People (like Vance) who mistakenly think that only those with kids do amazing things for the world should try reading the Bible
the
Bible should never be brought into politics. If you remember correctly
your ancestors stole this land so they could have freedom from religious
prosecution. The Bible does not reflect politicians, history, science
or math.
If for organized prayer groups, let’s leave it there.
No,
my ancestors didn't do that, I'm British (and live in Britain). I
didn't suggest at all that anyone should force their beliefs onto anyone
else, I'm pointing out that - given JD Vance and many like him *claim*
to be Christian - a genuine
understanding of the Bible would give a better personal understanding
of the reality of childless people (in Vance's mind, again I'm not
suggesting the Bible should dictate policy).
The
part of this that makes zero sense to me is including IVF in a ban.
That's quite literally punishing somebody for wanting to have children,
something he just said should be a defining quality to be a leader,
here. (His take was absurd, to
top it off. I'm a teacher, and I'll tell you one thing, there are a LOT
of parents who should have never been parents. The neglect, abuse, and
poor treatment of children is mind blowing, especially in the US.)
They
consider embryos to be human beings, so they don't accept the
destruction of embryos that results from IVF (as opposed to being
motivated by a desire to punish). IMO they're wrong to attack IVF, and
they should really focus instead on explaining
why it's not great to kill fetuses (who, unlike embryos, have organs
and brain activity) - as well, obviously, as on social justice for
children already born.
You're
SO right that it's tragic some people desperate to care for a child
can't have one, whilst some uncaring people randomly get pregnant. I
think that there should be more support for adoption, such as the
government paying the fees.
Kudos for being a teacher :)
Anybody
who considers an embryo to be a human being can never cite me
scientific reasoning/explanation as to why, half of the time, they
couldn't tell me what 'gestation', 'prenatal', or the difference between
X/Y chromosomes, what causes Kleinfelter's, etc. Their logic is always
based in religion, and they usually can't even cite a single scripture
that refers to embryos as humans, because there isn't one. The deepest
irony of all of this, is that there IS a passage of God instructing an
unfaithful wife to be served a 'bitter' potion that will force a
miscarriage if she was unfaithful. That sounds like....an abortion.
It
depends on how one defines a human. The embryo does have its own unique
human genome, if undisturbed it is on course to be a complete adult.
But personally I think of a *human being* as having organs and some
brain activity. The Bible is not a science textbook, there's no reason
it should give biological definitions - but because it prohibits murder,
people deem abortion to be opposed to God's word as it's the killing of
a human. Myself, I'm concerned by tiny humans (fetuses, as opposed to
embryos) being dismembered irrespective of whether the Bible bans it.Yes,
I'm well familiar with the verse you refer to, though I've not studied
historical understandings of the context. It does indeed look like it
may be advocating an abortifacient, but I can't be certain either way
given the complexity of the setting - for instance, many of the commands
in that book of the Bible refer to practices of neighbouring tribes at
the time, so they look nonsensical to us in the 21st century West.
Ultimately,
the culmination of the Bible is Jesus, and His offer of eternal life is
more important than any of the contentious theological or political
topics people argue about. I really wish certain people could focus on
Him, and what He taught, rather than putting all their energy into other
debates (but it's evident that - whilst differences of opinion are
inevitable - not all of those who identify as "Christian" actually are
truly trying to follow Christ).
Vance has perhaps read the bible and completely misunderstood it.I’m no Christian but the MAGA fundamentalists are sick and deranged.
Jesus
spent a lot of time arguing with "religious" folk around Him, because
their religiosity was a charade and they weren't actually trying to
follow God (which He pointed out was evident in part due to their lack
of compassion for the disadvantaged). He also warned about false
prophets and fake followers.
(in Unbelievable Facebook Group)
How far can one deviate from mainstream Christian theology and still be Christian?
Just imagine what "mainstream" Christianity is today, and what "mainstream" Christianity was 500 years ago.
That's
a fascinating topic, and I certainly don't know enough about it.
Obviously they had a very, very different *culture*, but exactly how
their *theology* would have differed I ought to research. 500 years ago, The Reformation was happening because the mainstream had accumulated so much corruption. Today there's again corruption, in some of the mainstream, as not all who identify as Christian are genuinely seeking to follow Jesus (and even amongst those who do, there's still human fallibility). What matters most is Jesus, not institutions
Our
hope is in God alone, not in *any* political power (on either side of
the political spectrum). Public figures can help us to be reminded of
vital things - God humbling a leader could remind us that we ourselves
need to have humility.
Protests
are one thing - but vandalising public property, fighting with police
and starting fires don't help Palestinians at all, it's just cultish
attention seeking.
it’s the police being violent. You should side with the heroes standing against genocide
"heroes"? You've just proven my point.
yes
they’re heroes because they’re the ones protesting genocide. They
should be respected as heroes for doing so. What are you doing to end
the genocide?
They aren't ending anything. As your comment highlights, it's about people *feeling* proud.
(And FTR, it's *not* just the police being violent)
I
went to a Christian festival in my teens and saw stalls about charities
working in the very poorest countries. Since then I've been baffled
that Global poverty is so ignored by our politicians and media,
particularly given how connected it is to injustices that we benefit
from and the potential to make a difference.
girl, get a hobby or sum
What about my comment exactly implies I need "a hobby"?
the
fact on every single post without fail be it about the election or Gaza
you say well we should probably give some money to some foreign nations
"every
single post"? Why do you think you've read every single thing I've
written? And why should I spend time writing comments about less
significant things?
FTR, I
didn't actually write "give money" here. And it asked why we became
interested in politics. How would it help anyone if I cared less about
the world's most disadvantaged people and allocated more brain space to
taking up stamp collecting? And if I did, what would be the point of
writing about it on Facebook?
In fact I write often about a different topic - but I don't need to undertake or write about "hobbies"
(in Christians United For The UK Facebook Group)
My wife and I just traveled through several European Countries including Wales & England…
The spiritual climate was very telling especially reflected in people’s behaviour & actions…
I believe that Repentance & Prayer is the way we can change atmospheres over our cities, communities & nations…
What do others think we should do about all the anger, hatred & chaos we can see and hear around us, especially in the British Isles?
What
matters most is that people know Jesus, as opposed to how our country
can become nicer. But you're totally right and I think about this a lot -
everything is getting worse because for centuries we'd had a moral
framework derived from the teaching of Jesus (though obviously, there
have always been plenty of people who haven't been trying to follow Him,
some calling themselves Christians nonetheless), and now that's been
largely abandoned.
Christianity
has been declining for the last century - and again, it's that people
know Jesus that matters incomparably more than behaviour, but people
hearing about Jesus's teachings in school etc was still positively
impacting the adults they grew into and in turn our society. I was one
of the last year groups to sing hymns in school (and my generation
reminisce over them, even whilst mostly not being Christian adults), now
people are being surrounded by very different messaging.
(in Christian Women Facebook Group)
Last week on LBC radio, presenter Iain Dale (agnostic) had as his question for the Friday 8pm hour "What has God done for you?". It followed Trump asserting that he had survived the assassination attempt because, Trump claimed, "God was on his side" (FTR, Trump should really try actually reading the Bible, that's not what this post is about), but Iain Dale broadened the conversation. I was SO THRILLED - how often does a secular national media platform give us the opportunity to talk about what God has done for us?!?! I tried to explain why I believe etc (so much I was desperate to say, so little time), and listened to the other callers - amidst the hour's conversation, Iain Dale said that - whilst he's not a believer - he finds the topic of God very interesting and would love to do far more such phone-ins, he thinks that the media neglects the significant % of the population who believe in a god. I've spoken to Iain Dale many times (and he seems not to resent me, despite knowing that I have a small-c-conservative view on sexuality [he's gay]), and will keep praying that he finds God.
I really want to recommend phone in radio (in addition to LBC, sometimes there are opportunities on BBC local radio or 5 Live, Jeremy Vine on Channel 5 TV, etc) - there are opportunities to talk about God (personally I also look for opportunities to raise the issue of Global poverty, we're called to speak up for the oppressed) to a significant audience (though typically one has to think creatively about how to bring Him into the conversation, obviously the topics mostly relate to news, so one has to consider how we can link God to the question the radio presenter's asking about). On Fridays at 9pm, Iain Dale lets people call in about anything, rather than setting a specific topic, so this could be a good time.
Of course, one only manages to get on air some of the time when one calls in (when you phone, you speak to production staff, who put you on hold or call you back and put you through to the presenter if they're interested in your point), but I manage roughly twice a week, so it's not too hard. Most people in our country have forgotten about God or have erroneous ideas about Him (such as wrongly thinking He's been disproven by science), so I find it exciting when we can speak up
I really want to recommend phone in radio (in addition to LBC, sometimes there are opportunities on BBC local radio or 5 Live, Jeremy Vine on Channel 5 TV, etc) - there are opportunities to talk about God (personally I also look for opportunities to raise the issue of Global poverty, we're called to speak up for the oppressed) to a significant audience (though typically one has to think creatively about how to bring Him into the conversation, obviously the topics mostly relate to news, so one has to consider how we can link God to the question the radio presenter's asking about). On Fridays at 9pm, Iain Dale lets people call in about anything, rather than setting a specific topic, so this could be a good time.
