I'm truly sorry that this is so awkward and I'm guessing painful for you. For what it's worth, my take follows. However, I need to say first, n total t***sparency, I grew up going to a Southern Baptist church. After being on, of all things a pastor search committee, I became disenchanted with organized religion and have not looked back. I consider myself a spiritual person and that I have a strong personal relationship with God. Well, here goes.

To borrow from rumatoid, t***h IS t***h or another way to put it, human "bias" is just that and not t***h. That said, right, left, in between do so disrespect God when they insert Him into, when it comes down to it, their petty bickering and their twisting scripture into something it isn't meant to mean to cloak themselves in righteous indignity. There's nothing politically correct about invoking HIS name for a political cause or for political gain. Some seem to also forget, that there isn't a soul on this earth that has proprietary rights to God, totally the opposite. We should all take care to remember that we are ALL his children. I would think God rather displeased to see his children using His name in vain to either blackmail or shame one another. Those of us who believe each have our own personal relationship with God, and that's how it should stay in my opinion, between God and each individual. It's nobody else's business. As for all the rest, I believe that's what he gave us free will for.

Jesus was neither a conservative nor a liberal. He was a radical. The goodness He preached was from the heart, not the government. If you don't feel you can get involved with helping the needy and want an institution to help, talk to a holy man at your religious house (church, synagogue, temple, etc).
The government has to much on its plate with what is already in the Constitution and needs no more. The country has grown, along with the complexities of being a human in this modern world. To expect it to do charity work and help the needy is just another million or billion straws that are breaking the donkey's back.
The fact that humans are born good, and you can see that by looking into a new born's eyes, is irrelevant to government. Get out and do your part in making this a better world on your own. Or give to an institution that has a mission you see as important, but do not lay charity work on a failing government!.
And if you do not think this government is filing, look at inflation, the Federal debt, and so on and so on.
Christ, antichrist, God, gods, Alla, the Messiah, and every other name you can think of of a Supreme Being has nothing to with the house we call The White House, but it can be a part of the family that lives there, as it can be part of your house. It is all part of the freedom we are born with, along with the goodness in our hearts.

Ah, Augustus....what an appropriate choice for a name for your post. The "Augustus" was enough....but "Greatorex"?


Haven't you the intelligence to see I judged no one...simply stated my opinion of how I choose to live.....and allow others to live as they please....and wonder why anyone would ever consider anything, especially politically motivated designation of "liberal" or "conservative" toward Christ.....who to me is only love.

Religion is a crock, Augustus, negative, a political ploy, and detrimental to society when used as some choose to....to others it is divine munificence in action. The choice is to each, individually.

The fact that you appear to be unable to even consider or allow another to have an opinion pretty well designates where you stand.

So, stuff it, Judger....and, as I've asked others....who make pronouncements on others....why don't you, next time you pray, ask God if He's allowed you to replace him as judge of humanity. I can assure you He has not, though you may have taken that upon yourself. Ah, well, He does forgive all, doesn't He?

"Augustus GREATOREX?" Get real!

Haven't you the intelligence to see I judged no one...simply stated my opinion of how I choose to live.....and allow others to live as they please....

So, stuff it, Judger....and, as I've asked others....who make pronouncements on others....why don't you, next time you pray, ask God if He's allowed you to replace him as judge of humanity. I can assure you He has not, though you may have taken that upon yourself.

"Augustus GREATOREX"

You is funny lady.

Only my opinions label me "Judger," but your opinions don't judge nobody.

That is just too funny. :lol: :D :X

"Liberalism," as was known to the Framers, was largely a product of the writings of John Locke, a 17th Century English philosopher. It's meaning was diametrically opposed to what is known as Liberalism today. The Liberalism originally expounded by John Locke was a model that eschewed large, powerful and intrusive governments, that espoused great personal freedom, along with the great personal responsibility that is it's necessary concomitant.Locke's beliefs also recognized a lassez faire market, free of governmental meddling, as another requirement for true Liberalism. By contrast, the Conservative thought of the time held that rights are granted by government, rather than God, and that the individual's freedom was less important than the smooth functioning of society as a whole. (Those who believed this doctrine naturally exempted their own blue-blooded, entitled and ennobled asses from this scenario; much like what are called Liberals today, they were special). It was not until the early part of the 20th Century that the definitions of "Liberal" and "Conservative" became reversed, and Play-Doughed into their current configurations. In much of Euopre today, "Liberal" means belief in free markets and limited government, and "Conservative" what we call Liberal. The Liberalism in this country is more akin to Socialism, and a naive belief in the infallibility of government. This is the true failing of what is known as "Liberalism" today. It requires one to place their lives in the hands of a stranger, known hereinafter as "Government," in the childish belief that this "government" is a trustworthy guardian of your rights and is better able to order your affairs than you, yourself can.

