Ted Cruz Engages in a Bit of Bigot-Baiting

Fantine said:

Who share many qualities with Ted Cruz.

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Does that mean we should listen to him, as another poster said about the Pharisees?

BPPLEE said:

Does that mean we should listen to him, as another poster said about the Pharisees?

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Jesus meant that the people should develop critical listening skills to help them discern truth from falsehood, virtue from vice.

Jesus would be shaking his head at the American electorate today.

Fantine said:

Jesus meant that the people should develop critical listening skills to help them discern truth from falsehood, virtue from vice.

Jesus would be shaking his head at the American electorate today.

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Yes, I agree he would be shaking his head at Democrats and Republicans

Fantine said:

Tell that to religious Muslims. SMH.

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To the religious Muslims, this is a nothing burger. Christians put up with mockery all the time.

ViaCrucis said:

The same Jesus who said to listen to the Pharisees because they sit in Moses' seat?

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Yes. The same Jesus who called them a "brood of vipers" and "whitewashed tombs."

Oompa Loompa said:

Yes. The same Jesus who called them a "brood of vipers" and "whitewashed tombs."

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And tell me, which is acting like a brood of vipers and whitewashed tombs, saying you don't care about others because they are a different religion, or people who happen to have another religion?

-CryptoLutheran

ViaCrucis said:

And tell me, which is acting like a brood of vipers and whitewashed tombs, saying you don't care about others because they are a different religion, or people who happen to have another religion?

-CryptoLutheran

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He said he didn't care about their opinions. That's not the same as not caring about them

BPPLEE said:

He said he didn't care about their opinions. That's not the same as not caring about them

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So there's no meaningful difference, here, between "didn't care about their opinions" and "not caring about them"; because the reason the opinion isn't cared for is because they are Muslim, because of who and what they are, not because they have expressed an opinion that is intrinsically or objectively wrong. If you say "I want to be respected" and my response is "I don't care, you're a <fill in the blank here>", then it's not merely antipathy for the opinion itself, it is antipathy toward the person themselves.

"You're a Muslim, so your opinion doesn't matter." is an offensive, hateful, and spiteful thing to say. So, yes, that is showing antipathy--which is the opposite of caring about someone.

And just to cut off any future thread butterflies: "They're Muslims and I want them to be saved, so the ultimate care I can show someone is trying to get them saved." Or any permutations of the same sentiment is NOT caring about someone. It is a self-justification for behaving poorly and calling it piety.

-CryptoLutheran

ViaCrucis said:

So there's no meaningful difference, here, between "didn't care about their opinions" and "not caring about them"; because the reason the opinion isn't cared for is because they are Muslim, because of who and what they are, not because they have expressed an opinion that is intrinsically or objectively wrong. If you say "I want to be respected" and my response is "I don't care, you're a <fill in the blank here>", then it's not merely antipathy for the opinion itself, it is antipathy toward the person themselves.

"You're a Muslim, so your opinion doesn't matter." is an offensive, hateful, and spiteful thing to say. So, yes, that is showing antipathy--which is the opposite of caring about someone.

And just to cut off any future thread butterflies: "They're Muslims and I want them to be saved, so the ultimate care I can show someone is trying to get them saved." Or any permutations of the same sentiment is NOT caring about someone. It is a self-justification for behaving poorly and calling it piety.

-CryptoLutheran

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When they say Allah is God and “There is one God and Mohammed is his prophet” I disagree. I can be respectful and understand their beliefs but still not care about what they believe. I don’t care about their opinions about God. They don’t care about what I believe either
And when you talk about self justification for behaving poorly, how do you justify smart aleck posts telling someone to dust off their Bible and read it before responding.?
Isn’t that poor behavior?
It is in my book

Fantine said:

Who share many qualities with Ted Cruz.

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Nope

DaisyDay said:

Oh, is this the new tactic, just label all posts not about Epstein as a distraction? A form of "flooding the zone".

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No. It is an old tactic that is used frequently on these forums.

ViaCrucis said:

And tell me, which is acting like a brood of vipers and whitewashed tombs, saying you don't care about others because they are a different religion, or people who happen to have another religion?

-CryptoLutheran

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Nobody here, or Ted Cruz suggest that they did not care about others because they are a different religion.

ViaCrucis said:

So there's no meaningful difference, here, between "didn't care about their opinions" and "not caring about them"; because the reason the opinion isn't cared for is because they are Muslim, because of who and what they are, not because they have expressed an opinion that is intrinsically or objectively wrong. If you say "I want to be respected" and my response is "I don't care, you're a <fill in the blank here>", then it's not merely antipathy for the opinion itself, it is antipathy toward the person themselves.

"You're a Muslim, so your opinion doesn't matter." is an offensive, hateful, and spiteful thing to say. So, yes, that is showing antipathy--which is the opposite of caring about someone.

