54 Comments
Mar 21Liked by Bill Astore

Here in the Chicago area we are being flooded with people begging; Venezuelans and Colombians with families and cardboard signs pleading for help. I asked friends about their views on giving to beggars and was not surprised to hear the standard line about seeing some example of begging fraud many years in the past and deciding on that single incident to sweep away all beggars as likely frauds.

How easily we rationalize doing what we want to do - in this case walking right by those at the bottom convinced in our own minds that our conscience is rightfully clear.

The golden rule always needs help as it is so easily put aside. Putting oneself in the other's place is a must if one is to even approach a moral way of living. The complete absence of this is evident in Gaza as the lives and property of a native people are taken without hesitation, so convinced are the destroyers of their righteousness. Atop it all is Joe Biden, with no hesitation enabling slaughter immediately after Oct 7 and unrelentingly staying with it for the following months. I send his campaign appeals back with WAR CRIMINAL written on them and a request to be dropped from the mailing list. Even if only one lowly mail handler sees the message, it serves a purpose.

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Well said!

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Mar 21Liked by Bill Astore

I remember that years ago the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying that what today's world most needed more of was compassion; I don't remember anything else he said and I'm not a follower, but that stuck with me.

Then after reading Arthur Schopenhauer's vast magnum opus, the World as Will and Representation, over the past two years, I was struck by his insistence on the importance of compassion and loving-kindness.

Halfway through his work, I had jokingly summarized it to myself by saying "The shortcut to understanding all of Schopenhauer's philosophy is to be reborn a Hindu." Months later, when I came to the conclusion of his Gesamtwerk (complete works), I was struck by his quasi endorsement of ascetic Buddhism, which (in its purest form) is the closest thing to "true, original" Christianity (Jesus's message, not the institutional behemoth).

It's impossible to summarize Schopenhauer's doctrine succinctly, but he emphatically makes an appeal to have compassion and loving-kindness; that's the best that the best among us can do after being born into the cruel world.

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Mar 21Liked by Bill Astore

It was way back in 1966 when Dionne Warwick sang 'What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfHAs9cdTqg

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author

Well said, Chris. Thanks.

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Mar 21Liked by Bill Astore

"The Gospel According to Peanuts". One of my favorite (short) books. By Robert Short.

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I used to have a copy. Paperback.

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Snoopy as a Jesus figure.

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Although I'm not at all religious, as you know, Bill, I do believe in the type of social contract outlined by the existentialists. That is, essentially, if one wants to live in society, one is bound to abide by its rules and treat others fairly. In other words, I don't think religion is needed for morality.

That said, I agree that we've lost much of the "humanity" that's supposed to define us as humans. In many ways, we're much worse than non-human animals.

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Pardon my French, but this is my email signature:

Mieux j’apprends à connaître les hommes, plus je me mets à aimer les chiens.

Charles de Gaulle

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D'accord!! At least DeGaulle was right about one thing.....

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I think if the Human Race, and we "All"every inhabitant of planet Earth just abided as the "Dude" "Dudeism" The Big Lebowski.., or lived "simply" (of course living simply isn't always simple.) , and also take care of the Ghettos, Barrio's, Shanty Towns, the Hood-- all the disenfranchised who to most are so invisible unless you worked the Cities like I , and others often did and lived in their Neighborhoods as we did in our Firehouses.

By Living the "Golden Rule" no Religion is necessary period exclamation pt! I'm honestly not looking for any more religious debates here...

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Fireman, while I believe in the Christian perspective, I have this in my front door window, very similar to my Christian Faith and Values,

This is my simple religion

There is no need for temples

No need for complicated philosophies

My Brain and my Heart are my temples

My philosophy is kindness.

- Dalai Lama

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Ray: Not a Fan of the Dalai Lama... Used to be, but his strangeness in his Remarks to that young Boy ended it for me...!

