Godstud wrote:I have better Christian values(despite being Atheist) than you do, that's why. @Tainari88 sees what you post, too, you know.
I act(not just TALK) more Christian, than you do. The last few posts are a good example.
You quoting Christian text that has nothing to do with what's going on, and you think that Jesus or his disciples would have expected people to starve during a pandemic. 
You took that Bible quote completely out of context or were trying to apply it to something it was never meant to be applied to.
Jesus and his disciples would have gone out and helped people that they could help. They'd be advocating taking care of each other, and not letting the less fortunate die. They wouldn't be for people taking risk of disease, just to make money.
How do I know this? I was raised as a Christian, that's why. I learned and know Christian values.
I may not be Christian now, but I understand the religion as well as you do... maybe better, if what you post is any indicator.
It is interesting, I really do only look at actions that are Christian. Not words. People can say and spout whatever they want to say or spout. But how they live their lives and their core value system is what is critical to see if they are following and being consistent with their speech.
I have never cared about empty rhetoric. It doesn't change the world. But actions and thoughts put into action and in the service of that person's internal value system? Yes, that i pay attention to. In the Bible it does mention being wary of worshiping false gods. If you are superficial you take that to mean some pagan symbol or religion. But it is not. It is about being a Christian in words or tradition but worshiping money, sex, vice, and unclean practices. Listening to false prophets who claim they are the truth and the light and or are some secular politicians.
I spent a lot of time @Godstud with some nuns from Mother Teresa's sect. The Sisters of Charity. They were from India and Latin America mostly. I think one was from the Phillipines (another very Christian Asian nation), and they told me that being a true Christian was about behavior more than talking. One had to pray a lot. And they did. It was a way a Christian gets their strength to endure the injustices of the secular world and to help the people in need. But? they had a large sign in the kitchen where they communally ate and it was about Mother Teresa saying that there will be people maligning them, speaking against them, hating on them basically and that they also had to be silent, and to bow their heads down in obedience and not answer them out of pride or false sense of being superior. They had to never sully their relationship with Jesus Christ and with God, by trying to engage in some kind of mundane sense of justice.
For true Christians? You don't get into politics at all. You don't spout rhetoric from a politician. That is not your place. You place your entire energies, thoughts, behavior and actions into developing a very deep, personal and important and primary relationship with God and with his son Jesus. Period. Nothing else should interfere with that. After all? You are part of that sect to serve the poorest and the most ill and the most suffering of the world because that is where Jesus said he exists the most. Not with the powerful, the wealthy, the healthy and the pride filled.
My father @Godstud was a graduate of a Bible School called "Instituto Biblico Mitzpah" in his hometown in PR. As a young man he was a fiery Protestant preacher. He prayed five hours a day on his knees and he served without payment to anyone who came to him. He thought and still thought to his last breath on Earth that if it wasn't for his faith in God and in Jesus at that time of his life in his teen years going through terrible hardships in a ghetto in NYC with racism and violence and gangs and deprivation and having to fight physically every day of his life in that huge, cold city? He never would have lived a good life as he had after that. He joined the Air Force, and then got a college education and advanced degrees while holding a full-time job and taking 21 credits a semester in college. He was married and had two daughters. He was a very spiritual man his entire life.
He stopped believing that there is only one religion with the truth and all others are false. He started thinking that all cultures have spiritual truths. And it is up to human beings to live up to their own culture's religious disciplines if they were people of true faith. Spirituality is about actions and behavior far more than about words or about saying you are a Christian. All that is easy. What is hard is living a life of sacrificing a lot for your faith not on the behalf of the wealthy or the powerful. Or to protect your middle-class lifestyle and your money in the bank. But in defending justice the way a true follower of Christ would do so.
What do I remember about you @Godstud ? I remember your family background, how you worked hard for many years (physical work that was exhausting yes but also administering things that is mental work), and you never married that first woman whom had your older kids. Yet you were there as their father always. I think you searched for the right life for you and found it challenging to find a balance for a long time. And you met your wife and found that balance and finally decided to start anew in all ways. Your little boy is a light and love of your life. You even considered more children with her? That says a lot.
You have a house and some possessions and some land you bought for her security in case anything happens to you to protect your boy. You are social and accepting of almost all people. And passionate in your dislike of racism and being closed minded and intolerant of differences based on culture or nationality.
You like being fair. You are not very sensitive to criticism and think it is just normal for others to do that in a political forum. You like to read and look up information. You sometimes miss something about Canadian life but you prefer the beauty and pace of life in the current city you live in Thailand.
Your wife is very beautiful inside and out. And you struggle always to make sure you don't make huge mistakes with that marriage.
Yes, you are truly spiritual in your way.
Q, doesn't like some aspects of your way of living. Lol. But one has to see that Q is Q. And I love him too for being himself and never apologizing for it. Like you are that way too.
Well, as for Trump's dumb economics? He sure is being dumb lately. Pressuring governors in blue states because of his need to win elections. If he was a true Christian instead of a total liar and false man? He would be concerned with saving American workers' lives' but he is not. He is a selfish one. He is going to the Lake of Fire for sure!
Again, thanks for the kind words.
- By Rich
- By FiveofSwords
- By Deutschmania