And just to cut off any future thread butterflies: "They're Muslims and I want them to be saved, so the ultimate care I can show someone is trying to get them saved." Or any permutations of the same sentiment is NOT caring about someone. It is a self-justification for behaving poorly and calling it piety.

-CryptoLutheran

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Do you think Muslims care about the opinions of infidels?

iluvatar5150 said:

Readers added some additional context, pointing that Cruz himself donned a yarmulke in 2016 when visiting a synagogue:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/fearing-trump-republican-jews-give-cruz-another-look/amp/

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FYI - it is a show of respect to wear a Yarmulke in a synagogue or Jewish Holy Place

Biden used it to raise money -



As for Sen. Cruze's observation - I completely disagree with him. Honor the man - leave his religion out of it. If it shows respect to his family - that is a kind and purposeful gesture.

GoldenBoy89 said:

We know it’s no big deal because Ted hasn’t yet fled to Cancun.

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Not to Colorado with the Democrats who fled to avoid a vote? I'll take Cancun over Colorado!

Oompa Loompa said:

Do you think Muslims care about the opinions of infidels?

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1) That would be irrelevant. The commandment of Jesus Christ is to love everyone and treat everyone with kindness, dignity, compassion, and respect.

2) I don't regard the roughly 1 billion Muslims on the planet as some monolithic group and being incapable of differences of thought, ideas, and interpretation of their religion. There are militant Sunni and Shi'a, and there are moderates, and there are progressive Muslims of all stripes as well; there are Sufis who are diverse in their ideas and outlooks.

I don't view Muslims as evil inhuman creatures who are incapable of reason, rational thought, and complex human emotions. I regard Muslims as people, regular, ordinary, everyday people who inhabit this same rocky spheroid we call earth, whom God has vested with His Divine Image, and toward whom He calls me to love, serve, respect, and show compassion. To a militant fundamentalist who tells me I should die, Christ commands that I turn the other cheek, repay no one evil for evil; to bless and not curse; and to pray for the one who persecutes me--to love my enemy; and St. Paul adds if my enemy is hungry give him food, if he is thirsty, give him drink, for vengeance belongs to God, He will repay, the long arm of cosmic justice belongs to God. To the poor Muslim family in my neighborhood, I am commanded to feed, give drink, clothe, if they are a stranger to welcome them with open arms, visit them when they are sick or in prison. For it is the will of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that all people be treated with the utmost compassion, that the poor be lifted up, the weak be defended, the victim shown justice, and the wicked called to repentance.

I'm a Christian. And you won't convince me to be otherwise. My life belongs to Jesus Christ and my conscience is held captive to the word of God. So go tell that damned devil who whispered evil into your ear that he can go right back to hell where he came from.

-CryptoLutheran

BPPLEE said:

When they say Allah is God and “There is one God and Mohammed is his prophet” I disagree. I can be respectful and understand their beliefs but still not care about what they believe. I don’t care about their opinions about God. They don’t care about what I believe either
And when you talk about self justification for behaving poorly, how do you justify smart aleck posts telling someone to dust off their Bible and read it before responding.?
Isn’t that poor behavior?
It is in my book

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You're right, I can be very snarky. That's something I need to work on; it is a coping mechanism to deal with anger. Because the sorts of anti-Christian posts I read on these boards are astonishingly wicked. And it's Christians who are saying these things.

And let me be abundantly clear, I'm aware that if I'm not careful in my speech that it sounds like I think somehow I have some better grasp of Christianity, Scripture, etc, than others. But I don't think that. I don't think I'm a "good Christian" and therefore morally superior, or fit to stand over anyone and judge. I think of myself a worthless sinner who is, at best, a completely average or sub-par Christian; I don't rage because I think I'm good--but because I am beyond befuddled by what appears to be an entire paradigm, an entire perception of reality, that is cognitively antithetical to the Christian worldview.

What am I supposed to think when I read Jesus saying "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and then people who claim to believe in that Jesus tell me, "Do unto others as they have done unto you". That they are reading the Book? That they actually care about the Savior? Do those red letters mean nothing? Do the rest of the black letters mean nothing?

Are Christians supposed to obey Jesus, or not?
Are Christians supposed to believe the Bible, or not?
Are Christians supposed to live holy, godly lives, or not?

Does Jesus matter, or not? Because for YEARS on these forums I see time and again here in the political side of the forums the constant refrain of "Jesus doesn't matter" because it's not Christianity that is relevant, but "Christian culture" or "Christian civilization".

To which I'll be clear. To hell with Christian culture and Christian civilization, and I'm not cussing--I mean it literally--too hell with it. Let it burn up in that fire along with the devil who breathed those lies.

I want a Christianity that means something, that says something, that does something; that looks like Jesus Christ. I want my religion back from the thieves who think they can treat it like a hooker and then abandon it in a back alley after they are done violating her.

-CryptoLutheran

Oompa Loompa said:

Do you think Muslims care about the opinions of infidels?

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Some do, some don't - same as other people.