Korean Hostages Deal Sparks Debate

GodSmellsLikeOldPeople »

Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:48 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Exodus 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Joshua 23:15
Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things.
Judges 9:23
Then God sent an evil spirit
1 Samuel 16:14
But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
2 Samuel 12:11
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house
1 Kings 9:9
...therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
1 Kings 14:10
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam
2 Kings 6:33 ...Behold, this evil is of the LORD;
2 Kings 21:12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
2 Kings 22:16 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place
2 Chronicles 34:24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof...
Nehemiah 13:18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city?
Jeremiah 4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
Jeremiah 6:19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people
Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them
Jeremiah 25:29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil
Jeremiah 35:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them:
Jeremiah 44:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah
Jeremiah 45:5 ...behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD:
Jeremiah 49:37 ...I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
Micah 1:12 .... evil came down from the LORD
Micah 2:3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil

Korean Hostages Deal Sparks Debate

GodSmellsLikeOldPeople »

Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:48 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 6

Annie… with all do respect I have to completely disagree that the core of mankind is evil. I believe the core of mankind is actually quite good and that evil is primarily perpetrated by otherwise good people acting in the name of god. Hate is not a family value, it is a religious one. In fact, according to your own scripture god himself conducts in and even created evil. Therefore by your own belief, it is not man who is evil, but god himself since he created evil to begin with. By your own tenants there can be nothing without god, and therefore there can be no evil without god and by any logical supposition of that fact then god is the root of all evil. But don’t listen to me, you only need look as far as the Bible (which I have read cover to cover twice, and have a strong belief that if 1/5th of Christians actually read the book they so fervently support there would be no Christianity because the entire thing is absurd, however out of all the Christian zealots I have met, maybe 2 have actually read the whole thing and those are the ones who don’t take it literally).
People who travel to other countries to feed and care for the poor are wonderful, and secular non-Christian organizations make up the vast majority of these. I think it is dishonest at best and evil at worst to offer care and clothing and food to a people only in an effort to witness to them. You would say that it’s a completely selfless act because you are spreading salvation, but as someone who has spent extensive time in the third world I would argue the exact opposite. It is a completely selfish and foolish act to take advantage of disadvantaged people in order to spread your own system of belief… again the example is more important than the message. By luring people in to hear your message with bread you are no worse than the serpent luring in Eve with the promise of the apple. Charity is an act of selfless sacrifice, not a quid pro quo, eat our food hear our message endeavor.

Top Pentagon Officers Face Discipline for Endorsing Christianity

GodSmellsLikeOldPeople »

Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:15 pm Agree: 11   Disagree: 12

It is an absolute disgrace that these servicemen represented themselves in this way while in uniform. I served in the US Marine Corps and it was unequivocally explained to us that while in uniform we represented the United States military, not the church, not the local bar, not ourselves. When in uniform you don’t speak out about any disagreements you may have with your government, you don’t endorse products and if you have any brains at all, you don’t endorse a religion when we are at war with people diametrically opposed to Christian meddling in their affairs. By uniformed men publically endorsing Christianity as the religion of choice we are sending a message to others that we are indeed engaging in an imperialistic crusade to spread our preferred system of belief. Whether the nature of our involvement is a religious one or a matter of survival becomes irrelevant when the perception is that we are engaging ourselves in a holy war. How can a Christian who believes that radical Islamic maniacs trying to spread their message through violence believe that our struggle against them should be clothed in the uniforms of Christ? It’s absolute insanity. Our nation is supposed to be better than that, and as former Marine I believe that we are, and I believe that the only way we can differentiate ourselves from Islamic countries and fanatical organizations is to make it clear that our war is a secular war for survival, not a war to spread Christianity. Would your Jesus approve of spreading his message through men in the uniform of a state, through bombs and aircraft and death? I believe if you actually read the book you subscribe to you will see that in EVERY case where Jesus was asked to be involved with matters of state he refused, it is the very reason he was crucified by the state. So don’t be so hasty to praise the state when they are spreading your message through the vessel of violence. Strong military and a strong government are necessary evils to support our way of life, and anyone who has truly served their country recognizes that we should be constantly wary of both lest they become our religion.

Korean Hostages Deal Sparks Debate

GodSmellsLikeOldPeople »

Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:49 pm Agree: 6   Disagree: 16

This is another fine example of how regardless of the god in question; every religion in its fundamental form is equally despicable. All of them thrive on the same purpose, to convert others to the same system of belief to supposedly “save” them from themselves. Whether you are converting somebody by the sword or in the case of most Christians these days, by luring in the poor with promises of food and infrastructure, you are participating in a campaign to destroy another culture and the only outcome will be exactly what we have gotten, violent resistance. Then, when trespassing on another people’s land to trick them into Christ the Christians look on in amazement as people are kidnapped and murdered. Going into Afghanistan to remove the Taliban was the absolute right move, but then for Christian missionary organizations to piggy back on that effort to get in and exercise their own brand of religious extremism is absolutely ridiculous and these people got exactly what they deserved and should have never been released. Even worse than that, for their government to come in and bail them out and pay a ransom to free these zealots is criminal. How many others will be kidnapped or murdered now that the Islamic extremists know they can profit from it? How many criminals who aren’t even Islamic will use this as an opportunity to make a buck in a country where the largest economic opportunities come from harvesting poppies to make opium? How many new terrorists will sign up for service now that the cat is out of the bag on these Christian organizations operating in their countries?

Armageddon is a self fulfilling prophecy as long as the nuts who believe in it continue working towards it by imposing themselves on other people’s affairs. If Christians and Muslims and Jews and like had at least enough sense to follow their own systems of faith we wouldn’t have any of these problems. The Bible and the Koran are both adamant that the believer’s responsibility is to focus on their own salvation and relationship with god and to spread the word to those open to it, not to force it down people’s throats or lure them in with promises of sustenance in an effort to witness to them. The way you change other people is through example, not through evangelizing. If any religion collectively had its junk together and its people actually practiced what they preached people would gravitate to it without the need to go around making a scene of it. Unfortunately all major religions are more of an assemblage of people covering their own faults up by shouting every chance they get how messed up everyone else is. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and let he who is perfect give advice on how other people should live, and let he who is dumb enough to travel to a third world Islamic country to spread his own brand of nonsense get exactly what’s coming to him.