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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.

UPDATE: Former Maronite priest still presenting himself as a cleric, Denver Archdiocese warns

Andre Mahanna, a former Maronite Catholic priest who gained a national profile as a commentator, fundraiser, and advocate for persecuted Christians is continuing to present himself as a priest despite having been dismissed from the clerical state for financial impropriety, the Archdiocese of Denver announced Thursday.

In a statement, the archdiocese said Bishop Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles had dismissed Mahanna from the clerical state due to financial impropriety and that Mahanna is not permitted to act or present himself validly as a Catholic priest.

Mahanna has no priestly faculties, the statement continues, and is not authorized to “celebrate sacraments, preach, bless, or represent himself as a cleric in any setting.”

Catholics and members of the public should not engage in any invalid sacraments he is attempting nor give him money or support fundraising efforts connected to him, the archdiocese warned.

Continued below.

Trump promises $2000 tariff dividend to all Americans

I don’t care who is doing what.

I would like to understand the mathematical calculation involved. Could you explain how $195 billion could be allocated as $2,000 per American family earning less than $150,000 annually?
Not my department nor my idea. Like I said a couple of weeks ago in this thread; anyone who doesn't like it, can tear up their check.
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Trump claims Somali immigrants ‘come from Hell,' calls Ilhan Omar 'garbage'

President Donald Trump escalated his attack on Somali immigrants Tuesday, referring to Somali congresswoman from Minnesota, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, as "garbage" and suggesting Somalians "come from Hell."

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Trump described Somalia in the Horn of Africa as "barely a country" and accused refugees in the Twin Cities of having "ripped off that state for billions of dollars, every year, and they contribute nothing."

Pointing to what he claimed was around an "88%" welfare rate among Somalis in Minnesota, Trump added: "We don't want them in our country. Their country stinks. … When they come from Hell, they complain, they do nothing but [expletive], we don't want them in our country. Let them go back to their country and fix it."

It's unclear which data the president referred to in his claim about the Somali welfare rate in Minnesota. On Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, announcedthat more than $1 billion in federal taxpayer funds during the coronavirus emergency was "stolen in Minnesota under the leadership of Governor Walz and after repeated fraud warnings from hundreds of his own employees."

Continued below.

FBI makes arrest in investigation into pipe bombs placed in DC on eve of Jan. 6 riot, AP source says

It's not very consistent.

Unless you think the seditionists and police-assaulters deserve clemency for their violent crimes because they were on the president's side, and Cole's motivations are unclear as yet.
I think the difference is that the pipe bombs were active, and not "fake", and that the intention was to kill multiple government officials. That's different from trespassing, and pushing someone out of the way.

...I don't think taking this case more seriously shows inconsistency, because of the difference in severity. Though, CNN seems to be trying as hard as they can to make them the same. I think "making things seem the same" is a very big problem in debate these days.
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So, Is the Body Positivity Movement Still a Thing?

A lot of people are trying to move to where the food is, but for some reason and in spite of the messaging of Sesame Street, the people who live where the food is don't like to share.
If you're referring to the immigrants from Latin American countries, I'd argue that they have food...and in many ways, food that's better than ours.

The Sam Kinison bit about "moving to where the food is" was referring to people living in deserts.

"See this? It's sand...nothing grows in it, you don't what it's going to be in another 100 years? SAAAANNNND"
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Israel criticizes Guinness World Records over rejection of Israeli entries

The Guinness World Records (GWR) officially revealed on Wednesday that it would no longer accept submissions from Israel or the Palestinian territories because of what the organization described as the “current climate.”

“We truly do believe in record-breaking for everyone, everywhere, but unfortunately, in the current climate, we are not generally processing record applications from the Palestinian Territories or Israel, or where either is given as the attempt location, except those done in cooperation with a UN humanitarian aid relief agency,” a GWR spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post.

The GWR revealed that it has adopted this policy since November 2023, a month after the Hamas Oct. 7 invasion and terror attack in southern Israel. The organization said it is monitoring the situation in the region and hopes to reverse the policy in the near future.

“We hope to be in a position to receive new inquiries soon,” the spokesperson said.

Continued below.

Why we are not supposed to keep the Sabbath

Do you have an idea of how to frame an argument without being judgmental or insulting others? I am not under the law at all. I walk with the Spirit. The God that I “profess” never gave the law to the gentiles. You read your doctrine into the scriptures.

