Warden_of_the_Storm said:

Nothing of what he's said ever is truthful, correct, accurate or right

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Would you know it, if it was?

FredVB said:

while there is enough evidence to show it is not a simulation.

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Such as?

essentialsaltes said:

FBI fires longtime employee and agent trainee who displayed Pride flag, sources say​

In a previous non-agent role with the FBI, the employee, who received multiple awards for service during his career, had also been a field office diversity program coordinator and displayed a Pride flag at his workstation, sources said.

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FBI veteran alleges he was fired for displaying Pride flag​

A 16-year FBI employee has filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired last month because he had a Pride flag draped near his desk.

David Maltinsky, who was weeks away from being elevated to the position of agent, claims the firing was unlawful and sent a ripple of fear through the LGBT employees at the FBI.

The suit makes several allegations, including an argument that the FBI has violated Maltinsky's First Amendment rights and retaliated against him for protected expression.

Maltinsky said the federal government approved the display of Pride flags at federal office complexes in June 2021. His lawsuit alleges that a colleague filed a complaint with a supervisor about Maltinsky's flag on Jan. 20, 2025, the day of President Trump's second Inaugural.

The lawsuit states that Maltinsky was fired in a letter signed by FBI Director Kash Patel in October. A copy of the letter was provided by Maltinsky to CBS News. In it, Patel writes: "I have determined that you exercised poor judgment with an inappropriate display of political signage in your work area during your previous assignment at the Los Angeles Field Office. Pursuant to Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States, your employment with the Federal Bureau of Investigation is hereby terminated."

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"The only actions we take, generally speaking, for personnel at the FBI, are ones based on merit and qualification and your ability to uphold your constitutional duty," Patel said [to senators in a Congressional hearing].

BNR32FAN said:

I’m just curious, have you ever traveled all the way across Australia going east or west? If so what means of travel did you use and how long did it take?

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I'm not interested in the flat earth debate, but I have driven from Brisbane to Perth and return three times (a long time ago).

It took about six days each way allowing for sufficient breaks between driving.

From Brisbane to Perth the road distance is about 4310 kilometres, so each day required about 718 kilometres (446 miles).

I've flown once with the distance being 3614 air kilometres or 2245 air miles. Flight time is about 5.25 hours. There's a two hour time difference so going from Brisbane to Perth we gained two hours, and lost two hours on the return trip.

Lukaris said:

I responded to your false statement “God is hate” with a definition that God is love and He tells us that is also His commandment to us. I made no claim that any of us can actually keep the commandments or achieve any kind of “sinless perfection”.

Now you go off into to some accusations of “works based salvation” of which I said no such thing. I was concentrating on the fact that God is NOT “hate.”

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But eternal torment proponents, once challenged with a different view from other believers on this matter, must resort to such strawman tactics to save face.

For example,
You: No, God is NOT hate as you say, as there is no Scripture that states that. Rather, here's where it states just the opposite, that God IS love.

Dan1988: *gasp* Legalist! You think works will save you and not Christ Himself!

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.
Amen

Fervent said:

It's not just apostates, it's anyone they classify as kafiri...which is pagans, polytheists, atheists, and idolaters. Which is the marching orders from the end of Muhammad's life, which is why abrogation is an important concept to understand to understand Islamic jurisprudence.

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Anyone who has made a serious effort to study Islam knows that abrogation is a very complex and controversial subject. Very few verses found in the Qur'an have been agreed on as being abrogated among scholars, and of those that have, none override the verses that teach tolerance, coexistence, and peace. A far more important concept in understanding Islamic jurisprudence is puting things in historical and cultural context when reading any Islamic texts.

Fervent said:

Islamic jurisprudence is heavily regulated until modernists have sought to re-write Islamic history. They say "the doors of ishtijad are closed" and defer to classic interpreters, who unanimously agreed that ayat like 9:29 were unlimited calls to war until the end of time "when there is no more fitnah."

