One thing I tried in light of my belief in judgment at the gate was email every GOP senator about salvation in ought of following a sinner.
I daily send the death toll from the American backed conflicts to Ohio senator.
I believe it requires work yo get good change
Jesus did not come to promote a political ideology.
I know the goal of 2030 is that “You will own nothing and you will be happy,” but everywhere that socialism has been tried, the people have lived in more fear and are more unhappy. We already have socialism-lite in America and yet, there is more despair and suicides than ever in my lifetime. Why? Because many have made their politics their religion, politicians their idols, and government their god.
What brings us joy is negative rights (these are God-given rights that men do not grant, but can only strip others of). So-called positive rights are when government forces another to give of their services, resources, or property involuntarily. By default, socialism is immoral in my opinion. You become slaves to men. Voluntary charity, however, allows one to freely serve others and give the glory to God, rather than to rulers.
Now, I know the common line among socialists is, “we’ve never actually tried pure socialism.” Capitalists argue the same about capitalism. Capitalism has been corrupted by greed and regulations, therefore, it isn’t capitalism that you oppose, but a corrupted version of it.
Both view the other as being built upon greed. Many socialists want your stuff and for you to do things for them at no cost to them. A lot of socialists covet their neighbors and are filled with envy. “It isn’t fair,” they might say.
Some capitalists have wrongly argued that greed is not only human nature, but a moral good. I reject this idea. Greed is not morally good, and is part of fallen human nature.
Charity is moral. Forced redistribution of wealth and services is, by default, immoral. The early Christians are described as living in community and taking care of one another. This is good, when freely chosen.
I have a few recommendations. The first is the “TETRIS” movie (currently streaming on Apple TV). It contrasts capitalism and communism (which is socialism taken to its full conclusion). What is great about this film is that it shows two sides of capitalism: capitalistic greed (boooo) and the charitable aspect of capitalism (yaaaay).
The second recommendation is Trent Horn and Catherine Pakaluk’s book, “Can a Catholic Be a Socialist?”
Some think that Jesus’ parable about the boss who payed workers who worked fewer hours than others wage as those who worked more hours is is a teaching on equity, but it is actually teaching about charity. The owner of the business does not have to pay everyone the same, but rather he chooses to. And even though some of the hired help who worked more hours complained, the owner had every right to do this out of charity. It also points to how God teats those who may have become a Christian later in life receive the same gift as those who have been Christians all their lives.
Had the owner been forced to give all the workers the same wages no matter how much work they have done, then a result of this might be that all workers will become entitled and put in the minimum amount of work, demanding they be payed the maximum amount of wages. It takes it from a gift to an entitlement. And what happens? Nothing gets done and people will starve. And if they don’t get what they wrongly believe they deserve, then they will riot and burn their communities to the ground. Sound familiar?
I not understand what you are trying to say here. Can you phrase it another way?
I am against these unjust wars as well. And I currently reside in Ohio. The Ohio GOP, with the exception of a few individuals, is corrupt, I will give you this.
I would caution you on making your politics your religion. I am not a fan of political activists, because they often will try to tear down rather than to build up. And they will often ignore the corruption of their own collective, while attack the corruption of another faction. If you are going to call out corruption, call out individuals, in spite of their affiliation.
I know of someone who sent a brick to every Ohio Republican congressperson and it cost her quite a bit of money to do so, but she views herself as a social justice warrior.
At any rate, I don’t know what any of this has to do with St. Joseph and what happened to him after Jesus grew older. The only activism that St. Joseph did was being obedient to God and doing what he was called to do. He lived the Faith and protected and provided for his family. He wasn’t out protesting. He wasn’t sending threats in the mail. Focus more on the timelessness of the good news of Christ Jesus and less on the news (which becomes old news within hours of the day).
Christ’s peace.
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Think it has to do with the story Jesus told the rich man.
Master, what do i have to do to get eternal life?
(skipping ahead but)
Jesus told the rich man to sell everything he has, and follow him. You can’t serve both God and Money (Mammon).
For context. It means create treasures in heaven, not to benefit from earthly riches. I’ll assume that was the sin of the people using the temple as a way to make profit. But had zero focus on Godly worship.
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The point I was trying to make Lars was that, Jesus when he walked this Earth was a rebel at the time. He was constantly butting heads with the religious leaders at the time. I mean, the fact he called himself the Messiah really rattled their brains. The poor man died for existing for Christ’s sake (literally). So, in saying that, I’m pretty sure Jesus already knew the corruption that was going on in the Church at that point in time.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, cause that seems like an accurate take on why he did what he did, but I personally believe that Jesus knew what was really going on with this religion at the time. And the thing of it was, Jesus wasn’t afraid to put people in their place. Going with the Catholic belief that Jesus was God and Man, Jesus knew what was going on in the hearts of the religious leaders at the time. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Church back then was just as corrupt back then as it is now. There’s a reason why Jesus never mentioned that you have to be a part of religion to be saved, and I think it’s because he knew that religion can become corrupt. Basically, when Jesus was alive, He was constantly challenging the status quo. He saw the amount of division that was going on with the people, and He would challenge anyone that would try to keep up with appearances (and back in Jesus’s time, there was a lot of that going on. Some things never change….).