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At the end of it all, every Human, you and I included, will have positives and negatives in all we said and did, including those things we should have done but didn't do in the short Time spent in the body in this corrupted Material World. We should all hope our Positives outweigh the Negatives. Compassion ensures the Positives endure.

I remember that incident you refer to and I thought it was too strange too, but as I said in my comment, I agree with those words coming out of the Dalai Lama's mouth, if not what he said to that boy.

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Ah you got it Ray, and that's just it every "Human" and we are all human! Pope Dalai Lama etc.etc.etc. No one any "holier" than the other since time & the dawn of civilization began... And, until our Star the Sun reaches its final "Red Giant" stage like Betelgeuse is now in Orion and none of this "Bullshit" will ever matter anymore, or when Andromeda Collides with our Milky Way Galaxy yes, we are on a Cosmic collision course! Game Ovah!!! Get the Lights before you leave.

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deletedMar 22·edited Mar 22
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I thought I was writing about compassion.

May I politely suggest that compassion includes tolerance for the beliefs of others? That it may not be compassionate to attack and reject the views of others when those views do you no personal harm.

We all have personal beliefs. None of us has a monopoly on truth. I think we should be open to learning from each other, no matter what labels we ascribe to ourselves and to each other (Christian, Muslim, Hindu, agnostic, atheist, Wiccan, humanist, Saganist, etc.).

You're not smarter or better because you're an atheist. I'm not smarter or better because I'm a lapsed Catholic. Wisdom can be attained anywhere and everywhere, whether in church, in nature, or just in virtual conversation.

But "conversation" isn't productive when one person is denouncing the personal beliefs of another. When you do that, you ape those preachers of the Word who denounce all unbelievers as foolish and forsaken.

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founding

Well said, Bill. Very well said.

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One of the most revealing things Christ Jesus said in my estimation,

You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

This people draws close to me with their mouth, and honours me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Matthew 15

Obviously those words are not addressed to those who don't believe in God and Christ, but to those who think they do.

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Mar 22·edited Mar 22Liked by Bill Astore

One of the main sources of all that "too much religious preaching" You're complaining about, Dennis, is Your constantly challenging and criticizing Ray's frequent, what could easily be termed "preaching."

To which he virtually inevitably responds with more what could easily be termed more "preaching."

To which You respond with more than a little anti-religious "preaching" of Your own.

Religious or Anti-Religious: Preaching is still Preaching, isn't it?

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Be fair jg! I make many comments without mentioning God or the Bible. It's when others make comments that strike me as paraphrasing Scripture, I point it out. It's not necessarily preaching but pointing out the Realities.

The reason The Washington Post suspends me and deletes my comments is because I point out too many SINS of Historical OMISSION in their Propaganda. I don't cite God in those comments, only what I clearly remember in recent History.

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i am aware, Ray: that You make many comments that don't mention God or the Bible. But in my comment to Dennis, i was talking about the comments You make that DO mention Him or It. And that's what he responds to.

And one man's "pointing out the Realities" is another man's "preaching," wouldn't You agree?

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The Golden Rule, Dennis, comes from the Bible you don't believe in!

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founding

The Golden Rule, Ray, comes from a LOT more places than just the Bible…:

Golden Rule in Religion and Culture

One of the more interesting characteristics of the Golden rule is that it can be found inside all the main religions, schools of thought, and philosophies everywhere in the world and in all time periods. We want to mention a few in alphabetical order.

BAHA’Ì: “Blessed is who prefers his brother to himself” (Bahà’u’llàh tablets – 19th century).

BUDDHISM: “Whatever is disagreeable to yourself, do not do unto others” (The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.18 – 6th century BC).

CONFUCIANISM: “Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you” (Confucius, Analects 15.23 – 5th century BC).

CHRISTIANITY: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Gospel of Matthew 22, 36-40 – 1st century CE).

JUDAISM: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow-man. This is the entire Law, all the rest is commentary” (Talmud, Shabbat 3id – 16th century BC).

