418 replies to this topic

[LFC]

 Rich T Bikkies, on 05 March 2021 - 10:09 AM, said:

But patriotism over here, in the era of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, is getting confrontational too.

It's a tool that the fascist has employed as long as there has been fascism. The faux patriotism and nationalism are key to binding the masses together and following you while you f*** them over and their lives get worse. Visible virtue signals like, oooooh I don't know, maybe red hats are also crucial.

[HockeyDon]

 Rich T Bikkies, on 05 March 2021 - 08:37 AM, said:

No they aren't. They're Pharisees. Jesus didn't like them. See the Sermon on the Mount about public flaunting, and his long angry speech with the refrain "Woe onto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"

There are other types of Christian than noisy political Christianists. It's just that in the USA they suck all the oxygen out of the room and drown out all the other varieties. I think in no other Western country is "Christianity" so politicised and weaponised.

America is not the whole world. And other "civilised" countries are not failed attempts to emulate America.

Christians don't care what Jesus liked.

[Rue Bella]

https://news.yahoo.c...-132029252.html

Every stereotype in the book.

Quote

US pastor on leave after Melania Trump 'trophy wife' comments


A Baptist preacher in Missouri has gone on leave after a backlash over comments he made about women's appearances.

Pastor Stewart-Allen Clark drew scorn for a sermon offering advice to wives he said would stop their husbands becoming "distracted" by other women.

It included comments about Melania Trump whom he described as "the epic trophy wife of all time".

The pastor's General Baptist denomination has admonished him for his comments.

A 22-minute video of his February sermon was shared on Facebook, where it has been viewed thousands of times.

In it, he is seen using a well-known online meme of a distracted boyfriend to tell women not to "give him a reason to be looking around".

He tells churchgoers that it is "really important" for men to have a beautiful woman on their arm, asking the crowd: "Why is it so many times that women, after they get married, let themselves go?"

"Now look, I'm not saying every woman can be the epic trophy wife of all time like Melania Trump, I'm not saying that at all," he says, as an image of the former First Lady appears on screen behind him.

"Most women can't be trophy wives, but you know... maybe you're a participation trophy."

Pastor Clark then criticises women for wearing casual clothes like jogger bottoms and pyjamas, before turning to "weight control" and referring to one woman as "a sumo wrestler".

"Don't ever forget this, God made them to look and you want them to look at you - not some hottie out there or someone on a computer screen," he is seen telling parishioners.

The pastor's marital advice then turns to make-up, hairstyles, fashion tips and sexual intimacy.

Most of his comments can be heard getting a muted response from those in the audience.

The video was posted online by a woman who said she was angry after hearing him allegedly preach similar messages last week.

Thousands of people then commented on the video, accusing Mr Clark of sexism and misogyny.

Outrage over the sermon led General Baptist Ministries, the denomination to which his Malden First General Baptist Church belongs, to address the matter on Facebook.
"General Baptists believe that every woman was created in the image of God, and they should be valued for that reason," they said in a statement.

They said he had resigned as a moderator for a meeting scheduled in July 2022, but clarified that they had no control over his employment.

The 55-year-old pastor's church told KCTV, a local CBS affiliate, that he was now on leave and in professional counselling.

[golden_valley]

 Rue Bella, on 07 March 2021 - 03:52 PM, said:

https://news.yahoo.c...-132029252.html

Every stereotype in the book.

He may have missed The Total Woman advice to wives. Greet husbands at the door dressed in Saran Wrap and holding a martini.

[baw1064]

 golden_valley, on 07 March 2021 - 03:59 PM, said:

Greet husbands at the door dressed in Saran Wrap and holding a martini.

It's important to save the aluminum foil for the husband to make a hat out of.

[andydp]

 golden_valley, on 07 March 2021 - 03:59 PM, said:

Greet husbands at the door dressed in Saran Wrap and holding a martini.

The punch line to that joke is, the husband looks the wife over takes a sip and says:

“Leftovers again ?”

[AnBr]

 baw1064, on 07 March 2021 - 05:02 PM, said:

It's important to save the aluminum foil for the husband to make a hat out of.

[Rich T Bikkies]

 HockeyDon, on 07 March 2021 - 06:12 AM, said:

Christians don't care what Jesus liked.

To be precise, there are some who like what Jesus liked. But if you polled everybody in the world who attended church regularly, or[1] who regularly referred to themselves as Christian ("As a Christian, I think that . . . ") that "some" would be a very small minority.

[1] Union, not intersection. FIFM.

Quote

"For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it". Matthew 7:14 (The Sermon on the Mount).

Quote

"Mr Gandhi, what do you think of Western Civilisation?"

"I think it would be a very good idea".

