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  • 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.

Vatican appoints judges to decide Rupnik sexual abuse case

The Vatican’s doctrine office announced Monday that a panel of five judges has been nominated to decide the disciplinary case against Father Marko Rupnik, accused of the sexual and psychological abuse of consecrated women under his spiritual care.

The judges, appointed Oct. 9, do not hold any position in the Roman Curia — the Vatican’s governing body — to ensure their autonomy and independence in the penal judicial procedure, according to an Oct. 13 press release from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the head of the DDF, told journalists in July that the judges for the Rupnik case had been selected. The panel of judges includes both women and clerics.

Fernández had said in an interview at the end of January that the dicastery had finished gathering information in the disciplinary case, had conducted a first review, and was working to put together an independent tribunal for the penal judicial procedure.

Rupnik — a well-known artist with mosaics and paintings in hundreds of Catholic shrines and churches around the world — is accused of having committed sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against dozens of women religious in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In May 2019, the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith launched a criminal administrative process against Rupnik after the Society of Jesus reported credible complaints of abuse by the priest to the Vatican.

Continued below.
Overdue.
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Another look at the moon landing.

The moon deception proclaims how great man is, so mankind will look to man to solve problems.

Exactly - And will begin to leave God out of the equation - This is exactly what the moon & space deception has done.

1. To hide God.
2. To make Scripture seem like fairy tales & not to taken literally.

The General public needs to wake up as Jesus's return is approaching fast.

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
God will send this delusion to those who refuse to accept the love of truth and instead choose unrighteousness, leading them to believe a lie and be condemned.
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The Lost House of Israel

So why write as though it is a fact when you can't prove it and it is only a possibility?
I merely bring to your attention, what many sources inform us about. My belief is that it is a probability that the Holy Family lived in Britian for about 18 years.
What puzzles me, is for what reason does anyone vehemently oppose it?
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Stranger Things

I agree with placing a spotlight on the role of Radical Feminism in the destruction of the black family. The "welfare state" played a minor supporting role, but black women had been receiving welfare for years while still aspiring to be wives. It was Radical Feminism (capitalized because it's a specific feminist ideology) that injected the idea that women were better off without men in their lives ("A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle."

There’s a lot of cuts planned for public assistance. Including the programs I mentioned and others related to food, housing and health care. The fallout will be ugly. Not only for minorities but others that fall outside of their ideal.

~bella
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The History of the “Two Laws” Theory in Romans 3:20

You keep horribly miss-representing my posts. I never suggested or even implied that Jesus was supposed to sacrifice animals for His Sin. I will try one more time to explain myself.

The point I made, was that Jesus forgave sins as the Prophesied "Priest of God", but never by performing the "works of the Law" required by the temporary Levitical Priesthood, that was "ADDED" after the golden Calf.

Lev. 4: 30 And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. 31And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.


Priesthood works, BTW, that were still being promoted by the mainstream religions of Paul's Time, the Pharisees, who didn't believe Moses concerning Him, to the Galatians and continued to exalt themselves as God's Priests, requiring that men, the Galatians in this case, come to them with their sacrifices to perform these Priesthood "works of the Law" for remission of sin.

The point is, God's Laws that define Righteousness, Holiness and Sin, are eternal. While the LAW "ADDED" after the Golden Calf, for remission of sins, that Paul is speaking to in Galatians was temporary, "ADDED" Till the Seed should come. Added to Lead them to the True Lamb of God for remission of sins that are past.

At least this is what the Holy Scriptures teach.

You say:​

“Jesus forgave sins as the prophesied Priest of God, but never by performing the ‘works of the Law’ required by the temporary Levitical Priesthood, that was ‘ADDED’ after the golden calf.”
Response:

You’re correct that Jesus did not perform Levitical rituals — but not because those laws were “added” later as a temporary system separate from God’s true Law.
Scripture says those sacrifices were part of the Mosaic covenant itself given through Moses at Sinai, not “added after” the golden calf.