I know my take on what Jesus felt when it came to religion might be controversial, but again, the man was a controversial figure back then. He kind of reminds me of an activist, and He was a threat to the system. You see, the system thrives on obedience and conformity, because these families who have ruled our world for years have been trying to dull us down, get rid of creativity altogether, and have tried (but to no avail) to get rid of God and Jesus (which never really worked out for them to begin with). So when someone like Jesus comes along and basically points out the corruption and the blatant evil that is happening in society in general, the system then works night and day to get rid of the “virus” (which in this case was Jesus). And really, this isn’t just a Jesus thing, this is a “good people in general” thing. Whenever someone wants to point out that the elite are getting away with basically murder (and other unspeakable crimes) they’re always either killed or silenced in some way. You can see this happening all the time in History. Nikola Tesla was silenced because he was on his way to discovering free energy, which mean’t that we wouldn’t have to depend on the system for energy, we could’ve gotten it for free, but they silenced him. The Titanic sank, and the reason why the Titanic was so important was because it had people on there who were not only rich but they were going to try to change our monetary system because our monetary system was and still isn’t the best. They killed John F. Kennedy who knew about the elites and what they planned on doing to us, the average American person. Every person in History who tried to point out the evil that was really going on has been silenced, and in some cases killed, because they were threats.
I really do not think that Jesus wanted a religion started because of him. Yes, he was to be the fulfillment of the religion, but I don’t think Jesus himself wanted a religion to be started on behalf of his name. I think he wanted his teachings to be preserved, but I don’t think the man wanted to start a whole new religion.
But…I will always say this my whole life which is, I’m not saying religion can’t help someone. It’s helping my Mother, and I can tell she’s doing a lot better. And, if we’re talking about facts here, religion does help a lot of people, so I can’t say religion won’t help someone. But intellectually, for me, I can’t go back there. Intellectually it messed with me, and not in a good way. If I was to go back to that religion, I would want to have concrete answers to the questions I have, because if this religion is the full truth like it claims to be, then answering my questions and doubts shouldn’t be hard. But the truth is…my questions and doubts are hard to answer…cause under the Catholic religion, there is no concrete answer to my questions.
But anywho…if you wish to discuss this further Lars you are welcome to DM me. I just don’t want to flood the forums by going off topic and I’m starting to on this forum. So, if you or if anyone wishes to discuss what I’m talking about, you are welcome to DM me when you get the chance.
Cade asked whether I would not marry someone who had made a vow of virginity even if God asked me to in a dream. The answer: Definitely not. I would conclude that this was not God speaking, because a lifelong vow of virginity is incompatible with marriage vows. I do not believe that God would instruct people to make incompatible vows.
But some people believe that Mary made a lifelong vow of virginity before marriage? I have not heard any evidence that she did, and in marriage preparation nowadays this would be called a red flag. But supposing that she did (I don’t suppose that), then Joseph either knew about it and agreed to marry her anyway or didn’t know. Withholding knowledge of that vow would be grounds for annulment nowadays, so again suppose that he did know. But later he needed divine instruction to go ahead and marry her. What made him change his mind about marrying her? She was pregnant and he was not the father. So it looked to him like she not only had had sex with another man but in doing so had broken her vow of virginity? So Joseph needed reassurance on both counts?
This big supposition about the virginity vow and what reassurance Joseph needed is not stated or implied in the Gospels. To me it is an implausible conjecture.
My turn to suppose: I suppose that people are free to believe in this vow of virginity by a woman entering marriage; it doesn’t seem to contradict what is stated or implied in the Gospels, but I regard that as a flimsy basis for belief.
Paul’s concession: he said that his rule about married couples not abstaining from sex for a long time was a concession, not a command, but in the context of verses 1 to 6, it appears that the concession was not requiring people to remain single and celibate, not conceding that married people could have sex but would be better off being celibate in marriage. Verse 5 clearly says, “Do not deprive one another.” Focus on the Family says: “Paul’s point was: If you are single that is good, and if you are married or get married, stay married and retain normal marital relations, for that is of God.”
Some accounts say that when Mary became pregnant with Jesus she was either 12 or 13! And, even crazier, they also say Joseph was in his early to late SEVENTIES! And that was even considered normal back then! But back to the point, I think he most likely died when Jesus was a teenager.
Ok brought up to believe we go to the gate to be told left or right for eternity. I like to think I made thee right decision every time I was offered the temptation. Thus I sent mails to the people who use my tax money to create policy and issues around the planet. I ask they get back on the path that JFK had us on. I believe effort is necessary to do God good so I put out the effort to change each of our governments policies. One part of a day not all of it . Retirement allows for 10 hrs of artwork 7 days a week.
In Judaism the age of adulthood was 13, to the best of my knowledge. People could get married. They didn’t go to high school or college. They went to work, and the boys even went to war.
Even today, the coming-of-age ritual (bar mitzvah for boys, bat mitzvah for girls) is 13 for boys and 12 or 13 for girls.
Also, from what I have read, the life expectancy was pretty low, around 40. Yes, Psalm 90:10 says: “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength.” But I don’t take that to mean that it was how long the average person could be expected to live.
Which accounts give Joseph and Mary’s ages?
The Protevangelium of James (The Gospel of James) says that Mary was 13- 16 years old and Joseph was in his 90s.
Joseph in his 90s! I laughed out loud when I read that. Well, there are reasons that the Catholic Church has said that this book is not divinely inspired.
I appreciate your honestly. And like you, I would be skeptical of a dream like Joseph had as well, until Mary comes to me and says she was visited by an Angel and her story aligns with my dream. Then I might begin to think that maybe it was from God : )
To be clear: I do believe what the Bible says about Joseph being assured by the angel and taking Mary for his wife. I just don’t believe there was a vow of virginity in the way of their marriage.