I love God's law I love the ten commandments I love the Old Testament I love the sermon on the mount yaay the law the greatest treasure God has given us my delight is the law of the Lord and I meditate on the law day and night yippee the law my curb and my mirror and my guide
@theancientfootsteps friend do not hide this in the tags
#me when the freedom given by the Gospel enables me #to engage with the Law not out of fear but out of love #to see God's commandments not as threats but as guidance #and to seek to fulfill them not for the sake of my own salvation #but for the sake of love of God and neighbor
to be Christian is to be called to love, but to be Christian is also to be called to love the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and the imprisoned specifically and explicitly. To be Christian is to abolish police and prisons, because with these institutions the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and the imprisoned will never be free. We are called to make Heaven on Earth, and that includes doing away with institutions that enforce worldly shackles.
I hate when customers hand out those stupid and ugly religious pamphlets that are made to look like money because at first glance I am so excited to have money for food or medicine, but the back just has a quote and then followed by "this is more valuable than money". It is disgusting and insulting to give these "tips" to people, especially the poor, and expect a thank you as if you have saved their life.
“Christ, who approaches prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners, can hardly be the teacher of those who are afraid to soil their pristine garments, who are completely devoted to the letter, who live only by the rules, and who govern the whole of their life according to rules.”
prayer request for myself, and the hatred and sadness and judgement in my heart. For my interpersonal relationships and the dumb things I’ve gotten into without God. For coming back home to Him.
2 Chronicles 30:9 -- "For as you return to the Lord, your kindred and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”
Everlasting God, let us pray for those who seek renewal of spirit and mind. As we lay my burdens before You, we acknowledge how the world so often distracts us, leading us to thoughts and actions that stray from Your path. Help us to fix our eyes on You, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Renew our minds daily, Lord, that we may discern Your will and live in alignment with Your purpose.
As we look upon our actions, past and present, we ask for the transformation that only You can provide. Fill our hearts with hope and joy, replacing any negativity with Your peace. Just as You transformed Saul into Paul, do the same in our lives. Thank You for the gift of renewal, that we may walk in Your light, reflecting Your love in all we do. Amen.
No you don't get it, I'm a Good Person. You don't understand. I'm a Good Person which makes it okay for me to think violently about the Enemy, who is Bad Person. I'm commenting "you should be violently murdered" because I'm Good Person and you're Bad Person. You think saying that to someone is fucked up?? You should be violently murdered, you're probably Bad Person anyway
my personal argument for open borders is really simple it just boils down to "i believe restricting human movement and barring certain people from certain places on this earth is a human rights violation"
i mean this. everyone should be able to walk freely between mexico and the united states, fuck an ID, fuck a passport, fuck a visa. it's land, continuous, uninterrupted land. the soil on one side of the fense has the same geologic makeup of the soil on the other. we drew this invisible line in the sand, we can wipe it away with our feet together. it is well past time the world organizes en masse for our freedom of movement.
I’m a person that’s into studying historical and contemporary religions for personal curiosity scholarly reasons but I’m also a practicing Christian so for the sake of intellectual honesty I’ve had to develop two different brains for studying Christian texts and history. An analytical student of literature and history brain and a spiritual religious person brain.
These days when I look at passages about hoarding wealth being corrupting in the New Testament my studying brain is like it’s kind of interesting how Christianity says wealth is a bad thing because a lot of polytheistic religions in the ancient Mediterranean took the exact opposite approach so this was probably pretty weird to people at the time but maybe that’s also why some people found it appealing.
Meanwhile my spiritual brain is like dear Lord God if it be your will please haunt JD Vance’s dreams with these passages about how being rich is stupid thank you for everything good in my life like my cats and cheese on bread and if it be your will please haunt JD Vance with visions of camels trying to fit through the eye of a needle and make him really uncomfortable about it k love you amen
Something everyone should know either as an authority or as a person labouring under an authority, being anywhere from a babysitter to a parent to a government entity, is that establishing a rule of any kind is incredibly labour-intensive and difficult to enforce.
So if you're going to make something into a rule, it HAS to be something you can both Verify and Enforce- if you can Verify but not Enforce, it's essentially just a suggestion. If it's something you can Enforce but not Verify, you're going to waste a lot of energy and time becoming an authoritarian dictator that nobody likes.
And because the process of Verification and Enforcement BOTH take a LOT of work, it makes no sense to waste all that work on establishing a Rule which has no Function.