Exodus 24:6–8

“And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar... and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.”
That blood offering for sin happened before the golden calf incident (Exodus 32).
So, animal sacrifice was not a reactionary “add-on” — it was an integral part of the Law from the start.

Jesus didn’t need to perform those “works of the Law” because He was the fulfillment of them.

Hebrews 10:11–12


“Every priest stands daily ministering and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”
Christ fulfilled those priestly functions once for all, not by rejecting them but by completing their purpose.

You say:​

“The Pharisees... continued to exalt themselves as God’s priests, requiring that men come to them with their sacrifices to perform these priesthood ‘works of the Law’ for remission of sin.”
Response:

The Pharisees were not Levitical priests.
They were lay teachers and legal interpreters, not the ones offering sacrifices.
The priesthood was centered in the Temple, not in Pharisaic synagogues.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees not for offering sacrifices but for trusting in their own righteousness through outward law-keeping (Luke 18:9–14).

Paul’s rebuke in Galatians wasn’t against people offering sacrifices to priests — it was against those who were saying circumcision and Mosaic observance were required for salvation (Galatians 2:16; 3:2–3; 5:1–4).

Galatians 2:16

“A man is not justified by works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.”
So, the “works of the Law” in Galatians are not priestly rituals but any human attempt to be justified before God by law-keeping.

You say:​

“God’s Laws that define righteousness, holiness, and sin are eternal, while the Law ‘added’ after the Golden Calf for remission of sins was temporary — added till the Seed should come.”
Response:

Here’s the key misunderstanding:
Paul does say a law was “added,” but not because of the golden calf — rather, it was added because of transgressions(Galatians 3:19).

Galatians 3:19

“Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made…”
The “law added” refers to the entire Mosaic Law (including moral, civil, and ceremonial commands), given 430 years after Abraham (Galatians 3:17).
This timeline makes it clear the reference is to Sinai, not to the golden calf.

That Law was added as a temporary guardian — not to replace God’s eternal moral will, but to point sinners to Christ

Galatians 3:24–25

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
The Law (in all its parts) served as a tutor — a shadow pointing to the reality (Hebrews 10:1).
Once the reality came, the shadow’s job was finished.

You say:​

“Added to lead them to the True Lamb of God for remission of sins that are past.”
Response:

On this point you’re absolutely right — the Law did point to the coming Lamb.
But Scripture goes further: once the Lamb came, the entire system that pointed to Him was fulfilled and set aside.

Hebrews 7:18–19

“For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did.”
The Law could reveal sin and foreshadow redemption — but it could not accomplish it.
Christ’s finished work replaced those shadows forever.


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Trump's reputation will age like fine wine

It's not centrist apologetics for the far right...
Apologetics, distractions, whatever you you want to call it. Perhaps I should have said the authoritarian right.
it's simply an acknowledgment that he's not "Hitler" when his position on the various issues aren't all that far off from that of establishment politicians from the mid-90's (in fact, some are even more progressive).
Of course he's not Hitler. Hitler is dead.
I am a centrist. In the Overton Window that is "the US body Politic", my positions are "closer to the middle". The key difference is, there's one faction that is more likely than the other to say that "the middle" is an unacceptable position.

If I went to a pro-2A rally, but said "Hey, I'm cool with gay marriage, I have a nuanced position on abortion, I'm an atheist...but hey, I feel like people should have the right to defend themselves with the most effective tool possible", they'd be cool with me. If I showed up at a left-wing rally and said "I'm a fan of giving people equal marriage rights, I'm a big fan of separation of church and state, but I'm a capitalist, and think you guys need to tone it down on the various 'critical theories' and that borders are still important", I'd get a urine bottle whipped at my head and told that I'm a fascist.

This shows how intolerant of contrasting viewpoints "team left" has become in the past 15 years.
This isn't about the position of your politics. It's what you give cover to. Do you ever challenge any of the Trumpists here?
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God Worshiper or Law Worshiper?

