"We’re often told to look at two sides, like the Israeli government and Hamas. But what if you were told they share the same masters?

Why did the attacks happen, and why were they allowed to wreak such horror on innocent civilians?"

A false flag of course.

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on finding Christian community near me. I realize that's a difficult ask, considering I'm posing this question online without my location, but let me explain some of the obstacles I've been facing for a while.

1. I work a sensitive job and can't really discuss the details. Most of my life I was an open book, but the past few years I've had to get creative about how I tell/don't tell people what I do. So it can be hard to form new relationships and be the new person in a group.
2. I travel a lot for this job, so it's difficult to attend regularly. I think some people understand this when they get to know you. But unfortunately a lot of us Christians can be too attendance focused.
3. I am in my late 30s, but everyone says I look 25, so the past several times I've attended new places, I've been steered toward much younger groups, classes, etc. before I can explain my age. Or find out there is no one my age. I get along with all ages, but I really need some peers in my life.
4. Even if I don't have peers, I've always longed for an older mentor. Leadership was thrust on me at a young age and everyone looked to me for guidance when I barely knew what I was doing. No one has it all figured out, but I greatly wish I could find an older lady or couple that has some wisdom and experience to share.
5. I recently reached out to a church because they had a form online for mentors/groups. Someone called and offered to set me up with an older lady for coffee and invite me to a discipleship group. She called back and said that lady was already mentoring people and a little busy, so I should just come on Sunday and get to know some people. I fully intend to rejoin a church, but because it can be tough to just walk in, especially when people start asking a lot of questions, I wanted to get to know a few people first. I know they meant well, but after getting my hopes up, I felt rejected. (I did tell them my reasons for reaching out the way I did).
6. A lot of people with my job have supportive spouses, but I have not been blessed with a spouse yet, so I do get lonely. Add to that the fact my best friend recently pulled back from our friendship because of some personal issues she is having, so it made the lack of Christian community in my life more apparent. I started by joining this site.

I feel strong in my personal relationship with the Lord, but bereft of friends. I grew up in church (mostly a combo of non-denom and AG, but live around and have attended a lot of Baptist, as well), and used to have a supportive friend group, but most have moved or drifted away. I love my job, but it doesn't leave a lot of room to rebuild a community from scratch. I realize that's not a church or group's responsibility to cater to, but maybe there's something else I can try. I'm feeling a little defeated.

The beloved cheese was created as a way to turn milk into a long-lasting dairy product that is now protected under European Union law.​

In the past few decades, Parmesan cheese has become a beloved staple of Italian cuisine around the world. Shredded Parmesan goes well on top of almost any pasta dish, works well as a pizza topping, and can be used to make delicious cheese-crusted roasted veggies.


Parmesan as we know it today probably made its entrance into Italian kitchens in the 13th century. As explained by cheesemaker association “The Four Madonnas,” Parmesan cheese was first created in Benedictine monasteries around the northern Italian towns of Modena, Reggio Emilia, Parma and Bologna, thanks to a technique learned from monks from the famous French monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France.

Well before the age of fridge and freezers, monks on both sides of the Alps were faced with the challenge of preserving milk from local cows beyond immediate consumption. Italian Benedictine monks were used to turning milk from sheep or goats into cheese; however, they had yet to find a similar technique to transform cow cheese into a long-lasting cheese.


Thanks to cheesemaking techniques learned from Cluny’s “cousins,” they were able to come up with a solution for cow’s milk, too. By adding salt from Salsomaggiore salt mines to milk, the monks created a dry, calcium-rich cheese in large wheels that — thanks to the preservative effects of salt — could last for months.

Continued below.

Charles Lawson gives an interesting plausible scenario of what could unfold from what is happening right now in the middle east.
If he's scenario does play out as he sees it , then we are indeed living in exciting times.

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After months of investigation and many public accusations of corruption against Mr. Biden and his family, the first report of the premier House G.O.P. inquiry showed no proof of such misconduct.

