Posted on 08/30/2008 7:09:59 AM PDT by chessplayer
As an "absolute foreknowledge" type Arminian, while I am not a (acceptable?) calvinist, I do admit that the doctrines of the Anglicans, Congregationalists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians, of that era were calvinistic. There's no denying it.
The more I realize God is in control, the more God is in control. Funny how it works out that way. Almost as if it were planned. 8~)
I should have added, “And half of the Methodists.”
Whitfield was huge.
DrE, God is in control. Creation proves it. The bible declares it. His law in our hearts makes knowledge of it personal.
We are without excuse when it comes to recognizing an absolutely sovereign Lord.
“The world kills Christians all day long, and no one cares.”
You are exactly right...and the overwhelming majority of those Christians are Orthodox, Eastern Rite Catholics, Armenians, Copts and Oriental Orthodox. And in an arc from the Adriatic to the Iran/Iraq border, its the people of countries allied to us who are doing the killing or destroying of Christian communities, often with equipment we have provided, in some instances, like in Iraq and Kosovo, with our own troops standing by. Do you know where Christians are really safe in the Middle East? SYRIA!!!!!! What does that say about our policies over there and there impact on our fellow Christians?
The massacres of the Armenians and Orthodox Christians by the Turks many of us work every year to have Congress recognize...only to have the executive branch shoot it down. The massacre of the Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia in 1918 will never be forgotten by the Russian people or the Orthodox Church. The killings of Orthodox Christians by Orthodox Christians in Georgia have been soundly condemned and lamented by the Patriarchs of both Moscow and Georgia.
But here the right wing, especially the evangelical right wing, refuses to acknowledge the devastation wrought in ancient Christian communities by the foreign policy they enthusiastically support, the same sort of foreign policy which gives India a pass when its howling mobs kill Christians, especially indigenous Christians whose people have been there since +Thomas converted their ancestors 2000 years ago.
Its an awful situation, one that every Christian of every stripe, especially the likes of a Palin who pretends to leadership qualities informed by her Christianity, should loudly and continually condemn...but they won’t and she won’t because bottom line, Eastern Christians just don’t count.
Well they count to me, I pray for them daily
“Well they count to me, I pray for them daily”
We need all the prayers we can get...in some places just to stay alive and not raped or bludgeoned until tomorrow.
Amen brother.
I've seen RC posters (I really don't know all the EO) enthusiastically express support of McCain & Palin, so until I see evidence otherwise I am going to assume the positive. They will support solid conservatives regardless of their faith over radical leftists just as the vast majority of Evangelicals will.
It is the "fringe" that has taken our heated theological differences too far and made it a litmus test for everything.
That’s okay. Not a problem.
No one is promoting government-ordered prayer to a particular God or mandatory attendance at a particular church. But if we decide it is MORAL to separate religion from politics then aren't we really saying that morality itself has no place in politics? Among those most of us would objectively say behave "morally", the vast majority of them would cite their faith as the source. Why should they not talk about that?
“No one is promoting government-ordered prayer to a particular God or mandatory attendance at a particular church.”
No, but Palin apparently wants to see her idea of science taught in schools. She believes that her government actions are following “God’s Plan”, apparently communicated to her, and part of the same “God’s Plan” executed through our foreign policy which has brought devastation to my co-religionists and your fellow Christians.
“But if we decide it is MORAL to separate religion from politics then aren’t we really saying that morality itself has no place in politics?”
Absolutely not. Kosta dealt with that well in his discussion of Japanese society.
“Among those most of us would objectively say behave “morally”, the vast majority of them would cite their faith as the source. Why should they not talk about that?”
Here, maybe, though I can, and have, argued that morality is the result of people living in larger or smaller societies, not religion. If you were dropped into a South American jungle on top of those isolated indigenous people we saw pictures of here on FR not long ago, and you ran up to one and simply grabbed his spear or beads or whatever, or tried to rape his wife, he come after you. He’d know what you had done was wrong without the benefit of any missionary teaching him about Christianity. Now, I suppose that Palin speaking about her religious beliefs is indeed something to be thankful for since forewarned is forearmed.
