bluebell

Given Christ was speaking to the Jews, I think a good option would be to ask, who would His audience have considered their enemies? I think it would be the Romans, and the Jews definitely seemed to hate the Romans. And maybe the Samaritans? They clearly felt disdain for them, seeing them as inferior, but I'm not sure if they also hated them?

I do think the scripture is speaking about both groups and I don't think we have a moral right to hate anyone. Not with the second commandment being the second commandment. But I can't imagine trying to love someone who hurt you or someone you loved. I think that would only be possible through Christ. I asked Nehor about needing to love who we hate because Hugo's quote seemed to leave them out of the equation. It implied that being hated is a sign of morality in an of itself. So I wondered about the people we hate that quote didn't address. (hate is a strong word and I think most people would say that they don't hate anyone. But, in terms of our online communications, I think our words sometimes betray us and our true feelings about people with ideologies we don't agree with. If anyone shies away from the term hate, I think it could be replaced with any other word that conveys the idea of judging someone in anger as being morally inferior to yourself because they believing differently)

Hugo is talking about those who see us as their enemy. What of the people who we see as our enemies? The people who have stood up for something, sometime in their life, that we don't agree with?

Good question! How would you answer it?

Jesus commands all of His followers in Matthew 5: 43-44: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" I've been thinking about how we as Christians (those of us who are) so often completely ignore this commandment. And not just ignore it but self-righteously ignore it, in that we ignore it while feeling really good about our righteousness and morality. We often don't act like we believe that Christ expects us to love our enemies at all. We act like we believe He's most happy with us when we hate our enemies, call them names, wish them harm, accuse them of wickedness, etc. Why do we act like this commandment doesn't matter to Christ and that we can break it with impunity? Is it possible to love our enemies? How do we do it?

Yes, I’m guessing it was too. But the part about being worthy was a new one for me.

Do they believe they aren’t being ordained because women aren’t worthy? I don’t think I’ve heard that before.

I think it’s idiotic

I listened to A Well Trained Wife by Tia Levings. It's about her life in fundamental/covenantal Christianity and how she was finally able to leave. She uses the F word sometimes, and because her husband was abusive with sex, there are sexual references a few times as well. So if you are going to listen to it on audio you can't listen to it around kids. It's a very interesting story, and she is a very good writer. "Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles––a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.” Tia knew that to their neighbors her family was strange, but she also couldn't risk exposing their secret lifestyle to police, doctors, teachers, or anyone outside of their church. Christians were called in scripture to be “in the world, not of it.” So, she hid in plain sight as years of abuse and pain followed. When Tia realized she was the only one who could protect her children from becoming the next generation of patriarchal men and submissive women, she began to resist and question how they lived. But in the patriarchy, a woman with opinions is in danger, and eventually, Tia faced an urgent and extreme choice: stay and face dire consequences, or flee with her children. Told in a beautiful, honest, and sometimes harrowing voice, A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable and timely memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage."

I’m assuming the women participate as well.

I loved the Bourne Legacy. I’m still sad they didn’t continue with the new storyline.

I’m unsure of how most leaders would get the parents contact info?

We sing at least one new song (sometimes all new songs) every sunday, but because there are so many now, we don't sing Amazing Grace very often at all. I think I've sung it once or twice since it was added. I'd love to sing it more!

I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by how it ends.

Deep Cover. Funniest movie I've seen in a long time. It's on Netflix I think. It's rated R because of the language. There is no sex or graphic violence, but there are parts that say the F word a lot. Normally I would never recommend a movie like that but it has been years since I've seen a funny movie with such an original script that I can't help myself. Here's the trailer:

I watched him say them in a video clip and they don't appear to be leaving anything about.

Thank you. I very much disagree with his sentiment there.

Can you share the quote from Kirk on the brain power stuff? Not a CFR, I'd just like to have it.

I agree that ramping up the rhetoric is only going to have negative consequences. I think that some people just can't help themselves though. They will cut off their noses to spite their faces, as long as they can claim the moral high ground while they are doing it.

Usually, the people in power define it. Which can turn very scary very fast!

I think you have some relevant points. I'm also glad Bondi clarified and that there were conservatives who called her out on her previous language. If both sides get into the 'it's ok for us to do it because the other side did it to us', this country doesn't have many years left.

Just to clarify, this wasn’t my quote or my sons. This woman is an author that I’ve never heard of. I can try to find her name again if you’d like it. 😊

This mother asked her 20 something, video game playing, white sons their thoughts on this tragedy, and I think their answer was astute.

Or he’s mentally ill there is no reasonable way to interpret his actions.

I wish I could like this more than once.