Landon Caeli said:

A fun rabbit hole to jump down, would be on why Capitalism and Socialism seem to "converge" in the end. Or why the far left, and the far right seem to 'come together' at the fringes, like a horse shoe, as if they're attracted in one way, but yet, polar opposite at the same time.

It's a strange phenomenon.

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All authoritarian economic systems are similar. The only difference is who has the authority, but you can be sure it will never be the working class. I don't care whether it's an oligarch or a commissar, I don't want either one. You can call it socialism or neoliberal capitalism, you can try to drive us into bondage with the stick or lead us with the carrot, but I don't want to go. The only hope for the working class is free enterprise capitalism which both the Republicans and the Democrats are working ceaselessly to destroy. I am particularly disappointed because so many Christians have painted right wing authoritarian economics as the "Christian" thing to do.

Yes, there will be religion. Notice Matthew 6:10 below. Earth should match heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10 (EXB edition)

9 ‘Our Father in heaven, ·may your name always be kept holy [T Hallowed be your name].
10 May your kingdom come and what you want [Your will] be done, here on earth as it is in heaven.

The kingdom of God (heaven) is coming to earth. You won't be in heaven, but rather you will be in the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

SimplyMe said:

Yes, and the heaviest vehicles out there are semis, 10 times the weight of pretty much all cars and light trucks. As your own article stated, it is those vehicles that are the heavy vehicles that cause the problem.

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We're not talking about semis.

Also, just because semis cause the MOST road wear doesn't mean they are the sole cause. ALL vehicles contribute to road wear, and the heavier they are, the more road wear they cause.

SimplyMe said:

So why do you keep debating it by claiming it is EVs, when they are only slightly more heavy, not 10 times the weight.

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Because EVs are heavier, and therefore cause more road wear than an equivalent ICE vehicle.

SimplyMe said:

No, it is currently heavier.

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You say "no", and then you agree with me. It is a fact that the Ford F-150 Lightning is ~35% heavier than its ICE equivalent.

SimplyMe said:

We'll see what happens in the next decade, as batteries become more energy dense.

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Well OK. But we're talking about what exists now. And what exists now is 35% heavier.

SimplyMe said:

And, no, the Lightning is not 35% heavier than than an F-150 ICE counterpart.

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It absolutely is.

SimplyMe said:

I'm not comparing SUVs to sedans.

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Yes, you are.

SimplyMe said:

I'm comparing the cars currently selling the best, which for ICE are things like the F-150 (and other trucks) and large SUVs.

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Why? Heavier cars use more gas, and therefore pay more in road-use taxes. OTOH, if you drive a Ford F-150 Lightning in PA, you'll pay a mere $200 in road use taxes, while those driving gas-powered F-150's that are MUCH lighter and causing less road wear are paying FAR MORE in road use taxes. We're talking about "fairness" here. How is that "fair"?

SimplyMe said:

No, again, more like 25% (and less) depending on configuration.

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Why are you denying reality to try to make your point?

SimplyMe said:

And, again, the most popular ICE vehicles sold in the US tend to be quite large -- like the absolutely best selling car being the F-150. Yet, as pointed out, the best selling EVs are much smaller -- with the best selling EVs being mid-sized cars, the Tesla Model 3 sedan and the Tesla Model Y SUV. I can't take you seriously when you try to compare all EVs to the F-150 Lightning, when it is a rather modest selling EV, but its ICE counterpart is absolutely the best selling "car" in the US.

Let me try it this way for you: the number 1 selling "car" last year was the Ford F-series (not just the F-150, but also the F-250 and F-350), so just the F-150 can weigh up to 5,740 in an ICE variant, though the F-350 starts over 6,000 lbs and goes up over 7,700 lbs. The best selling EV was the Tesla Model Y, which is a max of about 4,400 pounds. My point is the best selling ICE "car" is much heavier than the best selling EV.

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So what? As I've already pointed out numerous times and you've completely ignored, those heavier vehicles use more gas and therefore pay more in road use taxes.

SimplyMe said:

Again, the ICE cars selling the most tend to be very heavy, yet there is zero concern of the damage these large pickups are doing to the roads;

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This is blatantly untrue. Heavier gas-powered vehicles use more gas, and therefore pay more in road use taxes.

In PA, if you drive a gas-powered Ford F-150 15,000 miles per year @ 15 mpg, you're paying $576 annually in road-use tax. By comparison, if you drive a 35% heavier Ford F-150 Lightning, you're paying just $200 no matter how many miles you drive. Is it "fair" that someone driving a lighter vehicle and causing less road wear is paying almost 3x more in road use taxes than someone driving a heavier vehicle and causing more road wear?

The idea that there is "zero concern" for these heavier vehicles concerning road use tax is a remarkably disingenuous statement, because by nature of including the road use tax in the price of gasoline, vehicles that use more gasoline are ALREADY paying more in road use tax than lighter vehicles.

Guojing said:

Where the Law of Moses must be followed, as in Matthew 28:20 and Matthew 5:19?

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Law of Moses was for the Old Covenant, but gospel of grace under the new One

Jeff Saunders said:

Faith in what?

