Some cultures perpetuate a high level of tolerance.

I want to preface this comment by saying that I am a political independent, and something that might help convince you of that is that I didn't vote for Donald Trump. The reason I didn't vote for him is because I had serious reservations about him considering what I knew about his character. Now that he is president I support him because I respect the office of the President and I pray for him just as I did for President Obama. That doesn't mean I agree with a lot of what he does, or that I am under any illusions about his character. It just means that I know God is working in these circumstances for a greater good.

I know a lot of Christians voted for Donald Trump because they knew he would side with them in the culture wars. And he has, to a large part. But that isn't the issue with me. I do not fight the culture wars even though I find abortion abhorrent and I lament the deepening darkness that pervades our culture. It is moral and spiritual darkness which will eventually lead to the one world government of the Antichrist.

My issue has to do with the church waking up, and stop thinking the solution is in fixing the culture because the culture is influencing the church more than the church is the culture. The solution is to get right with God and show the love of Christ to a lost and dying world.

So, here is the comment:

It's obvious that the entirety of news media is corrupt; if 2016 didn't make that obvious I don't know what would. They pick winners and losers, as supporters of Bernie Sanders realized. They all have a political agenda and will write either negative or positive coverage based on that agenda. They will present a certain slant to every issue which is favorable to their political aspirations. It is patently obvious and I think most of the country realizes this.

So, this outrage over Fox doing what every other news media company has done in the past, is pretty lame. Maybe Fox is better at it than MSNBC but the point is, they both function as the arm of their respective parties, and manipulate their media coverage to brainwash people into believing their worldview.

Yo, Godfrey, why are you appropriating white culture with those clothes, that language, that technology......aaaahahaha, look at you, trying to be a white boy....that's crazy.

Duh. Sounds pretty stupid turned around, doesn't it?

And that's not a wave haircut, that's a kid with wavy hair.
Duh again.

I find the claims of "cultural appropriations" asinine, some people have never heard America is called the melting pot, where cultural assimilation is the goal I guess. Damn, do we ever need to reinstate civics classes.

No, no need, my culture has discovered the spare tire.

If she got raped by anyone at all, I am sorry. That’s a horrible thing to happen to anyone.

But if we’re judging every member of an ethnic/cultural group by the worst actions of their members... man, white people are fucked!

I spent 25-30 years waiting, hoping, expecting those good cops to toss out the bad ones and be the upright pillars of our communities they take credit for being. I was sorely disappointed and decided I better change my assessment and expectations.

That doesn't mean all cops are bad people, many are outstanding people. It means they are part of a culture that puts even terrible workmates above the public and the law they enforce, and that, by their own definition, makes them as guilty as the known criminal cops they harbor.
I can only blame the police leadership and unions for protecting police criminals instead of the public, and the current fight about misconduct investigation records only highlights it's an ongoing and worsening issue. They should want total transparency so the public knows the police aren't harboring and protecting rapists and brutal thugs. That would make the job safer and easier too.

I don't think I'm giving the bad cops power, I'm recognizing the reality that the bad cops apparently run the show and make their own rules whenever possible, including investigating themselves in secret when they're caught breaking them.

Foolish test subject, that was a hologram of cake.

Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10% of families in the general population.

This means that even non-abusing good cops have (on average) a group of friends and coworkers comprised of 40%+ abusers in the home. 2 out of every 5. These are friends and coworkers that they would take a bullet for and defend with perjury if need be. These are the good cops.

But you know, I don't blame them? The role itself is insane. Why should humanity have the right to put all of our collective violent, physical, criminal, and tragic life events onto the shoulders of one small group of people? It's not sustainable. And it shows in the lives of those who attempt to assume that role.

Well, I guess we could always blame them for being cops. I mean, there are many other, much more effective ways to improve a culture and impact positive change. If that was their motivation for becoming a cop. That would be a positive take-away: Come up with alternate work programs to help cops stop being cops.

*promote *quality cultural technologies or we will lose them.

Music and art culture is eons ahead of AI. Sitting in your brain just waiting for the day you need it most. And we all welcomed it in.

I kind of swing the other way on this. We live in a cruel, violent, unjust world. Talking about that is not automatically an endorsement of it. Making jokes about it is part of talking about it and an important coping mechanism. Yes, talking and joking about it CAN be done in a way that encourages it, but it's NOT automatic.

As per your Toy Story examples, the ultimate take away for the young audience exposed to it is that the violence/torture was a clear cut bad thing. When someone in your office pulls a prank on someone and the other party responds by jokingly threatening to kill them for it they aren't normalizing murder. Nobody comes away from that interaction with the idea that murder is somehow more acceptable or less bad.