God's law was never given as a way of earning our salvation even as the result of having perfect obedience, but rather God graciously teaching to obey His law is the way that He is giving us His gift of salvation (Titus 2:11-13). It is contradictory to think that salvation is found in God's Word made flesh, but not in following his example of embodying God's Word. Jesus saves us from our sin (Matthew 1:21) and sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4), so Jesus graciously teaching us to be a embody it is intrinsically the way that he is giving us his gift of saving us from not embodying it, but if Jesus fulfilled the law for us, then he would be removing his of salvation from us, so thankfully he did not do that. In 1 John 2:6, those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked, so only those who are following his example of walking in obedience to God's law are in Christ, which is how his righteousness produces the fruit of obedience.


For example, if someone gives money to charity, then they succeeding at embodying the righteousness of God, so that is not beyond our ability. In Romans 10:5-8, Paul referred to Deuteronomy 30 as the word of faith that we proclaim in regard to proclaiming that God's law is not too difficult for us to obey and that obedience to it brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! So it was presented as a possibility and as a choice, not as something that we will all fail at. The way to submit to God is by obeying His commandments through faith.


Character traits are not earned as the result of our works but other they are embodied through our works, so God's law was never given as a way to make us righteous, but as instructions for how to embody His righteousness. The only way for someone to attain a character trait is by faith apart from being required to have first done enough works in order to earn it as the result, but what it means to have a character trait is to be a doer of works that embody that trait, so while we become righteous by faith apart from works, it would be contradictory for someone to become righteous apart from becoming a doer of righteous works. What it means for God to make us righteous is for Him to make us into a doer of righteous works and the way that He does that is by graciously teaching us to be a doer of His law.

You say:

“God graciously teaching us to obey His law is the way that He is giving us His gift of salvation (Titus 2:11-13).”
Answer:
Titus 2:11–13 does not say grace = law-teaching saves us.
It says grace saves us first, and then that same grace trains us to live godly lives.

Titus 2:11–12

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions…”
Notice the order:

  1. Grace appearsbrings salvation.
  2. Then grace trains the saved → to obey.
The teaching comes after salvation, not as the vehicle of salvation.
Grace produces obedience; obedience does not produce grace.

Ephesians 2:8–10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith… not of works… For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
We’re not saved by good works, but saved for them.


You say:

“It is contradictory to think salvation is found in God’s Word made flesh but not in following His example of embodying God’s Word.”
Answer:
We are indeed called to follow Christ’s example (1 John 2:6), but imitation follows impartation.
We can only walk as He walked after we have been born again and indwelt by His Spirit (Romans 8:9).

Christ’s example shows what righteousness looks like, but only His cross gives it to us.

Romans 5:19

“By one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
It is His obedience — not ours — that makes us righteous before God.
Our obedience follows because we are new creations (2 Cor. 5:17).


You say

“If Jesus fulfilled the law for us, then He would be removing His gift of salvation from us, so thankfully He did not do that.”
Answer:
This directly contradicts Scripture.
Christ had to fulfill the law for us because we could not.

Romans 8:3–4

“For what the law could not do… God did, by sending His own Son… in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Jesus’ fulfillment doesn’t remove salvation — it secures it.
He didn’t abolish righteousness; He fulfilled it on our behalf and now produces it in us by the Spirit (Philippians 2:13).


You say:

“Only those who are following His example of walking in obedience to God’s law are in Christ.”
Answer:
Scripture says the opposite:
Only those who are in Christ by faith are capable of true obedience.

Galatians 3:2–3

“Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
Faith unites us to Christ; that union produces obedience (John 15:5).
Obedience is the fruit of being in the vine, not the condition for being grafted into it.


You say:

“Obedience brings life and blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life!”
Answer:
That was the Mosaic covenant (Deuteronomy 30).
But Paul cites that passage in Romans 10:6-8 to make the opposite point — that now Christ is the end of the law for righteousness (Romans 10:4).