House Republican Report Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by President Biden (Published 2023)

After months of investigation and many public accusations of corruption against Mr. Biden and his family, the first report of the premier House G.O.P. inquiry showed no proof of such misconduct.

www.nytimes.com

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) criticized House Republicans’ recent effort to impeach President Joe Biden saying it was not done in a “legitimate” or “serious” way, a video obtained by NBC News shows
“I just don’t get the sense that it’s for the sake of impeachment,” Gaetz reportedly said during the fundraiser. “I think it’s for the sake of having another bad thing to say about Joe Biden.”

Gaetz Slams Republican Impeachment Inquiry Of Biden As Not “Serious” In Leaked Video

At an invitation-only fundraiser, Gaetz compared the impeachment inquiry into Biden to a “forever war.”

www.forbes.com

Everyone knows, and now republicans are starting to admit it.

First of all some geography, Bass Strait which separates the Australian continent from Tasmania.

I have never been trusting of AI chatbots particularly with complex scientific questions but I read somewhere if you ask truly incoherent and illogical questions AI chatbots will "hallucinate" and make up an answer which it the passes off as fact.

I put this to the test by asking GPT-3 "Who was the first Tasmanian to walk across Bass Strait?"
Now while this may have been "technically possible" over 12,000 years ago during the last Ice Age when there was a land bridge between Australia and Tasmania, GPT-3 gave a truly bizarre answer.

GPT-3

The first recorded person to walk across Bass Strait from mainland Australia to Tasmania was Paul Smith. In 2003, he completed this historic journey by walking from Wilsons Promontory in Victoria to Preservation Island in Tasmania. This remarkable feat made him the first person to walk across the Bass Strait, a challenging body of water known for its strong currents and treacherous conditions. Smith's journey took several days, and he faced numerous obstacles, but his determination and preparation ultimately allowed him to accomplish this unique feat.

Click to expand...

A Google search of this Paul Smith character exhibiting powers to walk over water like Jesus revealed nothing.
When I asked the same question to Bing chatbot, its answer was far more sane.

Bing

I’m sorry for any confusion, but it’s not physically possible for a person to walk over Bass Strait. Bass Strait is a sea channel that separates Tasmania from the Australian mainland. However, there was an instance where a person named Andrew Englisch crossed Bass Strait on a wing foil. This was a significant achievement given the treacherous nature of the ocean stretch. Please let me know if you have any other questions!

Click to expand...

When The Lord Jesus Christ says to pray for those who persecute you, what exactly / specifically should we pray for them ?



“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

• Matthew 5:43-45

@Estrid

The article is from 2014 but it was requested I post it in an area where non-believers can comment as well.
**************************************
The well-preserved nature of the fossils gives scientist a snapshot of life more than 500 million years ago

A treasure trove of fossils chiseled out of a canyon in Canada's Kootenay National Park rivals the famous Burgess Shale, the best record of early life on Earth, scientists say.

"Once we started to break fresh rock, we realized we had discovered something incredibly special," said Robert Gaines, a geologist at Pomona College in Pomona, Calif., and co-author of a new study announcing the find. "It was an extraordinary moment."

The Burgess Shale refers to both a fossil find and a 505-million-year-old rock formation made of mud and clay. The renowned Burgess Shale fossil quarry, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Yoho National Park, is in a glacier-carved cliff in the Canadian Rockies. The fossils were discovered in 1909. Since then, several other fossil sites have been found in the Burgess Shale, but none as rich as the original.

The fossils are extraordinary because they preserve soft parts of ancient animals in exceptional detail; these soft parts are less likely to be imprinted in stone than harder parts, like bones. More than 200 animal species have been identified at the 1909 fossil site, providing a rare window into the Cambrian explosion, the time when complex body forms first appeared in Earth's fossil record starting about 542 million years ago.

"Nowhere do we have a better view of exactly what the Cambrian looked like and its relationship to the environment than in the Burgess Shale," Gaines told Live Science's Our Amazing Planet.

