Anyone worried about this?

[LuxLuthor]

I'm more worried about the war in Israel and it's ramifications. Looks to be possibly the war mentioned in Psalm 83 of the Bible. This means Lebanon and Jordan will join the fight. Likely ending with the prophesy in Isaiah 17 of Damascus being destroyed by fire in one night (probably nuked by the description). Then we have Zechariah 9 mentioning the king of Gaza being killed, the Palestinians resorting to canabalism, and Jews will be looking for the return of Christ. Part of the prophesy was fulfilled over 2000 years ago. They may end up receiving the Antichrist instead. Then there's Isaiah 11:14-16 which describes this war as well but adds the drying up of the Euphrates River and the Gulf of Aqaba. That leads to Revelation 9:13-21 and Ezekiel 38. These passages discuss the Russian and Iranian invasion of Israel with an army of 200 million mounted troops. The Euphrates River is dried up right before the battle of Armageddon.
When the Palestinian protesters are yelling "from the River to the sea", they are saying they want to drive the Israelis all into the ocean and kill them via genocide. It does scare me that we have terrorist cells in the U.S. from Iran planning their next attacks and still have open borders. It scares me that sanctions were eased allowing our oil money to go to Iran. It scares me that all the weapons lost in Afghanistan and some sold on the black market meant for Ukraine might be getting used by Hamas or smuggled across the U.S. border to use against us while our leaders are trying to marginalize our second amendment rights. It scares me that I can't trust my own government to be on the side of it's citizens when they're actions yell treason.

I grew up Catholic. Altar boy, Catholic grade and high school, so I was exposed to these types of scare tactics to ensure compliance. I just looked up each of those Bible verses to refresh my memory, and they are so vague and subject to any interpretation someone wants to fit their purposes, that it truly amazes me that people try to extrapolate them into current times and give them complete validity.

Never mind the fact that the Bible was made without tape recorders to capture actual words of Jesus and other religious figures. You only have to play the game of telephone to see how faulty and distorted people's memories are. Compilations were made in the next few hundreds of years from the most popular and internally consistent stories (later called gospels), and all other "gospel stories" were ignored or destroyed...then many revisions were done over the next 1700 years by spiritual and political leaders, and at some point everyone was instructed that you MUST accept that the Bible is the literal word of God.

Despite my skepticism, I do believe in God/Higher Power, and do think that at the very least, organized religion plays a useful role in inculcating morality and being a better human being. There are of course those who pervert their religion like these Islamic terrorists and the Papal Crusades that have nothing to do with religion or God.

 

[Poppy]

I grew up Catholic. Altar boy, Catholic grade and high school, so I was exposed to these types of scare tactics to ensure compliance. I just looked up each of those Bible verses to refresh my memory, and they are so vague and subject to any interpretation someone wants to fit their purposes, that it truly amazes me that people try to extrapolate them into current times and give them complete validity.

Never mind the fact that the Bible was made without tape recorders to capture actual words of Jesus and other religious figures. You only have to play the game of telephone to see how faulty and distorted people's memories are. Compilations were made in the next few hundreds of years from the most popular and internally consistent stories (later called gospels), and all other "gospel stories" were ignored or destroyed...then many revisions were done over the next 1700 years by spiritual and political leaders, and at some point everyone was instructed that you MUST accept that the Bible is the literal word of God.

Despite my skepticism, I do believe in God/Higher Power, and do think that at the very least, organized religion plays a useful role in inculcating morality and being a better human being. There are of course those who pervert their religion like these Islamic terrorists and the Papal Crusades that have nothing to do with religion or God.

I too have been raised Catholic, and went to church because that's what we do.
Too often when I had questions, the response would be... that is one of the "mysteries of the church." Other than hearing portions of the bible in church, and given an explanation by the priest regarding what the meaning was, I never read the Bible.

A few years ago, I finally read the Bible. I read the King James version it is supposed to be the most accurate interpretation of it.

I'd been taught that God is loving and forgiving, yet the first half of the Bible was about killing everyone and taking hostage the virgins, (actually IIRC it was to marry them, which meant to mate with them). It was about ransacking and raping the conquered villages, and salting their lands so that they can not be profitable.

Is that the word of God?

I prefer the teachings of Jesus.

If I were to bring a list of commandments to a new nation, or planet, I'd proclaim the Ten Commandments of Moses.

