Love your enemies, Jesus said.

@Adstar
An enemy is a clear threat. To have affection for a source of danger doesn't make sense unless one is suicidal or is inviting self-harm.



A cult is a system of religious worship. By that definition, the Pope is indeed leading a cult.


Maduro is, reportedly, also a Catholic. Practically, every Venezuelan is a Christian and 80% of them are Catholics. You can thank the Spaniards for that.

Communism has a bad rap among us Americans, champions of capitalist democracy. We, in the west, swears by our selfish dog eat dog culture in the face of better run societies elsewhere.

@sree251 You cannot be a communist and believe in God.. Thats like calling someone a religious atheist..

The pope leads a false religion leading millions to the eternal lake of fire.. a cult in normal person speak..

Our current lives are not worth protecting by killing others.. The death of a Christian is a transition into paradise.. the death of an unbeliever is a trasition into eternal torment..

@Adstar
It depends on what a communist is. Similarly, a Christian is many things to many people. Is Xi Jinping a communist?


What is a true religion? By definition, a religion is a set of beliefs, practices, and rituals centered on the supernatural. The Pope is indeed a charismatic leader to members of the faith.


We are selective in the killing of others. Some we kill to stay alive.


The death of the body is a fact. The death of a Christian is a non-fact.

@sree251 The Only definition of a Christian that matters is Gods definition of a Christian.. People can think up 10,000 different definitions of what a Christian is and they can all be Wrong.. I don't know about Xi, but his actions in exterminating the religious in China conforms to communist policy.. The religious Uyghurs, the tibetans and the falun gong and independant Christians in China have all been subject to communist extermination..

Killing others to keep ones imperfect life continuing in this fallen world is a waste of time.. Everyone is going to die.. killing others to perlong this vane life is a waste of time..

The physical death of all human beings is a fact.. Of course none of our spirits die, we are all eternal..

@Adstar
His actions? A lot of bad stuff has been attributed to Hitler and Genghis Khan. Did Oswald kill Kennedy? Did Islamic jihad took down the twin towers in New York? The Uyghurs are Muslims. Why are we Americans the only people up in arms against China? No Islamic nation has condemned China over the Uyghurs.


True, but we do it. And we can't seem to stop doing it.


This is the one belief that feeds our blood lust, our invincibility in the face of war.

@sree251 Why are you even asking me these unrelated questions about Hitler and Genghis Khan???

And there have been protests in the middle east about what China has been doing to the Uyghurs, Mostly from Turkic populations.. The elites of these turkic nations are mostly corrupt and value China for Geo-political reasons so they turn a blind eye to what China does to their muslim minority while at the same time shriek like wild banchiees at what Israel is doing in Gaza..

Oh and i am not an American.. So that puts pay to your ""only Americans"" point..

As for humans fighting wars,, we do so because we are faulty.. faulty in wisdom and judgement.. Thats what the Bible reveals to us.. Thats why we need the atonement of Jesus..

@Adstar
Hitler and Genghis Khan are caricatures of propaganda. It is related to political demonization of those characters for shaping the western mind.


You are set in your geopolitical beliefs.


If you are not an American and you support American geopolitical propaganda, then you deserve to be shafted by the USA.


Is that an excuse? Then, forgive Donald Trump for he knows not what he is doing.


Atonement. You want redemption. How about getting off your haunches and walk?

@sree251 Some of your point above have little to no basis in reality and more to do with projection and the propoganda you have been fed.. Continued discussion with you is unprofitable..

@Adstar
Discussion between adherents of different beliefs always end this way. Each believer lives in his own paradigm that he finds comfort and security in . While the case may be so with you, it is not so with me. This is not to say that I would move into your paradigm. I won't because I came out of your paradigm.

The ability to reason is driven by the need to do so. This need provides the drive to break through a mind-set. Imagine yourself a Jew in 2000 BC. We know how cultish and tightly bound Jews are even today in America. Cults have a bad rap caused by infiltrators from the outside. Cult members keep to themselves. As you pointed out, Christianity is a cult. You find assurance and security in your faith. Was Jesus secure in his Hebrew faith?

@sree251 This discussion was drifting away from theology and entering into politics.. I am a theologian not a political actavist.. If you want to have a political debate go to the politics section and engage with someone there..

And Sometimes i have had theological discussions that have been very fruitfull ending with greater understanding..

Oh and asking if Jesus was secure in his Hebrew faith means you do not know Who Jesus was and is...

@Adstar
Explain to me why my question shows my ignorance. You may give up on me, but I would never give up on anyone who wants to be free.

@sree251 You assume Jesus was a product of the culture he was born into, you consider Jesus a mortal like other people... The LORD Jesus established the Hebrew culture thousands of years before He came into the world.. The LORD Jesus was the one who lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and established the OT Covenant.. Jesus is God manafested in the flesh..

""free"" ? Freedom from what?

(John 8:36) "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

@Adstar
Freedom from mortality: immortality.

Not when the body dies, but now when the body is fully alive.

@sree251 Peace of mind gives one great freedom.. Lifts a lot of weight off ones shoulders indeed...

@Adstar
True. It was this realization that gave meaning to that invite " give up everything and follow me". Seemed impossible, crazy even, at the time.


You are imagining, the lure of desire to be free.

@sree251
Well it is impossible, no one has forsaken everything to follow the LORD Jesus..

Jesus said in the same intance when He said that to the young man, to his diciples later..

(Luke 18:22-29) "Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. {23} And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. {24} And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! {25} For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. {26} And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? {27} And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. {28} Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. {29} And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,"

Again thats why we need the Atonement of the LORD Jesus to cover our failures..

@Adstar
It is not impossible. It's not easy but who would want to do it? Foxes have holes and bird have nests. We have our religious, social, and political networks. Can you give them up? Unless you can, you won't be able to follow one who has nowhere to lay his head.

@sree251
Jesus said in the same passage.. """ {27} And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.""

So Jesus disagres with you.. The whole point of the interaction was to show to the young man that He could never be good enough to earn entery into eternity by his own works.. Rememeber the guys inital question was..

(Luke 18:18-19) "And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? {19} And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God."

The guy had a Works salvation mindset.. He was asking what act or work he could do to inherit eternal life.. Christianity 101 is that we rely of the good work Jesus did on the cross to obtain for us eternal life.. Jesus went about destroying the guys hope in being good enough to justify his own place in eternity.. And thats why they asked """{26} And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?""" because they also had a works salvation mindset.. It took then a while to eventually understand the WAY of Salvation through the Atonement of the LORD Jesus..

@Adstar
This is not an aside but a direct response to the core message you intend to convey with words of the Bible.

What happens if you raise babies without language? An emperor obsessed with finding answers to fundamental questions raised 12 babies in a house to find out: "Are we born with language of not?" The one question that kept him up at night was whether or not we are born with a divine language through which we communicate with God. The babies were raised in a house of silence. They were cared for by women who fed and tended to them without uttering a word. After five years, the emperor checked on the result of his experiment. He found that the children could only make animal grunts. The children remain mute for the rest of their lives. 12 voices of expression were lost in the pursuit of one man's quest for God.

@sree251 Your story have absolutly nothing to do with the topic we are discussing..

@Adstar
My story was pointing to what we are, products of artificial intelligence (i.e. human culture) inhabiting a body which is a creation of God. The Devil has his imprint on everything that is not natural but man-made.