For this reason, every Rule you set must perform a Function which gives you a return that is, if not greater, then at least EQUAL to the energy it takes to maintain, in one way or another. Otherwise, the whole system collapses.
Any authority that exists has limited time and limited resources, so it must prioritize rules that minimize the MOST HARM, that are EASIEST TO VERIFY, and are MOST ENFORCEABLE.
So, before you CREATE a rule, you must ask yourself:
What does this rule accomplish?
Is the reward of this rule greater than the expense of establishing it?
Can I verify when this rule has been violated?
Can I feasibly discipline one to violates this rule?
And, what I would argue is almost MOST important after all that,
5. How do I explain this rule in a way that people will want to follow it?
As a parent, for example, "do not set a campfire in the living room" is a good rule, because it is easily explained as a risk to personal safety and property, it's a rare enough situation to come up, it's easy to tell when it's happened, and a consequence like "you will not be left unsupervised for an extended period of time" or "you will write a report on house fires" could be implemented as discipline.
But as a parent, "no eating outside of meal times" is not a great rule in most circumstances. For one, food is easy to access, the harm that can come from snacking between meals is almost zero, it's almost impossible to prove, and there is no feasible way to stop someone from doing it OR make them WANT to follow it without lowering yourself to abuse.
So, if there is a behaviour an authority wants you to follow, it must first ask itself Why. Then decide if that is reasonable. Then decide if it should be a Rule or a Suggestion.
If the desired rule is not verifiable, or enforceable, then the authority must make peace with the fact that it will be taken as a suggestion. It has no other choice but to become an enemy, and slowly lose all respect and credibility.
You cannot make "no snacking" into a rule. But you CAN say, "this is how you keep a balanced diet, this is how you stay healthy, please don't take more than you'll eat at dinner, save leftovers for later".
You CAN make "no fire pits indoors" into a rule, and you can remain vigilant that it doesn't happen and give it your full focus when it does.
This is where laws based on social or religious judgement fail.
You cannot Verify or Enforce against drugs, crossdressing, homosexuality, sodomy, satanism, tattoos, prostitution, oral sex, or abortion. Not in any way that matters. Not in any way that Protects more than it Harms. It's difficult to prove, difficult to enforce, and it happens too much and too consensually to universally oppose. You can only expend energy and cultivate a population that distrusts you in trying.
You CAN Verify and Enforce against violence, abuse, theft, fraud, embezzlement, discrimination, and murder. Because it DOES Protect more than it Harms, and you can justify the expenses. Because these are things that happen nonconsentually, and can be prioritized, because there are Victims who experience Harm. Enforcing these rules can cultivate safety and trust instead of suspicion, cooperation instead of opposition within a populace.
Which is why laws against anything that does not cause harm, in my opinion, is doomed.
Because I've been raised and raised kids and seen kids raised in both ways, and I know that "because I said so" does nothing.
If you cannot Verify or Enforce, then the best you can do is Educate, provide safe options, and build a system to heal and recover for any potential fallout.
Like. I’ve never been to college for this, I’ve never studied social engineering or criminal Justice, but in my experience working with children and doing private security everything I’ve experienced has taught me
So I was at SDCC this year, and I passed a stall in the ladies' and heard someone sobbing inside. Just bawling, fully melting down. My-dog-just-died levels of crying. And I've spent a lot of time in therapy trying to learn better boundaries around helping people, but I'm not made of stone, so I stopped outside the stall door and asked, "Are you okay?"
The woman's breath caught, and she said, "Yeah, I'm fine," in the least fine voice I have ever heard.
So I walked away. Made it all the way to the sinks. Washed my hands. And turned around and went back because nope, not fine, not okay.
"Look, I don't want to be a dick, and you don't have to tell me what's going on, but is there anything that would help? I've got water, ibuprofen, and safety pins, and I could find other stuff."
"No, no, it's fine. I have those too."
"...okay."
I made it to the sinks again. She went back to sobbing like her heart was being torn out one strand of muscle at a time.
An older woman sidled up to me. "Did she tell you anything?"
"Nope. I offered her water and ibuprofen, too."
"Oh! I've got snacks. Maybe that'll help."
"Worth a shot. Oh, hey, I think I have some of my business cards for my Etsy shop in here—I could write my number on one if she needs help later."
"I've got a pen!"
