• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

Trump's reputation will age like fine wine

Time often smooths rough edges. Political movements tend to turn polarizing leaders into symbols — simplified and idealized.
People will remember “he spoke for ordinary Americans” more than “he tweeted insults at 3 a.m.”
Populism will remain strong globally, Trump will come to represent the origin point of a major political realignment rather than just a single administration.
I don't know. I can see it going the other way as well. I can see the few good things he has accomplished being overshadowed by the damage and chaos he creates. I think it will be determined by how long lasting the negative items prove to be.
Upvote 0

Mississippi School Homecoming Celebrations Turn Deadly as 8 People are Killed 20 Injured in Separate Shootings

Stay on topic.

Another poster proposed that a culture of mooching off the government is a factor driving these sorts of crimes. I'm pointing out the fact that the culture of mooching off the government isn't exclusive to poor folks.
Upvote 0

Man desecrates altar of St. Peter's Basilica

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar general of the pope for Vatican City, presided Oct. 13 over a penitential rite of reparation at the main altar of the church following a serious act of desecration that had taken place on Oct. 10.

After a penitential procession that began at 12:45 p.m. local time, Gambetti sprinkled the altar with holy water and incensed it to purify it.

The rite, attended by members of the chapter of the Vatican basilica, emphasized asking God for “forgiveness” for the desecration, Father Enzo Fortunato, director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

On Friday, Oct. 10, a man whose identity has not been revealed was arrested by security guards after he climbed onto the Altar of the Confession, located under Bernini’s baldachin, and urinated on it while tourists looked on in astonishment.

Continued below.
Ugh
Upvote 0

Malevolent vs. benevolent dispositions and conservative political ideology in the Trump era

I think you’ll find that people who support authoritarianism only realise that they have made a grievous error when it is too late.
The issue is does society determine morality of human acts. If a society does so but then realizes their error and repents serves to confirm my contention that we cannot look to society as a authority for morality.
There perception of what is moral is inversely proportional to how much it impacts them.
A utilitarian approach is no better than the ad populum fallacy above. An immoral act remains OK if I'm fine ... until I'm not.
Consider the Trump voters who lost their job or whose relatives were deported mournfully asserting “I did not vote for this”.
Trump policies reduced my income by 25%. I still support his policies. While I would not be happy if Trump dated my sister, I would quickly hire him to watch and protect my junk yard.
Upvote 0

The Lost House of Israel

The Great Promises of God to His People:
Ezekiel 28:25-26 The Lord God says: When I gather the House of Israel from the nations among whom they are now scattered and I have been reverenced by them, as the nations will see, then they will live in their heritage, all of the Holy Land that I promised to My servant Jacob.

They will have security there, building houses and planting vineyards, yes, they will dwell in confidence and safety, when I have executed My judgements upon all their contemptuous neighbours. They will no longer have to fear any threats from ungodly peoples around them and they will know that I am the Lord their God
. KJV, CJB, REB.

This short prophecy encapsulates the truth of what every righteous Christian can expect for their future. Sadly, not many can see this future, because of beliefs in false teachings and inability to discern the prophesies correctly.

We know from New Testament teaching that Christian peoples now belong to the House of Israel, whether they are true descendants of Jacob or not. But in order for God’s promises to the Patriarchs to be fulfilled, the majority, now ‘scattered among the nations’, WILL, in fact, be their descendants. Only God knows who and where they all are. Amos 9:9

All of the Lord’s righteous Christian peoples will be gathered soon after ‘a Day of cloud and darkness’, Ezekiel 34:11-16, Ezekiel 20:34-38. That will be the many prophesied and well described - ‘Day of the Lord’s vengeance and wrath’, the Sixth Seal worldwide disaster of fire from the sun, Malachi 4:1, 2 Peter 3:7, that will destroy His enemies, Isaiah 66:15-17 and enable God’s plan for His people to ‘display His glory for all the nations to see’, Ezekiel 39:27, to be fulfilled. Proving that all this will happen before the Return of Jesus for His Millennium reign.

The people of the new nation of Beulah, Isaiah 62:1-5, having passed through the ‘great ordeal’ of the Day of wrath, Luke 21:35, Revelation 7:1-14, will select their own leaders, Jeremiah 30:21, Hosea 1:11, they will build a new Temple, Zechariah 6:15, Haggai 2:6-9, they will send out 144,000 missionaries to proclaim the coming Kingdom of Jesus, and after all that is prophesied before the Return takes place, it is them who say: ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord’!
Upvote 0

White House, Pfizer Announce Deal for 'Most Favored Nation' Drug Pricing

From the link:

Prices for many prescription drugs would drop significantly under an agreement announced Tuesday by the Trump administration and drugmaker Pfizer.

