Nithavela said:

People are really good at justifying to themselves that they were attacked first and are only defending themselves. Some even fabricate an attack to justify themselves to the world at large.

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People lie all the time to get their way. That's why we have a court system. But in reality, one really does have to cross a line first. And that line should always be at the point of the initial (first) act of violence. There's no reason to question this.

It’s kind of hard to define. You can read this: Mysticism

Here is some Catholic mystics that can give you a general idea of what the term can mean in our tradition:

Aldebaran said:

Considering how this guy, and the Healthcare CEO killer (Luigi) and others are deciding to remain alive after they do their assassinating, I'm starting to wonder if they value the admiration they get from their fans more than they fear any punishment they'll receive.

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I think it highlights how there's a likely large difference in the level of psychosis in a person who attempts a "targeted hit" vs. a person who does an indiscriminate mass shooting.

It seems like the recent pattern has fallen more in-line with people committing targeted attempts are either taken into custody, or taken out by police, whereas the mass shooters seem more inclined to die by their own hand.

ThatRobGuy said:

The NBC article notes from my OP notes:

Charlie Kirk murder suspect offered his roommate a confession and an explanation, officials say

“I had enough of his hatred,” Tyler Robinson texted his roommate, according to a charging document. “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

www.nbcnews.com

Robinson was raised in a conservative family, and his mother told investigators that over the previous year her son “had started to lean more to the left — become more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” the court papers said.

Robinson allegedly texted his roommate that he and his dad were on different political pages, adding that “since Trump got into office [my dad] has been pretty diehard maga.”

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Pointing out that he was raised in a conservative family, is like pointing out that a die-hard atheist like Richard Dawkins was raised in a Christian family.

Colour me "another day at the office".


This government is a naked propaganda machine that doesn't even need to try to hide it anymore.

[NRSVUE 2tim 3:1-5] 1 Godlessness in the Last Days You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unfeeling, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them!

What do you think about that?

bob121 said:

Their changed lives—their faith, repentance, and good fruit—publicly prove that God’s strategy is right.

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Who has ears to hear any more today ?
"Drove past 3 smoke shops, 4 liquor stores, and 8 fast food joints on my way to pick up illegal raw milk because the government really cares about our health"

iluvatar5150 said:

...a media personality, murdered in an presumably political attack:

but not for Melissa Hortman, an elected official, murdered in a separate political attack:

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Recent years have found us putting the flag at half staff far too often IMO. I'm frequently wondering, "Why is the flag at half staff today?"

IMO, the flag should only be set to half staff nationally upon the death of a sitting or former President, a sitting member of Congress, or a sitting member of the Supreme Court. At the state level, only upon the death of officers at the same state levels.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

Commonly known as a unilateral position believed only by the declarant (and nobody else)

Let's not pretend they've concede to all the required Roman catholic positions, though I will give them credit for pretending in public so as not to alienate their respective flocks.

Indeed. Rightfully so.

Not in RCC doctrine it's not debatable. It really doesn't matter to the offical magisterium if anyone agrees or not. Those who do not agree, no matter what faith flag they fly, if they disagree knowingly, openly, such are officially deemed heretics. And you wonder why the others don't get along with your sect?

Says the sect that split hundreds of years ago over 3 or 4 words and are still fighting over them

It's actually much easier and much more openly obvious that everyone has their faults, don't you think?

I mean why associate with any church if it can't at least be that honest?

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Far be it from me to argue against one whose knowledge of Catholic dogma is so encyclopaedic!

I see in Exodus 31:13-15 that Sabbath is for all generations, and that Sabbath is holy. This declaration is not conditional on what any are doing.

Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh.

Sabbath is holy to you. Sabbath is holy to Yahweh. Jesus spoke of Sabbath saying man was not made for Sabbath, but Sabbath is made for man. It is the day of rest for all, humans and their animals. God wanted a day of rest for all, on the same day of the week together.

In Luke 13:22-30, Jesus was asked a simple yes-or-no question, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He did not give a direct answer but called each of us to strenuously and continuously strive for heaven, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.”

There are five deadly assumptions that we must never make in this life if we are going to strive for heaven successfully.

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https://catholicexchange.com/five-deadly-assumptions-to-avoid-for-our-salvation/

o_mlly said:

?

Red Herring alert!

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Are you able to present and communicate the ideas of your article? Or are you simply copying a web link to the abstract, and that's the fullest extent of your understanding of it?

And I would ask the same. What are you arguing in favor of? The article suggests that the theory of evolution is incomplete. So I would wonder, what are they interested in adding to it?

JulieB67 said:

I never stated he had a flesh body. But he does have a body. Angels look just like we do. Regardless of whether they're fallen or not.

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The term angel itself does not connote anything other than being a messenger. Can apply to God, man or devils

JulieB67 said:

Yes, every verse matters and we need to know them but not every verse applies to everyone, that's your problem.

