not help the poor. It's not a copout at all. Why would I follow the instructions of a fictional character? I help the poor because it's the right thing to do, not because somebody told me to.And why would you, who thinks the character is real, NOT follow His instructions?

Me too. My point of contention with your form of liberalism is that the people collectively make you give. "They" tell me to do it if they gain enough power. That's even worse than God telling you.Thats why I say that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. Its much better to have freedom to give or not give.

But they don't. They can't. They have no way of knowing what I give. It has nothing to do with "power". Why don't you listen to what I tell you about "my form of liberalism" instead of your right-wing propaganda? And I'll remind you that He kills the ones who hold back.

They do it through voting in mandatory taxation on the middle class....those who make under $200,000 a year but more than the average.At least Republicans advocate voluntary giving to the charity of their choice rather than forcing the small business owning middle(working) class to cough up the money to help the poor. It does if they raise taxes. Why should I get penalized by some socialist ideology that since I have the "ability" to help others in need I should be mandatorily shoehorned into doing so? Quite a claim coming from a guy who loves to quote what the book says yet does no0t believe in the God in the book. If I give spare change it should be my decision rather than a tax law designed to make me give. Edited by Phat, : No reason given.Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

And that has never worked. There are always poor people, as somebody once said. How is that different from forcing the same middle/working class to help the military-industrial complex?Every government collects taxes. I'm just advocating spending them on something useful. The phrase "manditorily shoehorned" is your phrase. It's your bad attitude. I'm saying you should be glad to pay taxes for useful purposes. For God's sake, stop using that stupid argument. I don't have to believe Frodo existed to know what the book says. Why? Nothing else that your tax money is spent on is your decision.As for your propaganda chart:

I do NOT advocate assets ownded by "government/cooperatives".

EVERYBODY advocates redistribution of income.

I do NOT advocate price controls.

I do NOT advocate "government-owned firms", PERIOD.

I do NOT advocate "high progressive taxes". I DO advocate higher spending on public services.

Healthcare provided by the government free at point of use is practically a worldwide standard. You would have to be insane to advocate healthcare for profit.

I do NOT advocate "state industry".

I DEFINITELY DO promote equality. And why should we not "attempt to overcome market failure"? We attempt to overcome every other problem, don't we?

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Why don't you pay attention to what I actually say instead of just parroting what your right-wing handlers tell you I think?

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"I've been to Moose Jaw, now I can die." -- John Wing