In Christ, life comes not through law-keeping but through faith in the risen Lord:

Romans 10:9-10

“If you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The “word of faith” Paul preaches is not “obey the law,” but “believe the gospel.”

You say:

“The only way for God to make us righteous is by teaching us to do righteous works.”
Answer:
God makes us righteous by imputing Christ’s righteousness to us, not by instructing us until we achieve it.

Romans 4:5

“To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
After justification, He then imparts righteousness through the Spirit’s transforming work (Romans 6:17–18).
That’s sanctification, not justification.


The Biblical Order (Romans 6:22)​

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
  1. Set free from sin — salvation by grace.
  2. Become servants of God — new identity.
  3. Fruit of obedience — sanctification.
  4. End result — eternal life.
Obedience follows deliverance; it does not cause it.
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Who then can be saved?

I did not chose God, because I hated Him and I loved my sin instead. I was totally committed and consumed with fulfilling my lust and I was in bondage to Satan, who blinded me to the truth so there was no way I would even consider serving God.

Dead people cannot chose to serve God or even believe in Him, so I boast in my Redeemer. How can a totally depraved wicked sinner, take any credit for being made alive out of his dead sate???
I choose Him everyday. He's the best thing going and I thank Him for showing me something trully, ineffably Good and worthy of my love and adoration in this otherwise god-forsaken hopeless world. Sometimes I stray, however, fool that I am, proving that I'm still capable of a compromised loyalty, distracted and drawn to lesser, created things now and then over Him; sometimes I sin, IOW, not yet perfected in the love that He gives me.
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How do we set aside the grace of God?

Genesis 15:6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. NASU

So, you say God lied to Abraham? If Abraham still had to do something to earn his righteousness, he was not really righteous because when God imputed righteousness to him.

When God told Abraham to be physically circumcised in Genesis 17:14, otherwise he will be cut off from God, could Abraham have refused to do so by saying "Did you lie to me, didn't I receive imputed righteousness in Genesis 15 already?
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Why we Christians still have to struggle with sins?

Yeah...it's looks like you are stuck on Roman Christianity Doctrine and you are bringing destruction to yourself whether you understand this or not. In, (Is. 42:21) we find another prophecy concerning Christ and the law. It reads, (v.21) The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he (Jesus) will magnify the law, and make it honourable. When you magnify something you enlarge it and bring it out more of its detail and richness. Jesus revealed the fulfillment of this prophecy when he explained, (Mat.5:27-28) (v.27) Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: (v.28) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart

By magnifying the law and making it honorable, the spiritual intent of the law is now emphasized which goes far beyond the mere the physical intent. God has raised His standards, not lowered them! All God ever wanted was what was best for us! He designed us to be His children. We are happiest when we love and obey Him. He is a God who is totally righteous and holy. God cannot sin. And He wants us to follow in His footsteps. The person that says, (1John:2:6) “that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

Jesus says in (Mat.5:17-19) (v.17) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (v.18) For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (v.19) Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus came to fulfill, to fill to the full (Gk. plereo). He fulfilled many prophecies - but not all. There are many in the Book of Revelation still to be fulfilled. There is still some in the Old Testament that hasn’t been fulfilled. Jesus at His first coming came to fulfilled that which was written for Him to fulfill at His first coming. He has NOT fulfilled everything that was written for Him to do. And He kept all of the Law that he could - but that was not all! He was not a Temple priest. He was not a woman. He could not keep the laws intended only for priests and women. No matter how you think about Jesus, there is still much to be fulfilled! So not even the smallest part has yet passed from God's Law!

Jesus made it quite clear that anyone who would break even the least commandment and teach people to do so would be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. The fact is, God did not find fault with His laws but rather with the people who did not obey them. (Heb.8:7-8) (v.7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.(v.8) For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: The writer of Hebrews then proceeds to quote Jeremiah 31:31-34, quoted above. Under the New Covenant we now have a living High Priest, Jesus Christ, who can make intercession for us. One who was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. He is an intercessor who understands our weaknesses because He lived as a human being.