Of course, one only manages to get on air some of the time when one calls in (when you phone, you speak to production staff, who put you on hold or call you back and put you through to the presenter if they're interested in your point), but I manage roughly twice a week, so it's not too hard. Most people in our country have forgotten about God or have erroneous ideas about Him (such as wrongly thinking He's been disproven by science), so I find it exciting when we can speak up
That's
so cool! I love the idea of a show about God on secular platforms. The
BBC used to do Pause For Thought and Devout Sceptics. I wonder if they
still do. I also used to love The Big Question.
They do still have some shows like that on Raadio 4, but I've not explored it.
The
Big Questions seems to have ended, there's not been a series for
several years. It was always a mixture of some things I was thrilled to
see but also some anti-Christian
views (and the presenter, Nicky Campbell, is definitely opposed to
Christianity, he had a nasty argument with me on Twitter). One great
snippet was David Bennett giving his testimony, I've been following him
ever since.
These days
Sunday mornings often have Sunday Morning Live (on BBC1), which has a
few good snippets but is only partially about belief.
Of
course, there's still Songs Of Praise - sometimes this has pointless
content (like a choir singing Bridge Over Troubled Water, or
overemphasis on a singer or building), and personally most of the old
hymns aren't my preference - but quite often now it has snippets of
great things being said (and some modern worship, though of course
musical style is not actually what matters!).
I
suspect though, that almost exclusively Christians watch SoP - I'm
excited about opportunities to bring God into the conversation on phone
in radio in case someone who's been ignoring Hi is prompted to think
about Him again. And I think secular media is starting to become ever so
slightly more open to conversations about God than it was (the New
Atheism of the 00s has faded)
Climate
change is exacerbating crises like these - the least wealthy people,
who've contributed least to Global warming, suffer most. And they're
usually ignored (so kudos for at least covering this particular tragedy
NYT)
IMO
the tabloids et al are exploiting this because they want to attack the
BBC (since they're in competition as media outlets). That Zara was
kicked is reprehensible and those defending that should be ashamed, but
the extent of click-baiting about Strictly as a whole is getting
ridiculous (and I worry that harmful messages are being sent to abuse
victims).
I
wish we could talk about injustices and exploitation faced by people in
formerly colonised countries NOW rather than just arguing about
history. Arguably the Empire didn't really end, our banks and
corporations continue to take absurd amounts of wealth from the
"developing world" (and hinder democracy from developing), but that
reality gets ignored whilst supposed social justice warriors wring hands
over statues instead.
This is evil.
grow up... puberty blockers can be reversed, puberty can't... stop inflicting your ridiculous religious nonsense on others
I
have grown up, though restricting my puberty (not deliberately) left
me with issues including osteoporosis. I don't want other people to be
harmed because profit hungry drug sellers like her^ tell them they're
right to feel they're "in the wrong body", that's the opposite or care
and compassion. I don't know what you think "religion" has to do with
it. (And no, they aren't reversed)
The
issue is that everyone has seen some people who are super proud of our
(British) identity and who are racist. Thus others are anxious about
being associated with such people.
Ultimately
the values that our (British) politicians refer to as "British values"
are things like respect, concern for the needy, fairness and honesty -
those aren't by any means specifically British things, and they became
accepted as the ideals to aim towards (in contrast to earlier ideals,
such as those of the Romans, of striving to dominate etc) because of
Jesus' teachings (which had spread initially because people saw that
He'd defeated death). Now our country has largely eliminated the
foundational belief in which values were rooted in, and gradually the
values are being lost (obviously, that's not to say that individual
atheists can't personally hold these values)
Most
people presume Christianity to be mythology without having looked at
the reasoning that supports it being reality. People long attended
Church for social reasons, but now would rather do other things, and
resent the unChristlike behaviour of some who are *supposedly*
Christian.
IMO there
should be more awareness of the arguments from science and philosophy
supporting the existence of God, and from history supporting The
Resurrection.
Not Left or Right, but look up - YES.
Note:
Some kings who He allows to have power are not godly. People idolising
(as opposed to simply having a preference for) Trump ATM are both
worshipping a false god but also failing to consider how Trump disregards
God's word (particularly the command to be humble). I am, of course,
not denying huge issues, from a Biblical perspective, with some Democrat
policies - again, there are issues on the Left and on the Right, we
need to look up.
Supply
chains take advantage of poorer people - and the climate change
exacerbated from the resulting carbon emissions devastate lives in
impoverished countries.
Whatever happened to Musk promising to use his money to feed the world's very poorest people?
They're largely ignored by our media, but over 20,000 people in our world die from hunger each day.
(and
feeding them is incredibly low cost as compared to food costs here in
the West, many of us could afford to change a few lives even whilst
having nothing like Musk's ridiculous wealth)
As
a woman, I'm so angry that so many people care so much more about their
hatred of Butker than about the women and girls in less privileged
parts of our world who are really suffering.
There
are women in sweatshops, girls forced into marriage, etc. Serena
Williams could have used her platform to tell people to sponsor a girl
(transforming a life for roughly the cost of a takeout per month) she
would actually help the world.
Instead she's just affirmed misogynists' view that women want victim status.
Only
if you're going to spend the excess on helping the poor and or mission.
Spending on oneself as though rich, as the photo implies, is NOT OK.
(in Christian Women Facebook Group)
Well
while I might not be able to solve all ya problems I can help so tell
me what things have gone right today. By this I mean do you have roof
over your head? Got food in? Did you see your child smile today? Do you
have cup of tea or coffee?, see reason I ask is sometimes we look
through a false perspective of all things going wrong or don't have.
When we should look through Jesus's perspective of all things going
right that way we don't fall into enemies traps of materialism and false
narratives. That's where we give thanks to God for all things going
right because without them that's where you'd suffer if he didn't do
what he did.
Following
Jesus is a choice, not a national standard - and it's a choice that
Trump and many of his supporters evidently have not made.
THIS.
We are SO privileged. Elsewhere in our world there are so many people
who'd be thrilled to have the little things we forget to be happy about,
including food and drink (of our choice), comfortable furniture to sit
on, our choice of entertainment, etc etc. Sometimes reading the Bible
helps me remember - the writers show appreciation for simple things like
water, honey and coloured thread.
If
we think more about small things to be grateful for, we enjoy life more
- and we can make an amazing difference to others in our world if we
donate to those who have less.
Of
course, infinitely greater is His ultimate gift to us, of salvation I
think that when life really sucks, we should look up, ie try to focus on
God's glory.
That's a tiny amount, but a good thing to be doing otherwise
As
much as our NHS is struggling, people in the poorest parts of the world
could still only dream of what we have - and their poverty is linked to
injustices that have made our country rich
(in Christian Women Facebook Group)
A sort of vent.. as a practicing Christian woman in my late 20s who's chosen to be abstinent until marriage) I often feel isolated and like I'll never be found by a suitable husband....the western world (or at least Europe) and with the decline of Christianity, it is harder to find like-minded women and men of similar ages... seeking some advice
I'm 32, feeling old
Personally,
I'm grossed out by the idea of sex, so I've accepted that I can't have a
husband, and occasionally I've felt deep sadness about being alone in
the future (ATM, I don't feel alone, I live with my parents and sister
and I
really strongly believe that there should be more intergenerational
living). Of course, I'd also need to find a bloke who was committed to
Jesus, and I absolutely get your dilemma, such blokes a hard to find.
But given that you don't have the first issue, it's really not
impossible. And all things are possible with God.
As
it happens, I've ended up (via Facebook, then phone conversations)
making friends with a guy who's Christian and does want to marry me, but
despite him saying he'd be fine not having sex I'm not buying that - my
point being, there are some Christian blokes around and the internet
can help us connect with like-minded people.
Have you tried any of the Christian dating apps?
My
parents met at Bible college (still together, very happily, after 36
years) and I know that in the US it's pretty common for people to find
spouses at Christian colleges - I think that if I were your situation I
might look into Christian courses that include meeting other people, it
might be that God uses the situation but if not, I'd still have gained
because I'd have learnt more about Him.
God
has a plan for you, and He might teach you things in the time of
waiting. It could be that He plans for you to do great things as a
single person (that you might not be able to do otherwise) - and I have a
relative whose remained single (now in their 70s) because they're gay
(by orientation, and a Christian who believes in God's guidance RE
relationships) who is living a great life, very connected to their
community (and there are other gay Christians like this who've written
inspiring books etc). Anyone can feel sometimes that their life is
missing something - a single person might sometimes feel sad that they
don't have a spouse, but a married person can still experience moments
of loneliness or feel sad they don't have more freedom. It's definitely a
LIE from our culture that sex is necessary to enjoy life (and any bloke
who is not prepared to wait until marriage is not worth it).
But again, I don't think you'll by any means not find a husband, it IS possible, God knows what's best for you.