Amazing, isn’t it???? ARgghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Right, if we had a litmus test on it many fewer conservatives would ever be elected.
Excellent, xzins. Thank you.
And HE IS STILL IN CONTROL.
Palin didn’t say we should teach creationism in schools. She said people should be allowed to discuss it when talking about Evolution and science.
“But what hope is there if we don’t even try?”
You are of course absolutely right in what you say. Clearly this country, which presides over the destruction of Eastern Christian communities in so many locations is not run by Christian ethics yet, yet, it is supported most vociferously by the evangelical Christian right! It seems to me then that as Christians we should not be divided by manipulative politicians, whether Democrats or Republicans, but rather we should be demanding that this government, starting with its foreign policy, immediately cease its depredations against our coreligionists east of the Adriatic. That’s where we have to start.
Amen, Mary. He sure did keep us safe. God help this country if Obama gets elected.
Must be all those Papist Supreme Court justices that get appointed.
Nonsense. I didn't even know what KOS or DU is until this article. I actually had to look them up.
I don;t know who jveritas is, although the screen name is interesting, given that "veritas" means truth. One can only guess what "j" stands for...
At any rate, the only sources you list are FR posts of this jeveritas individual whose profile is chock-full of translated "proofs" that you allege.
The first link you provide is an article (March 16, 2008!) entitled "Al Qaeda document" by jveritas which gives no links. The second link is by certain AJ Srata of "Stratasphere" an apparently single individual site who says in its "About" section: "Who is AJ Strata? Well for one thing I would like to remain anonymous for a while until I see what I am getting into here!" Nice try, Padre.
This individual sites as his reliable source as the Kurdish Daily Kurdistan News which in 2002 produced a letter which "proves that there was cooperation between the regime of Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda."
The third link you provide is an interview conducted by a Freeper Christ Donohoe, and a blogger, of an an alleged translator of (Joseph Shahada) of 'caputred Iraqi documents,' on a Townhall blogg site called "Salmon" run by Christ under the screen name april15bendovr (!)
Wow! This is your "evidence?"
Let's see, jveritas' home page lists endless "documents" with a link called Pentagon/FMSO Pre-war Iraq documents linked to sources such as this one (2006) http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents-docex/Iraq/ISGZ-2004-019920.pdf, a dead link.
A June 17, 2004 Washingtonpost article however says
The same source reports
I think you are confusing "contacts" with "cooperation." Well, President Bush has had contacts with all sorts of people; that doesn't mean he cooperated with them.
Another actual newspaper writes March 10, 2008
March 13, 2008 CNN reports
The report further said that Saddam Hussein'sresgime supported terrorists and terrorist activities inside and outside Iraq" but that is true of a number of other Muslim countries,including Saudi Arabia, which has actively funded Intefada against Israel and provided comfort money to the survivors of "martyred" suicide bombers, and does so to this day.
So, my question again to you is: why not a regime change in Saudi Arabia as well? Why is Taliban's treatment of women "offensive" to us but Saudi treatment of women isn't? because the Saudi's are our thugs and the Taliban are not (although they used to be!).
Likewise, CIA has officially admitted no WMDs were found in Iraq.
Thus, it is not KOS or DU, or in your case some conspiracy theorists' spins, but mainline news agencies and official commisisons, CIA and the Administration that admit no WMDs were found.
The logical conclusion is that either CIA is completely inept or our neocon politicians simply cooked the evidence. Take your pick which is more believable.
John McCain is on record calling for a strike against Saddam two days after 9/11. Imagine that! The ignorance, self0rigtheousness, arrogance and willingness to jump to conclusions by the neocon Republicans is startling. I think the old GOP had a lot more wisdom— and class.
BRW, I never heard of KOS or DU until this article.
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