Claim 2: The Law cannot pass until heaven and earth pass.

Response:
Jesus did not say the Law would never pass.
He said it would not pass “until all is fulfilled.”

Matthew 5:18


“…till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
And what did Jesus do?
He fulfilled it — completely.

Luke 24:44

“All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”
Romans 10:4

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”
The Law stood until its purpose was accomplished in Christ — to reveal sin and point to Him.
When the reality (Christ) came, the shadow (Law) was fulfilled (Colossians 2:16–17).

Claim 3: Jesus has not fulfilled everything, so the Law still stands.

Response: This confuses prophecy fulfillment (some yet to come) with Law fulfillment (already completed).
The Law and the Prophets are different categories — both foretold things, but the Law’s requirements were fully met in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

Hebrews 10:9–10

“He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The “first” — the system of law and sacrifice — was taken away because its purpose was completed in Christ.

Claim 4: The Law wasn’t at fault, the people were — therefore the Law remains.

Response:
Hebrews 8:7–13 does say the fault was with the people, but the conclusion is that the old covenant was made obsolete and replaced with a new one.

Hebrews 8:13

“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
The new covenant doesn’t patch up the old system; it replaces it with a better one based on Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20).

The Law wasn’t evil — it was holy (Romans 7:12).
But it could not give life (Galatians 3:21), so God gave a new covenant where the law is written on the heart, not engraved on stone (Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 3:3).

Claim 5: Whoever breaks even the least commandment is least in the kingdom.

Response:
This warning was given to those who thought they could enter the kingdom through law-keeping.
Jesus was contrasting self-righteousness with kingdom righteousness that comes only through Him.

Matthew 5:20

“Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
How can anyone’s righteousness exceed the Pharisees’?
Only by receiving Christ’s righteousness by faith.

Philippians 3:9

“…not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ…”
Those who teach justification by the Law are the ones breaking it, because they reject the very purpose of the Law — to drive us to Christ (Galatians 3:24–25).
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Why do people hate ICE...

Never said that it was illegal. But you should be skeptical when someone takes to social media to talk up events that would make you want to pay them for their services - that's an ad, not a public service.

There’s a misconception in our society regarding information and the exchange of funds. Content creators aren’t charities. Whatever their motivation the end goal for most is compensation. They’re well within their right to exchange their knowledge for a fee. If you don’t want to pay that’s fine. It doesn’t bother me and I view their legwork as a service. Which frees up my time for other things. I’d appreciate it before they put it behind a paywall. YouTube won’t always be like that. You’ll see a portion of content for free in the future.

~bella
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Why you can't debate unbelievers into the Kingdom of God

A great piece on how we go about conducting ourselves as Christians.
***************
In an age addicted to argument, Christians have become remarkably good at talking — and remarkably poor at listening. Scroll through social media or walk past a campus debate table, and you’ll see believers armed with microphones, cameras, and carefully memorized rebuttals. The object is not conversion but conquest. The applause line has replaced the altar call.

Somewhere along the way, we began to confuse winning debates with winning souls. Yet Scripture presents a very different picture of how truth changes hearts. The Gospel was never designed to be wielded like a sword in a duel of intellects; it was meant to be offered like bread to the hungry.

The problem with the debate mindset

Apologetics has its place. Reasoned defense of the faith can clarify misunderstandings and expose falsehoods. But when the believer’s primary instinct is to defeat rather than to disciple, something sacred is lost. Too many of today’s “discussions” look more like verbal brawls—complete with highlight reels and hashtags — than like Gospel witness.

Paul warned Timothy, “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness” (2 Tim. 2:23–25). Those words are as necessary in the digital age as they were in the first century. Debate can inform minds, but only the Spirit can transform hearts.

Why argument alone fails

Continued below.

Another thing I've noticed, too, is that there seem to be a number of Christians who think it's their God-given mandate to coral every other Christian into conformity with the specific teachings of their favored denomination, and you can't argue them into ceasing.
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