GANDHI: “To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of all creation as oneself” (translated from: Il mio credo, il mio pensiero, Newton Compton, Rome 1992, page 70 – 20th century).

JAINISM: “In happiness and sorrow, in joy and in pain, we should consider every creature as we consider ourselves” (Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara – 6th century BC).

JUDAISM: “Never do to anyone else anything that you would not want someone to do to you” (Tobias 4, 15 – 3rd century BC).

HINDUISM: “This is the sum of duty. Do not unto others that which would cause you pain if done to you” (Mahabharata 5, 1517 – 15th century BC).

ISLAM: “None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself” (Hadith 13, The Forty Hadith of Imam Nawawi – 7th century).

NATIVE AMERICANS: “Respect for every form of life is the foundation”(The Big Law of Peace– 16th century).

PLATO: “I can do to others what I’d like them to do to me” (5th century BC).

YORUBA WISE SAYING (WEST AFRICA): “If somebody stings a bird with a sharp stick, should be first try it on himself and realise how badly it hurts”.

SENECA: “Treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your betters” (Letter 47 11 – 1st century).

SHINTOISM: “Be charitable to all beings, love is the representation of God” (approximately 500 CE: Ko-ji-ki Hachiman Kasuga – 8th century BC)

SIKHISM: “I am a stranger to no one, and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all” (Guru Granth Sahib, religious scripture of Sikhism, p. 1299 – 15th century).

VOLTAIRE: “Put yourself in the other person's shoes” (Letters on the English, n.42).

ZOROASTRIANISM: “Do not do to others what is harmful for yourself” (Shayast-na-Shayast 13, 29 – between 18 and 15 century BC).

Source: http://livingpeaceinternational.org/en/the-project/regola-d-oro-2.html .

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One of Gandhi's famous sayings was "I like your Christ. I don't like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ"

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deletedMar 22
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founding

That's not just in "American Business," Dennis.

That is in any Nation's Business that is intimately tied into, and thus influences, manipulates, and in some cases, controls ~ or is totally controlled by ~ that Nation's Government.

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In the Genesis, because God commanded the Angels to serve and Minister to Humans, Lucifer thought he was superior to Humans and refused God's Command leading a rebellion.

God told the man and the woman in the Garden who were naked and unashamed the Creation was all good, and they could eat from all the trees in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, the tree from all Humans have had a taste, some more, some less. God knew humans didn't need to know the evils you so happily bring into question?

Now the serpent was cunning, more than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had made, and it said to the woman, "Did God indeed say, 'You shall not eat of any of the trees of the garden?'"

And the woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, "You shall not eat of it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die."

And the serpent said to the woman, "You will surely not die. For God knows that on the day that you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like angels, knowing good and evil."

That's where Evil comes from Dennis, through mortal men thinking they are like God and can order massive Death and Destruction on other Mortals through WARS, activities that are Criminal in Peace, making themselves above the Law.

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deletedMar 22·edited Mar 22
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Like I said Dennis, I don't disparage you for your lack of Faith in God, but it appears to me your purpose is to attack my Faith in God.

You're wasting your Time in that vain attempt.

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I am also the product of a very devout Christian upbringing. I was born into a family whose small church had been banned by the NAZI regime in 1936. The simple fact is that institutionalized Christianity has never exhibited compassion. There were the occasional exceptions like this young nun. My parents were constantly threatened by the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. They were members of a religious organization that was declared illegal in 1936 and my father was known as a Social Democrat (SPD). We (my mother) learned in 1969 that our father who had recently passed away that he had been saved from incarceration in a concentration camp by two former schoolmates (brother) who were members of the SS. My mother was told of this action by one of these former SS brothers. They had removed his name from a list of deportees. I doubt they did it out of compassion (or Christian charity), though I have no way to proof it. I say this because I do not accept that religion is a major basis for humane behavior; it maybe a contributing factor in some individual cases.