My
lovely sister in Christ I truly appreciate the time you took to
coherently share your testimony. Thank you so much for reminding me that
not all his lost.
I haven't tried any Christian dating apps, I believe we have to pay for them ? Could
you recommend me one please? Which you think is reliable? I usually
don't have much trust in these things but I'm willing to put myself out
there. I always wanted to be found by my husband organically but yeah
what can we do... Once again thank you very much. Take care
I absolutely get wanting everything to be "organic". But I think that,
given how important it is to find someone you share values with, it
makes sense to try a tool that helps (of course, that doesn't prevent an
organic meeting happening). And it could make it easier to ensure that
you have similar motivations, whereas someone met "organically" might
not be looking towards marriage (and asking could be awkward). I know of
multiple Christian couples who are happily married after initially
finding each other online.
My
mind is drifting to the Bible, and couples, like Isaac and Rebekah,
didn't meet organically, they had assistance to find the right person
(but still ended up very much in love) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2024&version=NIV
I'm
afraid I can't give experienced recommendations, since I've not been
using them personally (for the reason mentioned previously). There are
some here https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=ee2ba981cbde4aa8&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIIBeen5u4E3KeVikbDw7UIWTGS2wA:1721270679641&q=Born+again+Christian+dating+sites+UK&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4lLD7yK-HAxW-REEAHW81ApkQ1QJ6BAg8EAE&biw=867&bih=666&dpr=0.8 but I can't say myself how well they work. But discussions like this might help https://www.reddit.com/.../any_success_with_christian.../
And
some regular dating sites could work, for instance eHarmony apparently
allows you to state that you're Christian and that it's very important
in looking for matches (though again, I've not tried this myself, so
apologies that I can't speak from experience).
My
understanding is that some sites/apps are free and others aren't, it
might be the case that the free ones aren't as good but perhaps it could
be worth trying to see(?).
There
are also Facebook groups for Christian singles/dating, of course some
Facebook groups are utterly rubbish but others are great, so it might
be worth exploring https://www.facebook.com/groups/search/groups_home/?q=christian%20singles
Again, God has a plan, it might not be what you expect, but He has ultimate knowledge and love for you.
Anyone
can call themselves anything (see: Trump calling himself a genius),
it’s not necessarily the case that they actually fit the definition.
Many people call themselves Christian because it suits them to do so or
feels like part of their tribal identity - but plenty of those people
aren't actually committed to following Jesus. But kudos to David Lammy for diplomacy.
Jay Slater’s mum thanks supporters and asks for more fundraising support for ‘send-off’
If
people have money to donate, they could give it to organisations saving
lives (of course, I'm not disputing the tragedy of a woman losing her
son - but why not help prevent this happening to other mothers?)
10,000
children die of hunger each day in our world, but to feed one of them
costs less than a £ - why spend £1000s on a funeral?
Again, I really mean no disrespect to the family.
(in Unbelievable Facebook Group)
Why
can't folk just drop this silliness? If God existed and wanted to
'thwart' people dying, the ex-fire chief wouldn't have diedMaybe
God prevented Trump's death in this instance because there'd have been
horrendous retaliatory violence if he'd died. Maybe the event will lead
some gun fans to rethink their
support for firearms and this will save other lives. Maybe the ex-fire
chief is now enjoying Heaven and his inspirational bravery will inspire
someone else t do something heroic and/or look to God and find eternal
life.
Thanks. On your 3 'Maybe's in turn:
1.
That doesn't explain why He let the fire chief die. Also why didn't
God step in to stop the Rodney King LA rioting by a minor intervention?
Eg the video footage of King being beaten up by the cops could have been
prevented with a technical glitch.
2. God let the Sandy Hook killing with apparently this end, that went well.
3.
I haven't heard what the fire chief's bravery was, so let me know and
I'll understand. Why is it good to get to heaven early and leave people
grieving on earth?
Eternal
life is, obviously, infinitely longer, and more joyful, than this life.
So the very greatest good is that more people choose eternal life, not
that this brief lifetime is as long or easy as possible (though we are
called to help others, obviously) - and God knows, in ways that we won't
with our limited knowledge of people's hearts and of potential
differing scenarios, how the greatest good can happen.
The
Rodney King riots led to increased awareness of racial injustice -
and, again, God may know of individuals who, in the scenario in which
the riots happened, were inspired to look to Him and find eternal life
(this latter point also applies to the horrors of Sandy Hook). When life
goes very well, many people are more inclined to ignore God (this is
evident in the OT, and in our world today), and they could then miss out
on endless joy
The fire chief died shielding his family from the bullets.
1.
So retaliatory violence is clearly a bad thing except when it isn't. I
think you're making stuff up as it suits you in the moment.
2.
Support for firearms is reduced when are fire chief dies and that
justifies it but when dozens of children are killed in a shooting it's a
good thing as people are inspired to find eternal life. See conclusion
under 1.
3. You didn't answer my question.
Thanks on the details of the heroic act.
Yes,
retaliatory violence will have different outcomes in different
situations. If a man grabs me and I kick him between the legs, that's
not "bad". People should not riot, but the uprising following Rodney
King's murder nevertheless, in answer to your original question, had
some positive consequences, that violence following an assassination of
Trump would not have (furthermore, the latter could well have been
more lethal, given how mad and heavily armed some of Trump's strongest
fans are)
Again, yes.
God knows which situations will lead to differing individuals' unique
hearts/minds responding in the differing ways that different humans do,
we don't.
Do you
disagree that eternal life, free of the frustrations of Earth (I
absolutely get that you don't believe in it, but obviously we're talking
theoretically), is better than this lifetime?
Honestly I'm feeling pretty pleased that they seem to be moving towards sense on gender.
there are two genders, how on earth can you move forward? Only a perverted mind has problems with that. Next, we'll be debating the existence of gravity..........
I don't know what you think I meant. It looks as though you've not been following this issue What did I miss apart from puberty blocking ban?
Apart
from? It's hugely significant (particularly that Wes Streeting had been
supportive of the trans movement, but accepted the Cass Review and
apologised for his previous position - how often do politicians do
that?) - and today Lisa Nandy,
who'd been one of the more pro-trans Labour frontbenchers, endorsed it.
Starmer also recently denied that transwomen can use women's spaces. As
I said, the party seems to be moving towards sense.
NB,
as Christians we need to have caution in how we discuss this, I'd urge
against the word "perverted" - if people think that Christians are
hateful, they won't listen, and we need to share the Gospel more than we
need to win culture wars.
(in Christian Women Facebook Group)
I was asked yesterday if my daughter wanted the bread wafer at communion... she only turns three next month and I feel she’s too young to understand even at a simple level what the bread represents. Does your church have any particular requirements for receiving communion.
IMO
what really matters is learning what it means and also *why we believe
it* (though obviously this has to be suited to age, so now is probably a
bit early!), so that she can choose for herself to follow Jesus.
Whether or not she has a wafer whilst not understanding won't have a
serious impact (though it's a great question to post),
because it's not taking the wafer in itself that matters, what matters
is what (who) is in one's heart (and Communion helps us to think about
Him).
I grew up in the
Baptist Church, we have actual bread and grape juice (when I later had
wafers and wine at my CofE school I was disgusted),
there were no strict rules, and after the service kids consumed the
leftovers in the kitchen. But as I got older I realised I didn't really
believe in anything supernatural (God or the resurrection). Then I came
to see that science suggests there must be a Creator, and I read the
book Who Moved The Stone - I was thus convinced that Christianity is
reality, and my heart was open to God. I've always felt that Sunday
School etc shouldn't simply presume that children in Church will accept
Christianity just because they grow up in it, they should help young
people to gradually understand why we know it's true. Then, when they
take Communion, it can be really meaningful to them.
We're
moaning about some rain, whilst elsewhere there are people losing their
homes to Beryl and other extreme weather, as well as some people in the
very poorest parts of the world losing their harvests to increased
heating or flooding.
(in Theology for the Thinking Believer Facebook Group)
Should preaching in our churches be expository, topical, or a blend of both?
Both,
but perhaps mainly expository. Everything around us is continually
presenting controversial/political topics to argue about, and though
these things are important, preaching should remind people that God is
incomparably more important.
Observing
from the UK, I get the impression that in the US various topics, like
abortion, are discussed and argued about far, far more in Churches than
they are here -those things matter in themselves, yet *in comparison* to
The Gospel, which we urgently need to share and which some people
trying out Church won't know, they're trivial.
I'm
guessing that some of the big Churches you refer to are popular because
they're regurgitating people's pre-existing political views, not
challenging them to look at the humbling personal reality of God's
message of repentance and grace.
I
wish people were also urging the Goernment to reverse the Tories'
cutting of Overseas Aid, which means that some children are unable to
access school at all or are even *literally starving to death*. Per £,
it can have many times more impact than money
spent here (which means that most of us can change the life of a child,
such as through sponsoring for the cost of a takeaway per month )
yet human beings living beyond our island are almost always ignored (in
spite of much of the poerty in our world being connected to things that
have made our country rich)
the problem with overseas aid is it ends up not getting to those that need it by corrupt government's
How much, and according to who exactly? Why the presumption that it's given to governments? It's given to organisations like UNICEF, GAVI and Save The Children.
