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Gallup: Drop in U.S. Religiosity Among Largest in World

The perception that the wrong person might be getting some at a cost them.

It really is that simple. Christians of whatever type are just as spiteful as anyone else.

I'm spiteful? It's strange that I'm not the one taking a personalized and direct initiative to to camp out on one of the "oppositions" courtyards so I can press my protestations and "be heard."
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The Saving results of the Death of Christ !

How is that possibility created if the drawing (enabling) fails?
The "enabling" doesn't have to guarantee success to create the possibility, it simply must be present. The drawing doesn't "fail" in the case that the person who is being drawn resists successfully, because the drawing still occurs. You're imposing onto the text your doctrine, and nothing more.
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Is President Trump Corrupt? Three Stories.

Since January 20....

By August, Trump estimated that he had collected at least $1.5 billion since the election, more than all the money raised to support his 2024 campaign over two years, including funds raised by supportive independent super PACs. The tally is now approaching $2 billion, two people familiar with the effort—who, like others, were not authorized to speak publicly—told us.

Trump has kept careful track of the money coming in, regularly calling O’Rourke late at night for updates. He monitors who is giving, who is not, and the role of lobbyists who bundle donations, those familiar with his efforts told us. At times, the actual donation amount is less important to the president than the percentage of the donor’s overall assets. He thanks the most generous benefactors at swanky events at the White House and his clubs.


....and tonight, the POTUS is throwing a Black Tie Dinner for a Saudi Prince...who earlier today pledged up to 1 Trillion dollars in US investments [nevermind the Trump family projects in Saudi Arabia].


Real wealth is generated from within by hard work and innovation, not bestowed by rich Arabs.
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Sophie Turner warns assisted dying bill could lead to people with eating disorders taking their own lives even when they might be able to recover

House of Lords apparently trying to get in the way....

"Defending the volume of amendments, Baroness Luciana Berger, who opposes assisted dying, told the BBC that evidence heard by a committee of peers scrutinising the legislation "strongly refuted any suggestion this bill is either safe or workable".

"This bill is full of holes which vulnerable people will fall through and be harmed if peers don't act to change and amend it," the Labour peer added."


Peers suggest over 900 changes to assisted dying bill


I pretty much despair of the situation though. I am just too bemused by the numbers of people who think that doctors can and should be trusted, without requiring the doctors to first do no harm, and as a lifelong proud disabled person who is constantly subjected to sympathy I do not want, for a poor quality of life I do not suffer from, it is just downright scary.

Thank you very much to all pro-life believers who pray and campaign peacefully against these wrongs.
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Obama care collapsing.....

A study in 2021 claimed the overall cost growth was lowered somewhat by Obamacare. It's hard to be sure what would have happened without it.

It did increase coverage: https://www.cbpp.org/research/healt...able-care-act-coverage-expansions-have-helped

Studies quoted by Wikipedia Affordable Care Act - Wikipedia claim that it reduced the deficit. That article is long, with studies covering a variety of effects.

All of these studies are hard to do, and subject to accusations of bias, and some are 10 years old. I haven't reviewed them.

In my opinion, the problem with health care is that we won't really throw people out of a hospital to die on the street. So either hospitals have to charge other patients, or they go bankrupt. What drove Obamacare was that hospitals were going bankrupt. If you assume we're going to provide some level of health care to everyone, the most effective approach is to bring everyone into the system. Republicans are trying to come up with a way to do that that doesn't involve subsidizing insurance coverage for them. In my opinion the only alternative without doing things Republicans won't do (like a single-payer system) would be to change how that subsidy is done. The basic result has to be the same, as long as private insurance is the way we coordinate health care.
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Why do people hate ICE...

You didn't answer the question. Do we have to take immigrants who are good people with no issues? Yes or no? Its not a difficult question.
It wasn't a question:

If 100,000 people apply for visas or citizenship or whatever and they are ALL good people with no records or no supporters of terrorism or terror regimes etc, doesn't mean we have to take them.
No one, including me, has said that: straw man.
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The Valley of Elah

An insightful rabbinic metaphor views the Torah or the teaching that came down from God at Sinai as a giant light that passed into a prism atop the mountain. The light then refracted into several lights, each light representative of multiple meanings or interpretations of the Torah or the biblical text. Thus, I would like to offer a few refractions of the light arising out of the battle between David and Goliath in the Valley of Elah (1 Sam 17), one perhaps rather novel and another that should bring comfort and peace, especially during personal valley experiences in life.