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In God. You don’t think that anyone was saved by law did you?

FAITH-IN-HIM said:

Contrary to pundits' warnings, tariffs have not spiked prices or inflation. Most economists predicted a stock market drop and soaring inflation, but neither occurred. The stock market is at a record high and inflation remains stable.

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Let's revisit in 6 months. Companies will not be able to absorb tariffs over a long period.

RDKirk said:

Unions are the reason Communism did not invade the US...which is the reason Theodore Roosevelt supported them. Unions gave enough power to labor against the established power of the robber barons that fire-stopped Communist revolution.

If you work a 40-hour week, get breaks during the day, get overtime pay, get holidays and vacations...union members literally shed blood to force those labor expectations into the national zeitgeist.

And what happened when the power of unions was broken by President Reagan...labor began losing all those gains because ultimately business wants labor to be free. It is a constant human tension.

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Here is a short history of union corruption from the late 1800 to the 1970’s. It’s not a long read.

The enactment of Prohibition made America’s beer taps run dry, but it caused mobsters’ coffers to overflow from a booming bootleg liquor business. Flush with cash and power, criminal gangs such as the American Mafia transformed into sophisticated enterprises that diversified their illegal activities to include gambling, prostitution and labor racketeering. Mobsters such as Al Capone and New York’s Five Familiesexpanded their underworld empires by infiltrating organized labor. Through intimidation and corruption, the mob used the labor unions for everything from extortion, bribery and embezzlement to price-fixing and kickbacks.

A New Dawn said:

Why would Paul need to speak to the gentile church about the inability of the works of the law to justify them. As gentiles they already don’t believe in the works of the law.

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Legalism is a negative trait that easily takes root in fallen humanity-but also even in believers as they're still imperfect and weak vessels who struggle against sin and ignorance. So, already Paul was speaking of faith vs the law to the Philippians, who were mostly gentiles. And of course the Judaizers were tempting gentiles to be under the law which Paul railed against in Galatians. And Acts 15, of course, describes the meeting that took place on regarding this very matter.

But the bottom line is that God, alone, justifies, not the law: “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” Acts 15:8-9

There’s nothing we can do in order to be justified other than opening the door when He knocks, saying “yes” instead of “no” when He calls-and continuing to say yes every day. Because once we begin to rely on Him and not ourselves, once the Holy Spirit indwells us, we can begin to live as He desires man to live and then must walk in that justice, that authentic righteousness that comes only from Him-as children of His should.

Man is a law unto himself, doing what’s right in his own eyes if he hasn’t heard God’s revealed law. But once man is united with God, as he’s meant to be, then the law begins to be written on his heart more and more clearly-even if he never hears it.

“For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” Rom 2:13

Valletta said:

People, real people, die because of such an attitude.

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I don’t care.

Valletta said:

It's reckless and irresponsible, all we can do at this point is urge people not to follow the radical leaders.

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These ICE agents are being reckless and irresponsible and accountable to no one. Maybe once people start shooting back they’ll figure out you can’t go around abducting people while dressed like the American taliban.

An app telling people how to avoid these goon squads when they’re in your area is actually keeping everyone safe.

FAITH-IN-HIM said:

I apologize if my words have been perceived as personal attacks or insults. Have a blessed day.

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I can assure you I don’t see it as a personal attack sigh for the fourth time it’s off topic. The topic of the thread is the Democrats not wanting to go down the road for impeachment.

Why you don’t understand that I don’t know.

But I can assure you I don’t feel threatened or attack. I just don’t want to thread to go further off track. I don’t know how else to say it

Vambram said:

I praise God for this very good decision and ruling that the SCOTUS did earlier today!!!

Parent groups, religious liberty experts hail SCOTUS upholding parents rights in LGBTQ books case

Parent groups and legal experts applauded the Supreme Court's decision in Mahmoud v Taylor as a victory for the rights of religious parents in public schools.

www.foxnews.com

Do y'all agree with the Supreme Court of the United States of America?

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I agree with SCOTUS but see some hypocrisy as they protect parents rights in some matters but reject it in others, such as the 10 Commandments.

ozso said:

That's not the same as red dots on a map screen pinpointing law enforcement officers. Will you be happy if they start getting gunned down, considering how evil you say they are?

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I won’t lose any sleep over it, no.

Canuckster said:

No you're not being "clear over and over again". There are believers who choose not to rest from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. I'm asking you will they not be saved because of this, and one thing that is very clear: you're refusing to answer. If someone was to ask me if believers choose to keep lying, or choose to keep murdering, will they not be saved because of this, I would give a one word answer: "Yes!" And I would provide the scripture using Christ’s own words to back it up. But you, nor any Sabbatarian, will give a simple one word answer to this question, for the reasons I already gave in a previous post.

I’d like to point out that I have no issue with believers observing the Sabbath. My only issue is when they push it on others as a requirement to be saved. I believe those who do so jeopardize their own salvation, something not to be desired upon anyone.