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Jeffrey Sachs concludes his 21 March piece “The Urgency of Diplomacy” as follows:

It has been the US and its allies that have broken agreements and refused diplomacy. THE US VIOLATED ITS SOLEMN PLEDGES to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and to Russian President Boris Yeltsin that NATO would not move one inch eastward. THE US CHEATED by supporting the violent coup in Kiev that toppled Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych. THE US, GERMANY, FRANCE, AND THE UK, DUPLICITOUSLY REFUSED to back the Minsk II agreement. THE US UNILATERALLY WITHDREW from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and from the Intermediate Force Agreement in 2019. THE US REFUSED to negotiate when Putin proposed a draft Russia-US Treaty on Security Guarantees on December 15, 2021.

There has in fact been no direct diplomacy between Biden and Putin since the beginning of 2022. And when Russia and Ukraine negotiated directly in March 2022, the UK and US stepped in to block an agreement based on Ukrainian neutrality. Putin reiterated Russia’s openness to negotiations in his interview with Tucker Carlson last month and did so again more recently.

The war rages on, with hundreds of thousands dead and with hundreds of billions of dollars of destruction. We are coming closer to the nuclear abyss. It’s time to talk.

In the immortal words and wisdom of JFK in his Inaugural Address, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”

Source: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/ukraine-war-diplomacy ; EMPHASES added.

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founding

OPTION 1 and OPTION 3

Option 1: GOD FORMALLY CHARGED WITH CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: “If all else fails,” His lawyers assert, "We’ll plead insanity”

GOD has been formally charged with Crimes Against Humanity.

In an action that took the entire Universe and Beyond by complete and total surprise [with the possible exception of a few scattered Gnostics, a Dudeist or two, and a theoretical cosmologist/physicist, evolutionary biologist, and cognitive scientist or three, here and there], the United Nations today issued a Warrant for GOD’s arrest to defend HIMSelf against Charges of “Crimes Against Humanity,” and numerous and assorted other “War and/or Other Crimes.”

These Charges were listed in the indictment as including, “… but not limited to [and starting with]: criminal deceit and entrapment in the Garden of Eden; global and local geo-, geno-, ethno-, gyno-, infanti-, eco-, and biosphereo-cide; the mass slaughters of non-combatants [human and otherwise]; and, most particularly, failure to effectively oversee the actions of HIS designated and representative subordinates. Or the actions of those who have designated, represented, and presented [and present] themselves As HIS designated subordinates. Even as we speak.”

GOD is also charged with direct complicity in the murder of HIS Son.

The Warrant mandates that GOD [aka “YHWY/‘Elohim/Adonai,” “God, The Father,” “Allah,” and “Etc”], HIS designated representative[s], and each, every, and all of HIS and their attorneys appear before The United Nations’ and World Peoples’ Tribunal For Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Concerning GOD’s Crimes Against Humanity ~ to be convened at the UN Headquarters in New York on September 11, 2024 ~ to answer these Charges.

A World Peoples’ attorney, identified only as “Q,” briefly outlined the charges against The Supreme Being [“starting in the ‘Garden’”], and their bases, sources, and justification. She also explained the purpose, goal, and intention of the Tribunal. Details at 11.

[Extracted from Documents From the Proceedings of The United Nations’ and World Peoples’ Tribunal For Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Concerning GOD’s Crimes Against Humanity.]

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Option 3: Intercepted Message [Source Vicinity: Galactic Sector ZZ 9 Plural Z Beta]

re the Question You posed to Middle East Peace Negotiators; ie:

“If Your God says that it is Your Land;

and if His God says that it is His Land;

and if Their God says that it is Theirs…;

then, Whose Land is it? Really?

And, how are we to know?

And more importantly, how do those Gods know?

And finally and most importantly, how do any of YOU know?”

Exterminate them. Exterminate them all. Or rather, Terminate: With Extreme Prejudice. And then let YHWH, God The Father, Allah, and The Etceteras sort them all out.

Or better, terminate YHWH, God The Father, Allah, and The Etceteras, and let the dearly beloved faithful believers sort Them all out.