"As you know, the United States is paying sometimes 10 times more than other countries for drugs, and a lot of excuses were made for that for many years," President Trump said during a press conference in the Oval Office. "And it's not going on any longer. We're going to be paying the lowest price now."

  • Direct access for patients to lower-priced drugs. This will come through the soon-to-be-launched TrumpRx.gov website. "This is bypassing middlemen," he said. "It increases transparency. In many instances, prices are 80% lower than they are today. No more Canadian detours to purchase drugs more inexpensively at our neighbor. You do it from home."
  • Lower prices for Medicaid enrollees. "Pfizer will be [making] virtually all of its portfolio of drugs at [most favored nation] prices available to Medicaid in the near future," said Klomp. "This safeguards the program. This ensures that this program lives as a lifeline without undue burden on the taxpayer -- for those who need it most, for our vulnerable Americans, whom we are charged morally to care for."
  • "Future-proofing" fairness. "This is the idea that Pfizer has committed, as are other manufacturers, that they will not launch a new drug for commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, or cash pay markets at a price that is higher" than that charged to other wealthy nations, he said, emphasizing that "They are free to price their drugs wherever they want. These are not price caps. These are not price controls. They can price however they'd like. We're simply asking them, and they are committing, not to undercut us in other countries."
  • Shared savings. "As [the U.S.] succeeds in encouraging other countries to pay more for existing medications, a portion of that will go to fund additional [research and development], and a portion of that will repatriate back to the United States to offset prices, to lower prices further for Americans on those existing drugs," Klomp explained.
  • More onshoring of manufacturing. Pfizer has committed "to onshore 100% of the value of all imports that it currently imports to the United States," he said.
Upvote 0

Trump’s Name Chanted in Israel AND Gaza After Peace Deal: ‘Nobel Prize to Trump!’

It seems like the chanting in Gaza is being drowned out by gunfire as Hamas is cleansing the population.

Upvote 0

Evolution conflict and division

But I tend to think that the Theory of Evolution on the whole does not in and of itself offer any ethical directives by which to tell secularists to "go ahead and mess around with human genetics according to our whims."
In and of itself, the TOE does not direct the horrible actions taken in the USA or in Germany. My point is that the TOE gave the patina of science to these evil undertakings.
My question though is why are you asking?
Because I can read and think critically. I suggest you try it.
Upvote 0

The Conjunction of Opposites

My general objection to such stances is that there is nothing that transpires in creation that God is not involved in in some way. Evil does transpire in the midst of Omnipresence, as well as sin and death.

Therefore...do the math

We're faced with 2 basic postures when this reality hits. We can either isolate God and provide excuses for Him

or

We can believe that God is greater than anything that happens and can make it all seem as nothing, which is what I believe happens.

Let the worlds turn to dust. It will not matter in the face of Eternity.

I'd suggest that no person acts apart from Divine and unseen influences, one way or another. Therefore there is no "blame" necessary. IF God wanted all of us to believe He could make it happen in an instant, just as He did many times with many people. None of us choose our way into God. He chose us, for whatever that brings.

You're presuming these choices transpire in a vacuum. I think that's just a ridiculous posture that isolates God from the equations.

Then you are promoting a Godless position, is a general point of fact.

I appreciate the back tracking attempt, but you can't play it both ways my friend.

I'd have a bit of a different take on Romans and the lump, the question being why has God made me thus? A vessel of honor and a vessel of dishonor in the same lump. Universally applied. And God's choice which is dominant.

God raised Pharaoh to resist. What Pharaoh thought about it really doesn't matter. God has POWER OVER him, and used it to turn against Israel and force a separation.

This also happens to us, individually, when we are born again. We turn against our own pharaoh, the tempter or his own. Which we had no clue about prior to salvation.

You see, there really are things going on, unseen. And sadly still unknown to believers who should know better.

And to that we agree, which is a good thing

Who can complain about Perfection running everything? Not me, for sure.