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Stated Jesus on this many times, that man shall live by every Word of God.

It is your claim that can't hold up to that and only likes the good words, and never the bad.

JulieB67 said:

You lump everyone together and when taking the Bible as a whole, that's clearly not the case.

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Scripture is addressed to both mankind and devils.

Since these two parties are clearly overlapped in the flesh, it's pretty easy to see applicability across the board, for everyone.

JulieB67 said:

The problem is you only see him as a spirit.

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We are not given any depictions of Satan with his own flesh body including reproductive organs. Though some cults do actually believe that is the case. Maybe you're involved with one???

JulieB67 said:

He's very real, body and all and will be here pretending to be an angel of light. That's the true deception that will take over the entire world.

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And that would be quite entirely heretical

JulieB67 said:

Not all sin is the same and can be lumped together and not every heart and mind that sins is the same. God knows who's sincerely trying to put his will over their own or who continues to sin without caring. Even in the old testament we see different sins being broken down and the offerings for certain ones, etc.

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All sin is the same in regards to being of the devil, 1 John 3:8, Mark 4:15, John 8:44 etc etc

JulieB67 said:

You need to go up a few verses and see that only those in Christ are reconciled to him.

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Were such people not subject to internal temptations of the tempter you'd have a point but that was never the case

JulieB67 said:

I Corinthians 5:15 "And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him Which died for them, and rose again.

According to your beliefs this verse is impossible.

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Only if we are falsely led to completely ignore the tempter in the equations

There are actions of believers and there are actions of the tempter. BOTH transpire in believers.

Some believers actually tell the truth about it.

JulieB67 said:

As well as this verse-

II Corinthians 5:16 "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more."

And this one -

II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."


II Corinthians 5:18 "And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;"

II Corinthians 5:19 "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the world of reconciliation."

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People can be reconciled to the fact. The fact won't change whether reconciled to it or not. Devils can not be reconciled to the fact, even if claiming they are.

JulieB67 said:

The entire world has a chance

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I don't adhere to the gambling gospel narratives, where it's a "chance" to win and whoopee, you got a winning ticket and most didn't.

JulieB67 said:

and that's what that means. He's the savior for the entire world. He's it.

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You certainly can lip service that claim but you definitely do not believe it. In your position He's actually not capable of saving anyone by His Own Power and can only be activated by YOUR POWER. I consider that utter nonsense.

JulieB67 said:

But we have to be in Christ for that reconciliation. Or else you have made a mockery of the cross if all you do is going around and sinning and blaming Satan at every turn thinking it doesn't matter.

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I don't believe God is eliminated by your chance or anyone else's chance at activating Him or more accurately for most, NOT activating Him. That entire notion is actually repulsive, and certainly NO GOD.

JulieB67 said:

Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire before anyone stands in Judgement. That is a fact.

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Glad we agree on something.

JulieB67 said:

No, I believe as Christ taught in the Second Death. He taught that the Lake of Fire was the Second Death and anyone not found in the book of life was thrown in. That's not for just Satan and his angels. They are not in the book of life. So we are talking about everyone else.

Do I believe in eternal torment? No. I believe as Christ taught about the Second death and Paul as well -in eternal destruction. Christ states fear the one that can destroy both body and soul in hell. And then we see in Revelation exactly what he's talking about.

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Were there a single named person in the entire Bible said to be eternally tortured or eternally annhilated you'd have a point. There's not even a named person even threatened with such a fate.

Fact is, we shall ALL be changed. 1 Cor. 15:51-52. As we have born the image of the earthy, we shall be "made" into quickening spirit. And this by no work of ourselves. It is a One Way Street with ONE WALKER who has predetermined the entirety of the matters, The Body of the Son. Exactly none of this was left to "CHANCE."

No mere mortal has the power to make one hair black or white, let alone "make themselves" holy or eternal.

Four times a year, the Church sets aside three days to focus on God through His marvelous creation. These quarterly periods take place around the beginnings of the four natural seasons.

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Oompa Loompa said:

Disgusted ex-Democrats registering Republican after Charlie Kirk murder:’Evil is walking amongst us’

“The vibe overall on the left—and certainly most of my now ex-friends are of the left—is that they are so convinced of their own righteousness that anything is justified.”

nypost.com

We are watching the DNC collapse before our very eyes. I am predicting that the next decade will be dominated by Republicans, to include 2 terms with J.D. Vance. After that, things will level out with an increased in Independent voters to include many liberal Republicans leaving the GOP. Eventually we will have a three party system with the GOP still on top, and Independents fighting with Democrats for second place. Regardless, the GOP will be in power for a very long time.