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The Muslims that were being spoken to in the Qur'an and the classic scholars lived in a different culture, at a different point in time, and were facing unique situations. You can't read the Qur'an, hadiths, or the tasfirs from a modern perspective, you have to read them through a historical lens, if not, you will continue to misinterpret what they are saying.

The violent verses found in the Qur'an don't abrogate the verses of peace because of the context they were written in. There are certain situations where the verses of peace apply, and others where the verses of violence apply, therefore, each verse has a specific context and application. In other words, each verse in the Qur'an is to be applied to its appropriate situation. For example, when Qur'an 9:5 says "When the Sacred Months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them. And capture them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush," it is dealing with a specific event at a point in history when Meccan pagans were breaking their peace treaties and declaring war on the Muslims, so that verse would not negate the peaceful verses in the Qur'an since it is very specific to it's intent and the point in history it was to be applied.

Fervent said:

the Qu'ran cannot be interpreted without the hadith because it is almost entirely without context, and the actions of Muhammad are the baseline for how Muslims are supposed to behave...and he'd fit more with ISIS than with the Ahmadi.

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Neither the Qur'an nor the hadith can be properly interpreted without putting them into the historical and cultural context they were written in.

According to Islamic teachings, Muslims are to emulate Muhammad's character traits like honesty, compassion, and humility and his ethical principles. Muslims understand the historical context in which the Qur'an was written. They see his actions as a warrior to have been appropriate for situations Muslims faced in the 7th century and not as mandates for Muslims to follow in 2025.

Fervent said:

Perhaps I should have added "or pay the jizya" since that is what Islam calls for, modernist whitewashing not withstanding.

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You do realise that Muslims also had to pay taxes (zakāt)? And the tax was for the betterment of society as a whole. Would it be fair for non-Muslims to live in an Islamic state and receive all of the benefits and protections offered by that state without any contribution to the costs involved?

Fervent said:

Nope, it's what Muslims are called to pursue until there is no more "fitnah", the whole world is divided into "dar-al-Islam" and "dar-al-harb" and the only question about implementation is which part of the program is active.

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In very simple terms, Dar al Islam (House of Islam) historically was a Muslim land with a Muslim government where Islamic law governed. Dar al Harb (House of War) was a land not under an Islamic government or Islamic law, which was openly hostile towards Muslims. Since there are no countries or states that fit these definitions today, the terms are no longer used by Muslims for the most part.

Fervent said:

Yeah, an islamist apologetics site is not the best way to get accurate information about things that aren't flattering to Islam. But hey, not everyone has the time to actually read the hadith and sira, as well as the ishtijad which is mostly in disagreement with those claims until recent attempts at whitewashing.

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Fervent said:

You're just falling for Islamist apologist propaganda.

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The only people who talk about jizyah, abrogation, the division of the world into dar-al-Islam and dar-al-harb, and cite Qur'an 9:29 as an open-ended command to Muslims to fight until the end of time today are Islamic extremists and anti-Islamic propagandists. So when someone like yourself presents Islam the way you have in this thread and others, it's clear to me, as someone who has a strong background in Islam, that your understanding of this religion comes from those sources and not the actual teachings and understanding of Islam that the vast majority of the world's Muslims adhere to.

Jesus said He did not come to destroy the Law or Prophets... Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled

This truly cannot be stated more plainly.

Jesus never said until some things are fulfilled- He clearly said ALL things and He did not come to destroy His Prophets prophecies yet to be fulfilled such as His foretold Second Coming, prophecies that have yet to be fufilled.

Isa 25:8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.