Do you believe there was no reason for God to sacrifice his only son?
Upvote 0

Jordan says ICE agents ‘doing the Lord’s work’

Can’t for the pay offered, don’t leave that part out. But I know, farmers are special and get to ignore the law if they can’t legally get workers for what they’re wanting to pay them.
It's not the pay, it's the type of work. Again, Americans just don't have the history of doing that kind of work.
Upvote 0

Men attend less singles events than women

I think women tend to be more social than men. Women according to some psychologists are "more fun" than men, whatever that is supposed to mean.
-
I know they are more social than i am, but i have too much to do to spend time just talking about etc....
Upvote 0

Mississippi School Homecoming Celebrations Turn Deadly as 8 People are Killed 20 Injured in Separate Shootings

-
This is happening because people just do not care. Years ago black people would not testify against people (murderers, etc..) and now they can not even fill a Jury pool, to even have a trial.


https://www.gwcommonwealth.com/murder-trial-delayed-jury-pool-too-small

Just in case you can not read the article here it is below.


By KEVIN EDWARDS - Staff Writer
Wed,07/23/25-2:00AM, 6,730 Reads

Leflore County’s jury problems emerged again Monday as another murder trial was postponed because not enough people showed up for jury duty.
James Cason, 23, was scheduled to go on trial on capital murder and conspiracy charges for the shooting death of 15-year-old Johnny Cage in June 2022.
Cason is one of three men charged in Cage’s death. Cason and Terry Williams, 18, have pleaded not guilty.
The third man, 20-year-old Darius Sims, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and second-degree murder charges in April and is serving a 30-year prison sentence.
Around 3 p.m. Monday, just after the juror pool had returned from a recess, Circuit Judge Carol White-Richard dismissed them because the size of the jury pool was insufficient.

Assistant District Attorney Amanda Sturniolo Langford said 450 summonses were issued, but only 49 potential jurors showed up for voir dire, the process of the court interviewing the potential jurors for possible biases and excusing them for valid reasons.
Juries are made up of 12 people, along with a couple of alternates. The jury pool is selected randomly from the county’s voter rolls, but there are times where the contacted juror has died or hasn’t updated his or her address information. More often than not, the contacted juror is simply not showing up.
Judges have the power to issue show cause orders, which would force those who miss jury duty to appear before court and explain why they were absent.
Both Langford and ADA Trish Hicks said it has become a frustrating problem. Two other murder trials this year have also been delayed due to a lacking juror pool.
“Our office just really hopes that the citizens of Leflore County will see how vital their participation is to the process,” Hicks said.
“We can’t do our jobs without them,” Langford added.
“When you throw that jury summons in the garbage, that’s a slap in the face of somebody who was a victim of a crime,” Hicks concluded.
Upvote 0

Trump sparks concern among Christians for saying he's 'maybe not Heaven-bound'

'Heartbreaking, if he means it'

President Donald Trump prompted concern among some of his Christian supporters for comments he made over the weekend, suggesting he doesn't believe he's going to Heaven.

"I don't think there's anything going to get me in Heaven," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday on his way to Israel to sign a peace deal ending the war in Gaza. "I think I'm maybe not Heaven-bound. I may be in Heaven right now as we fly in Air Force One. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make Heaven."

Trump was responding to a question that asked if brokering peace in the Middle East could help him "get into Heaven," which was a reference to comments he made in August that prompted a flurry of theological debate when he appeared to claim that ending the Russia-Ukraine war could help determine his eternal state.

"I want to try and get to Heaven if possible," Trump told "Fox & Friends" on Aug. 19. "I'm hearing I'm not doing well. I hear I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole."

"But if I can get to Heaven, this will be one of the reasons," he added about peace in Ukraine at the time.

Continued below.
He doesn't have a full understanding of salvation and heaven, he has pieces but probably doesn't have time to give it much thought and sort it out.

That all can come another day.
Upvote 0

Mississippi School Homecoming Celebrations Turn Deadly as 8 People are Killed 20 Injured in Separate Shootings

Look at the people pictured who did the shootings. Do you really think they look willing to obey whatever new gun laws you believe would be effective? They sure don't look like they were interested in gun laws that are already in effect.
There aren't many gun laws in effect for them to have to adhere to in Mississippi. A few laws that might have helped in this case would be universal background checks (including private sales), a ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and requiring firearms training, registration, and licensing.
Upvote 0

Science

Do Catholic schools teach theistic evolution in their science curriculum?
I was talking to a woman yesterday who goes to and used to work at, the LCMS church I belonged to, about their believe in a young earth and refusal to accept evolution. She said that even Catholics teach the same as the LCMS does. I told her she was wrong and that, as a matter of fact, Catholic schools teach theistic evolution in their science classes. Now I’m wondering if I was correct or not.

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
5,876,605
Messages
65,386,041
Members
276,282
Latest member
TorahobservantSDA