Matthew 21:22 and tragedy

@val70 If the goal is Israel's obliteration (and since you seem to be an authority, you must be aware of that), how do you expect them to act? The Palestinians have never tried rejecting violence and recognizing Israel's irrevocable existence as a state where the Jewish people exercise self-determination. If the IRA was still fighting, Northern Ireland would still be under British military occupation. Do you think that would have been better for the people of Northern Ireland than what they have instead today? Do you think your encouragement of the Palestinians to pursue their futile dream of a judenrein Middle East will be better for them in the long run?

@LeopoldBloom Act as a human being and not like a robot. I'm quite like Tolstoy in the way of approaching life and politics. Keep it simple. Don't participate in evil. I'll see you next year and then we can compare notes and viewpoints again. Concerning Ukraine I got everything right. The war can't be won. Told that many a time. Oh by the way, have you ever had the experience of talking to IRA and Black Order killers? Well, I have had the very uncomfortable pleasure. Personally, I've said my peace. I've done with this. You can't even follow an argument

@val70 You haven't shared your view of the Ukraine conflict, so I can only speculate. Putin had Russian troops out of uniform in Ukraine since 2014. This is the basis for claims that the Ukrainians were "targeting" Russian-speaking areas in eastern Ukraine and provided a pretext for Putin's illegal war.

Tolstoy had an interesting position on free will. He believed that it was an illusion based on our impression that our actions are uncoerced, when in fact our sphere of operation is very constrained. And the further an event recedes into the past, the more obvious it becomes that it could not have gone any other way. He also didn't accept the Great Man theory of history. He observed that if Napoleon had called off the Battle of Borodino the night before, his generals would simply have killed him and proceeded without him, and things would have turned out the same way.

I'm sure many IRA fighters were disappointed in the Good Friday Accords and would have continued to fight, but they were members of a disciplined militia and followed orders to stand down even if they didn't agree with them. I'm not sure the Hamas leaders have the same control over their own fighters, especially since they don't even live in the same country.

@LeopoldBloom
Well then if we differ on central core doctrines of slavational importance then one of us has been given over to deception and their eternal prospects are not good... There is only 3 possabilities when two people have different interpretations like that..

1) I'm right .. your wrong..
2) Your right.. I'm wrong..
3) Where both wrong..

In the end if you love the truth and are humble enough to be guided The LORD will lead you to a good future.. If God is for you then you cannot lose.. If God is against you then you are doomed.. Either way there is no point not seeking the will of God.. It's the only chance we have..


Well Not if God exists and was the One who inspired those men to write what they wrote... And if those writings came from the men who wrote them then they are not from God and thus it is not scripture but just the musing of men and not worth anything more then your own musings..



God is well able to lead men into translating His message into any language humans speak.. If you don't believe God can achieve that then you don't believe God exists and if you don't believe God exists then why bother reading books about Him and his will..


Did the translation accurately transfer the message the original was giving? If it did then it was an acceptable translation.. A sheep is an animal that has been so domesticated that it's ability to defend it;self from wild animals is severely lacking, so much so that it needs the protection of a Shepard to guard it and guide it to safe pastures.. Sheep have to follow a Shepard.. So too do human beings need to follow the guidance of God, they are incapable of going it alone. We humans keep on proving that time and time again.. Is a seal pup totally dependent on it's mother, must it follow it's mother, is it doomed without her milk / sustenance.. Yep..

@Adstar "In the end if you love the truth and are humble enough to be guided The LORD will lead you to a good future.. If God is for you then you cannot lose.. If God is against you then you are doomed.. Either way there is no point not seeking the will of God.. It's the only chance we have..'

Isn't this a bit fatalist and misunderstanding of truth? I'm agnostic, listen to people who battle about God, and it seems there is almost always this pretense of who is 'good' while even the bible says it's your relationship with God that only matters. It's dogmatic your response, believe in me or forever be damned.

The way I understand religion, it's a personal faith no one can judge, and even though I am agnostic, I know the value in meaning it gives to those needing a kind of certain faith, because it carries them through their life even when in times of struggle and trauma. Measuring those aspects, many religious do, is a wayward cause.

@awildsheepschase


When you look at human history do you not see time and time again in individual lives and in different societies the effects of our current faulty human condition??? I don't see my POV as being either fatalistic or idealistic.. I see it as being accurate.. The truth.. The way it is for us humans in this world.. If you have a nirvana mindset like a lot of people have you may think humans can achieve a perfect society and a perfected state of being on an individual level.. But the test of time clearly shows that people with a nirvana complex are simply wrong.. Every attempt to forge a idealistic human based society has failed and will continue to fail because the faulty cannot achieve perfection no matter how much they want it..


Well as a Christian i believe Jesus when He said only God is Good... So i am not good, you are not good and all the other people who share this earth with us are not good.. We are ALL faulty..



Agreed.. If we are in the right relationship with God we are Forgiven our faults and will be gifted eternity in His perfect eternal existence.. It's a gift He is going to give us.. It's not anything we can achieve through personal efforts and self justification.. But that.s the Good News ""Gospel"" that makes us in the end extremely confident of eternal success which is the exact opposite of ""fatalism"" you seem to be thinking we Christians are burdened with..


Is the statement Water is Wet dogmatic?? Why even respond to a statement with the Oh your dogmatic?? The statement is either Correct or it is Wrong.. Same goes with what i share in this discussion.. It's either Correct or it's Wrong.. No need to project any ill intent or negative character flaw on the Other.. All one needs to do is consider the other persons points as a whole and accept or reject them.. Same goes for me with the points i have read from the other people who have contributed to this discussion.. So i do not want anyone to believe in ME.. I want everyone to Believe Jesus.. He is the one who Redeems us.. Not me..



Well i disagree.. My beliefs have been judged over the years by other Christians and they have convinced me through debate that my positions on some doctrines where wrong and so i was happy to be corrected, to grow in the knowledge of salvation.. It's awesome to have multiple wisdom boosts over the years.. It's great having your misguided beliefs dispelled.. So yeah i get judged for my beliefs and i put other peoples beliefs to the test.. The Bible says this symbolical when it declares that Iron sharpens Iron..



Well that.s indeed a true statement.. Yep my beliefs have carried me through the struggles and trauma in my life and i have experience more then a few.. I can accept a less then perfect life because i know i will experience an eternal perfect life after this one.. But for an Atheist they can only live their best life now which will never reach anything like Nirvana level of perfection.. A lot of Atheists go through life depressed and miserable because they face the same kinds of struggles and trauma i have experienced but without the Hope of a better life to come... I sometimes wonder why atheists don't have a much higher suicide rate.. I am sure that if i did not have the Hope of the LORD Jesus i would have ended my life decades ago.. Whats the point of living a life with struggle and trauma and at the same time knowing deep down you have no hope of achieving a state of nirvana for yourself or for anyone else?? That would send me into a deep depression confronting that stark reality..

@Jayciedubb I mean, the people who carried out the 9/11 attacks were very religious.