Besides plenty of money is misspent here too, see PPE, private investors extracting
profits from the care sector, etc etc. The solution, to the extent that
Aid is poorly spent, is to spend it better, not cut it.
it's
seen all around the world it's rarely given to charities to oversee,
yes money is missspent here, but can you understand why many don't want
money spent in other countries when their own are suffering too
Again, according to who? How much?
The need here is not as severe, nor as cost effective to remedy
how
is the need here not as severe ? Children are dying here, ive watched
tv programmes about foreign aid not going where it should so it's out
there, you just need to look for it, but you are set on one thing, even
charities can't guarantee
it getting where it should due to not being able to get into many
countries they need to, I'm not against it, I believe we should help as
many people as we can, but I also see why people think it should be cut,
we still support countries that are getting richer daily, they should
be supporting their own too now "How
is the need here not as severe?" No, kids here aren't dying of poverty.
They aren't skin and bone. At least we have benefits, food banks etc.
Children here aren't drinking dirty water, unable to access school, or
wholly without medical
care. And again, Aid can make far more impact per £, for instance you
can fund multiple meals for a quid whereas here "free school meals" cost
several £. Funding something like farming tools or a water filter can
completely change a family's life https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/.../give-a-filter-to...
Documentaries
find unusual, shocking instances, what's needed is *data* to assess the
scale of a problem. As I wrote, in situations where Aid is not being
used to help the poorest, it needs spending better, not cutting (but
note that just because countries like India are doing better than they
were doesn't change the fact that some people there are in extreme
poverty, and money is spent through charities that help them).
you are now 100% a bot
Lol why? You can't get your head around someone wanting highlight that there are people in our world in extreme need?
unless you are a millionaire I dabt see how you value other people above your own countrymen
I
didn't say that I value anyone more than anyone else, I'm more
concerned about the human beings who are in the greatest need. Why care
about people who are in less severe need more than people who are
literally starving to death? Especially when money spent helping the
latter can make so, so much more difference?
IMO
there should be tough action of exploitative housing costs. It's not
difficult to afford food, if people are finding it yard to do so their
greedy landlords should be prevented from profiteering. There also needs
to be action against both food waste, and tax avoidance by the rich.
There's
plenty of food in this country - in some of the places UNICEF works
people are literally starving to death (and our donations can make many
times more impact than we'd expect)
29% of overseas aid went to refugee asylum seeker cases in the UK.
Indeed.
It's outrageous, these things need funding separately. The world's
very poorest people shouldn't be losing out on food because our
government funnels Aid money into the pockets of hotel owners. I hope
the new government sorts this out, and processes the claims of asylum
seekers rather than leaving them stuck.
I can't imagine what he's going through
I really hope that he and his daughter have loads of support around them.
And
it's good of him to make such an important point for everyone else to
hear - we don't know how much time we or our loved ones have, IMO we
should think more about The Big Questions than our busy culture normally
does and remember how important family are when other things in life
steal joy.
Some
of the world's poorest people are suffering unimaginably because of
phenomena exacerbated by climate change, we need to take it more
seriously.
But I'm not
sure that Doctors talking about it would help, might it not just make
stubborn people more defiant? Behavioural science research is needed.
Perhaps,
but God despises Trump's attitude of arrogance and selfishness (in
general, not specifically in making this comment). So much of what Trump
says is antithetical to what Jesus taught.
I have studied the old and new testaments professionally and less so for decades.
If you want to experience 'parts, out of context listen to a US tele-evangelist.
It is by far one of the most violent, irremediably collections of writings you could possibly compile.
Within
5 chapters of its opening god (s … plural in the earliest writings) has
allowed the death of 25% of the human race! And, death and destruction
is the common theme throughout.
Death
and destruction indeed, because the ancient world was full of
barbarism. Our culture today has been shaped by Jesus' teachings*
(historian Tom Holland has explained this substantially in recent
years), in ancient civilisations all manner
of brutality, rape and cruelty were going on. In the account of Noah
that you reference, God acts to wipe out some of that evil. The OT is a
complex account of situations far removed from our present context, with
facets that need in depth examination for which a Facebook thread is
insufficient - but Jesus is God in flesh, and shows us the clearest
representation of His nature.
"[The Lord is] not wishing that any should perish" 2 Peter 3:9
"For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
*IMO
Jesus' teachings spread because people were awed by His resurrection
and thus shared the message about Him. Had He not risen, the movement
would, have faded into obscurity, particularly since His followers were
being killed rather than killing (as were the immediate followers of
the founder of a certain other "religion"), they persevered whilst
confronted by that early persecution because they'd seen that Jesus had
defeated death
God
acts to get rid of some evil! All but a handful of (including sinners)
survived. The god destroyed pure, innocent, faithful, unaware, sinners
alike. Yet this is supposed to be a an omnipotent entity who knows what
was in everyone's heart yet is a fit of blind rage wiped out almost
everyone.
Your comment
about olden times is, tbh, laughable. More have died in the name of
Christ than any other figure (real or imagined) in history.
How
do you know that some were "pure, innocent" etc?* Anyhoo, if so, they
could have gone straight to Heaven, which would have vastly preferable
for them. And you presume that death is the worst thing that there is,
but I'd rather have drowned in the flood than endure a lifetime of rape -
in the TransAtlantic Slave Trade, those who could jumped overboard
because they felt that (horrifyingly) drowning was better than decades
of barbarism.
What's laughable? Are you disputing that ancient civilisations were rife brutality?* Really?
If
it were true that there were one figure for whom people had killed more
than any other, that wouldn't in any way negate that torturous cruelty
and barbarity were going on throughout the ancient world. But do you
have evidence for your claim?* For one thing, far more people have been
killed in the name of Communism (FTR, I'm not just trying to bash
Communism for political reasons, I'm very much economically Left
leaning). Most importantly, that people *claim* to be fighting for
something doesn't mean that they were - it's inevitable that people who
are power hungry might claim to be serving God in order to feel or
appear justified, but they evidently weren't actually following Jesus.
And Jesus both argued with religious folk, and warned that there'd be
people who falsely claimed to be connected to Him.
*(rhetorical, I don't need an answer) When
Trump was running in 2016 I tried to find out about him by following
him on Facebook (to see his own words). I was disgusted by his
arrogance, I grew up being taught that one should aim to be like Jesus
which entails humility. Now Biden needs to have
the humility to put his country (and so many people beyond who are
affected by US policies) before his own enjoyment of power, and step
aside for another Democrat candidate.
You
apparently grew up learning to discriminate based on someone's age.
Name another president that has more accomplishments in their first term
than President Biden?
It's not about his age, it's about his cognition. You've chosen to bring up age.
That
wasn't the question though. President Biden has been labeled as
"Sleepy" and "Dementia" Joe by the MAGA cult, since he starting running
against Trump in 2020. They have tricked you into supporting ageism and
Russian propaganda.
"Tricked
me"? All you know about me is the comment that I wrote. I didn't call
him sleepy, and I'm perfectly well aware of what Trump fans have been
saying. I'm commenting based on what *I have seen* of Biden himself. You
should go argue with MAGAts and stop making presumptions about people,
the world isn't as black and white as you seem to think. If people Biden
is the only person who can stand against Trump, Trump will win.
God
acts to get rid of some evil! All but a handful of (including sinners)
survived. The god destroyed pure, innocent, faithful, unaware, sinners
alike. Yet this is supposed to be a an omnipotent entity who knows what
was in everyone's heart yet is a fit of blind rage wiped out almost
everyone.
Your comment
about olden times is, tbh, laughable. More have died in the name of
Christ than any other figure (real or imagined) in history.
Too much for Facebook? Absolutely. However, 50 years of study is more than sufficient.
Hilarious
seeing Reform moan "it's not fair!" as though they've ever given a toss
about fairness. Seriously unfair is that some human beings are born
into oppressive regimes, war zones or deadly poverty, but Reform UK plainly doesn't care about that unfairness.
"Lawless
London"? There have been evil individuals stabbing each other across
humanity and throughout human history. In a city of 8 million people
it's unfortunately inevitable that a few such muppets would be here.
What
would you suggest doing in order to ameliorate the issue of air
pollution causing asthma, hospitalisations, accelerated dementia and
death? (as well as, obviously, a burden to tax payers, since I presume
you don't like paying for other people's worsened health)
YES.
We're moaning about some rain, whilst elsewhere there are people losing
their homes to Beryl and other extreme weather, as well as some people
in the very poorest parts of the world losing their harvests to
increased heating or flooding.
People laughing at domestic violence...
The
same type who think it’s funny to sing about WWII, Not a new thing when
it comes to the hardcore element of England “supporters”. For the
stereotypical type you probably have in your head, nothing is off the
table, they probably go home and beat their wives/girlfriends, we are always let down by these Neanderthal types.
When
I was a child I was bullied by boys who were football fans, and I've
never stopped resenting football. But I can't begin to imagine how
terrifying this must be for women stuck in these situations. And people
reacting to this post won't take it seriously because football the
national religion.