Rev 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Therefore...
Mat 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven

If one wishes the blessings in Mat5 is just for Jews and believe whoever is just Jews and Gentiles are free to commit adultery or murder- the two commandments He immediately quoted from to know what commandments He was referring to which not a jot or tittle shall pass (yet alone a whole commandment or two) and we are not to break or teach others to break the least of these commandments Exo20:1-17 as it effects our status in heaven, Same thing He said Mat7:21-23 Rev22:14-15 obviously Jesus fulfilling the law doesn't mean His saints do not have to keep them through love and faith Rom 8:4,7 Rev14:12 Mat15:3-14 Mat5:19-30 Mat19:17-19 John15:10 1 John5:3 John14:15 Mat7:21-23 1John2:3-6 Rev22:14-15 etc

FAITH-IN-HIM said:

It is relevant, as it reflects the character of someone supporting this policy. His stance appears to be "rule for thee but not for me."

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What’s wrong with that? Rules can be changed as circumstances change.

Colo Millz said:

Co-Sufferers (Imitatio Christi): Christians are called to participate in the suffering of Christ. Personal suffering is utilized as a means of purification (removing self-will and sin) and spiritual growth. By uniting one's own pain to the Passion, it ceases to be meaningless and becomes a source of grace for oneself and others.

Is this a Biblical understanding?

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My understanding of "imitating" Jesus Christ of Nazareth focuses on His character and not His suffering.
* Love
* Humility
* Service
* Obedience
* Forgiveness
* Patience
* Holiness
* Mercy

Paul did speak about this frequently:

* 1 Corinthians 10:33 – 11:1
"just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ."

* Ephesians 5:1–2
"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."

Blessings

This world having life would be for thousands of years, I am believing it would not have been millions of years. It was the unformed world before the days of creation, and it could have been much longer that way. We have nothing revealed showing what it was in any case.

Michie said:

A federal judge behind a 2014 ruling that deemed Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional has ordered the removal of Ten Commandments posters in seven school districts.

U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunctionmandating the removal of Ten Commandments posters from classrooms in Fort Worth, Arlington, McKinney, Frisco, Azle, Rockwall and Mansfield Independent School Districts, which were named in a lawsuit filed by multifaith and nonreligious families in September.

Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the suit on behalf of 15 families whose children attend schools in the affected districts.

Continued below.

Judge orders Texas schools to remove Ten Commandments displays

A federal judge behind a 2014 ruling that deemed Texas ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional has ordered the removal of Ten Commandments posters in seven school districts

www.christianpost.com

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My opinion on this article:

The push to display the Ten Commandments, while respecting them as a moral foundation, misses the central point of the Christian faith. It would be better to feature the Beatitudes, as these teachings from Jesus Christ of Nazareth truly represent the New Covenant's emphasis on mercy, humility, and the spirit of discipleship.


Matthew 5:3–10
* “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
* Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
* Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
* Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
* Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
* Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
* Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
* Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

The bible speaks a truth, a law unto nature. Christ delcares the same truth. That God created male and female and that will become one flesh in marriage. The act of sex is within marriage.

So if God delcares that man and women become one flesh in marriage then SSM is not Gods law or nature. That it is not Gods law or nature then it is not of God. The simple coming together in SSM is defying Gods law and nature.

Christ may not have named every sin but He did declare Gods law and nature in marriage.

But we don't have to even go to the bible. If marriage is between a man and women and is Gods law and nature then it should aligned with nature. Psychologically a child needs a mother and father. So SSM denies a child a parent. Gods law and nature is that man and women create a child and need a father and mother in upbringing.

But also sociologically. The breakdown of marriage and families has broken down society. There is a rising epidemic of single parenthood and fatherless boys. The stats are clear that the fundemental issue is the breakdown in the family unity.

The ideological belief that SSM is exactly the same as Gods marriage is a lie. The feminist idea that women are better off without a man and need a career over motherhood is a lie. The idea that women can abort babies because its their choice is a lie.

These are the lies told to people that are destroying society.

So you don't have to make an arguement for why Gods law and nature are truth. They just are. You can declare them and leave it at that. People can tale it or leave it. Its simply declaring Gods law and order like we would declare the truth that Christ is the Son of God. Or Gods laws that thou shall not kill or steal are truths full stop.