In either case, as retired US Army Special Forces Colonel Walter E Kurtz once put it [albeit in a different context]: “….. we must kill them. we must incinerate them. pig after pig. cow after cow. village after village. army after army…. ”

This nonsense needs to end. This nonsense must end. This nonsense will end. Now.

Before ALL Life [to say nothing of Human [or at least Humane] Life] on that Planet is very seriously disrupted. Out.

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Hear, hear!

Reject the culture and try compassion and forgiveness towards your neighbor.

And if you don't care about compassion and you don't want to forgive, realize that the ruling elite are banking on your spite and hard feelings towards your neighbor.

Literally. Banking on it.

Let's not let them make bank on that anymore.

Your neighbor is your ally. Thank you, Bill, for the reminder.

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Perhaps the Pope should listen to Mother Natalia for some ideas to practice.

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Pope Francis is doing better than any living world leader I know of. Have you read any of his encyclicals? He has an impressive knowledge of science. (I’m not a Catholic or even a believer in God.)

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Mar 22·edited Mar 22

Think the Pope will visit Bibi or invite him to the Vatican for a chat? An exorcism is in order.

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I subscribe to free https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html and I agree the Pope's catechism teachings are mostly about Christian compassion.

Sometimes I wish he was less subtle Diplomatically and more direct in telling it like it is concerning the Ukraine War and Gaza Massacre.

I wrote to him several Times through several Vatican Societies with normal email addresses I found online.

I never got a reply, except for the solid circumstantial evidence my email Messages did get through to him articulated in this post to my Blog with the Messages, and his Public Statements after they were sent.

https://rayjc.com/2022/12/13/all-souls-day-to-remembrance-day/

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We called them Sisters when I was taking Catechism Catholic Doctrine Classes in the City where I was brought up --until my Junior Yr. in H.S. Toma. My fave Sister was Sister Mary Josephine back in the day...

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The Sisters were not amused by your cursing during candlepin bowling. The Lord just might forgive you, but I'm not sure I can. :-)

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You need to watch the Dude in The Big Lebowski little brother. Bowling is a central tenet to that Religion "Dudeism"I also believe the Coen Brothers set the new Record for F-Bombs in it...lol "Shut the F--- Up Donnie " Check it out!!!

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I got thrown out of baptist vacation bible school when I was 5 for asking too many of the wrong questions. Then I had to suffer through 4th grade with the Ministers wife as teacher who remembered me only too well.

"Where is that ruler?! You need another wack to remind you that Christ died for your sins!"

Thus ended my belief in organized religion.

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Wikipedia "Dudeism"that's me Toma..! With a side order of Saganist!/Saganism...

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I'll have to look up dudeism. It's the third time I've seen it in the last couple of days. Never heard of it before. The gods must be leading me towards it. I'd probably put Saganism as my main course. My spell.checker however kept respelling it as Satanism as a suggestion. Not sure what that means.....

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Off topic and on topic!

I posed this to ChatGPT, "my best friend turns 62. With his kindness and consideration with all people, including total strangers, he is that proverbial one in a million kind of person. What brief birthday greeting 2 or 3 sentences would reflect my characterization of him."

This is what it came back with in seconds,

"Happy 62nd birthday to the epitome of kindness and consideration! You're the rare gem who illuminates the lives of everyone you meet, spreading warmth and compassion like no other. Here's to celebrating your remarkable presence in this world!"

I'm so pleased it included the word Compassion!

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founding

Meanwhile, in Other News… :

MEXICO BEGINS CONSTRUCTING WALL TO KEEP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM COMING BACK

Piedras Negras — As the debate in the United States continued to rage over the ongoing migrant crisis along the southern border, Mexico announced plans to begin construction on a wall to keep illegal immigrants from coming back.

The idea to build a wall along its northern border, which Mexican leaders said they came up with all by themselves, will prevent unvetted and unidentified migrants from entering the country, thereby making Mexico a safer, more secure nation.