(I should add, I'm well aware that most football fans are perfectly decent people, obviously)
I
find it so striking how Trudeau makes out that he's lovely and caring
with rainbow flags, yet is enabling so many different horrors (Inc also
for some disabled people, first nations people, the environment....)
"Probably"?
How much are you getting paid to encourage people to arbitrarily buy
more and throw more into ever expanding landfill? The amount of waste in
our world is a massive problem, particularly in some of the very
poorest countries where the world's trash gets dumped.
The basic standard of manly conduct observed by all cultures across the world since the beginning of human civilization is not "dangerous" or "anti-male." It is only in approximately the last 12 seconds that we've decided that men should be as emotional and vulnerable as women.
The experiment has not resulted in happier or more well-adjusted men, nor has it created better marriages. It has had very much the opposite effect.
FTR,
the role model for all of us, male or female, is Jesus. Aiming to be
more like Him is more important than aspiring towards either traditional
or progressives expectations.
(in Christian Women Facebook Group)
' I often thank God for giving me so many blessings even though I don’t deserve it.
My husband often disagrees because he thinks I’m being negative and says I do deserve things.
I think this is something a lot of Christians struggle to realise though, is that actually, because of sin, we don’t deserve the good things.
They think that because they are ‘saved’ that they are ‘good’ people and that God wouldn’t send bad things to good people, so it must be coming from the devil. I think some of this has probably come from the prosperity gospel.
In truth, as Paul says, All have sinned and fallen short, and none of us are ‘good’. It is only through the gift of Christ that we are made/being made good, and that God even gives us anything. They are literally gracious gifts from God, and that’s why we should praise Him and thank Him.'
YES.
Our
culture is constantly telling us that we deserve good things/what we
want, partly because commercialism means that corporations profit by
telling us to buy things for ourselves "Because You're Worth It".
Politicians also benefit from flattering us, with comments that imply
that whoever's listening is great and they're on their side (in the
hopes that those listeners might vote for them).
We
also think we're good because via the news we're surrounded by endless
examples of people doing things that are worse than we'd ever do (also,
we judge other people by what we think is right, and we're doing more to
adhere to our own standard of right than the majority of the population
is doing to adhere to our own standard of right, because other people
are adhering to *their* own personal ideas about what's right)
(in Christian Women Facebook Group)
But
what Sam Smith's been doing in recent years has indeed been very
disturbing - it's not just a matter of being Gay of course, or even of
identifying as nonBinary, but he's also made his performances and videos
extremely sex-obsessed, as well as using Demonic costumes (it's always
difficult to know, when people use Satanic aesthetics, to what extent
they are consciously embracing Satan, or whether they're unknowingly
doing so, thinking him not to actually be real, motivated by a longing
for attention - ironically some Satanists were angry with Sam Smith for
appropriating their religion).
Did
you see Unholy, his song with trans singer Kim Petras? They performed
it at the Grammys last year, both the performance and music video are
thoroughly grim. A less discussed aspect that struck me is how the song
celebrates a husband/father cheating. Whilst some people might argue
that there's nothing deliberately "sinful" about Sam Smith's queerness,
and that the costumes and song title are simply for show, the fact that
the lyrics actively promote the cruelty and selfishness of infidelity
struck me as a great example of "call[ing] evil good".
But
I think that we need to keep in mind that, whilst Sam Smith is very
explicit, most of our population is also lost. We need, urgently to seek
to share Jesus with people who aren't yet as fortunate as we have been
to discover The Truth, and not get too distracted by this^ weirdness in
itself.
Sure
- but I still don't understand why pages like this one and politicians
like Corbyn aren't also talking about other horrific humanitarian
issues, such as the fact that 25,000 people die of hunger each day
(largely due to injustices from which countries like ours have benefitted) or the grotesque exploitation in the supply chains of things we buy.
(I
am, of course, not disputing that the situation in Gaza is horrific -
but other suffering human beings matter too yet are ignored)
it
is indeed possible to find people talking about all of these things and
more, and moreover, actually addressing them on a global scale. you
won't find that discussion in places like this though; you'll have to
look fairly considerably to the left of where most people here find themselves, towards marxist-leninists and china
one
of the best places to discuss such matters that i've found is - of all
things - a dead, gay comedy forum from the early 00's that you have to
pay $10 to post in
i
mean, it sort of does: these pages are still focused on british
politics that doesn't fall too far, in the grand scheme of things, from
the bounds of what's considered acceptable. which is understandable; by
the nature of this discussion,
that's simply where a lot of people will be coming to it from, which is
what gives it sufficient momentum for facebook to keep putting it in
front of you
the
sort of discussion you're looking for - if indeed you are looking for
it, rather than just looking to dunk on your opponents for their
hypocrisy - is sufficiently far beyond the pale that you'll have to go
looking much further afield for it
British
politics? Why? Other human beings matter, and their suffering is
connected to injustices that have benefitted us. And this is a post,
like so, so, so many, about Gaza, not Britain.
I'm
not looking for a niche corner of the internet to read about something
for the sake of *my interest*, I'm wishing that those who have a
platform and who supposedly care about human suffering to raise
awareness of human suffering beyond this one crisis.
so
you are saying that a man who has spent his entire political life
fighting injustice around the Globe isn't doing enough to rid the World
of all its ills? Unbelievable.
Ummm,
this is how it works in politics: You become Prime Minister, then you
can try and influence the World to your own ideals. JC wasn't the PM.
But in his career as an MP he did one or two little things tbf, such as
vote against his own Party
on the Iraq War, was arrested for his anti Apartheid stance on South
Africa, Chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, recieved the Gandhi
International Peace Award and also the Sean MacBride Peace Prize. Maybe
you should ask Jesus why HE doesn't step in and help out with the issues
you refer to? Have a good day.
Become
PM? He has a massive platform, huge numbers of people follow him and he
continually gets to speak to enormous crowds. Again, you've not
answered my question as to what he's done regarding Global poverty or
modern slavery.
Jesus? because you plaster him all over your FB page, facepalm.
You obviously don't understand politics and for some unfathomable
reason pick on the most honest man in British politics. You say you
voted for him and now you denigrate him? Weird.
What?
We're not on my FB page, we're in a thread about Corbyn (which is why I
mentioned him, I'm not "picking on" him). And exactly how does any of
this show that I "obviously don't understand politics"?
you
mentioned Corbyn by name ffs. I believe you've a bee in your bonnet
about JC ( not him - the real one) winning. Tu hwnt I eiriau.
I mentioned Corbyn because the OP is about Corbyn, I don't know why you think that's an "ffs" matter.
And why do you think that Jesus isn't real? Yikes. https://www.theguardian.com/.../what-is-the-historical...…
Maybe go and have a look at the manifesto he stands on, and the causes he champions before trying to cast aspersions.
Corbyn walks the walk, doesn't just talk about it. He has spoken about poverty at home and abroad many, many times in parliament.
At home, he volunteers at kitchens and food banks in his area,
supporting them in funding appeals and giving his own private time to be
there. I guarantee you, no other politician in this country does more
to help.
As
far as this page goes, they do indeed highlight the failings of both
government and opposition. Right now, Gaza is a hot button issue since
it's an actual genocide being committed in real time, which our
opposition and government is supporting. That needs to be spoken
against, and situations like Gaza always feed into the issues you are
also concerned about. It's all connected.
I'm
not casting aspersions, I follow him here and on Twitter (and years ago
I took up party membership to vote for him in leadership elections).
I've looked again just now to see if/when he last spoke about modern
slavery or Global hunger, and there are no results for years.
Nor
can I remember when this page last posted about these issues (and no
one has shown me evidence that it has). Gaza is a "hot button issue" in
that pages like this one and figures like Corbyn talk about it
continually (it also -rightly of course - has attention in the MSM and
from other politicians, it's the other topics that need social justice
warriors to speak up about them). Human beings brutally exploited for
items we buy, or forced from their homes amidst the war in Sudan, or
dying of starvation elsewhere are not less human (though frankly, I
suspect that subconcious anti-Black bias means that some people consider
them as such)
Again,
you haven't looked very deep or very far. Corbyn as an individual is
always talking about tackling poverty. Just because he hasn't tweeted
about it, doesn't mean he's being silent. My god, the world doesn't
exist in tweets. Go check Hansard,
or the parliamentary library. Check out the speeches he's made over the
many, many years he's been an MP. Educate yourself. "I don't blame" as though people were asking for her moral opinion.
And she's making money out of it - whilst wives and children are being emotionally wrecked, likely permanently hurt.
LOL,
absolutely not. The problem is the bloke thinking he needs so much sex.
He made a promise when he got married, he needs to stop being immature,
greedy and selfish. If his wife never wants to be physical, he should
think harder about what he's doing wrong or whether she's facing too
much stress etc and needs support. If he really can't contain himself,
he should use his hand rather than a hooker, an affair is not excusable.