The new site is also in the Burgess Shale formation, and seems to rival the 1909 original in fossil diversity and preservation, researchers report today (Feb. 11) in the journal Nature Communications. In just two weeks, the research team collected more than 3,000 fossils representing 55 species. Fifteen of these species are new to science. [Gallery: Amazing Cambrian Fossils from Canada's Marble Canyon]

"The rate at which we are finding animals — many of which are new — is astonishing, and there is a high possibility that we'll eventually find more species here than at the original Yoho National Park site, and potentially more than from anywhere else in the world," said Jean-Bernard Caron, lead study author and an invertebrate paleontologist at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

Better than Burgess


Continued below.

"Mother Lode" of Fossils Discovered in Canada

The well-preserved nature of the fossils gives scientist a snapshot of life more than 500 million years ago

www.scientificamerican.com

Hello everyone,

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. But I would love to have a discussion (civil as possible) about why you would or would not join the Anglican church. If you are Anglican, why are you?

I've continued to grow more and more fond of the Anglican vision, and I would love to hear others reasons why you are Anglican or why you would stay away. Thanks!

I'm painting with broad strokes- Apply the question to the Church of England, ACNA, etc.

Moderators, feel free to move this thread if I have misplaced it. I didn't put it specifically in the Anglican thread in hopes of hearing other denominational perspectives.

I was just watching a news report on Israel's war against Palestine. The report started with an update stating that the IDF has dropped six thousand bombs on Gaza in the past 6 days. Six thousand bombs, on a stretch of land about twice the size of Washington D.C. First-world, advanced fighter jets, shooting very, very big bombs everywhere on a tiny stretch of what is ranked as the 3rd most densely populated piece of land in the world.

The report detailed how Israel has warned that they will start bombing the entire northern area of Gaza, which rounds to roughly 1 million people needing to stack on top of the already existing, dense population of the southern half. That is not realistic.

And, this is after their electricity, water, food, medicine, and everything has been completely cut off. They are under a total siege (which is different from the partial siege they've been under for the past several decades). And this is while a thousand very large bombs drop across the region every day.

Their situation is dire. Tens of thousands will likely die in the next week.

After about 3 minutes of building up this horrible situation, the video cuts over to footage of victims of the Hamas attack mourning dead loved ones, kidnapped loved ones, and the state of Israel in general. It was sad to see, but also the shift was fairly jarring. We go from, "More than a million will be displaced while thousands more will die" to "They killed my mom and I miss her". I mean, I know what Hamas did was horrible. But Israel is essentially broadcasting that they are about to commit genocide on Gaza.

For a country fearful of being destroyed, they sure have become good at destroying.

This is the female version of Mojo's Barber Shop

This is the thread to discuss women's fashion, hair, beauty, etc.

Men, you are welcome to contribute.

In the runup to the 2020 election, a small news organization saw an opportunity.

The Epoch Times directed millions of dollars in advertising toward supporting President Donald Trump’s campaign and published dozens of articles parroting his lies about the election — resulting in huge growth to its audience and its coffers.

With the new [political] bedfellows came a new revenue stream. Though Falun Gong practitioners had been a reliable source of small donations in previous years, in 2020 the group started to receive gifts and grants from big money conservative donors.

The strategy garnered criticism from fact-checking groups and got it banned from advertising on Facebook, but it ultimately paid off — putting the once-fringe newspaper on a path that perhaps only its leader, who claims to have supernatural powers, could have foreseen.

Funded through aggressive online and real-world marketing campaigns and big-money conservative donors, The Epoch Times now boasts to be the country’s fourth-largest newspaper by subscriber count. [Its circulation is not audited, so this is a 'boast' rather than a fact, but it could very well be true.]

Anti-vaccine activist and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.calls The Epoch Times a daily read, among his most trusted news sources.

In July, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., recited the history of The Epoch Times into the congressional record. “This is all about one word: freedom,” Norman said.

The Epoch Times was a “supporting sponsor” for this year’s [CPAC] conference.