I find it unimaginable that wars are fought over religious beliefs, considering that most of them are based on interpretations of the Bible, or the Koran. They are similar.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I too have been raised Catholic, and went to church because that's what we do.
Too often when I had questions, the response would be... that is one of the "mysteries of the church." Other than hearing portions of the bible in church, and given an explanation by the priest regarding what the meaning was, I never read the Bible.

A few years ago, I finally read the Bible. I read the King James version it is supposed to be the most accurate interpretation of it.

I'd been taught that God is loving and forgiving, yet the first half of the Bible was about killing everyone and taking hostage the virgins, (actually IIRC it was to marry them, which meant to mate with them). It was about ransacking and raping the conquered villages, and salting their lands so that they can not be profitable.

Is that the word of God?

I prefer the teachings of Jesus.

If I were to bring a list of commandments to a new nation, or planet, I'd proclaim the Ten Commandments of Moses.

I find it unimaginable that wars are fought over religious beliefs, considering that most of them are based on interpretations of the Bible, or the Koran. They are similar.

Or the Torah

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I too have been raised Catholic, and went to church because that's what we do.
Too often when I had questions, the response would be... that is one of the "mysteries of the church." Other than hearing portions of the bible in church, and given an explanation by the priest regarding what the meaning was, I never read the Bible.

A few years ago, I finally read the Bible. I read the King James version it is supposed to be the most accurate interpretation of it.

I'd been taught that God is loving and forgiving, yet the first half of the Bible was about killing everyone and taking hostage the virgins, (actually IIRC it was to marry them, which meant to mate with them). It was about ransacking and raping the conquered villages, and salting their lands so that they can not be profitable.

Is that the word of God?

I prefer the teachings of Jesus.

If I were to bring a list of commandments to a new nation, or planet, I'd proclaim the Ten Commandments of Moses.

I find it unimaginable that wars are fought over religious beliefs, considering that most of them are based on interpretations of the Bible, or the Koran. They are similar.

First, there are no more mysteries of the church in the Bible. Colossians 1:24-27: "Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

If you don't understand the mystery, It's because you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Second, the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. If you read the account of Sodom and Gommorah in the book of the Apocrypha Jasher Chapter 18-19, the people stole, tortured, and cheated, and killed everyone entering their cities, before the sodomy began. If you read in the Bible, God let Abraham talk Him down to sparing Sodom if he could find just 10 righteous men (Genesis 18:20-33). The people tried to rape God's angels (Genesis 19). God sent Jonah to preach repentence to Ninevah, a city that was flaying people alive. He refused and God sent a fish to swallow him to give him an attitude adjustment. After Jonah had preached and the people repented, he was still mad. Jonah 4:1-2: "But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, "Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." God responds: "....And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left- and also many animals?" (Jonah 4:10). Maybe you should get to know God before you judge Him. Usually, in the Old Testament, when there was a group of people getting wiped out, it was after God offered them plenty of time to repent before he had them killed. A lot of them were doing things like child sacrification.

 

[bykfixer]

If only Adam and Eve hadn't eaten that apple.....

It's human nature to want more. In the garden of Eden they were surrounded by all things good, yet they had to go to that one tree in the center they were told not to eat from. There, that serpant convinced them to eat the one thing they were told not to eat. I blame Adam really. See, he was alone and asked God for a companion. So when he awoke from a nap there was Eve. Now anybody with any sense would think "ok that voice I hear just created this lovely, squishy, partner that smells good from one of my ribs and says don't eat from that tree.... I aint eatin' from that tree". But no. He had to see just what would happen if he did.

Soon after one brother killed his brother, tensions grew, wars erupted, humans commited atrocities on one another and the wheels on the busy go round and round.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

... and the wheels on the busy go round and round.

Adam was the first person to "throw someone under the bus" - "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

Adam also attempted to lay some of the blame on God - "The woman you put here with me"

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Adam was the first person to "throw someone under the bus" - "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

Adam also attempted to lay some of the blame on God - "The woman you put here with me"

Yeah, that there is human nature. "It's not my fault, it's your fault." Nobody wants to accept responsibility when they do the wrong thing. In my opinion, publicly accepting responsibility for your own mistakes is a very admirable quality. Watch for it, you won't see it much. That's one thing I like about the game of basketball, is when a player admits they fouled another player, to me that shows good character development. Of course, with a whole stand full of eyes plus several referees watching, you would be stupid not to admit what everyone saw. Still, I think it helps build character at the school level. BTW, I was not an athlete in school, so this has nothing to do with me, simply an observation.