The labels “far right” etc are thrown around continually ATM, and
that’s frequently unintelligent and unhelpful. I see plenty of people
who are referred to as “far right” now happily replying things like
“we’re just right [correct]”
etc - they become less willing to listen to those with different views
and more angry. Those who *are* racist become more stubborn and
resolute. But of course as you say, this is not just about racism.
IMO
people who care only about the interests of themselves and the British
population are *wrong* - we should care about humanity, and God calls us
to do so. But nationalism isn’t the same as racism, and some people
(who don’t know God, who calls us to care sacrificially for our
neighbours from elsewhere) are inevitably concerned about NHS waiting
lists, housing shortatges etc and mistakenly presume migration to be the
cause. Further, not believing that human beings have an intrinsic right
to move to wherever they want to doesn’t in itself mean one has
antipathy to people from elsewhere. Importantly, there are
value/cultural issues. We are *privileged* to live in a country shaped
by Jesus’ teachings (as much as there have always been plenty of Brits
who aren’t following Jesus at all, including some who erroneously label
themselves as “Christian”). As historian Tom Holland has expounded, it
was Jesus’ teachings that imparted to the West values we now take for
granted (such as caring for the vulnerable). Obviously, that’s
absolutely not to say that there aren’t similar values in different
parts of the world - also, our country has now mostly abandoned
Christianity, but some people with different heritage or who’ve migrated
in from other parts of the world are stemming the decline (and I am SO
grateful). But I remember thinking, when a video circulated last year
showing a middle Eastern asylum seeker trying to chat up a 15 year old
girl (the video led to violent rioting by locals outside the local hotel
housing migrants) that what he was doing was indeed beyond disgusting
and unacceptable - but he might have no idea that it’s wrong, we’re
fortunate to be living in a culture in which we do know that it is. So
we should have some degree of empathy (just as we know, as Christians,
that we are blessed to have been shown the truth about our sin, others
are lost in the dark) for those with backgrounds that have taught them
erroneous values - yet we should also have understanding of those
British people who are terrified by the import of some people with
dangerous ideas (mostly connected to facets of Islam).
Plenty
of things that have happened in this country in recent years, connected
to some people emulating aspect’s of Muhammed’s behaviour, are
contributing to some Brits being *scared* - some are also racist, but
fear is not the same thing in itself as racism. It’s incredibly
unintelligent that so many of these Brits essentially lump migrants
together (rather than recognising that each person has their own mind,
and one Muslim or migrant doing something dangerous doesn’t mean that
another is responsible or would condone the dangerous action) - but
putting labels on these people doesn’t help anything, we should aim to
have constructive conversations, understanding the roots of resentment
and countering fallacious generalisations that lead to bigotry.
The labels “far right” are thrown around a lot because the far right are on the rise and a lot of people are Far right. Minimising this as “just right” is gaslighting.
I'm
not minimising anything (and I was quoting "just right", not using that
phrase personally), I'm saying that we need to understand the complex
reality of what's actually happening - and that the label doesn't reduce
the problem, it can actually make things worse.
If
people are afraid* and people (typically with greater privilege/wealth)
simply react by labelling them in an attempt to shame them, they WON'T
reconsider their negative preconceptions and move towards accepting that
with which they're unfamiliar, they'll become more defiant, and they'll
shift further into silos where they're susceptible to genuinely racist
ideology.
*Do you understand why people are afraid BTW?
And
the label IS thrown around absurdly. It's sometimes used to refer to
pro-Lifers - you may be pro-Choice, but it should be obvious that
opposition to abortion is nothing to do with racism (in fact the
pro-Choice movement was born out of racism, though I'm not blaming
present day pro-Choicers for this). Last year I read a Sky News article
about supposed "far Right" pressure groups in parliament, and one of the
features portrayed as eerie was a belief in Intelligent Design.,
We
need accurate terminology and discourse that identifies and tackles
problems, not tribal lumping together of swathes of the population with
disparate views.
When you say that lots of people are far Right, what do you actually mean?
far
right politicians like Trump, Farage, Le Penn etc aren’t scared,
they’re power hungry and manipulative and are gaining power by creating,
stoking and feeding on fear.
I understand why the people who vote for them are scared, but voting
for them makes no sense, it’s like Turkeys voting for Christmas because
they’re scared of thanksgiving….why don’t these people vote Green if
they want a protest vote that’s radically different from the
establishment? Green have manifestos that will aide the scared, poor and
marginalised, not harm them further.
I
do know why they vote for them- because they are manipulated, the
answer is education, and I really hope the new Labour government
recognise this and plough money into transforming the education system
I'm still not clear what you mean by "far right"(?)
"Trump,
Farage, Le Penn etc" - but we weren't talking only about politicians,
you said "a lot of people are Far right", implying that a significant %
of the population is. I agree that certain
politicians are themselves not scared, and are manipulating fear for
their own power. And labels don't mitigate that power or the fear on
which they thrive.
When
you say that it's like turkeys voting for Christmas, whilst you're right
that electing right wing politicians worsens public services, the fear
is not only about services (and housing, etc - nor are people concerned
only about the establishment). It's things like the incident I
mentioned, or as an example today, this https://x.com/i/status/1809600586989306058
Yes
education is vital, but even if the school system can be improved it
won't eliminate fear nor actual racism (in case I'd not made it clear, I
don't doubt that the latter is also a serious issue), people far beyond
school age need to learn, and they won't be receptive if they're
stigmatised. Putting *people* (each of whom is an individual with a
unique profusion of concerns and preconceptions) )into boxes isn't
conducive to progress, we should primarily castigate actual policies,
views or lies themselves. And as Christians, we know that we too have
fallible hearts/minds - Jesus helps us to love those from elsewhere, we
must hope that those who don't yet know Him will have the blessing of
knowing Him (incidentally, that would also cause them to become less
fearful or prejudiced)
Both claiming to BE God, and claiming that other people should agree with oneself solely because of what one believes the Real God says, won't work in convincing anyone. Personally I think God has given wise guidance for humanity, but it'd be daft to just demand non-believers agree. Of course Charlamagne calling himself god is amazing arrogance - and sometimes refusal to debate is borne of arrogance also (though in our current climate of constant arguing, sometimes it's about saving time). Our culture needs more humility and listening between different sides.
Again we the telling us what you think god is saying. You don't know and can't prove it and the reason why all ideologies are dangerous.
Just say how you feel because in the end that's what it is or was in the first place.
That's what I meant by "personally I think", I know that it's not something other people will agree with and I don't expect them to. People should try to explain the *reasoning* for their opinions (and, yes yes yes, proof if possible), and understand that others may not agree.
....Apologies if I wasn't clear enough - I wasn't disagreeing with you.
I was thinking about how I've seen some people who claim to be Christian telling other people what to do "because God says", and I feel I want to shout at them (though I wouldn't actually shout) that people won't care what we believe God says. We can have opinions/believe things about what should or shouldn't be done, but we can't *expect* other people to take us seriously, particularly if we don't give any logical explanation. And we shouldn't think about what other people are doing so much (or be controlling) - some people who call themselves Christians focus too much on what other people are doing, more than on trying to share and emulate Jesus. Christians should always be trying to act more as He did, not to make other people act as we think they should. We should also always keep at the forefront of our minds that we ourselves have made many mistakes and can be wrong.
And Charlamagne should probably also trust that Biden and his team can make up their own minds.
I was thinking about how I've seen some people who claim to be Christian telling other people what to do "because God says", and I feel I want to shout at them (though I wouldn't actually shout) that people won't care what we believe God says. We can have opinions/believe things about what should or shouldn't be done, but we can't *expect* other people to take us seriously, particularly if we don't give any logical explanation. And we shouldn't think about what other people are doing so much (or be controlling) - some people who call themselves Christians focus too much on what other people are doing, more than on trying to share and emulate Jesus. Christians should always be trying to act more as He did, not to make other people act as we think they should. We should also always keep at the forefront of our minds that we ourselves have made many mistakes and can be wrong.
And Charlamagne should probably also trust that Biden and his team can make up their own minds.
I
wish our country cared as much about those human beings in Africa who
are afflicted as it does about animals (FTR, I am obviously not
endorsing trophy hunting, nor suggesting that the continent is a
monolith of need)
you
must put your fingers in your ears ans close your eyes, everytime there
is an advert for aid to Africa , for medical help and water aid. This
country has sent trillions in private charity ,as well as the
government aid budget. Remember
live Aid. A man who calls himself Mr Beast has just built 100 Wells, in
Africa ,and got criticism for being a white savior.
Trillions?
According to what data? And Live Aid was a concert 40 years ago, for
goodness sakes. Many times more wealth is coming TO our country FROM
developing countries than we give in Aid. https://www.theguardian.com/.../aid-in-reverse-how-poor...
you
said ,this country does not care about the people of Africa ,I gave
you examples. You need to stop thinking of the people of Africa, like
children, and have low expectations ,of their ability to take care of
their own citizens. They are all independent contries ,and have been for a long time.
Those
examples are minor, Aid is a small fraction of 1% of GDP (it's
supposedly 0.5%, but actually much of that is spent here in the UK, more
than is given to Africa), the vast majority of people never give to
those causes and there's more interest in animals. I never said that there's *no* concern, I said I wished people here were *more* concerned.
