2PhiloVoid said:

Why shouldn't we be looking for vertical morality or ethics? Because it's not good for democracy or communism or something?

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I don’t want my ethics and morality dictated to me. I find anyone who needs to be told how to be weird.

On reflection the above response is in some ways a place holder answer. I need to think about my answer a bit more.

Villainous Vashti

Zechariah/Zachary (Father of John the Baptist)

Virtual

Freedom

Hartlepool, England

Pear

Astronaut

Kicking

Perfume

Mike Myers

Yuck

Potatoes?

Wedding Ring

People persecute other people for many different reasons. Sometimes it is because someone is different from them, such as poorer or richer, smarter or not as smart, highly educated or lacking in education, popular or not popular, talkative or quiet, tall or short, funny or serious, male or female, overweight or underweight, or they have white skin or black skin, etc.

Sometimes people persecute others because of what they believe and what they put into practice. And this can cover the subject of politics and republicans against democrats, or vice versa. Or it can cover people’s views on education, taxes, and laws which govern the land. And it can certainly cover the subject of religion and religious beliefs and practices.

And here the subject matter is speaking of persecution against those who are of God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, who follow the Lord in sincerity, with purpose, and with direction and empowerment of God to live for the Lord and to do his will. The closer that one walks with the Lord, in obedience to God, in surrender of their wills to the Lord, in service to the Lord, fulfilling their calling of God to take the biblical message of salvation to the people of the world and to refute the enemy’s lies, the greater the risk of persecution.

And this persecution doesn’t necessarily come just from those people in the world who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. For who were Jesus’ greatest persecutors? They were people of his own faith. They were some of his family members. They were people of his own nationality. But primarily they were the leaders and rulers and people of influence in the temple and in the synagogues who hounded and persecuted him continuously because of who he said he was and because of what he taught to the people.

Some of your greatest persecutors may turn out to be the same. They may be pastors and elders of “church” congregations. They may be others who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who take their Christianity less serious than you do. They may not believe the biblical gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, but they may believe in a more altered and diluted gospel which gives them more freedom to live however they want. For they may believe they have the freedom to keep sinning deliberately.

And so you may be an offense to them. Or you may be a nuisance to them because of your stand on the truth of the gospel when they are trying to present to the people an altered gospel which makes no requirements that we die to sin and that we obey God. And so they may attack you and call you “legalistic,” or they may accuse you falsely of teaching “works salvation.” And they may find ways to get rid of you so that you do not influence the people of their congregations to believe the truth and to reject the lies.

But when we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and because we stand on the truth of God’s word, and we do not yield to making spiritual compromises in order to blend in with the world, we are to treat our persecutors with love and kindness, and never should we even think of retaliation. And we should pray for them. For we are never to pay back evil for evil. We are never to take our own revenge. But we should respond with love and kindness and let God be the one to cast judgment and sentence.

But when it says here that we are to be of the same mind toward one another (in the body of Christ), and as far as it depends on us that we should be at peace with all men, this is not teaching that it is okay for us to compromise truth and righteousness in order to make peace or in order to be likeminded with others who also profess faith in Jesus Christ. We need to remain faithful to the Lord and to the teachings of the Scriptures in walks of surrender to God in obedience to his commands in holy living always.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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Pay Back Evil With Good
An Original Work / October 15, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Strong in Him said:

A sexTON is someone who has a certain job in a church.

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Ah - My bloomin spelling

Oompa Loompa said:

A YouGov poll indicates that a portion of individuals with progressive viewpoints publicly expressed condolences for Kirk, while privately exhibiting a different stance.

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Do you have a link? This was the closest I could find What Americans really think about political violence | YouGov but it doesn't really say that.

@rjs330 Since I mentioned social security I thought you’d be interested in what I found. The information was archived but its accessible and you’ll get a feel for what they have in mind. It was produced by The Heritage Foundation which originated the manifesto for Project 2025. I think they left it out on purpose.

The Heritage Foundation recommends an array of spending cuts for the 2023-2032 fiscal years, including raising the retirement age to 69 or 70 to reflect longer life expectancy and switching to a flat benefit instead of tying it to one's lifetime wages.

Should the Social Security Retirement Age Be Raised? Yes.