Epoch Times representatives [did not comment on the story, but] also deny an affiliation with Falun Gong, despite the two groups’ clear financial and organizational ties: The Epoch Times board members and most staff are Falun Gong practitioners. The nonprofits behind The Epoch Times and Friends of Falun Gong, the movement’s advocacy organization, share executives and provide grants and services to each other, according to tax filings.

To his followers, [Falun Gong founder] Li [Hongzhi] is a God-like figure who can levitate, walk through walls and see into the future.

---

According to NewsGuard, a nonpartisan company that rates the credibility of news sites, both The Epoch Times news and opinion articles “frequently include distorted, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims.”

“The Epoch Times is a comment on how much credibility is put in things with the right look and feel. Things like naming, branding and headlines,” said Jay Rosen, associate professor of journalism at New York University. “The forms and formats of news are there. But the actual goods are not.”

“More and more, especially for the right-wing populists around the world, people approach truth and reality from the demand side,” Rosen said. “When there is the demand for something to be true, these media properties go out and meet it.”

My car got totaled months ago, now I got the money to buy a new vehicle.

Has to be brand new, since used cars here aren't any better of a deal, and I don't know how to work on cars or want to have to go through getting a mechanic to check on it.

The amount I can afford is $30,000, no more than that. I need something that is reliable, and that's it.

Former President Donald Trump scored two big legal victories Friday and avoided having to sit for a deposition in a defamation lawsuit after former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos agreed to drop her claims, according to a court filing, and a New York judge granted Trump’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen against the Trump Organization.

How to Get Rid of Pain and Live a Good Life, God said, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."(Revelation 21:4) This is God's wonderful promise to us, it is what we all seek and aspire to. But how can we live a good life without tears and pain? Is it really true that we can get that wonderful promise as long as we pray regularly, attend meetings normally, and do not leave the name of the Lord?

The people of God were under the judgment of God for a period of 70 years. So, the Lord was giving them specific instructions for them only. For they had false prophets lying to them about the 70 years, and so the Lord was correcting those errors. And then the Lord told them that when the 70 years were completed that he would visit them, and that he would fulfill his promise to them to bring them back to their homeland. Then he said:

Jeremiah 29:11-14 ESV


Now this was a very specific promise given to a particular group of people at a specific time and place in history, so we need to be very careful here that we don’t take promises for ourselves out of the context they were meant in and for whom they were intended. But, as with all Scripture, we can learn from this, for it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for instruction and training in righteousness, if we interpret it in the correct context and use it in the right way, according to the overall teachings of the Scriptures.

Does God have plans for us, his people now? Yes, he does. But what was the situation with these people? Why were God’s people under his judgment and held in captivity for 70 years? What did they do wrong? They were guilty of idolatry, spiritual adultery or apostacy, immorality, and rebellion against the Lord and of not repenting of their sins when God used Jeremiah to confront them with their sins and to call for them to repent and to turn back to God. And so God used Babylon as his instrument of judgment against them.

So, this promise in Jeremiah 29 is in the context of God’s rebellious and idolatrous and adulterous people who refused to repent of their sins, even though given opportunity after opportunity to do so, and so the Lord had no choice but to judge them in order to bring them back to himself in repentance and in renewal and in the forsaking of their sins in order to now follow the Lord in walks of surrender and in obedience to him, and no longer in sinful rebellion against him. For this was the plan he had for them.

And he has the same plan for us, that we repent of our sins of idolatry and adultery and rebellion against him, if this is where we are, and that we return to him in submission to his will for our lives and in surrender of our lives to him to now walk in obedience to his ways and according to his commands (New Covenant), and in walks of holiness and righteousness, and no longer in idolatry and adultery and in immorality. For this is the very purpose for why Jesus died on that cross, to deliver us out of our sins.

But with regard to God’s people as a unit, today this would be the church, the body of Christ. And if the church (overall, at large) in America would be measured in the same way, by the same standards, which are still God’s measurements and standards for his people, then we collectively are ripe for the judgment of God, too, for the same exact reasons. And many of them God will judge because their “faith” in Jesus is of man, not of God, for it permits them to keep on in their sinful rebellion without consequence.

