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Mercy
Vanity | 18OCT20 | dsc

Posted on 10/18/2020 7:38:07 PM PDT by dsc

From Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

PORTIA

Then must the Jew be merciful.

SHYLOCK

On what compulsion must I? tell me that.

PORTIA

The quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea; Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.


TOPICS: Current Events; General Discusssion; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: cwii; mercy
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We may have need of mercy in these days, flowing in one direction or the other.
1 posted on 10/18/2020 7:38:07 PM PDT by dsc
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To: dsc

Been nipping at the cooking sherry tonight? [/sarc]


2 posted on 10/18/2020 7:41:44 PM PDT by Viking2002 (When aliens fly past Earth, they probably lock their doors.)
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To: dsc
PORTIA

Then must the Jew be merciful.

SHYLOCK

On what compulsion must I? tell me that.

PORTIA

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.

3 posted on 10/18/2020 7:47:45 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: Viking2002

“Been nipping at the cooking sherry tonight?”

I wish. Can’t. Doctor’s orders. Something about “dying immediately,” or something like that. I wasn’t really listening.

I just wasn’t expecting the site to treat the text as HTML.


4 posted on 10/18/2020 7:50:20 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: dsc

Mercy is French for Thank You.


5 posted on 10/18/2020 7:56:18 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure)
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To: dsc

What is my take-away from this supposed to be?
You hate Jews?


6 posted on 10/18/2020 7:56:53 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (Get out of the matrix and get a real life.)
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To: dsc

Do keep “vanity” posts to a minimum - Free Republic is primarily a place to discuss news, articles, and editorials. Vanity posts, creations of the poster him or herself, should meet a high standard of quality before one is even considered worthy of posting. Often a relevant current thread or general announcement, catch-all thread is a much better choice for a brief question or comment.


7 posted on 10/18/2020 7:58:11 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: Repeal The 17th

Really? I quote the greatest writer of the past 400 years, and not just any old passage but one of his most famous, and that’s what you hear?

If I quote Huck Finn are you going to accuse me of hating blacks?


8 posted on 10/18/2020 8:00:49 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: dsc

Maybe you hate Injun Joe.


9 posted on 10/18/2020 8:02:08 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (Get out of the matrix and get a real life.)
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To: dsc

A Jew told me once, if there is a question about whether a contract was freely agreed, one must enforce the contract that would have existed had both parties been equally informed.


10 posted on 10/18/2020 8:03:41 PM PDT by Bethaneidh
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To: dsc
I don’t expect that the enemies of our Republic, currently running roughshod over the Constitution and the rights it attempts to guarantee us, have any concept of “mercy”. They are utterly without even the simplest of social graces — civility — how then can we expect them to have something of a higher order, like mercy?

They are reprobate. Their vile actions bespeak an evil, corrupt soul.

We may offer them mercy, if we wish and circumstances suggest it. But we should not expect the same in return, as they are incapable of it.

11 posted on 10/18/2020 8:06:12 PM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: TexasGator

You just dropped in to say that my post doesn’t “meet a high standard of quality,” did you? Perhaps the standard of quality should have been met by whatever college you graduated from.


12 posted on 10/18/2020 8:07:40 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: TexasGator

Mercy is one of the few things you can’t live without.


13 posted on 10/18/2020 8:08:02 PM PDT by cornfedcowboy
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To: Repeal The 17th

“Maybe you hate Injun Joe.”

Wow. PC always finds a new direction of attack.


14 posted on 10/18/2020 8:10:10 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: dsc

What is YOUR point ... 400 years ... where does MERCY come from?


15 posted on 10/18/2020 8:11:14 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?)
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To: dsc

What was my take-away from your dumb post supposed to be?
Shakespeare was NOT the “greatest writer in the last 400 years”.


16 posted on 10/18/2020 8:13:18 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (Get out of the matrix and get a real life.)
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To: dayglored

“They are reprobate. Their vile actions bespeak an evil, corrupt soul.”

Sad as it is, it can’t be denied.

“We may offer them mercy, if we wish and circumstances suggest it.”

I was thinking more about each of us minding his own heart than about a universal prescription.


17 posted on 10/18/2020 8:13:48 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: Bethaneidh

“A Jew told me once, if there is a question about whether a contract was freely agreed, one must enforce the contract that would have existed had both parties been equally informed.”

That sounds very Talmudic.


18 posted on 10/18/2020 8:15:08 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: Just mythoughts

“where does MERCY come from?”

Read the passage.


19 posted on 10/18/2020 8:15:54 PM PDT by dsc (Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men.)
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To: dsc

Bah. My doctors have been riding me about that for years. I’m sitting here with a Redd’s Wicked Ale. It’s a good anesthetic for all the other aches and pains my maladies bring. Hepatomegaly, for one, but as long as my liver can handle it, I’m good and at peace. When it starts kicking me in the side, that when I know the bartender said ‘last call’.


20 posted on 10/18/2020 8:17:52 PM PDT by Viking2002 (When aliens fly past Earth, they probably lock their doors.)
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