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Yup, and loving our neighbors and enemies along the way. What makes you think loving means allowing anything? In loving my children they are disciplined and corrected along the way. We submit nothing in loving our enemies and neighbors.
I don;t think this is one of your better posts, Mr. Jim. It seems as if you are more interested spinning me into something rather than dealing with what I am actually saying.Loving one's enemies is simply that-loving. It isn't anything else that what Jesus said. You can spin it into something that becomes just lip service and not love at all, but then it wouldn't be what the text simply says, would it?
It is more fun to have enemies we can hate and plot and plan against; to put a face on that which we despise. But that isn't what we are called to be nor do.
I don;t think this is one of your better posts, Mr. Jim. It seems as if you are more interested spinning me into something rather than dealing with what I am actually saying.
Jimmy boy, I am not molding anything. I am just simply saying Self defense is not Wrong.
I would go even further and state that not defending oneself is wrong.Jimmy boy, I am not molding anything. I am just simply saying Self defense is not Wrong.
I apologize~I'll work on it...don't know though what else to say other than what I've said.
I would go even further and state that not defending oneself is wrong.
It is not a choice between the lesser of two evils, but the choice is always the lessening of evil in the world. All that it takes for evil to prevail in the world is for good people to do nothing.
We could set up the situation of a Christian sitting at a table with a loaded gun beside him as his wife and children get raped. There is no doubt that there would be a certain amount of evil in the act of placing a bullet in between the eyes of the perpetrator, in terms of the beliefs of the conscientious objector to violence of any kind.
But how could anyone live with themselves if their response was anything less than that?
Dear Solomon,
In the passage from Matthew quoted above, the Lord is not talking about Himself, but about us and how we should behave.
If what He says runs counter to our ideas, or even those of Edmund Burke, we have a duty to consider why we wish to depart from His teaching.
We do not, of course, have to put ourselves in harm's way, not should we; but I am not seeing in what Our Lord teaches a sanction for returning violence with violence.
Matthew 26:52:
52 But Jesus said to him, Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
I understand the frustration you and Chris feel with what is being said here, but this is the teaching of the Lord; like many of His teachings it is a hard one for us. But we should do it.
Hug a liberal? Very hard, I know.
peace,
Anglian
Exactly, Solomon!! Exactly that! Liberal *means* liberal. Leftists have utterly misappropriated the term and turned it into something fisticuffy and aggressive and political and ugly, but "liberal" in and of itself just is not a Bad Thing.It is perhaps important to make a distinction between liberal and leftists here. Those with liberal tendancies by and large are more willing to be tolerant. In the last thirty years however, the political arena has become radicalized by the far left who are willing to resort to any kind of tactics to achieve power. The liberal voice has become drowned out.
QFT. I know this is something I struggle with SO much. *How* do we actually love those who are mean to us, or those whom we feel are warping the message of Christ?Loving one's enemies is simply that-loving. It isn't anything else that what Jesus said. You can spin it into something that becomes just lip service and not love at all, but then it wouldn't be what the text simply says, would it?
It is more fun to have enemies we can hate and plot and plan against; to put a face on that which we despise. But that isn't what we are called to be nor do.
Chris, d'ya wanna dial it back a wee bit, maybe? I find your posts in this thread sort of aggressive, and prohibitive... am sorryNo, you've taken everything out of context. By your logic I should just stand by and let an attacker have his way in my Home. By your logic what Police Officers do is wrong.
Chris, d'ya wanna dial it back a wee bit, maybe? I find your posts in this thread sort of aggressive, and prohibitive... am sorry Can we all just be a little kinder, please? We're allowed to disagree - there's no need for it to turn nasty.
Humm... I guess this possibly strays into the area of passivity in some ways. But those of us, for example, who agree with Jimminy's interpretation of Scriptures aren't necessarily wrong, and we're certainly not liberals, much less leftists.I didn't say anything nasty, if you perceive it that way maybe consider not reading my postsI'm simply being truthful, saying Yes where I mean Yes. And I am really trying to perceive how my other Christian brothers in here would have me handle a life and death situation with their logic.
Humm... I guess this possibly strays into the area of passivity in some ways. But those of us, for example, who agree with Jimminy's interpretation of Scriptures aren't necessarily wrong
Dear Chris,I'd hug a liberal. but by your logic, and we encounter a knife wielding Home invader at 3am, with the intent to rape and murder, what should we do? Have a rational discussion with him and offer some cookies?
It is a hard saying for us, to love those who hate us and misuse us; but that is what He says. To this day I bear the marks of trying to follow His words here; they serve as a reminder when, as so often, I fail to follow His teachings.
2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
2:16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Dear Chris,
Having had to deal with an Islamic mob which threatened me, and others with violence, I can recommend rational discussion; I can also recommend flight, for those fleeter of foot than myself. Bruises heal, as do broken bones, and if it is God's will that I should come to Him sooner, it is not my part to contest that. As Christians, we are strangers in this world, and as we are told in 1 John 2 :15-17:
It is a hard saying for us, to love those who hate us and misuse us; but that is what He says. To this day I bear the marks of trying to follow His words here; they serve as a reminder when, as so often, I fail to follow His teachings.
peace,
Anglian
It is one thing to disagree with people but the amount of hatefulness I am seeing in this thread is heartbreaking. Is this what conservatism has come to - that it's ok to use name-calling and open hatefulness? Don't people know how to disagree without being nasty anymore?
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