How do we fix the current political climate?

[Original Happy Camper]

As always the problems come down to just how we interpret scripture. Forty thousand plus denominations attest to that.

And how do you interpret this verse
Genesis 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

As always the problems come down to just how we interpret scripture. Forty thousand plus denominations attest to that.

Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant (+ thousands of Protestant denominations). Different Protestants can't even agree if salvation is conditional or not or how much water is needed for a proper baptism.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

And how do you interpret this verse
Genesis 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

That's called poetry.

 

[Original Happy Camper]

That's called poetry.

Reply from you is as expected.

Thanks

 

[Shiloh Raven]

If American Christians followed the example of Jesus Christ and acted like they served His Kingdom instead of an earthly one, I'm convinced our politics would be a lot more civil.

If some American Christians would have stuck with their moral convictions and not voted for a serial adulterous philander who is a habitual liar and bragged about groping multiple women. If they had only stuck with their moral convictions like they did with Bill Clinton when he was still president. If only Donald Trump had stuck to his Democratic liberal views when he first ran for president otherwise he wouldn't have this much political support and defense from so many conservative Christians now.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

Nothing in the Bible or anything related to Christianity should be endorsed or promoted by the federal government. No specific religion should be endorsed or promoted by the government in the first place.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Reply from you is as expected.

Thanks

It should be expected as that is exactly what that is. Poetry. Nice words put together and designed to convey a meaning without being literally or scientifically true.

 

[super animator]

I blame social media for this.

 

[SkyWriting]

And before someone answers, "the other side needs to clean up their act first," let us be clear, there is plenty of "blame" to go around on both sides. It isn't just one party acting threatening and violent. And if we don't work to fix things, who will? Unfortunately, on this forum I see the same attitudes I see elsewhere -- so many try to generalize that "the other side" is full of unAmerican people that want to destroy the US.

Part of what got me thinking about was this Twitter Thread by David French; a veteran of the Iraq War (Major in the Army Reserve), a staff writer for the National Review, with articles picked up by other mainstream media. Despite being a Republican, he's come under fire for his criticisms of Pres. Trump and the alt-Right (made worse that he has an adopted daughter from Ethiopia).

His Tweet thread:
"I’ve gone back and forth over whether I should post this thread, but I think it might matter a tiny bit in describing the price of public participation. This is increasingly what happens when you speak or write about politics, religion, or culture. Here goes: /1"
"The first scary incident happened about five years ago, A man drove to my house, blocked our driveway, approached my wife (with my kids present) and demanded to see me. He was also seen driving slowly through the parking lot at my kids’ school. /2"
"The next major incident was a probable SWATing attempt. I was involved in a First Amendment matter against a person suspected to engage in such tactics, and someone made a “shots fired” call. Fortunately, we warned the police this might happen, and they responded calmly. /3"
"We had a period of peace, but then in 2015 (as I’ve written about before), the alt-right targeted us, focusing on my youngest daughter (she was seven at the time), She’s adopted from Ethiopia, and they targeted her for vicious, racist attacks. /4"
"The worst of the alt-right attacks came the night they filled the comments section of my wife’s blog with gruesome images of dead and dying African-Americans. I couldn’t sleep for days, fearing for my daughter’s safety. /5"
"Like lots of folks, we got a very worrisome email threat, but unlike lots of others, we actually had someone break into a phone call between my wife and father-in-law. He screamed obscenities about Donald Trump. We have no idea how he did this. /6"
"Then, yesterday (as I’ve tweeted), we found out that the Trump superfan mail bomber searched for my home address. /7"
"I’ve not dwelled on the “normal” dreck that includes such delightful things as daily petty insults, occasional mockery of my wife’s sex abuse when she was a kid, and periodic attacks on us for adopting. That’s the typical price of online engagement. /8"
"And others have had it so much worse. It’s intolerable that Christine Blasey Ford is still under threat. It’s intolerable that Brett Kavanaugh’s family was under threat. Many of us don’t have the resources to hire security. We can buy firearms. We can’t hire guards. /9"
"It’s sad to see the withering contempt online when journalists and others share their fears. Read Twitter and see that thousands of people _want_ their ideological opponents to feel fear. A darkness is gripping people’s hearts. /10"
"I don’t have a political answer. We need Jesus! But those of us who are targets can resolve to keep speaking the truth without fear or favor. We can resolve to show compassion to our opponents. They’re likely fighting a hard battle. Seek justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly. /end"

I'd like to hear others thoughts.