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But I have told you. There is salvation just through Christ, and this with repentant faith to be restored to God. There are rules here to not even accuse others of not believing that, other than them saying that of themselves, then they do not belong here. And, no one is losing their salvation by anything they do, or do not do. But, when one cares about doing just the minimum thing for salvation and not doing anything else, I suspect that such is not really saved. That would not be from repentant faith to be restored to God, which they can be in Christ, and be secure with that. See, nothing about observing Sabbath is mentioned in that. So stop, already. There isn't anything you or any other can fail to do, and not be obedient to God in, that would lose your or their salvation. If you are indeed saved.

Vambram said:

I praise God for this very good decision and ruling that the SCOTUS did earlier today!!!

Parent groups, religious liberty experts hail SCOTUS upholding parents rights in LGBTQ books case

Parent groups and legal experts applauded the Supreme Court's decision in Mahmoud v Taylor as a victory for the rights of religious parents in public schools.

www.foxnews.com

Do y'all agree with the Supreme Court of the United States of America?

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This matter should have been resolved in the classroom by the teacher and parents, not escalated to the Supreme Court. It highlights a departure from common sense in America.

A parent objected to a classroom storybook or lesson, and the teacher should have respected that.

For those celebrating this as a win for parental rights, consider this: conservatives often protest against parents taking their children to drag queen events at public libraries. The ones cheering for parental rights now are the same ones opposing certain parents' decisions when it comes to these events. If we respect parents' rights when we agree, we should also protect the same right when we disagree.

Job 33:6 said:

I think we need to be precise about the language Scripture uses when discussing the sacrificial system. Yes, sacrifices had a real effect in the covenantal relationship between Israel and God, but that effect was provisional, not ultimate.

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To throw it out there … the language of God (inclusive of Adam and Eve (heavens and the earth, light, darkness, a sun and moon (that rule), the face of the deep, all the trees of the garden, where a garden is planted, what is in the midst, (and what glory (for lack of a better word) where one is viewing this from) etc. real or imagined by us does not change what this language is to God, and how it relates to the truth of the purpose God purposed in himself. The Bible begins defining the language of God with the words “In the beginning” where it (through the process of time (to us) becomes one cohesive narrative, where we begin to find pasture both inside us and outside of us, which all of speaks to the selfsame end, in relationship to who we are (who we have all along been to God, and who God has all along been to us).

Hentenza said:

All by Faith.

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Faith in what?

2PhiloVoid said:

The Biblical literature, like all literature, has always been bathed in contexts because it was born in contexts and not in a vacuum. Have you never had the chance to read a Christian book on Biblical exegesis or hermeneutics?

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There are many differences between non fictionional literature and fictionional literature. I don't blend the 2.

Here is a simplistic (child like) explanation of the difference

FireDragon76 said:

The US political-cultural system fits into the type of Babylon in the Bible. I had a long discussion about this with ChatGPT a few days ago, and summarized the discussion as an essay. Dehumanization and performative cruelty are the end result of a dying empire trying to uphold itself.

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So are you pointing to all as the problem or just a certain group.

The Liturgist said:

As you know, I disagree with some current practices of the Episcopal Church, but i love the Episcopal CHurch

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This is one of the things we share in common. I can say the same thing.

The Liturgist said:

And I would return to the Episcopal Church if I thought i could help the church in a meaningful way to regain members

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My congregation added 42 new members in the last year! Don't count us out yet. The Anglican expression of Christianity is alive and well in some places even with its flaws, which I think all Christian expressions have, albeit differently.

Job 33:6 said:

I just gave you strongs concordance (a listing of all uses of tohu in the Bible and it's definition). And, the text of Genesis describes the gathering of water. It doesn't say anything about rising mountains.

Genesis 1:2, 7, 9-10 NRSV
[2] the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
[7] So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.
[9] And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. [10] God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Lots of talk about lots of water. No mention of mountains rising.

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Always interesting what a little topography can do.

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I taught the LOTH's Evening Prayers in my parish years back. The spiritual assistance
for my OCDS group told me that during Lent the Hours are the same. So, I
was able to teach evening prayer to the people that showed up. It went well!

Clare73 said:

Why the need to "improve" upon the Biblical account.

Paul, who received his revelation in heaven from Jesus Christ (2 Co 12:1-8, Gal 1:11-12) presented Adam as a reality, not just figurative.

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This heaven was in him ... I've been their quite a few times ... and it has always been open to all ...

ozso said:

When it come to what salvation means apart from eternal life in the afterlife, consider all the testimonies of deliverence from those who came to Christ. What their life was like and what kind of person they before. The Greek for 'eternal life', aionios zoe, can be translated as 'the good life'. A high quality life experienced on a spiritual level that transcends the flesh. A higher plane of existence. It's said that the reason why people get drunk and take drugs is because they're trying to fill the "God shaped void" in their life.

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Yes, and the God who fills that void is the God of Life! The God who fulfills all human desire: the God whom Jesus came to reveal-not limited to the God you seem to prefer for some reason who would temporarily fulfill a need and then, IDK, that's it? It's a total package-you can't separate eternal life from the knowledge of the true God. Eternal life begins here for those who know and love Him.