"It's going to be a big, beautiful wall," said Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. "We're going to build a wall and we're going to make the United States pay for it. If the U.S. thinks they can just send endless waves of Mexican gang members, criminals, rapists, and murderers into Mexico, they've got another thing coming. A nation without borders is not a nation. We've got to build a wall and make Mexico great again!"

Though U.S. officials had asked Mexico to take back deported migrants in hopes of easing the burden of border towns and other cities that have become overrun after months of overwhelming immigrant surges, Obrador took a hardline stance. "We don't know who they're sending here," he said. "We can't afford to let huge mobs of Mexicans flow into Mexico unchecked. It's too dangerous. Build the wall!"

At publishing time, construction on the border wall had already commenced, with President Obrador being hailed as a genius and praised for his dedication to protecting Mexico from foreign invasion.

Source: https://babylonbee.com/news/mexico-begins-constructing-wall-to-keep-illegal-immigrants-from-coming-back .

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Another brief video, 17 minutes, made by the Grayzone showing busloads of Israeli settlers from Jerusalem and the illegally OCCUPIED West Bank blocking Humanitarian Aid at an entry point into Gaza with the attitude, "KILL THEM ALL" and Jews will settle in Gaza.

For all the Israeli propaganda Palestinians teach their children to hate Israelis, with all the Jewish children, they're being taught to hate Palestinians.

It's obvious with the Israeli decimation, they're making it uninhabitable for the Palestinians of Gaza to drive them out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqRzfb2oMaM

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This horrific hour long Al Jazeera Investigative report on what happened October 7 has both Israeli and Hamas footage.

The more horrific WAR is, the more the enemy has to be demonized by Propaganda if government Officials wants the Public to support it.

TRUTH is still the 1st casualty of WAR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfHAs9cdTqg

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The video reminds me of "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." 1 John 4:16

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As I age, my body has aches and pains I never felt when I was younger. Instead of moping and complaining, I offer those pains up in my Faith to share in the torture and pain Christ Jesus experienced on the CROSS in his human flesh at Jerusalem and then my pains are not that great at all and the load is lifted.

I do have to point to a qualification in your sentence, All this, of course, is a matter of faith, but faith can figuratively move mountains from 1 Corinthians 13: 2

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not LOVE, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13 in it's totality defines Christian heavenly Love compared to Earthly love as in, 'For if you love them which love you, what thank have you? for sinners also love those that love them.'

Luke 6: 32

That's increasingly difficult for any Individual to do in this World being consumed by hate!

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deletedMar 22
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It's called FAITH, Dennis!

I have Faith in God through a personal relationship with the Human like me in Christ Jesus. Humans think on the one they Love and thinking on that Love, opens the mind to bigger and better things.

You are certain in your Faith there is no God. You're free to think what you think.

Lord, how is it that You will show Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

You have no clue what I have experienced and seen in the 49 years since I unexpectedly came alive to God and Christ in me.

I have never disparaged you for you're lack of Faith in God, but you come out of the woodwork to disparage my Faith in God every time I mention it or Scripture.

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deletedMar 22·edited Mar 22
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jg moebus, conspicuous by his absence commenting on this article, is right on with this comment in another BV article

"We must here make a clear distinction Between Belief and Faith, because, in general practice, Belief has come to mean a state of mind which is almost the opposite of Faith.

Belief, as I use the word here, is the insistence that the Truth is what one would “lief” or wish it to be. The believer will open his mind to the Truth on the condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas and wishes.

Faith, on the other hand, is an unreserved opening of the mind to the Truth, whatever it may turn out to be.

Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown.

Belief clings, but Faith lets go.

In this sense of the word, Faith is the essential virtue of science, and likewise of any religion that is not self-deception.

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Just weighed in, Ray.

And that quote on Faith vs Belief is from Alan Watts' book THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY.

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I saw that credit in your original post jg, but I wouldn't have known it if you didn't post it!

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