Recognise that people have biased opinions.
What's the problem? Stop waging opinion wars.

 

[CitizenD]

We need respect for facts, science, evidence-based thinking, and the opinions of trained experts.

Just think of some of the nonsense that would be avoided:

- Young earth
- climate change is a hoax
- vaccines cause autism
- the earth is flat
- evolution is a lie
- the USA is being invaded
- Barack Obama was born outside the USA
- its ok to be fat
- etc.

This is not to suggest that there are not other problems to fix, such as tribalistic thinking.

So you propose mind control over freedom of thought? That is tyranny in lieu of a free society.

"Mind control" does not follow from, what I heard, which is "people should want to know true things and know how to find them."

 

[Allandavid]

I completely disagree with Todd Woods opinion.
It does not work muchless well unless the objective was to deceive multitudes.

Your massive problem is that evolutionary theory, like all scientific theories, is supported by masses of evidence. Any future adjustments to our understanding of the variety of life on this planet will be at the peripheries, not at the core...

Covering your eyes and pretending that the evidence doesn’t exist, because it offends your worldview, is not a very productive path to follow...

 

[Allandavid]

JackRT my man if you believe the theory of evolution please take a pair of scissors and cut this verse out of whatever bible you have.
Genesis 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Why should we accept the musings of an unknown man writing his unfounded opinions several thousand years ago...?

 

[Allandavid]

To address the OP, the infighting will be reduced when the US removes the very ugly ‘stain’ that it has allowed to form on its collective ‘underwear’....

 

[ItIsFinished!]

Your massive problem is that evolutionary theory, like all scientific theories, is supported by masses of evidence. Any future adjustments to our understanding of the variety of life on this planet will be at the peripheries, not at the core...

Covering your eyes and pretending that the evidence doesn’t exist, because it offends your worldview, is not a very productive path to follow...

Actually I do not have a massive problem nor are there "masses" of evidence.
And I and many others do not have to cover our eyes nor pretend that the evidence isn't there, it just isn't there.
Has nothing to do with an offense or worldview.
And there is no path being followed, so not a matter of being productive.
It seems to me that you are the one covering the eyes and pretending.
That isn't very productive.

 

[JackRT]

Actually I do not have a massive problem nor are there "masses" of evidence.
And I and many others do not have to cover our eyes nor pretend that the evidence isn't there, it just isn't there.
Has nothing to do with an offense or worldview.
And there is no path being followed, so not a matter of being productive.
It seems to me that you are the one covering the eyes and pretending.
That isn't very productive.

So your argument boils down to "I do not want my belief system challenged, so therefore there is no evidence."

 

[ItIsFinished!]

So your argument boils down to "I do not want my belief system challenged, so therefore there is no evidence."

There is no argument nor has my belief system been challenged.

 

[Samaritan Woman]

"Mind control" does not follow from, what I heard, which is "people should want to know true things and know how to find them."

My point has been that one cannot control others in what they want unless they're systematically brainwashed or manipulated over time. You state "people should" - well that's just fine except that statement seems to be a reflection of what you think is best for them.

 

[expos4ever]

If joe six pack has the word of GOD then is more qualified than the Harvard trained biologist without the word of GOD

Thanks for making my point for me. Pardon the brutal honesty but let me show the two “sides” of this issue:

On the one hand, we have the scientific enterprise with its high demands on rigour, training, and an approach to getting at truth that is grounded in careful, methodical work that is subject to the corrective effect of falsification.

On the other hand, we have people who are highly dogmatic, conspiracy theory believers, and cannot recognize that a story with a talking snake might be a metaphor.

 

[cow451]

If joe six pack has the word of GOD then is more qualified than the Harvard trained biologist without the word of GOD

When I want to learn about Science, I look for science experts. When I have a theology question I look to theologians. In both cases I then follow up with checking out what they say on my own.

I don’t find Sunday School a great place to learn about evolution or anything else that involves scientific study.

On full disclosure I was a young earth creationist until I went to college and took some real science and religion courses.

 

[Original Happy Camper]

On full disclosure I was a young earth creationist until I went to college and took some real science and religion courses.

Sorry to hear that