I
absolutely never said that African people have low expectations or
lesser abilities, yikes. They are resilient and creative - but that
doesn't mean that the injustices that they're born into disappear.
There's not much people can do to improve their lives if they can't
access enough nourishment, if they're prohibited from complete
schooling, if they don't have electricity, or they have to spend hours
each day walking for water. What would you do?
That
their countries are "independent" doesn't change the fact that turmoil,
grossly deficient infrastructure and political instability have been
left behind by colonisation - and our banks and corporations continue to
exploit parts of the continent and its people, whilst sucking out far
more wealth than is given in Aid.
As
a Brit who's generally on the Left, I'm so frustrated that the
Democrats keep banging on endlessly about "abortion rights", not about
helping the poor.
The
US is the most powerful country in the world, but the supposedly Left
wing (?) president doesn't care at all about the world's very poorest
people, in spite of the fact that human beings in the poorest countries
are poor in part because of things that have made (and continue to make)
countries like ours rich. https://www.theguardian.com/.../aid-in-reverse-how-poor...
Human
beings are starving, but supposed justice warriors don't care about
those people (unless they're in Gaza), they put their energy instead
into shouting support for killing the unborn.
Yes,
if you care about those children (do you?) you'll want their continent
not to be ravaged by climate change, as well as wanting the evil
exploitation of children and other workers to end.
By
"African nations" I think you mean those individuals with some
power/platform - and I'm not objecting, but more important for the
population of the continent as a whole is that the extraction of
Africa's wealth is ended
For
frick's sake, what kind of people laugh at this? (ie, there are
laughter reactions) I have some serious issues with *Islam*, but
*Muslims* are human beings who deserve empathy.
God's plan...
My
personal opinion is that Muhammed led people to believe erroneous
things about God. But I really, really mean no disrespect Muslims
themselves in saying that, and many are trying to do good. Either way,
these deaths are a tragedy.
that's
your opinion but its wrong Jesus is king theres no Allah or Religion
its manmade Islam is lead by a lawless man why do you think this is
happening because its God Plan to Banish the Beast of Revelation
I agree that Jesus is King, I don't see why you think I'm "wrong" to say that Muhammed misled people about God.
"Allah" is the word for God in certain countries (Christians in Malaysia and Indonesia use Allah to refer to God in the Malaysian and Indonesian languages). Of course what we normally mean by it is the Islamic idea of God - and I agree that that idea is not a reality, but again, Muhammed misled people about God. Muslims are right to believe that there is a God - a creator of the universe - they've got *fundamentally* different ideas about what God is like. If someone believes that the earth is flat, that doesn't mean "there's no" (to use your words) Earth, just that their views about what it is like are much mistaken.
Again, even whilst I disagree with *Islam*, Muslims themselves are human beings, and God calls us to love other *people* (albeit not all of their beliefs or actions).
"Allah" is the word for God in certain countries (Christians in Malaysia and Indonesia use Allah to refer to God in the Malaysian and Indonesian languages). Of course what we normally mean by it is the Islamic idea of God - and I agree that that idea is not a reality, but again, Muhammed misled people about God. Muslims are right to believe that there is a God - a creator of the universe - they've got *fundamentally* different ideas about what God is like. If someone believes that the earth is flat, that doesn't mean "there's no" (to use your words) Earth, just that their views about what it is like are much mistaken.
Again, even whilst I disagree with *Islam*, Muslims themselves are human beings, and God calls us to love other *people* (albeit not all of their beliefs or actions).
The most important fact about your life is that it will end. If you spend your life trying, first and foremost, to avoid its end at any cost, you will have wasted it. You will have spent your precious time on earth on the most futile pursuit of all. You'll be like a child at the playground who spends the whole time whining that soon he's going to have to leave it. He's so focused on not leaving that he never enjoyed actually being there. This is the way that so many people approach life. Don't do that.
Eat healthy. Get some exercise. Enjoy a dessert every once in a while. Have a drink, say your prayers, and love your family. Do something worthwhile with your time here and accept that you will die.
Indeed this lifetime ends. But Jesus offers eternal life, so most important is that we decide whether we want to follow Him.
If
we do, He gives us deep joy, and has far greater purposes for our lives
on Earth, than food and exercise (as awesome and important as these
are, and I wholly agree that we should eat well and exercise)
For
frick's sake, what kind of people laugh at this? (ie, there are
laughter reactions) I have some serious issues with *Islam*, but
*Muslims* are human beings who deserve empathy.
My
personal opinion is that Muhammed led people to believe erroneous
things about God. But I really, really mean no disrespect Muslims
themselves in saying that, and many are trying to do good. Either way,
these deaths are a tragedy.
that's
your opinion but its wrong Jesus is king theres no Allah or Religion
its manmade Islam is lead by a lawless man why do you think this is
happening because its God Plan to Banish the Beast of Revelation
I agree that Jesus is King, I don't see why you think I'm "wrong" to say that Muhammed misled people about God.
"Allah"
is the word for God in certain countries (Christians in Malaysia and
Indonesia use Allah to refer to God in the Malaysian and Indonesian
languages). Of course what we normally mean by it is the Islamic idea of
God - and I agree that that idea is not a reality, but again, Muhammed
misled people about God. Muslims are right to believe that there is a
God - a creator of the universe - they've got *fundamentally* different
ideas about what God is like. If someone believes that the earth is
flat, that doesn't mean "there's no" (to use your words) Earth, just
that their views about what it is like are much mistaken.
Again,
even whilst I disagree with *Islam*, Muslims themselves are human
beings, and God calls us to love other *people* (albeit not all of
their beliefs or actions).
"Right
thing to do"? As determined how? Why would it be "right" to teach kids
things that contravene biology, or which lead them to think that their
bodies are wrong?
It's the right thing to do to teach kids to be kind and empathetic to other people, but that doesn't mean denying biology.
Still
finding it remarkable that, in a world in which there are people
literally starving to death, the party supposedly concerned about social
justice only wants to brag about killing tiny humans.
so you want to force women to have babies only to watch them starve? That's sick.
No, I didn't say that at all. Classic strawman fallacy.
"Sick" is dismembering tiny humans.
no more remarkable than right wing women who buy into men telling women what to do with their bodies.
Such as? I'm not Right wing. And it's abortion that violates another person's body.It
seems odd that this (RE Jay Slater) is being overlooked by the media
(though I'm not personally wishing harm upon him) "Teens who split boy's
head open with a machete all swerve jail as they're slapped with
community service"
It's
as though all the media just wants to £sell a sad missing person
storyline, like a real life soap, and aren't interested in informing the
public about reality (they're also weirdly ignoring that half the
public knows)
Given the
very, very extensive coverage being given to this one individual, might
it be that more good could be done for the world if the media spent
*some* of this time on highlighting other people needing attention
instead? Or does he matter more than everyone else?
I
think the Royals should keep just one property for the lot of them and
have the other properties become communes or homeless shelters. But
unfortunately inequality is far deeper and more complicated than that.
Many people who sleep rough have suffered more complex difficulties than
housing prices alone. And many, many people are struggling with keeping
a roof over their heads because of the greed of landlords and property
developers - the Royal family are far more visible, those who are most
responsible for injustices can escape public fury.
Also,
some of the Royal's wealth, and some of our country's wealth as one of
the richest in the world, has been taken from elsewhere - it shouldn't
all just be shared out more equally amongst our population, it should be
returned and used to help humanity's very poorest people.
Stonehenge vandalised in a "disgusting" act by Just Stop Oil
Climate
change is contributing to the exacerbation of torturous, deadly
heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, floods and storms. I'm worried that
these stunts are making people less willing to listen.
(yes,
I've studied the arguments against believing in man made climate, and
those who believe these and haven't read the rebuttals to these need to
stop being conned https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php )
so
you are quite happy for these morons to deface historical monuments etc
that have absolutely sod all to do with oil... you are as bad as they
are....
Since
you think that me writing a comment on Facebook is *as bad* as people
*you* describe as "defacing monuments" (I'm pretty sure the orange will
wash off), evidently *you* don't care about defacing monuments
Personally
I think it's truly gross. But viewing figures are high (for a TV show
in the current era of many options and of streaming), so the BBC is
right to show it - their job is to either inform or entertain. and
enough people find it entertaining.
I'm
not sure that'll help(?) It's not nefarious, as some want to presume,
they're good guidelines (as well as culturally significant, relevant for
understanding the world even if one doesn't respect them) and no one's
forced to follow them anyway.
Personally
I think that arguments for God and for the resurrection stack up, and
that knowing Him is the most exciting thing we can do - but it can only
be a personal decision. If Christians want kids to know God, they could
explain the rational reasons for believing, but children
should/must/will decide for themselves what to believe.
Again,
putting guidance on a wall doesn't in any way mean that people will
follow it. But it'd be awesome for the Beatitudes to be put up.
And Right wingers should stop misusing the word Woke.