We hurried back to the stall, offered the snacks, and were rebuffed. Finally we slid the card and the pen under the stall door, explained that we were both mom friends/teachers/etc. and trying to help-not-creep, and reluctantly fucked off. I personally felt like shit about it, but I had places to be and I felt like I was close to overstepping the crying woman's boundaries if I hadn't already done so. And if I'd made her feel unsafe, well, she could toss the card.
The following morning, I got a text from an unknown number.
She identified herself as "Rose from the bathroom" and explained that she'd had a hell of a day, with multiple people being cruel to her, seemingly for no good reason. She'd hit her breaking point and fled to the bathroom to cry it out ... at which point two strangers had rocked up, checked on her multiple times, and generally done the dance of most social mammals when a member of their group is in unexplained distress. The two of us had, more or less accidentally, restored her faith in humanity by being worried apes at her. 18 hours later, she was having a much better time, and a lot of it was due to the two of us shoving things under her door.
Anyway, turns out we live about 20 minutes apart, and we're going to meet up for tea after we've recovered from con exhaustion.
So if you ever feel like humans in general and/or fandom humans in particular are irredeemable shits, remember that sometimes the same species who'll ruin your con day will try to slide trail mix and ibuprofen under your stall door in case it helps.
I still don't know what Rose looks like, btw (although apparently she knows what I look like—I mentioned I was in cosplay and she said she'd seen me around). I don't know whether she's cis or trans. So next time you hear someone bitching about trans women in the ladies', feel free to tell them that it never once crossed anybody's mind to ask. If you're crying in the bathroom, you're my sister.
Maybe take the trail mix, though. We apes worry about one another.
*beating my head on the table anytime i see any statement whatsoever about who did or did not kill jesus*
Tl;dr: Everyone killed Jesus. Including you. And that's really freaking important.
The answer is everyone, btw. Literally everyone on earth. Peter straight up says in the Book of Acts who is responsible: Herod. Pilate. Every single non-jewish nation on earth. The people of Israel.
Clearly Peter is not actually meaning to say that every individual in the world is responsible for Jesus' literal physical death (for which the answer is Judas of Kerioth and The Jerusalem Leaders: Herod, Pilate, Caiaphas, etc. Really just the religious and political authorities at the time). But it's obvious that by the time of the writings of the apostles, they've moved beyond thinking about Jesus' death in historical terms and are thinking about it theologically.
What does it mean for God to die? What does it mean for God to be willing to die? What does it mean for God to be able to die?
The answer they came to around the responsibility of Jesus' death was both historically and cosmically rooted. Historically, it was the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem. The romans leaders literally put him to death; the jewish leaders handed him over to be killed.
But the cosmic significance if of much more importance. Who cares who literally killed him? He's dead. What matters is why. Why did he die? And when you ask that question you get a new answer: Everyone killed him. Peter says it quite clearly, "in [Jerusalem] there were gathered together against your holy servant/son Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the nations and the peoples of Israel" Does that sound like the Jews to you? Does that sound like the Romans to you? No. That is everyone in every nation on planet earth.
What does that mean? Well look later in the same book. Saul (a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin) is perusing and imprisoning and killing (probably hellenistic-jewish) followers of the Way because in his mind they are blaspheming and idolatrous followers of a new cult and will bring down the wrath of God upon their people (which. valid.). But while he's on the Road to Damascus he has an apocalypse, an unveiling, where he sees a vision of the risen Jesus who tells Saul that he isn't persecuting idolatrous cultists, but is persecuting Jesus himself who also claims to be the Anointed One that Saul (and everyone else at the time) had been waiting for.
But the important thing is the first thing: Saul isn't persecuting his followers, he's persecuting Jesus himself. This same concept is played with in Matthew 25: when you see the poor, the incarcerated, the immigrant, the sick, the widow, etc etc etc. When you see the oppressed, it is not merely human beings you see, but it is God himself who identifies with their suffering. This is what Christians call the kenosis: that God emptied himself to become human, born of a poor girl in a washed up town, died the death of a cursed blaspheming slave. God is the God of the suffering. So to persecuted God is to persecute anyone. To kill God is to kill anyone. But especially vulnerable and marginalized groups.
Cain killed (the image of) God when he killed his brother.
Pharaoh killed (the image of) God when he killed the infants.
The kings of Israel and Judah oppressed (the image of) God when they oppressed the widow, orphan, immigrant, and poor.
