essentialsaltes said:

US is engaged in formal 'armed conflict' with 'terrorist' drug cartels deemed unlawful combatants, Trump says​

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US is engaged in formal 'armed conflict' with 'terrorist' drug cartels deemed unlawful combatants, Trump says​

Colo Millz said:

Nor can it be purely contextual.

Objective principles are necessary, otherwise, morality becomes solely what societies say it is.

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essentialsaltes said:

Trump’s top federal prosecutor in L.A. struggles to secure indictments in protest cases​

Essayli has won indictments in some serious cases, including two where defendants are accused of throwing or planning to throw Molotov cocktails at L.A. law enforcement officers, and a case where defendants allegedly fired a paintball gun at federal police.

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Man pleads guilty to throwing Molotov cocktail at deputies during immigration protest​

Paulos23 said:

But I think that is the point, they want their to be violence to justify the use of force.

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iluvatar5150 said:

They did? Was this in the marketing? Because I don't recall that from the show itself, at all.

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Paulos23 said:

No, get him some truth of the matter. There is only about 20 protesters there in front of the ICE building. I think the Secret Service could handle that.

It was very peaceful in Portland. The increased ICE activity is trying to change that. And the National Guard is not even there yet.

But I think that is the point, they want their to be violence to justify the use of force.

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durangodawood said:

I should say, Rings Of Power totally overdid it talking about how much its about diversity. It got a little absurd.

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ChubbyCherub said:

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to reply.
I was raised in a Christian home but most of the learning was DIY and what I thought I knew, I realized when I grew up, was entirely wrong.
For example, it was only within the last year or so that I realized the books Paul wrote weren't written by Jesus Himself!
I asked my mom, who read the bible to me my whole childhood about if she knew this, and she didn't! At this moment,
I don't know who she thinks wrote the books of Paul but that is another topic for another time.

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ChubbyCherub said:

Part of the question stems from just ignorance and recent enlightenment but also, so many of the things Paul says are so relevant to today and I am baffled by the church not preaching on these particular things e.g. the infiltration of the followers of Christ by certain religious institutions as a way to undermine Christs words etc.
For example:
Galatians 1: 6-10
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 1 - New International Version

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ViaCrucis said:

I could have put this in a Christians-only section, but I wanted this open to non-Christians.

Somewhat recently I had an experience at my work; for context I work at a popular retail warehouse store, I don't work for them but I do work in that warehouse, along with vendors of other companies who operate in the same space. A lot of people from different companies all operate within the same space, and naturally we interact with one another on a regular basis. As such I've built up friendly relationships with a lot of people who I interact with regularly.

Over several months I have interacted with a certain individual, it's always casual always friendly, but they work for a different company than I do. However several weeks ago this individual gave me a card, it had a pretty picture of sunflowers on it, and I didn't think much of it, I smiled, thanked them, made a comment about needing more sunshine in my life, that sort of thing. I slipped the card away and didn't really take a look at it until after work. Well, it was a Gospel tract disguised as a card.

Receiving religious material isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to me at my job, but usually it's customers leaving things on a cart, or slipped between food items to be found by a random passerby.

But this particular experience gave me pause and a thought: Has this individual's actions and behavior toward me, their demeaner, their friendliness (etc) been part of an attempt at proselytizing. I mean, I'm a Christian and the card/tract was generically Christian enough that I have no idea what denomination they are part of. I wasn't offended obviously, but it led me to wonder to what degree their interactions with me came from sincere comradery, or whether it is a kind of "missionary" tactic.

I may not have thought this except that, growing up in a particular kind of Christian environment, missionary-friendship and missionary-relationships were considered a valid "tactic" at trying to make converts. So that background does mean that I am aware that this is something that exists. It's not part of my current religious practice, but it was in the background I was raised in.

And I guess here's the point: When I thought about this, I felt a kind of betrayal. As though this person had been insincere in their interactions with me, I felt like a target, or an objective--not a person. And again, I wasn't angry, I wasn't particularly offended, but I felt dehumanized--even if just slightly.

As I was thinking about all of this again this evening, I wanted to open up this topic more broadly. Because I have a feeling many people--especially people outside of my religion--know exactly the feelings I felt, and I thought this could be a good topic of discussion. And ideally, a way for Christians like me to learn more, take feedback, and consider the ethics of religious outreach.

A secondary thought I had in all this: In some ways I feel like I would prefer a total stranger leaving a tract or pamphlet than someone who has been regularly interacting with me. There is a sense in which now I question and doubt the sincerity in friendliness of this person that I didn't before. And that's kind of an awful feeling to have. I'm not angry with them, or offended, but I now doubt their authenticity toward me. And I feel like this experience I had might provide me with a slight amount of insight and empathy with those who experience this more regularly.

-CryptoLutheran

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rambot said:

Really? You can't believe it. You can't believe "such a falsehood" is allowed to get posted.

Have you ever seen Trump's account?

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ThatRobGuy said:

Okay, so then people should just acknowledge that rather than playing coy and pretending "what? it's just a show about solving mysteries that just so happens to have some non-straight non-sis characters, what's everyone so upset about?"

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th1bill said:

What a perfectly lost thing to say. I was indwelt by Ruah the moment I was save and from that moment forward I am witnessing to lost men and women. A Christian wants none to suffer the Lake of Fire and same sex people will burn there.

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essentialsaltes said:

Trump-Appointed US attorney under pressure to charge Letitia James in mortgage fraud case has resigned​

The move is likely to deepen concerns that the department — already investigating other public figures Trump regards as foes — is being weaponized by a White House seeking to have its prosecutorial powers used for purposes of retribution.

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More turmoil at Virginia US attorney's office following Comey indictment: 2 top prosecutors fired, sources say​

rjs330 said:

We all complain about various things that our tax dollars are spent on. But with more local control over local things each community can decide what they value and want. At the federal level we don't. I have little to no control of how my tax dollars are spent. When we got a big upgrade to our local library the voters had to approve it because their local taxes had to go up.

You can't be surprised that I disagree on how a lot of our federal dollars are spent. With local control there are far greater controls on the money. Most towns and cities are limited on their resources and have to go to their citizens ask for more and get the votes. Not so with the feds. They can over spend like mad with no consequence.

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rjs330 said:

Except the Secret Service would have to clear all the protestors out of the area first. Are you trying to get the president attacked?

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Xeno.of.athens said:

But "god-breathed" isn't really English is it? "inspired" is English.

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rjs330 said:

Thats is patently a lie from someone. Its not single digit people. I cant believe prople are allowed to post such falsehoods.

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