 

[LuxLuthor]

If you don't understand the mystery, It's because you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

With respect, to expect that a thinking, intelligent person would actually believe--in the absence of a tape recorder--that what was put into the many versions of Bibles/selective stories told ("gospels") over the last 3,000 years, revised by religious and political leaders throughout history to better suit their interests actually captured what Jesus or any other religious leader said is at best, disingenuous. You had kings (James, etc.), self-appointed religious leaders, and well intended scholars deciding on their own accord what should be codified into the books.

Then to cover their asses, they added an edict that the Bible is the literal word of God, and must be accepted and believed as a matter of pure faith, which is now your fundamental premise to justify what you have accepted. When challenged that the Bible is anything more than a series of parables and moral guides (ignoring the ruthless violence passages), the ONLY response you can give is some version of that statement above. You have no right to assume what relationship a person must have with Jesus or any other religious figure because they don't agree with your literal interpretation of the collection of revised stories called the Bible.

And don't get me started on all of the billions of humans who have no awareness or exposure to the Christian faith through no fault of their own not having the same eternal future as evangelical types fervently believe. That's the height of arrogance and blind temerity.

Your earlier quoting of Biblical passages supposedly prognosticating the impending apocalypse is poppycock, and bears no relationship to current reality. No different from the musings of Nostradamus or Edgar Cayce.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Oh boy. Now we are in trouble. Religion and politics, the two things that we should not be discussing. Let's please cool it, guys. Nothing good is going to come from this. Please, drop it. Immediately. Please.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Yeah, that there is human nature. "It's not my fault, it's your fault." Nobody wants to accept responsibility when they do the wrong thing. In my opinion, publicly accepting responsibility for your own mistakes is a very admirable quality. Watch for it, you won't see it much. That's one thing I like about the game of basketball, is when a player admits they fouled another player, to me that shows good character development. Of course, with a whole stand full of eyes plus several referees watching, you would be stupid not to admit what everyone saw. Still, I think it helps build character at the school level. BTW, I was not an athlete in school, so this has nothing to do with me, simply an observation.

I remember when people caught in criminal behavior used to cry out - "I'm innocent!"

Nowadays they proclaim - "I'm the victim!"

 

[Monocrom]

If only Adam and Eve hadn't eaten that apple.....

It's human nature to want more. In the garden of Eden they were surrounded by all things good, yet they had to go to that one tree in the center they were told not to eat from. There, that serpant convinced them to eat the one thing they were told not to eat. I blame Adam really. See, he was alone and asked God for a companion. So when he awoke from a nap there was Eve. Now anybody with any sense would think "ok that voice I hear just created this lovely, squishy, partner that smells good from one of my ribs and says don't eat from that tree.... I aint eatin' from that tree". But no. He had to see just what would happen if he did.

Soon after one brother killed his brother, tensions grew, wars erupted, humans commited atrocities on one another and the wheels on the busy go round and round.

You're forgetting, it was Eve who offered Adam the apple after the serpent convinced her to pluck the apple. Serpent chose her. Knowing that if he tried to convince Adam, he'd fail; miserably. But if a lovely and seductive woman did it, Adam was likely to go for it. Which he did. More a tale about not letting someone seduce you into compromising your morals than blaming others for your actions.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

You're forgetting, it was Eve who offered Adam the apple after the serpent convinced her to pluck the apple. Serpent chose her. Knowing that if he tried to convince Adam, he'd fail; miserably. But if a lovely and seductive woman did it, Adam was likely to go for it. Which he did. More a tale about not letting someone seduce you into compromising your morals than blaming others for your actions.

 

[TPA]

You're forgetting, it was Eve who offered Adam the apple after the serpent convinced her to pluck the apple. Serpent chose her. Knowing that if he tried to convince Adam, he'd fail; miserably. But if a lovely and seductive woman did it, Adam was likely to go for it. Which he did. More a tale about not letting someone seduce you into compromising your morals than blaming others for your actions.

...and this would be the first documented (but certainly not the last) time a man was thinking with the wrong head.

 

[Monocrom]

Exactly! But who hasn't given in to temptation when they should have simply left. (The ironic part is The Bible specifically advises that a man should run away from temptation. Rather than stand his ground and do his best to fight it. No clue which Chapter and Verse. Other than very dedicated Preachers, and Satan himself; I don't have Chapters and Verses memorized. Either way, beware of anyone who does.)

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

It seems like I struck a nerve. I was merely defending my faith from those that wanted to blaspheme the God of the Old Testament while thinking they are okay with the Jesus of the New Testament. "Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."-John 14:6. If you asked a child if you could live in his house, but you really hate his father, what do you think his answer will be? If you don't like God the Father, how do you expect to get into heaven through his son?