They killed (the image of) God when they killed the prophets.
That soldier killed (the image of) God when he killed a poor man.
That rich woman abused (the image of) God when she abused her maidservant.
The conquistadors killed (the image of) God when they conquered the "West Indies".
The crusaders killed (the image of) God when they murdered Muslims and Jews.
The Spanish colonists enslaved and killed (the image of) God when they enslaved and killed off the natives.
I could go on. But I don't need to. You can already think of many. From the past. And from today. Need I mention antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny, rape, genocide, hinduphobia, etc etc etc.
Now, I've never persecuted or killed anyone. The total abolition of the use of death as a weapon and all that. But you know what, I have treated people as less than human. And so have you. If you claim you haven't, I don't believe you. We all have treated people as less than human before which is the foundation for how murder comes about. Which is why Jesus says bursting out in rage is just as bad as murdering someone. because when you do, you treat them like they're an object, and not an image (of God). Thus, we all have the blood of God on our hands. The question is about whether we are going to wash our hands clean of it, like Pilate. Or whether we're going to be washed in it, like the apostles.
not to sound like a christian facebook mom but some of yall need to have grace in your hearts for the people in your lives or the people you pass once on the road and never see again like you literally need to stop assuming the worst of everyone and their intentions it is poisoning your brain. you can be careful and responsible without being a miserable person. it is possible i promise
Also, if you're a jerk to others, the percentage of jerks you interact with will be higher than if you're not a jerk.
By being a jerk, you're actively making your life harder and less pleasant. This is because we're a social species, and we do this thing called "mirroring" usually unconsciously, so people tend to reflect the behavior you put out, back to you.
Also you can intentionally be kinder with people, and they'll be kinder to you.
We are a social species depended on cooperation to survive. Altruistic behavior is actually what's in our genetic past, far more than jerks.
A few years back, my comedian husband was at Cardiff Glee Club, waiting to perform. He's friends with all the staff there, so he was chatting to one of the glass collectors while the audience were coming in, finding their seats, ordering drinks to their tables etc
It was a busy night, and apparently the bar and kitchen were both running a little behind. Mid conversation , a woman strode up to Steff and his friend and aggressively said "I get that you're having a nice time, guys, but some of us are still waiting on drinks, so do you think you could do your jobs?"
Before either could answer, the bar manager materialised.
"Well, he's a glass collector and he's one of the acts on tonight," she said politely, pointing them out. "So, neither of them can help you. But I'm the manager, can I help?"
("I specified that," the manager told Steff afterwards, "because if she's going to be a dick, I'm going to waste her time by telling her why she's wrong and has just been stupid before I help her.")
"Yes," said the woman, now gearing up to get good and annoyed to compensate for her embarrassment. "We've been waiting for our drinks for over half an hour! This is ridiculous!"
"I'm sorry about that," says the manager. "We're super busy tonight, as you can see. What's your order number? I'll check its status."
The woman gave it. The manager looked it up.
"Ah," said the manager. "I see the problem - these were ordered twelve minutes ago, but there's currently a twenty minute wait, as you can see on the board. I'll see what we can do to speed it up, though, and we'll get to it as soon as we can."
The woman grumbled and left.
The manger put her one lower in the queue.
Five minutes later, a second woman from a different group arrived.
"Sorry, it's very possible I'm being a bother and you'll get to it soon," she smiled. "But I just wondered if there's an update on our order? It's been a while."
"I'm so sorry," the manager said, "we're super busy. Let me check for you... Yes, you're still in the queue. We'll get to you as soon as possible, shouldn't be long now."
"Oh!" says the woman. "No, no worries, I just thought I'd double check to make sure we hadn't somehow dropped off the system. Thank you!"
She left, and the manager put her one higher in the queue. When her order was made, the manager added an extra bottle of beer, and a little note that said "Sorry for the wait :)"
And I tell this tale because, the thing is... If this is typical behaviour, that first woman probably goes her whole life never quite being happy, never quite content, always missing out on free moments of human connection. By contrast, the second woman goes her life getting those little gestures, being seen that little bit earlier, having a slightly smoother time of things.
And neither probably even realises. In a thousand small ways, Second Woman has a happier time than First Woman, entirely down to their behaviour.
So yeah - act like a cunt to people, they'll repay you in kind. That's how it works. Your choice if you want that or not ig
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