We need to relax a little bit about looking for micro-aggressions and 'bad' culture in every little thing that people say or joke about,

I think I was actually talking about looking for the reasons we are different (talking about comparative religions class).
I see all too many similarities between cultures....most bad. Those I can somewhat understand without study since I exhibit them, but I lacked exposure to many other cultures.

What's common imo?...a desire for more for those you love.

I know how to keep people together no matter how far apart.

Remember when I asked you about finding the common thread?

I believe you told me you were looking for the differences in the cultures.

Did you push all the differences aside to reveal what was common?

When it comes to algebra, I knew I picked the right guy.

When it comes to the differences of other cultures did you find the common thread?

Lol. I actually found both incredibly interesting.
Comparative religions taught me tons about other cultures and why they might act differently on top of some great mythology. Algebra taught me that math COULD be used in the real world to solve real problems, not just to waste 6th grader's time.

RFlagg, do you realize nearly 1/3 of the worlds population identifies as Christian? I’m not sure why you think the Republican party is the standard bearer for Christ in the world, but the majority of Christians don’t live in Western democracies. About a quarter billion of them face daily persecution from hostile governments. You are grossly mischaracterizing the faith by conflating it with the worst elements of the American church, which actually in many Christian circles is commonly referred to as the church of Laodicia. Have you ever read Christs letter to the church of Laodicia? Its in Revelation chapter 3.

So you may be shocked to find out that a lot of Christians will agree with you that the American church is backslidden. I also agree with you that too many Christians are too political and have said and done things which are morally repugnant.

I support this president, I also supported the president before him. Christians are commanded in Romans 13 to support and pray for our leaders. It doesn’t mean that we have to agree with them. I certainly didn’t agree with how the church as a whole overlooked quite a bit about Trump because of their desire to win a political victory. That doesn’t mean that any Christian who voted for or supports Trump is anything like what you described, so filled with hate. Many of us hate what is happening to the country, but we don’t hate the people who are doing it.

Your testimony about finding Christ revolves around attending church services and watching TBN and Fox News. Your reason for falling away stemmed from your disillusionment and disgust with the republican party. All of that is really the epitome of cultural Christianity. You may have had an experience, or felt some emotions, but you weren’t changed. There are millions of people sitting in pews all across America who are in the same situation; completely lost and thinking they are okay. This is the unfortunate side-effect of post-Christian culture; everyone has heard of Jesus and no one knows how to be saved or even what that means. They just know that if they add Jesus to their life, they will somehow make it to Heaven. So they just slap a Jesus sticker on everything they’re doing. They are still the same old rotten people, but now Jesus is with them and justifies all of their bad behavior. That’s cultural Christianity. Christianity is spiritual, not cultural.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God

You need to be born again, RFlagg, and that didn’t happen to you. It can happen to you if you surrender your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Attending church services won’t make that happen for you. Attending church doesn’t make you a Christian. Watching Christian programming on TV, conservative news shows, and agreeing with creation science doesn’t make you a Christian. You become a Christian when you repent of your sin and fully surrender your life to Jesus Christ. It is at that moment that He will make you into a new person. It’s so simple a child could understand it but man has overcomplicated it to the point of totally distorting the message of the gospel.

I think this statement illustrates your issue “If being in Heaven means being around the people who say they will go, Trump supporters, then Hell is a billion times better.”

You’re looking to man instead of God. It’s God that you have to contend with, not man. As a person who has rejected Christ, you are under Gods judgment and that is why you need Christ. It’s easy to say I’d rather be in hell, but I can guarantee you that no one in hell currently feels that way. Rather they are in eternal misery because they forfeited their eternal life with God. What did they forfeit it for? Sin, plain and simple. Your issue is sin and not the many reasons you have come up with to reject the Lord.

"The fact that God doesn't care enough to tell his followers that they are following the literal antichrist system, is telling. "

The Lord has detailed everything to do with that in the scriptures. Jesus railed on the Pharisees for exactly the same thing:

Luke 12:54-56

Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

The Lord outlined how the end times will proceed in the scriptures. There isn't much excuse for not understanding the times that we are living in. There will be a one world government run by the Antichrist, and the whole world will worship him.

"I do appreciate the higher degree of kindness you tend to show than certain others, and my family... almost all Trump supporters I personally know..."

Thank you, and I appreciate that you are willing to engage and talk about spiritual matters with me without trying to belittle me. That's not typical and I appreciate your civility friend.

Overall I am saying this to you because I care about you, not because I am judging you. I need Christ as much as you do RFlagg. It’s because of that, that I know how much you need Him that I am writing this to you. God bless.