 

[turbodog]

...

I always thought the best attack would be on the ...

This is one of those things that really should not be said as mitigation effects are next to impossible and speaking about it only gives domestic terrorists ideas. I suggest you edit your post.

 

[idleprocess]

This is one of those things that really should not be said as mitigation effects are next to impossible and speaking about it only gives domestic terrorists ideas. I suggest you edit your post.

The general knowledge has been available for decades, ala the Memo to the President published in 1989 (and doubtlessly numerous other tales). While some of the methods are fanciful, others are relatively simple actions that can be undertaken against infrastructure either self-evidently in the open or easily found from public information, with negligible security.

 

[Poppy]

It seems like I struck a nerve. I was merely defending my faith from those that wanted to blaspheme the God of the Old Testament while thinking they are okay with the Jesus of the New Testament. "Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."-John 14:6. If you asked a child if you could live in his house, but you really hate his father, what do you think his answer will be? If you don't like God the Father, how do you expect to get into heaven through his son?

HOF, I think that we have a difference of interpretation here.
Now please let me preface this with the fact that I only read the Bible once. Also that it was about four years ago. I sometimes have to remember if I ate lunch. So my recollection of the ONE time reading of a book will be faulty.

However I'll try to make a couple of points regarding the God of the old testament.
IIRC God only showed himself twice. Once across a river, or body of water. He presented as though coming from the heavens on a cloud of light. He had wings, and four faces, and IIRC four hands. The other time it was in a dream with the same or very similar description.

If this was God the Father, he looks nothing like his offspring.

Now I *think* every other time God gave commandments, it was to the author, (Typically a King), in a DREAM.
I'd like to drawn an analogy to the Greeks who went to the Oracle of Delphi for guidance before a battle, or the Vikings who met with a Seeress. The leader would come back to his followers, and foretell great fortunes predicted by the Oracle or Seeress.

So lets do as God said in my DREAM that we should go forth and smite all the villages, and salt their lands, and marry their virgins, and take their animals.

And I say.... bullcrap, God didn't come to them in a dream and tell them to do all this bad stuff. They made it all up. But because they were the King, it got written into a book.

Point two:
I don't recall God in the old testament ever showed himself to be merciful. He was angry and punishing. But there are many times that someone was PRAYING to God, and in their prayers they'd say that HE was merciful and splendid. Well he wasn't, but IMO they were kissing up to him in their prayers. How is it that people's PRAYERS got written into the book? Their prayers didn't make it real!

Point three:
I think that some of the stories in the Bible are balony.
If God comes to me in a dream, a freaking dream, and tells me to take my son to the top of a mountain and kill him, do you think that I would even consider it? Hell no! Maybe I'd take him on a hunting trip, and have a bar-b-que. Then I could proclaim that's what God wanted me to do. Here... write that down in your book.

Point four:
I don't recall Jesus ever stating that the angry God of the old testament was his Father. But rather that he was descended from the Father. God The Father. Not the made up God conjured up whenever a King wanted to rile up his army of men to attack a village, to plunder, and kill, but be sure to save the virgins.

I do question though, where are the scriptures? And why aren't they a part of the Bible, instead of the recounting of some people's dreams?

Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem but first sent one or two of his followers to get him a donkey so that he could enter the city riding on a donkey, in fulfillment of the scriptures. Certainly we suppose that He was very familiar with the teachings of the day. Why did he not arrive on a donkey, but rather had to put on a show of arriving on a donkey?

Okay, I guess I've written enough to have a number of people angry with me. I hope not. I hope they understand that I took the writings of the Bible as literally as I could, and found that much of the old testament is nonsense. In My Opinion.

 

[turbodog]

The general knowledge has been available for decades, ala the Memo to the President published in 1989 (and doubtlessly numerous other tales). While some of the methods are fanciful, others are relatively simple actions that can be undertaken against infrastructure either self-evidently in the open or easily found from public information, with negligible security.

Oh I know. But it's like getting radioactive material together... keep the nutjobs spread out and starved for info/ideas and maybe they won't get drunk and end the world with a .30-06 and few well-placed shots.

The internet allows all _sorts_ of fringe groups to coalesce, fester, and take action. Some people even collect, showcase, and meet in person about flashlights...

 

[idleprocess]

The internet allows all _sorts_ of fringe groups to coalesce, fester, and take action. Some people even collect, showcase, and meet in person about flashlights...

FWIW the DFW flavour of those weirdos are mostly harmless in my experience.