@justme23 said in #170:
> Reading the New Testament is exactly why I think God is Bogus .
> Same for the Old Testament.
> The take away both have statements about killing those that are different.
Please, enlighten me
@justme23 said in #170:
> Reading the New Testament is exactly why I think God is Bogus .
> Same for the Old Testament.
> The take away both have statements about killing those that are different.
where? tell me... some times (well a lot of times) people misinterpret the Bible...
@ALucasM said in #168:
> @Sleepy_Gary Raping is a sin. Read the New Testament instead of searching on the internet for ways that supposedly make God cruel.
This is completely correct.
Raping is selfish/unloving/ungodly/misbehaviour/sin.
This is the exact opposite of how God said that we should behave.
Those who speak against God are exercising the same 'lying mouth' that we all have; and, in a confused state, it condones and celebrates *ALL* that is selfish/unloving/ungodly/misbehaviour/sin...and it does it without distinction.
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It is like a clumsy ouroboros that doesn't stop feeding on itself and both hates and likes the taste of its own flesh.
This is demonstrated by the relationship between the whip-cracker and the whip-welted.
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It looks as though we've inaccurately diagnosed 'sin' as though it can be divided up into separate instances and infractions.
As though it only exists in particular places and in particular times.
But, it's probably not so.
Probably, it's more accurate to think of it as a metaphysical monolith.
We can all identify different loving qualities and understand that they are 'of kind'.
We can see all of the different traits thereof and understand them to be from the same source.
We can all understand the different kinds of traits that reflect love.
Probably, it's not much different with unlovingness/ungodliness/selfishness/misbehaviour/sin.
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It looks as though, due to this confusion, we have a ridiculous situation where 'person A' engages in one form of unlovingness, 'person B' engaging in another, and 'person C' engaging in still another...and they're all pointing their finger at the next person while ignoring their own participation with the exact same ungodliness...albeit in a different expression.
If the CAUSE of 'the little lie' which is told to hide one's misbehaviour is conquered...then ALL misbehaviour folds like a deck of cards.
If the CAUSE of heinous crime is conquered...then ALL misbehaviour folds like a deck of cards.
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It's not incorrect to understand that the same organized perpetrators of ungodliness both waged biological war crimes on the American-Americans not long ago...and also dispense a 'blasphemic' and slandering "justice system"...which would not only have them discontinue all misbehaviour if adhered to with integrity...but would also lock themselves up for consecutive life sentences if adhered to with integrity.
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It happens that 'justice' is a quality of love, and 'injustice' is a quality of selfishness.
And, it happens that, according to the perfectly loving God which justice reflects...the reaction towards a trespass should be forgiveness...and...likewise...having received forgiveness...those who've trespassed should be moved by the love within their hearts to correct and/or compensate their trespass as best as possible.
(I heard the other day that Israel's iron-dome was no longer functioning.
It would be lovely to see the people who Israel calls "enemies", to take this opportunity to exhaust their entire missile and bomb supplies on the deserts just outside of major Israeli population centres...killing no one...and that...at the sight of this tremendous act of love...Israel would then...in turn...disarm it's military...and that all onlookers...seeing this...would then follow suit.)
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Now, but for God, the quasi-life which we are reflecting is impossible...as He is Life.
So, everything is. ultimately, under His domain and influence, and reflects Him.
This means that when our lying mouths have us conflate a legal system with a "justice" system, and have us use it to inflict injustice...then the ugly, weak, and pathetic hallmarks of selfishness/lies/death/and shameful effects of misbehaving contrary to His will, occur and manifest within our reality.
And there is no way around it. None at all.
Obviously, this is not God "punishing" us. Obviously, this is us stepping our from under the characteristics of His 'Protective Umbrella', in the middle of a hail storm.
From His perspective, what we label and think of as "His punishment" is actually no different than warning one's children not to run with scissors...and then being horrified when they slip and fall and stab themselves.
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In the same way that Sleepy_Gary can easily understand and intuit that it's probable that the same quasi-life which is reflecting through me, is also reflecting through him...so we can all, also, fully understand...without ANY ambiguity...that "Life and Love are to NEVER be separated."
Ultimately, it means that we do not condone the existence of life outside of heaven...and it appears that this is what we're in this universal locale to witness, understand, and to confess.
The idea that we didn't have an argument with God about how things should be done...is negligible.
The idea that after the first act of selfishness stems a long line of deadly 'cause and consequence' which pollutes the physical and metaphysical environment...both internally and externally...explains why this debate was impossible within heaven.
Not only is love, there, as natural as selfishness is, here, making it impossible...but it's easy to see the war that would have ensued.
Further, it's probably not the case that we were thrown out of heaven...but it's most likely that God was begging us not to leave as we slammed the door to heaven in an event that we call "the big bang"...where we could experience life outside the context of perfect Love/Truth/Life/Innocence.