I simply pointed out to you what the God, who inspired the Holy Scriptures that Paul said were trustworthy "for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.", had written.

No different than the Jesus "of the Bible" and Paul did when speaking to the promoters of this world's religions of their time.

You say that the GOD "you profess to know", never inspired the Words I showed to you. Who am I to argue with you concerning the God you profess to know. We all choose, and are servants to whom we "Yield ourself" servants to obey, according to Paul.

I was simply pointing out what the God, who inspired the Holy Scriptures, told the world who HIS LAWS were created for.

And I did so in hope that you might consider His Words.

But it's ultimately your choice.
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Minnesota is drowning in fraud.

Your deflection to avoid answering proved my point.
And your refusing to answer proves mine.

I don’t know anything about Somali culture, but I don’t automatically assume that my ignorance of a thing makes it worthless.

OTOH, I have a ton of experience with angry conservative culture and am very confident in assessing it as worthless.
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Do the Ten Commandments apply to Christians today?

Just putting this here what God said about His New Covenant. If anyone would know what His New Covenant is about would it not be God? Does one really believe only worshipping God a shackle? Not murdering our neighbor a shackle?

God speaking:

Heb8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.


So it appears what changed is the location of where God's laws are, not the laws itself. Paul spelled it out for us as well.


2 Cor 3:3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God,

not the laws on scrolls written with ink, but written by the Spirit of the living God. Who wrote the Ten Commandments God or man?

Exo31:18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

What is the finger of God? The Spirit of the living God

Luke 11:20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Mat 12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

The Holy Spirit of Truth wrote the Ten Commandments

2 Cor 3:3 not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

The only law written on tablets of stone is the Ten Commandments and where did God's laws go? All Ten. Tablets of the heart, the New Covenant

Heb8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

The location changed, not God's Laws because God does not change, God keeping His promise of not altering His words Psa89:34, not a jot or tittle Mat5:18-19 The law of the Lord is perfect, His Testimonies sure Psa19:7 His laws are holy, just good Rom7:12 the law is not the issue, the heart of man is the issue, why God changed the location of His laws and placed them right in the heart of the issue, our hearts and minds, and we can keep them if we allow God to be God to define His own laws and not rebel Rom8:7-8 through what He will do if we cooperate with Him John14:15-18 John15:10
We really, really need to read the entire context of Hebrews 8 about the New Covenant. It is entirely different from just picking out snippets.

Hebrews 8:7-13
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

It is really important to understand the entire passage and know what the New Covenant delivered by Jesus Christ of Nazareth Himself actually is. In fact He change a commandment from " love your neighbor as yourself" to " love your neighbor as I have loved you". This is a higher level of love.

His words:
John 13:34–35 (NKJV) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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Medical school pays $10M settlement after denying religious exemptions to vaccine mandate

Students and staff at a medical school who were denied religious exemptions to a COVID-19 vaccine have reached a settlement exceeding $10 million, ending several years of litigation.

In a statement published Monday, attorneys announced that the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine agreed to pay more than $10.3 million to 18 plaintiffs who unsuccessfully sought religious exemptions to the institution's policy requiring students and staff to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The settlement follows more than a year of negotiations.

Students and staff at a medical school who were denied religious exemptions to a COVID-19 vaccine have reached a settlement exceeding $10 million, ending several years of litigation.

Continued below.

Eve and the Fallacy of Moral Choices

I can certainly appreciate the rewritten "some people" add on.

You might realize that any translators that can't see the fact that devils and people walk in the same pair of shoes are only going to see PEOPLE and not our adversary.

That is exactly your position come to think of it.
Most Bible translations are done by a group of really good Biblical scholars who hat to agree or will include multiple translations in the footnotes, so can you point me to another translation of scripture supporting your interpretation?
Satan roams the earth, and some people are demon possessed, but Jesus drove out the demon from those possessed around Him, which was not everyone.
Satan is the tempter and Jesus was tempted by satan, but being tempted does not mean you automatically sin.
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Trump's Big Beautiful.....Gold Ballroom

Whatever you do, don't go to Neiman Marcus, in San Francisco. You'll hate it.

View attachment 374036

View attachment 374037
It’s not the concept of gilding that is tacky, it’s Trump’s use of it. Look at the Oval Office. Gold vomitted all over the interior with the only decor intention being add as much gold to every surface as possible.
  • Informative
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Good news for America; bad news for Trump

Service members who follow an illegal order can be held liable and court-martialed or subject to prosecution by international tribunals. Following orders from a superior is no defense.