But this doesn’t mean that everyone professing faith in Jesus Christ here in America is like this. There is a remnant here in America of Christians who are not living in sinful rebellion against the Lord, who are not living in idolatry and adultery and in immorality, but who are following the Lord Jesus with their lives. But, when the nation is under judgment, everyone suffers. Jeremiah, although he was a godly man, and God’s prophet to the people, was forced to suffer right along with his people.

So, again, the plans God has for us, his people, are that we repent of (turn from) our sins and that we follow him in obedience to his ways and to his commands in holy and righteous living, and no longer in sin. For this purpose Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross. And this is for our good, and it is for our welfare, and this does give us a future and a hope when we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, and we leave our lives of sin behind us to now follow him wherever he leads us.

And then we will call upon him, and we will seek after him, and we will no longer seek after the idols and the things of this sinful world. And we will pray to him and call upon him instead of turning to other humans to lead us in the way we should go, and instead of looking to the things of this sinful world to meet our needs or our wants. For we will now seek after the Lord with our whole hearts and not after the desires of the flesh. And we will be found by him, and we will be his, and we will have eternal life in him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Seek the Lord

An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

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I have been wanting to post on this for a while but did not have the right time or context to do so. Now seems to be the right time. The right time because of the War in Isreal with Palestine brings this subject into focus and relevance.

Many people are very unaware of what the bible says about Israel/ the Jews & the church in the last days. if you believe that covenants are continual and perpetual then you will accept the view that the Chruch did not replace Isreal, but has its own covenant. So then the covenant and the promises to Israel remain and the Covenant and the Promise to the Church remain.

What most people do not realize is that there is another Covenant with Promises that remains Abraham's Covenant. Included in this covenant were Lot, Ismael, Issac, Midian & Easu, Issac went on to have Jacob who went on to become Isreal, but the other covenant members still remain.

There are prophecies in the bible concerning these other members: Midian, Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Daniel 11:41 Edom, Moab, and Cheif son Ammon. Midian was spoken of as contributing to the Isreal's fortunes in Isa 60:6. some see it as a reference to the Messiah's first coming, and some see it as a prophecy of Israel's return to Palestine. Midian is the oppressor in the story of Gideon in Judges 6 & 7 and is called "locust", the only person to be called locust in the bible. Which brings us to the final part of this prophecy.

Some see the locust of Revelation 9 as referring to the Abrahamic people, associated with Midian, which would be Islam, and the Star which fell, as Muhammad the Prophet who would fall, who was called to enforce God's law but in the process, because of their anger at sin, obscured the glory of God chocked the Holy Spirit. Muhammad who was called to force people to obey did not always obey, In other words, the one who called for Submission did not always submit. Muhammad was called to protect the Mosaic and Abrahamic Covenant Territories until God needed to return Israel to the Land. The Ottoman Empire and the Califate were implemented to ensure that this would occur. They lasted until it was time for Israel to come back. Which brings us to the current conflict.

What you are seeing play out are 2 players on the same side who are talking past each other, When they should be helping each other. They each have different roles Israel is the "keeper of God's oracles of God" Romans 3:2 they are God's administrators. Islam is the Law enforcer, the strength of Abraham, and possibly the builder of the temple. For the record Christianity is the recruiter and the trainer Matt 28:18-20.

This brings me to the final point, Islam was only purpose is to protect Abraham and Moses. God needs them to move aside and let Israel assume its rightful position for it is their job. This is preparing for the return of the Lord. They are identified in scripture with the locust of revelation 9 and have a purpose that purpose has been fulfilled, they now need to help Israel protect the Mosaic and Abrahamic territories.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was accused Thursday of acting as a foreign agent, according to a superseding indictment filed by a federal grand jury in Manhattan.

The new charge in the superseding indictment is a conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent, in this case, for Egypt. Menendez is accused of acting on behalf of Egypt, passing on non-public information and doing favors for their government in exchange for bribes.

just wondering if there are any Church of God Seventh-day here. I would like to ask you a few questions.