By declaring it a truth it stands opposed to all other claims of truth for marriage. Take it or leave it. Its as simple as that. Like the adulterous women.It was Gods law that sex was reserved for marriage. Christ told the adulterous women that her sins are forgiven and no one judges her. But that was because she believed on Christ and no longer was subject to the law. Part of that was she sin no more and followed Gods laws.

9Rock9 said:

So, do you think the Bible is completely without error in everything it touches on?

I do believe the Bible is infallible, but idk if I would go to say that it is entirely without error on matters of history, details, etc. The point is to point people to Christ. It's not meant to be a collection of raw information to mine through.

I do think Scripture is God breathed, but unsure whether I lean towards verbal plenary inspiration or dynamic inspiration.

What about you?

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My view, being informed as it is by Historiography and the Philosophy of History, doesn't require invoking a qualifier like "inerrant" in order to value the literary contents of the biblical books and hold them as authoritative. In other words, inerrancy is not only a highly debatable term in relation to the Bible, but in my estimation, it's not even needed.

Reminds me of the joke about church divisions.

A ship was sailing past a remote island in the middle of the ocean when they saw a bloke trying to get their attention.

They sent a boat and found he had been marooned by himself for twenty years!

But he'd built thee huts. They asked him why.

He explained that one was his house, another was his church, and the third was the "church I used to go to."

Chesterton said:

Just about 24 hours ago I admitted I was wrong about a fact I'd posted.

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I said "change my mind".
Not referring to saying a fact was wrong on something, but I'm referring to things like:
I'm prochoice, but then they changed their mind/heart and I'm now prolife or.....yes I believe trans is real, but then they changed their mind/heart and now admit it's not.
Big things, life decisions on topics, staunch adherence/loyalty to a wrong thing, an ungodly thing, etc.
Those are the type of things I'm referring to.....not, oh, I got that fact wrong on something.

Valletta said:

US Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida indicted on charges of stealing $5M in disaster funds

U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The Democrat is accused of stealing Federal Emergency...

www.yahoo.com

All that power and wealth that comes with being a member of Congress seems like it was not enough.

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There is more detail in the Justice Department press release:

The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to steal that $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts to disguise its source. Prosecutors allege that a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and for the personal benefit of the defendants.
The indictment further alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, of Miramar, arranged additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money.

johnnypapa said:

Father Bux to Cardinal Cupich: The Liturgy Must Elevate Us to Divine Truth and Beauty

Father Nicola Bux writes an open letter to Cardinal Cupich critical of his recent public criticism of the Traditional Latin Mass.

edwardpentin.substack.com

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The good cardinal may not be able to comprehend this sage advice. Prayers that he may.

Fantine said:

Release the Epsteon files.

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This is happening are you sure this is what you want?








Oversight Committee

@GOPoversight
·
Nov 18
Hakeem has been on a media tour the last few days on Epstein, but refuses to condemn Stacey Plaskett. Epstein documents reveal that Hakeem's consulting firm reached out to Jeffrey Epstein to arrange a dinner between them. Is "Brooklyn's Barack" telling us everything he knows?

DaisyDay said:

It's worse than I thought!

Tyler Lemons is a great name, btw.

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Apparently the indictment of the antagonist of Trump's hoax claim of a Russiagate hoax, was itself a hoax.

How do you see death? Do you long to one day depart this life and go home to God? St. Paul wrote to the Philippians of his longing to leave this world. He was not suicidal; he just wanted to be with God:

Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit (Phil 1:20-23).

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Is calling the day we die the greatest day of our life too strong a statement? I have seen some fellow Christians wince at it. In this age of emphasis on worldly comforts, medicine, and the secular, we rarely speak of Heaven—or Hell for that matter. I wonder if we have lost some of our longing for Heaven and cling too strongly to the trinkets of this life.

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It was a wonderful moment in American history for the handsome young man to begin serving the Lord as a newly ordained priest. During his years in seminary, he had listened closely to his formators, who taught him to shepherd his future flock with joy, love, and a welcoming spirit.

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