Our poll, fielded between June 13 and June 30, 2025, shows that service members understand these rules. Of the 818 active-duty troops we surveyed, just 9% stated that they would "obey any order." Only 9% "didn't know," and only 2% had "no comment."

When asked to describe unlawful orders in their own words, about 25% of respondents wrote about their duty to disobey orders that were "obviously wrong," "obviously criminal" or "obviously unconstitutional."

Another 8% spoke of immoral orders. One respondent wrote that "orders that clearly break international law, such as targeting non-combatants, are not just illegal—they're immoral. As military personnel, we have a duty to uphold the law and refuse commands that betray that duty."

Just over 40% of respondents listed specific examples of orders they would feel compelled to disobey.

The most common unprompted response, cited by 26% of those surveyed, was "harming civilians," while another 15% of respondents gave a variety of other examples of violations of duty and law, such as "torturing prisoners" and "harming U.S. troops."

One wrote that "an order would be obviously unlawful if it involved harming civilians, using torture, targeting people based on identity, or punishing others without legal process."


Trump says 'seditious' Democrats urging US troops to refuse illegal orders should face death

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Struggling with feeling God’s presence

There can be a danger for a Christian to chase after feelings. It can place an unhealthy emphasis on self.

The Christian life is supposed to be about transitioning from the selfishness of the flesh to the selfless love of Christ by walking by the Spirit. Self can put us in the wrong direction.
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GOD'S REAL ISRAEL AND THE TRUE CHURCH?

Replacement theology is a misnomer. The church has always been the ISRAEL of GOD. The foundation of the church is built upon the prophets and Apostles with Jesus the chief cornerstone. This entire building is a dwelling place for GODS spirit. The grafting in of the Gentiles means that the Gentiles become part of the olive tree, part of the Israel of GOD, the church. The root of this olive tree goes back before Israel to the patriarchs. The root bears the branches, supports the olive tree. There never was a replacement, the church has always been the Israel of GOD. Today is the time of the Gentiles and blindness covers carnal Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles are called into the church. Hebrew 11 gives the testimony of the faith that was in the people before Christ. These people will not be made perfect apart from us. Abraham is the father of the faithful and had imputed righteousness just like we do because of faith. Abraham was given the promises and his seed was Jesus who confirmed those promises. Those unbelieving Israelites will not be grafted back in until the second resurrection. The Gentiles did indeed replace those unbelieving Israelites. You and I are former gentiles who were grafted in to replace them . This subject requires much study, prayer and meditation. The gospel was preached to Abraham and Abraham believed, he had faith , was imputed righteousness and obeyed GOD, isn’t that what you and I do ? What would you call a person who experiences all these things ? Abraham saw afar off , he saw the day of Christ and rejoiced and was glad. We see Christ in the past, Abraham saw Christ in the future but it’s still the same Christ. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
It's about one's relationship with Christ ... not ANY earthly things ... and that is not "replacement theology"
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Is Hell Annihilationism or Eternal Torment

I say this because Dan was using the term, 'sheep,' as a favorable motif in relation to his minister and to his understanding of being a Christian.
I agree.

And it's good to have teachers, etc. But there's nothing wrong with checking them out vs God's Word. Dan doesn't feel he has the right to do so. But I feel that is our responsibility to do so. Because that's the only way we can know if they're leading us on the right path. He thinks because someone has a degree that means something. But not in this day and age. I found that out personally.

I quite agree with you that it is sad to see so many of our fellow brethren being more concerned with engaging other Christians via a "conflict" model of social interaction rather than in grace for fellowship.
Yes and that's sadly seems to be the MO of some on there. I admit I get pulled into these types of debates pretty heavily but I'm not setting out with the purpose to create a conflict. I just want to have honest discussions straight from the Gods' word, not man's.
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B flat B♭

I think I may have lost all mine for posting it, so why not go all hog and post another one ^_^

Thanks for the video, but it was too much for me. I stopped when they said that the “pole” in Poland referred to the North Pole. Actually, the “pole” in Poland means field. So it is the land of fields.
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Why is so much nonsense coming from America?

To understand America, it is important to understand Satan. He sets the course of the world (Eph 2:2) and we are not unaware of his schemes (2Cor 2:11). Satan is going to make his move to try to take over the world. To do this he will need to collectivize the world to leverage his influence. He also will need the tools to control if any individual is allowed to buy or sell. These tools are almost all in place and his need for a stable society (which was America) is over.