As result of stepping outside of the protection of His Divine Nature of Love/Truth/Life/Innocence, which effects things like safety, abundance, surety, trust, empathy, giving, hope, optimism, mental health, sacrifice, helping, caring, sharing, kindness, adoration, awesome magnificence...
...we "naturally" find examples of His antitheses sharing space and time which pervert His attribute and effect of 'life'.
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It's interesting watching our lying mouths attempting to force us to confess that we have His qualities, here.
"Abundance mindset" is something I know I've heard too much of...the lying mouth is on a steady mission to lick its wounds...which taste like sour grapes...where its pride attempts to convince itself that "I don't miss home" and "I can learn to enjoy what I asked for"...and "I can get people to say about me what I know is true about God"...but the lying mouth knows...we know.
We know what we're capable of.
We know how things could and should be.
We know that we can do better.
We know that we want and need God.
We know that this lying mouth of ours is pathetic, weak, and enjoys nothing more than to kill itself.
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Anyway, I went off on a bit of a tangent, there...but I suppose that it's to say the following:
*Love is the Only Way. This is the Truth of Life.*
This is the Only Writing on the Only Wall.
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Notice that it's said: "In the beginning was the Word."
Notice that it's not said: "In the beginning was the speaker."
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God is much more 'a Meaning' than He is 'a thing'.
As such, the Wall, and the Writing upon It have no choice but to appear in order to reflect Him and His meaning.
In the beginning Was, Is, and Will Always Be the Meaning.
That Meaning is Perfect Love.
All who've died and come face to Face with Him know exactly what I'm speaking of.
And when we make the connection between what we Experienced and the life of Jesus the Christ...we recognize Him as God on earth.
It's not a wonder that He spoke in parables.
First is the meaning, then is the information that's needed to present and reflect the metaphor that illustrates the meaning, then comes human beings and our ability to understand, and then comes our understanding/knowledge of the meaning...
...and as a result...
...regardless of what our lying mouths jibber and jabber on and on about...
...regardless of what our lying mouths have our fingers clickity-clack about...
...regardless of what our lying mouths have us saying that we do/don't believe...
...regardless of what our lying mouths help influence us to do or not do...
...
We are all saying, believing, and demonstrating exactly one thing...
We are all saying, believing, and demonstrating that we want Him and ONLY Him...ALL of the time...EVERYWHERE...and without ANY exception...at all...ever...and forever.
We are all saying, believing, and demonstrating that we want nothing more than for His will to be done.
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"And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.
And all flesh shall see it together.
For the Mouth of the Lord has Spoken It."
To me, the idea that this could ever have been written by anyone except myself...is truly baffling and seemingly impossible. I feel joy at the plagiarism!
Somehow, I know this to be true, while others have somehow deduced it by faith, and dare to cling to it and hope for the final ratification of life within this universal locale, and the edification of all mankind.
Only the Truth of the Writing on the Wall could manage this effect.
For example: If I ask 'what's in my garage' and it's the only 'Spaghetti Monster' in all of existence...one which I, myself, created...which I thought that only I had met...it ought be impossible for anyone else to ever draw a picture of what I had in mind and what I thought I saw sitting in my garage.
The ONLY explanation to this is that What 100% of all human beings can see and describe...sitting in my garage...is actually there...and they are able to guess accurately because it's sitting in theirs, too...whether our lying mouths want to admit the existence of 'a garage' or not...and whether our lying mouths want to admit the Only Thing that's there within, or not.
We're truly something special, and capable of great things, (only) when we're (only) on our best behaviour, aren't we?
@Sleepy_Gary said in #160:
> Do you believe that slavery is okay? If so, you’re a cruel POS just like the Christian god. If you don’t, then you’re not following the Bible, and you’re applying your own ethics to god’s word, and you’re a hypocrite. Which one is it?
Interestingly, Christianity was one of the most progressive movements with regards to slavery-- so much so that it can be considered as laying the groundwork for liberal ideas like equal rights. Christians believe that everyone-- be they gentile, Jew, man, woman, royalty, or slave-- was equal in the eyes of God, and thus capable of entering heaven. Not a groundbreaking concept in this day and age, but in an era when rulers and ruling classes were perceived to be gods, this was exceedingly rare. A similar concept applies to your point regarding treatment of women: in the Deueronomy passage, it is written as a prescribed punishment for mistreatment of a woman. Again, in modern times, a fine and forced marriage aren't really super harsh penalties, but it is not common to see early texts protecting the rights of women (who were typically regarded as property)-- especially since a second offense essentially amounts to a death penalty, on account of the marriage.