The Primacy of Living and Dying in a State of Grace

We all agree that death is a terrible tragedy. That violent separation of the soul from the body, the pain of saying goodbye to loved ones, the certainty of our own deaths with its unpredictable timing, and the great mystery of what lies beyond the grave—all these and more make death a mysterious and terrible thing. So, what can really be worse than dying?

Street Preaching

So you wouldn't like Paul or Peter brother Fervent??? lol!
I was referring to general regard, not my personal view which is more nuanced. What passes for street preaching most times is understandably annoying to most folks, such as driving by in a car with a PA system declaring everyone is going to hell.
I don't know, maybe there is a different scenario you have envisioned than I do, but I mean they beat Paul a lot, so I don't think he always had a "captivated audience." lol (jus sayinn) Maybe you could even call him a "nuisance."
Yeah, I'm sure the Romans regarded him as a public nuisance. Which is why they had him imprisoned.
Same with Christ, except he was annoying people in the temple before they tried to throw Him off a cliff, so maybe that doesn't count as the dynamics of the situation are somewhat varied.
=
Sure, and the nuisance element is part of the danger.
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what is Calvinism answer to how God works?

The larger context is the whole of scripture, in which we find that he made each for his purposes, which include those who he made, knowing they would end up in Hell. The nearer context is the whole of 1 Timothy and all of Paul's writings which focus much on the un-Jewish notion of God saving whomsoever he will, and the close context is the chapter 2 preceding and following verses in which Paul calls for prayer for all people, including even rulers and authorities (that the Jews wanted off their necks) in which he mentions himself being the apostle to the Gentiles. The focus of the context is exactly that Jesus is come for all people —not just the Jews.
That's not how context works, that's just you imposing your framework to deny what Scripture plainly states. Though your closing is right, salvation is desired for all people. Not the weird Calvinist gloss where "all people" is "people groups" but all people.
No. I presume that God has no interest in doing whatever silly self-contradictory conjurations humans come up with as though their thoughts represented a possible reality. I don't say that God can't make a rock too big for him to pick up. I say that it is a bogus notion.
There's nothing self-contradictory about free will, it's only "contradictory" in your artificial construct of causation that doesn't actually reflect how causation works in reality.
No, he only exercises choice.
Without free will, there is no choice. Your semantic games are rather silly.
Which is why I asked you what YOU meant by it. But now, I see my guess was right. You think humans choose uncaused, even when you contradict it by claiming God gave us [libertarian] free will.
Again, I'm not playing your silly semantic games.
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Can democratic Socialism save America?

Can we all just agree that America's private insurance company led healthcare system is absurdly expensive, and yields worse healthcare results, in comparison to European nation's government regulated universal healthcare?

We are all paying 25-50% more for healthcare than our European counterparts, though our life expectancy is lower in age, and medical professionals in the US are getting paid 2-3x more than European counterparts for the same services.
A friend (whom I haven't seen for a long time) was sent on a trip to check some European and US hospital systems. This was nearly 30 years ago i might add. He was then an architect working in a Queensland state government department concerned with government building programs.

I later asked him what he thought.

He wasn't impressed with the US hospital system. He said he would walk into a five star foyer while out the back the overworked and underpaid navvies kept the system going.

He thought the best systems were in Germany and Holland, which have socialised medicine. They were far more efficient and equitable.

I sometimes get a bit cynical about the US fear of "socialism". The socialised systems of government in most European countries deliver better health care, lower crime rates, and longer life spans than the US system. But as soon as someone mentions "socialism" in a US context, they're likely to be pounced upon by quasi McCartyist demagogues, and labelled "communist".
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Worst Possible Uses for AI imaginable

Yes, education is going to be a surely affected. I think AI should be used for subjects that are straightforward, like math. I think though that there has to be a human element to better engage students, be creative and have the intuition that can help in ways AI cannot. I'm thinking too that ai might not be too useful until maybe middle primary, then used more in the upper grades.

I'm wondering if "amateur" child raising is better? Why because it creates diversity and it often is that non-conformity that pushes humanity forward? Other posts might label conformity as control, and they would be right, but the worst control is the unconscious cue that a child might get from a machine that has only computer guardrails. No real experience, trials, or temptation. The whole bible puts humanity in a test. That we learn obedience from the things we suffer. AI seems vastly insufficient to give humans the kind of exposure that God intended of "iron sharpening iron," etc., that only humans can provide.

There was a science fiction story about AI taking control of everyday human life for the good of humanity 'way back in the 40s. "With Folded Hands" by Jack Williamson. I can recall at least one other with the same plot.
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There’s a Giant Flaw in Human History

Perhaps its the other way around. Refer to my last post and the evidence from several independent sources.

Do you comprehend the following

The tiniest structures within the inner and outer casing stones were indeed consistent with a reconstituted limestone.