Correct! I judge no one....leaving everyone to choose their own path.....and they will ALL eventually lead to God, the Ultimate Goal.
You may go as you please, worship as you please....or not worship at all.
But I'm done with the cramming down the throat religionists who condemn others when they haven't a clue about the "religion" they push off so easily....so why don't you research the true beginnings of religion. You can begin with the Nicean Council, the fact that Christ was NOT born at Christmas----but in the spring, though some say the summer, and Christmas is really a pagan celebration of the solstice. Then try the fact that the virgin birth was not brought up until 200 years after the death of Christ. If you have the cajones, go on from there to find that religion is nothing but a political tool, and used quite effectively today. Spirituality is a different matter, purely between God, the Holy Spirit, Christ, and man.....pure love without the crap pushed on humanity by religion, totally a creation of man.
You remind me of a man I knew throughout a good portion of my life. He was the post master in the town where we lived. He was also the ultimate leader of the First Baptist Church for probably six decades. I had been t***sferred to the Methodist Church by my mother because of the rantings and condemnation, judgment, etc. of the Baptists on anyone and everyone who differed. When I became a teen, the youth group and their leaders began to have monthly square dances.
Now, Thomas, the above mentioned, threw town-wide hissy fits, organized protests, and generally made a bigger ass of himself than he already was. But, we continued to have our monthly square dances (OH! HOW SINFUL!) and life went on.
As time passed and I grew up, the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together.....the "pieces" I had seen at the Baptist church....one of the specific things I asked my mother about.....like..."Why did Thomas ALWAYS have his hands on my Sunday school teacher, why was he always rubbing someone's behind, why I saw him coming out of so many homes when the husbands were at work?"
Ah, Thomas a large, attractive man was the town stud....but he readily condemned everyone else for everything they did.....sort of like Jimmy Swaggart....the louder the protest, the more the accusers have to hide and the guiltier they are.
So, rant on, augustus not so great, I'm willing to bet there are a ton of "goodies" hidden in YOUR closet....or your behavior would not be so judgmental.

Me? I'm just an old lady from Waco....but that spelling you had in one of your comments.....it should have been with a B.....because I AM one when it comes to putting down others. Take the mote out of YOUR OWN EYE before you condemn another. Judge not lest ye be judged....augustus not so great.....

Since I do not subject myself to religious dogma, it is quite simple to understand there is ONE God, not many, and that there is, within each of us the Christ....or wh**ever any faith might call the equivalent.
I also know that the Bible was put together by the Nicean Council on the instructions on Constantine to reconcile the pagans and the Christians.....and that hundreds of books could have been considered, but were tossed.....
and that much of what is attributed to Christ has been questioned....as has much of the Bible itself, in consideration of ALL of the written properties the Vatican refuses to allow the public to see.
So, you just go your merry little way.....and I will go mine.......observing daily the magnificence God has created in ALL things and in ALL people.....denigrating none and allowing all to believe as each individually wishes...condemning none......at which you seem to be quite proficient. As an aside, I believe religion, which you are postulating to me, totally limits God. How can anyone believe such negativity observing a universe such as ours.....and then learning that scientists say there are more universes than grains of sand on the beaches of earth. He sounds a lot bigger than religion allows....at least to me, because there is only love between God and me....and no fear. You see, I take personal responsibility for my life....and blame God for nothing but the good he brings to it....which, to be frank, is quite a lot....at least since I got religion out of it. You're at a level where there is NO understanding of spirituality.....perhaps in another lifetime you will come to understand, because I can assure you there will be other lifetimes.
Did you know.....but I'm sure you don't....that over 75% of alcoholics and addicts became such after/during strenuous religious upbringing because, "I'm going to hell, so I'm going to enjoy the trip". How many "religious wars" have occurred with millions dead over the centuries? How many people were k**led during the Dark Ages because they would not conform to the darkness of religion....when revealing scientific facts. Religion was created as a political tool.....and it is still such today. I don't need religion to get to God. He is with me ALL THE TIME, NO THANKS TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU.
As I have said in previous posts, God, the Holy Spirit, Christ and I get along just great.....out on the banks of the lake for a couple of hours every morning...under a tree.....just as Christ did....without the benefit of a multimillion dollar edifice for a large number of mostly "good Christian" hypocrites to attend.....one hour of every week.

I am 70 years old, jay-are, and I have had this judgmental crap all of my life. I have seen the lives of many individuals ruined by one comment...that became a torrent through a church. I have seen professions ruined.....lives changed, families altered and ruined. And, if you think I accept your miniscule observations on the t***h of God as to my destiny, the only thing I will say to you is, "Why don't YOU go look in the mirror....since in my understanding and decades of studying the Bible, the only One allowed to judge and pronounce any "sentence" of heaven or hell......is God.....and, Buster, you sure as heck are not HIM....are you? So, take your hyper-inflated, ego-based proclamations.....and put them in the appropriate place. Have a good evening, and, as I suggested to another a few days ago.....the next time you pray, why don't you ask HIM if you are to judge another's path......because I guarantee, if you are TRULY "in the flow" and connected and listening for His answer, it will be there.....Good luck!