It is in his interest to not allow a powerful society to continue that might pose opposition to his plans. He would have us destroy ourselves in various ways such as self-indulgence, debt, strife, etc.

In the midst of all this for the past 70 years the number of Christians has been declining. Much more the number of Christians who can see truth and have wisdom. The result is all sorts of foolishness.

Two future events that may not be too distant are the rapture (the removal of Christians from earth) and the Tribulation. The tribulation is a seven year event of catastrophe that starts with a combination of war, disease, and famine that reduces the population of earth by 25%.

The odd voice here and there declaring various things should not be too alarming in view of what is to come.
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1 in 4 post-abortive women regret abortion decades later, study finds

My mother in the 70's had an abortion and she regrets it deeply. This was at the start of the feminism movement that we know today and she was putting herself and her husband at the time, through college. I know I've got a half-sister waiting for me in heaven and I know God has forgiven her for that.

I agree with this article that women aren't warned or told the whole story, which is why I think this abortion topic is more than just individual choice and has a more sinister backing because if it truly was all about women, then wouldn't there be protocols in place to make sure with 100% certainty that this is what the woman wants, despite knowing the risks? (And thats taking the moral argument out of the equation)
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There’s a Giant Flaw in Human History

Ok so you are saying all knowledge comes from the physical and naturalistic processes and there no such such thing as any transcendent knowledge like spirituality or consciousness beyond the physical brain.
Why would I say that? I explicitly said that the question is unresolved and I take no position on it. But that's typical of you--if we don't immediately embrace whatever off-beat theory you happen to be pushing, we must be trying to deny it--usually for wicked materialist reasons. :p
Maybe thats why your having trouble as its not just about Egyptian advanced knowledge and tech but the giant flaw in the history told by orthodoxy. So thats more about philosophy.

We went into some specific examples that may support that advanced knowledge. But we could also go into other examples all around the world. This also includes the cognitive evolution going back 300k rather than 50k. How discoveries like GT are pushing back the timeline and changing the level of knowledge the ancients had.
And that supports your contention that there is a kind of knowledge that doesn't depend on our physical senses exactly how?
But its every bit philosophy, epistemics and culture as the specific examples. Even more so related to how we see knowledge.

Your also forgetting that my attempt to explain how the ancients gained advanced knowledge is spectulation. In fact its more about philosophy, epistemics and metaphsyics than the hard sciences like physics.

As I said if the ancients had a more direct experience in nature and reality then they would have gained a deeper knowledge of nature and relality. Just like Marys experience of Red could only come from her subjective experience. So to is the deeper knowledge of reality.

In fact even science supports the idea that Mind and consciousness are fundemental and not objective physical reality. So if the ancients were more in tune with this fundemental reality. Then they also gained knowledge of fundemental reality from the bottom up and not the top down worldview.
What's the difference between fundamental reality and objective physical reality? :scratch:
This seems a blantant falsehood and demands evidence. The evidence does not clearly show what tools were used. There is absolutely no evidence showing how the large granite blocks, and boxes were made. There is absolutely evidence for machining.

No one has given any evidence for the contrary. Some have made claims but have not shown evidence. In fact the evidence they have shown was defeated. There certainly is not clear cut evidence.
All science is based on personal experience. Without personal experience there would be no science. The purpose of science is to understand objective reality and how it brings about personal experience. Science is carried out by personal subjective experience. Observation with our natural senses to start with, then we extend the range of our senses with microscopes, telescopes, other kinds of instruments. But it is all still based on our personal subjective experience.
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I have a question and I’m confused

I’m a Bible believing Christian. I would like to attend an actual church but I’m very confused on which one to attend since there are so many different denominations. There are a few different denominations in my area. What do I do? Can anyone offer me any advice? Thank you.
Worship, pray, study and meditate at home. Look to GOD as your teacher through Jesus. John 6:44-45
The anointing of GODS spirit is all you need and don’t need a man to teach you. 1 John 2:27. All these different denominations are all wrong, that’s why they are different, they’re divided.
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KJV

Most people who speak and pray using KJV vocabulary do so reflexively. They may not be open to reflecting on why much less be willing to share. It can be that they feel this usage reflects the piety they feel. I would be reluctant to ask one to explain himself as I do not see it so much as pretension as a way one chooses to express the reverence he may have in his heart.
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