Your thoughts

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My thoughts...... this is a woefully misleading article. The " Charlie Kirk effect" is not substantiated in any voter registration metrics, in fact it is quite the opposite. So let's wait until the next set of statistics come out before a claim is made that Democrats and Independents are switching to the GOP at " breakneck speed".

AI Generated:

As of late August and early September 2025, there have been updates to voter registration statistics, but they do not yet fully capture the long-term impact of Charlie Kirk's recent assassination. While the "Charlie Kirk Effect" is a term used to describe his political influence, and his death is a major event, measuring its specific impact on voter registration is an ongoing process.
Here is what the latest data shows:
* Overall Party Affiliation: As of August 2025, USAFacts reports that 45% of registered voters have declared a party affiliation. This includes approximately 37.4 million registered Republicans and 44.1 million registered Democrats.
* Shifting Trends: General trends in party affiliation have shown a slight increase in independent voters, and a small shift toward the Republican party. However, this is not an unprecedented "record speed" change.
* The "Charlie Kirk Effect": There is no specific, official report or analysis yet that quantifies how many people have switched their party affiliation directly as a result of Charlie Kirk's death. This kind of data takes time to compile and analyze. What is known is that his death has fueled political rhetoric and calls for action, which could influence voter registration in the future.
In short, while there is recent voter registration data, it is too early to see if a significant, measurable "Charlie Kirk Effect" on voter numbers has occurred. The full impact of his death on voter behavior will likely become clearer in the coming months as more data is released and analyzed.

bbbbbbb said:

Thank you. It seems that the purpose, when the dust all settles, is member recruitment, pure and simple. The SDA has unlimited faith in the power and efficacy of THE GREAT CONTROVERSY and apparently not the Bible.

In the first article there was the peculiar sentence, "She (Ellen White) had to have prophetic insight." Do you know why she needed to have prophetic insight?

In the third article is the really odd boast, "Third, the project will impact the planet when more than 8 million trees are

In any event, this effort seems to be similar to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic as it was sinking. The SDA membership statistics worldwide are certainly no cause for rejoicing.

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The growth rate is positive: https://www.adventistarchives.org/church-membership

Thank you Lord Jesus for another day in the Spirit. One of peace, joy and strength. No question, that strength is our answer,

Jesus said, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,"

Why do people ride horses?

Because they're too heavy to carry.

we have time for folks.

See you....

stevevw said:

Then you have misread the findings. The reason why there is an inner and outer reading is because the the surfaces of the top and the inner walls of the neck have a slight bow (top) or indent (inner wall) which are also perfect in precision.

In fact the curves in the neck and top match the same radial traversal pattern as the rest of the curves and radials in the entire vase. A specific mathmatical function used to generate a specific range of circles using different radii that share a fixed ratio with each other.

View attachment 370157

View attachment 370158

The equation allows for the interger (n) to be scaled up or down to generate the circle or curve of the (radii) that will match this pattern. Only circles or curves with a very specific radius can fit this pattern. A random set of curves with different radii would not match the algorithm. These curves and circles are found within the vase from circles 1mm to 5cm.

So not only do we find near perfect flat surfaces but we find curves that deviate in and out of those flat surfaces that fall into a specific pattern of radii that is all over the vase.

But this is only part of it. There are other mathmatical relations all over the vase which seems to suggest some sort of guided process to input that into the vase. This pattern has been found in other vases now.

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Apparently you do not understand this is an exercise in reverse engineering.

In the real world of manufacturing the CAD comes first, followed by the product, then scanning or other metrological methods to determine if the product meets the requirements of the CAD.
Since the Egyptians left no technical drawings of vases, the use of Blender and OpenSCAD was to reverse engineer a hypothetical technical drawing and standard based on guesswork.
Creating a standard to fit the measurements is the opposite of the scientific method and is a form of confirmation bias.

It is nonsense therefore to conclude the scanned vases are highly accurate or even have inbuilt mathematical concepts such as Golden Ratios when these are the product of a hypothetical standard.

Since Polyworks software was used in the initial findings before this transition to Blender and OpenSCAD to produce a hypothetical standard, here is how it is used in the real world of manufacturing.

Xeno.of.athens said:

In some lands people believe that they possess a RIGHT to freedom of speech but is that a biblical position to hold and if you think it is then show us why it is.

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Didn't Jesus Christ of Nazareth speak freely? Of course He did! I don't believe I need to point out all the scripture written about how He exercised freedom of speech. What I can say is He continually defended the marginalized while reprimanding the hypocritical.
Blessings

Good,” he said. “I don’t want you to follow me. I don’t want you to track my music. I don’t want you to come to my shows. I don’t want you to do any of that if you don’t do this one thing, and that is, follow Jesus Christ, the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, the one who is, the one who is to come.”

This is the difference between entertainment and ministry and he’s on the wrong side of it in that statement.

~bella