[LFC]

 Rich T Bikkies, on 08 March 2021 - 05:53 AM, said:

To be precise, there are some who like what Jesus liked. But if you polled everybody in the world who attended church regularly, and who regularly referred to themselves as Christian ("As a Christian, I think that . . . ") that "some" would be a very small minority.

Especially here in America.

[HockeyDon]

Rich T Bikkies, on 08 March 2021 - 05:53 AM, said:

To be precise, there are some who like what Jesus liked. But if you polled everybody in the world who attended church regularly, or[1] who regularly referred to themselves as Christian ("As a Christian, I think that . . . ") that "some" would be a very small minority.

[1] Union, not intersection. FIFM.

I'm only going by what I, personally, have experienced. I will accept there are some individuals who act in a very Christ-like manner.

For nearly 100%, there has ended up being some part of the Christian personality/thoughts/emotions in direct contradiction to Christ's teachings.

[golden_valley]

The SCOTUS Religious 5 strikes again and with a midnight ruling release. Are they afraid to be part of the work week news cycle?

Quote

In another late-night ruling, the Supreme Court on Friday blocked another California coronavirus restriction on religious gatherings, saying the state’s limits on home-based Bible study and prayer sessions violated constitutional rights.

Kagen dissents

Quote

The First Amendment requires a state to treat religious conduct as well as it treats comparable secular conduct, Kagan wrote. California “does exactly that,” she wrote, adding that it adopted a blanket restriction on home gatherings to three households, “religious and secular alike.”

“California need not, as the [majority] insists, treat at-home religious gatherings the same as hardware stores and hair salons — and thus unlike at-home secular gatherings, the obvious comparator here,” Kagan wrote.

The free exercise clause is becoming like the 2nd Amendment...yell you're violating my right to religious freedom and you win every time.

[JackD]

Another good reason to pack the court if it's possible to do so.

[AnBr]

At one time I might have had a lot of reservations about packing the Court or doing away with the filibuster, but both have been so abused by the Rethugs that those reservations are far outweighed by the damage being done to our country and democracy that they have to take a back seat. I am almost to the same point about the First Amendment and the reich-wing propaganda that I no longer reject the thought of limitations out of hand.

[JackD]

Democrats are having a ridiculously hard time accepting that Republicans won't play.

[andydp]

JackD, on 10 April 2021 - 10:59 AM, said:

Another good reason to pack the court if it's possible to do so.

During the first Roosevelt term, he wanted to pack the Supreme Court so he could get his more progressive agenda going. His proposal was to appoint one judge for every judge on the court that was over 70.

Amazingly, just after the threat was made, the court was more ameanable to Roosevelt's Agenda.

[JackD]

Yes; could happen again and if it didn't, the packing could occur but not without a significant majority in the Senate. Roosevelt couldn't get it by his senate.

[Probabilistic]

Can the Meritocracy Find God?

The secularization of America probably won’t reverse unless the intelligentsia gets religion.
By Ross Douthat

Quote

Most of these people — my people, by tribe and education — would be unlikely models of holiness in any dispensation, given their ambitions and their worldliness. But Jesus endorsed the wisdom of serpents as well as the innocence of doves, and religious communities no less than secular ones rely on talent and ambition. So the deep secularization of the meritocracy means that people who would once have become priests and ministers and rabbis become psychologists or social workers or professors, people who might once have run missions go to work for NGOs instead, and guilt-ridden moguls who might once have funded religious charities salve their consciences by starting secular foundations.

Ah, what a lovely way to begin my evening reading Ross. Thank you.

Now, how can this process be accelerated?

Quote

As a Christian inhabitant of this world, I often try to imagine what it would take for the meritocracy to get religion. There are certain ways in which its conversion doesn’t seem unimaginable. A lot of progressive ideas about social justice still make more sense as part of a biblical framework...

You're overlooking one important factor, Ross. The hocus-pocus explanatory framework provided by religions are just bronze age garbage. These just don't work. Their functions are better fulfilled by science, philosophy and ethics, and politics, In order for the progressive ideas of social justice to arise and to prevail one does not need a biblical framework. Have you noticed religious people are the most opposed to ideas of social justice when justice rendered reduces their power?

All the good deeds of religions can be done without harkening to superstitions, the need of belief without evidence. The only ways for religions to regain their place of prominence are through bamboozlement and force. Surely enough, those are the paths most taken by religions.

[JackD]

Concentration on the sermon on the mount will make concerns about secularization irrelevant since that sermon and secular humanism are quite compatible. The rest is theatre.

[andydp]

Further proof Jesus was a closet "Commie Pinko Socialist":

Acts 4:32 The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. All the believers were united in heart and mind.

Would love to see Pat Robertson use this.