@clousems said in #174:
> Interestingly, Christianity was one of the most progressive movements with regards to slavery-- so much so that it can be considered as laying the groundwork for liberal ideas like equal rights. Christians believe that everyone-- be they gentile, Jew, man, woman, royalty, or slave-- was equal in the eyes of God, and thus capable of entering heaven. Not a groundbreaking concept in this day and age, but in an era when rulers and ruling classes were perceived to be gods, this was exceedingly rare. A similar concept applies to your point regarding treatment of women: in the Deueronomy passage, it is written as a prescribed punishment for mistreatment of a woman. Again, in modern times, a fine and forced marriage aren't really super harsh penalties, but it is not common to see early texts protecting the rights of women (who were typically regarded as property)-- especially since a second offense essentially amounts to a death penalty, on account of the marriage.
Except it was regularly used as a justification for slavery for almost 2000 years: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/01/a-harvard-exhibit-on-slavery-and-christianity/
@cubester1232 said in #167:
> No, once again gary we don't have to keep running in circles Adam and Eve chose to live in a world of sin and now mankind lives in that world... the chose to be separated from God as a result man kind created slavery... +plus what does believing that slavery is ok have to do with following the Bible????
You clearly don’t read your own source material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_slavery
Slavery is a-okay according to both the old and New Testament. So yes, you’re either in support of slavery (in other words, a total piece of shit), or a hypocrite as you chose to ignore certain parts of the Bible you deem inconvenient.
@cubester1232 said in #164:
> no he created a perfect world with free will so you don't want to exist lol...
>
> also gary it is not kind to call people pos ... I understand ur frustration but it is still not nice...
You know what’s not nice? Members of your faith forcing their beliefs on others, and stripping away our right to bodily autonomy and a sensible public education.
@thefrickouttaherelol said in #166:
> I don't read books. And I don't think religion is the cause of conflicts - I think a-hole humans are.
You’re right on this one, humans - the inventors of god and religion - are complete and total assholes for what they’ve wrought on humanity.
If you ever do decide to read a book other then the Bible, start with Abusing Science by Philip Kitcher, he does talk about proof and the philosophy of science. If not, enjoy your decent into madness. Maybe one day you’ll end up like @Resurrection_of_Abel who cant manage to string two sentences together that form a coherent thought relevant to the topic at hand.
@Sleepy_Gary said in #175
> Except it was regularly used as a justification for slavery for almost 2000 years: news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/01/a-harvard-exhibit-on-slavery-and-christianity/
If I go misbehave in unloving and ungodly ways...and I'm caught and then tell the judge that you, Sleepy_Gary, said that it was OK for me to mistreat people...what are you guilty of?
Then, image that, on the record, you're actually only ever recorded as having told me to love my one another, and that how I treat them is how I treat you.
How would that make you feel hearing that accusation?
It might be worth our while to consider the Nature of the God that our mouth feigns to speak against...
For instance, many atheists in delivering rooms have testified to suddenly becoming fully aware of a flawless innocence that is their first newborn baby.
It moves them to tears, and many have confessed that it's the first time that they understood that miracles are possible, despite all of the 'beliefs' and 'arguments' to the contrary.
I implore you to consider the sum total of all of the innocence of every baby ever born...where one...alone...can move us to tears...and to understand that it is barely even a blip in comparison to the Love that it's reflecting.
In other words...consider that the God that your mouth feigns to speak against is like a Perfectly Loving, Perfectly Truthful, and Perfectly Innocent child.
Consider that if you knew Who you were actually screaming at, that you'd feel a shame and grief so deep that it would require you stealing lollipops from a countless amount of wailing babies to parallel.
Consider that your idea of "God" is merely a projection of the human spirit...and consider that it is the antithesis of our Father in Heaven, as 'Perfect Loving' and 'not perfectly loving' are antithetical.
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After this exercise...consider how you would feel if some angry adult, who only seems to find it in himself to speak the truth when it's convenient for him to do so, points his finger at you and falsely accuses you for everything that you didn't ever want to happen, and where if they had followed your advice, they wouldn't have injured themselves in the first place...and then demands that you fix what they broke...and where as you lovingly fix it for them...they continually break it...while screaming at you...and ignoring your advice...and continually blame you for breaking it.
I bet that must be an exhausting state of affairs!
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Chat GPT can EASILY separate Love/Truth/Life/Innocence/selfshness/lies/death/guilt into the relevant categories.
Can you tell me which category Humility would belong under?
Can you tell me which category arrogant, falsely-accusatory, pride would belong under?
Are we sometimes stuck speaking a foreign language called 'selfishness', which only we understand, while trying to address a God of Love?
Have you tried softening your heart that's been hardened by what we've done?
Have you tried turning its hardness from +10 all the way down to -10?
There is a part in you that would never scream at God.
Perhaps try speaking with Him using that voice...
@Sleepy_Gary
Do you think that the life that everyone's body is reflecting is coming from its own unique star system, or would you say that the life that we're all reflecting is probably the same life, but manifested in separate circumstances and happenstances of birth?
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