The sample chemistries the researchers found do not exist anywhere in nature.


"it's very improbable that the outer and inner casing stones that we examined were chiseled ctsfrom a natural limestone block."

This discovery further confirms that these blocks are not natural limestone.

Ancient Egyptians were the original--albeit unknowing--nanotechnologists."

The Surprising Truth Behind the Construction of the Great Pyramids
Did I not explain in another post this so called reconstituted limestone is due to the effect of the Giza water table changing the geochemistry of limestone at and near the surface.


Explain why this reconstituted limestone seems to magically disappear for both core and casing stones beyond the lower courses for all the Giza pyramids as confirmed by a number of independent tests.
Also try explaining how individual limestone blocks can have a reconstituted lower region and a natural limestone upper region if the water table played no role.

Your claim reconstituted moulded limestone is settled science is either an example of dishonesty or a lack of comprehension as the independent tests clearly refute this notion.
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Eyes Up, Stay Alert: How to Guard Against the Devil’s Subtle Attacks

By becoming masters at prevention, detection, and protection, we can firm up our defenses from spiritual attack. The devil loves to tailor his temptation for each of us, but he isn’t creative. Once you have figured out his play for you personally, it’s easier to see how he attacks.

Fear Tactics

A healthy and proportionate fear of the end times—and of our individual demise—keeps us “sober and alert.” One day we will stand before God for our Particular Judgment. The details of our life will pass before us, with God as our infinitely just Judge. There will be only two eternal destinations: Heaven (usually delayed by the purifying fires of Purgatory) and Hell.

The Fall of the West (It's Happening Now)

Wonder if the Golden Rule will start trending with the newest generation. Things tend to go full circle,
I think so. You don't have to be a Christian to see the fighting and division of the current generation to realise something is wrong. It would make anyone think "Lets go back to the drawing board because maybe we missed something in the instruction manual because whatever they are doing, it ain't working" lol.

There is some truth that this generation are turning back to tradition and the church.

Religious revival: Why young people around the world are finding faith again
From digital spirituality to gendered divides, faith seems to offer meaning and identity where secular culture has fallen short.
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Origin of Life

Do you mean that god is alive? Just asking for clarity.
-

God is life, there is no separating life and God. God did not exist and then one day decide to bring life into existence.

There is not such thing as origin of life, that is a science lie. Sadly that is something Bible believing creationist have adopted as a belief
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Can not being in the correct denomination cause someone to not be saved?

saved by "Denomination" affiliation could simply mean saved by fidelity to some group of believers.

But more often (as in the case of this thread I suspect) it means , "right doctrine" since each denomination has a set of doctrines it holds to be true and according to the Bible.

The fact that truth actually does matter leads to the question of whether holding to some levels of error could be a problem. It is a very reasonable question.

Certainly the Jewish church in Mark 7:4-13 held to some levels of error according to Christ's words in Mark 7. And certainly "That mattered" as Christ said in Mark 7.

The Holy Spirit will lead you to the truth no matter how unpopular it may be.
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Did the beginning of the IDL change the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath?

God said in Exodus 16:23 "tomorrow is the Sabbath". The one who trusts that God was so confused in Ex 16 so as not to know which day was the actual Sabbath in Gen 2:2-3 is trusting a straw theology of God.

For forty years in the wilderness the manna did not fall on "The Sabbath", the one who trusts that God was so confused for forty years so as not to know which day was the actual Sabbath in Gen 2:2-3 is trusting a straw theology of God.

Jesus kept the Sabbath according to Luke 4:16 and "all scripture is inspired by God" according to 2 Tim 3:16. The one who trusts that God the Holy Spirit was so confused in Luke 4 so as not to know which day was the actual Gen 2, Ex 20 Sabbath day, is trusting in a straw theology of God

The IDL was first determined in 1884 and not actually used until the 1900's.

Those who imagine that Sunday keeping and Sabbath keeping Christians as well as Jews all had their "day changed" either in 1884 or early in the 1900's , have a straw understanding of history and geography
And Jesus kept the Sabbath wherever he was in His travels. Sundown varied depending on His location and the lay of the land, as it does now everywhere regardless of where we are in any given time zone.

And as was said, No one knows where Eden was. So obviously where sundown was during it's inception is inconsequential.
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Keeping yourself in check. Bible study of Sirach 5:1-6

It is in the Septuagint, and the Catholic and Orthodox bibles. Sirach is Biblical.

I could pick out a couple of points from the site rules, but from Christian Scriptures Statement of Purpose:
  • This forum is not for discussion of which version of the Bible is the best or most appropriate.
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