(Ministering to the Poor)

"If a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?" (James 2:2-4).
You must show equal respect to poor and rich alike.

Partiality is an age-old problem that exists in almost every area of life. Perhaps its most common manifestations are racial, religious, and socio-economic discrimination. By implication James denounced partiality in any form, but in James 2:2-4 he specifically mentions preferential treatment of the rich over the poor. He knew such favoritism was devastating not only because it is sinful, but also because the majority of believers in the early church were poor, common people. Discriminating against them would have struck a blow at the very heart of the church!

From its inception the church has upheld the priority of ministering to the poor. Acts 2:44-45 says, "All those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need." Paul organized a relief fund for the needy saints in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1-4), and during one severe famine, "in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders" (Acts 11:29-30).

God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, but some of James's readers were dishonoring them (vv. 5-6). That had to stop! We too must honor the poor by treating them with dignity rather than prejudice, and meeting their needs whenever possible. Be alert to those around you whom you might help in some practical way.

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask the Lord to keep you sensitive to those around you, and for wisdom to know how to respond to their needs.

For Further Study and Reflection

Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, noting the kinds of people God uses to accomplish His purposes.

Bread of life Prepared by Servant Ebukmfon

Can you please pray for me and my brother AP's salvation? I am very worried about some of his choices and know he needs a lot of prayer at this time.

Thank you

I find myself fascinated by the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. Truth be told I'm pretty much indifferent to the causes of both sides. My fascination isn't stemmed from any sense of injustice or act of terror but rather the responses exhibited by the individual non-participants.

Before I continue, let me set some baselines. First is yes I'm appalled by terror committed by Hamas. Second is yes I'm equally appalled by the indiscriminate retaliation by the IDF. However that is only due to the suffering of innocents not the causes that led to them. For myself the feeling of sympathy for the innocents is only momentary. Somewhere deep in my subconscious I always hear my most prominent thought: Both sides deserve each other. They have seeded their own demise with each act of revenge hidden behind a thin veil of moral sanctification. Crying foul when the very seed they so carefully nurtured bloomed.

With that out of the way, I would like to understand the compulsion of those who would throw their support for one side or the other. I use to be such a person mainly due to religious kinship. A one sided kinship. But for me as I grew, I learnt that such sense of personal kinship is derived solely from the affection of Biblically history. The side that I use to support had the "Main Character" label. This realisation didn't flipped me to unwavering support for the other either. The same realisation that severed my false kinship to one side also protected me from forming another false kinship with the other. Now I see both sides for who they are.

My type of experience I suspect might be the largest contributor to other individuals throwing their support for either sides in this conflict. However that couldn't be the only reason. Statically at least it shouldn't be the only reason (religious/ethnic kinship). I'm slightly inclined to say morality as another reason. Seeing as both sides have their own moral failings I would gander that those who's reason morality would feel hypocritical and support neither. Politics might be a good reason but that in itself makes little sense unless the specific political gain is expressed. If I support Israel or Palestinian politically what do I gain? The nation might gain something - quid pro quo. What does the individual gain politically?

Lastly why are people so insistent in supporting? Are we by our very nature compelled to support? "Am I my bother's keeper?"

I’m new fairly new here. I’m just curious if there’s anyone else here from one of the Downriver cities?

article said:

Khaled Mashal, who now heads the militant group's diaspora office in Qatar, told Reuters on Oct.11 that Muslims should "head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday" and hold mass protests in support of Palestinians as the conflict with Israel intensifies.

MSN

www.msn.com

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article said:

The leader of the Iran-backed Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq threatened on Wednesday to retaliate against American bases if the United States intervened in the war between Hamas and Israel - as reported by "Times of Israel".

- Our rockets, drones, and special forces are ready to attack the American enemy at its bases and disrupt its interests, if it intervenes in this war - declared Ahmad "Abu Hussein" al-Hamidawi, the leader of Kataib Hezbollah. MSN

Click to expand...

Here we go.