I'm not
a Christian, but know the teachings of Jesus. Notice the 'Christians'
totally dropped the WWJD campaign. (What would Jeasus do?)
Says
who? I still continually have it in my mind. Perhaps you just notice
noisy Right wingers more(?), but the people who identify as Christians
(plenty are wrong to do so) are not all the same as one another.
FTR,
Jesus is portrayed as different nationalities in different parts of the
world. I do think it's daft that He's often looked too Caucasian in
Western art (and this^meme is hilarious), but I've also seen depictions
of Him looking far Eastern, African etc, artists across humanity have
been trying to make Him as relatable as possible (because Him relating
to us was a part of why He came)
Unlike
some parts of our world, there's plenty of food here (elsewhere there
are children literally starving to death, rather than obesity). But
there's ridiculous waste and corporate greed.
Reform
: "We are a country that's done great things for the world, let's be
proud!" "Let's cut Aid so that more human beings starve to death and
ignore the climate crisis so that humanity faces more food shortages and
catastrophic weather events!"
Farage mentioned "Christian forgiveness" in a recent interview, he clearly doesn't actually have a clue about Christ.
amazing how many extreme right wingers try to use religion to justify their narrative.
*Try*
to *misuse*. It's inevitable, people seeking power will use what means
they can to endeavour to assert superiority, it was going on in Jesus'
time (He argued continually with "religious") authorities, pointing out
that they weren't genuinely seeking to follow God's commands). Farage
plainly is not actually seeking to follow Jesus. What I find very odd is
that so many people ignore actual Christianity because of people like
Farage who they know aren't really Christian.
"He
has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of
you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with
your God?" Micah 6:8
why do you think hard working men and women should fund millions of foreigners and illegals in the uk ?
Why do you think hard working men and women should fund foreign countries ?
We only earn the money that we do because we live in a rich country,
with an economy boosted hugely by *taking* from elsewhere. Far more
wealth goes in the *opposite* direction (in Christian Women Facebook Group)
The
Bible doesn't insist on burial, God is concerned with our souls and it
seems more pagan to worry about the material body as though it has some
magical power. Why think that God is not powerful enough to give us new
bodies in "heaven"/the new creation/eternal life?
Personally
I pretty much never think about dying, but I hope that medicine and r
science can make some use of my corpse, it'd be great if some organs
could be donated, or if some tissue could be used for research. Massive
kudos to those who opted to become the cadavers I saw in the lab at
university.
they need to address their issues or they'll always be the same ...
We
do indeed need to address the issues, but keeping people alive and
stopping the horrific *suffering* of starvation in the meantime doesn't
negate that. And starvation exacerbates issues - for instance, children
will be less likely to be able to help their communities when they grow up if their growth and education are stunted by malnutrition. THEY DO not we ..we don't have that problem all though we have some issues .
Why?
They're just as human as people here, and they're in greater need, as
well as it being the case that each £ makes many times more impact
helping the world's poorest people than it can here. Of course, you
don't have to do anything, but personally I care.
Seriously?
If you weren't aware that their website sometimes has 2nd hand mobiles
that's not my fault. And I don't know why you're arguing about my phone
anyway.
(FTR, the problems faced by people in the poorest parts of the world are hugely connected to us, see for instance https://www.theguardian.com/.../aid-in-reverse-how-poor... )
nothing is connected to me I'm smarter than to have people make me think im guilty of something .how much of my taxes goes to other countrys?
I
didn't say that you're "guilty", but if you're so "smart" you should be
aware of things. And you don't need to tell me that you don't give an
F, I didn't ask.
How much goes to other countries? Almost nothing, if you're so smart surely you
knew that? Aid is 0.5% of GDP, but much of that 0.5% now stays in the
UK anyway, and far more wealth goes in the *opposite* direction, as the
article explains.
She does use her ridiculous wealth to help others. Tell me, how many children were maimed in the making of your mobile phone when mining those precious minerals? Pot Kettle Black
Foodbanks
are great, but my comment was about people in our *world* who are
*literally starving to death*. And I didn't criticise her.
My phone is 2nd hand from Oxfam.
of course it is
I’m arguing about your hypocrisy. Save the starving whilst using a
mobile phone mined for cobalt by starving children to peddle your
superiority. I see you.
It's
not hypocrisy at all. I simply commented that ordering a pizza doesn't
require praise, and also that she could potentially save a lot of lives
with her excess wealth. We all have phones, they're essential in 21st
century Britain for everything, including earning money to donate, and
because mine's 2nd hand I'm not contributing to the issues related to
cobalt. And I never suggested I have "superiority". It's weird that
you're trying to moan at me for being online whilst you yourself are
online.
That
means public money being spent on free meals for wealthy kids (instead
of targetting free meals at those who actually need them).
Meanwhile,
there are children elsewhere in our world who are literally starving to
death and they're essentially ignored (I see more noise from supposed
supporters of social justice in favour of free meals for the rich than
in favour of feeding the world's very poorest children)
(in Christian Women Facebook Group)
What? We've not had a Christian leading the country for years. Why would we expect to?
Almost all of the population *isn't* Christian.
Our
concern is that people turn to Jesus, not that Christianity has
political power. Having a Christian leader would be awesome in that it'd
mean they themselves are saved, and they'd be more *likely* to have the
right policies (but this wouldn't be guaranteed, since as Christians
we're still flawed, and politics involves the party, advisors etc), but
it wouldn't in itself mean that more people find God.
FTR,
note that Jesus doesn't tell His followers to worry about their rulers,
and in the OT we see how God can work through non-believing leaders.
I've
not read much about Starmer's beliefs, but he does apparently observe
some Jewish practices with his wife (who is Jewish, so that they can
impart the heritage to their children), so I think that he's at least
respectful rather than being hugely antiGod.
No
one can have it "all". We don't need to. If a woman is being mistreated
or unjustly overburdened, that needs addressing, but our culture's
obsession with "having it all" isn't helping anyone, we'd be happier if
we focussed more on how privileged we are to have what we do have.
Having
kids is a privilege that some people are desperate for. Living in a
country where children don't die of starvation, water contamination or
tropical diseases is a privilege.
Paloma
Faith has the privilege of motherhood *and* a more exciting job than
the vast majority of mothers. She should contemplate how lucky she is.
They've just given an immediate whip suspension to a peer for mocking her. And as much as I wish Labour would be clearer on this issue, it's understandable that they're trying to avoid agitating certain voters as they endeavour to attain power (so that they can improve the country). By contrast, the Tories have had power, and no need to worry about those voters, yet have allowed this issue to grow. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/03/rishi-sunak-trans-equality-act-protect-womens-spaces-tory/?utm_source=pocket_shared
Do you AGREE with parents who would take their children out of a class if it conflicts with their Christian ethics?
It
probably depends on what's going to be said and how credulous the child
is, but I'd have thought it'd be better to not remove them, and to talk
to them at home about why one (Christian parent) disagrees. Ultimately,
children will hear different opinions (and see certain things one
wouldn't want them to); and ultimately, they'll eventually make up their
own mind.
For
instance, I had sex ed at home several years before school (age 6 vs 8
with a Christian kids book called Who Made Me? (emphasis on the love
between a married couple, God ultimately creating everyone, etc). But
just being at school meant hearing other students talk about all sorts
of other things related to sex (that utterly horrified me), avoiding
certain lessons wouldn't have prevented that - and I wasn't just going
to agree with peers nor teachers anyway. Children will be surrounded by
different ideas RE religion, sex/relationships, etc etc by virtue of
living in the 21st century - but parents can share why they believe what
they do as Christians.
I
suspect that taking kids out of lessons could make some of them more
eager to find out what they missed, and/or could cause tension with
peers. What really matters is teaching kids why we can believe in God,
and hopefully enabling them to share Jesus with the world around them -
not cutting them off from the mess of our culture. And we all, from
childhood, need to learn compassion for those with different views (even
whilst disagreeing), I suspect cutting kids off could foment
judgemental attitudes.
"I
wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I
was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and
swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this
world" 1 Corinthians 5:10
Why
do all the politicians only talk about building *more* homes? There
needs (particularly in light of the climate crisis) also to be more
efficient use of existing buildings, including help for
intergenerational living (esp given the loneliness crisis) and a brutal
crackdown on investment properties/2nd homes
I
like Oxfam, but I'm really wondering why, like so many other people,
they're incomparably more concerned about victims of one conflict than
of others (such as that in Sudan ATM)
if
you visit any Oxfam shop today, you will see posters and donation
appeals to help the people of east Africa and Sudan. It’s been the
current appeal for over a month. It’s possible to raise funds and
awareness for more than one issue at a time.
Good
for the volunteers not taking down those posters. But I follow Oxfam
here and on Twitter, and it's *almost exclusively* interested in raising
awareness of Gaza (I am, of course, not disputing that the situation
there is horrific), as though it thinks people with more melanin don't
matter.
This
is despicable. I think that there's an even wider issue, though, of
many people in our society caring more about dogs than about
disadvantaged or exploited human beings. There are horrifically
exploited people in the Global supply chains of things we buy, but dogs
are seemingly considered more important.