Why would you put jam on your face ?

if your (sic) going to make a lecturing video it helps too (sic) use proper grammar if we are to take you seriously.

Sweeping generalizations help too

"waging war, killing people, in the pursuit of peace, is an oxymoron if ever there was one"

while this may be true in the definitions of these words, I challenge you to show me at any point in history where there was an era of peace that was not the direct or indirect result of armed conflict.

Does anyone even remotely realize what Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is actually about?

Video Author: For someone who's got such a beef with religion, you sure aren't bashful about preaching.

Preaching, however, is teaching. Teaching has an inconvenient requirement of knowing what you're talking about.

Anyone perusing the book of Exodus will quickly learn that God does in fact use warfare as a form of punishment against rebellious nations and as a blessing to His chosen people. I'm not implying that America has assumed Israel's place in that regard, but the premise that God ≠ the possibility of warfare shows a disregard to the foundational books of the Bible.

Your point is taken that Jesus was ADAMANTLY CLEAR about loving your enemy, not taking revenge, and that hatred itself is equivalent to murder. Absolutely true, and His were the greatest words of wisdom ever spoken. Pay attention to the context, though. He's speaking about our hearts, and how we conduct ourselves individually. I would question anyone signing up on 9/12/2001 for the sole purpose of exacting revenge or working out hatred. Again, this is about individual motivation.

Does the New Testament give any indication that a modern-day war could in any way be condoned by God?

Paul makes a pretty good argument in Romans 13:1-4. God establishes authority on Earth, and this authority "bears the sword" to deliver judgement.

We are also assured that wars and rumors of wars will be with us until the end of the age. War is a dreadful thing, and should be avoided whenever possible. I'm not a big fan of them myself. Implying, however, that my Christianity is nullified while there's boots on the ground fighting for my country only shows your tainted viewpoints and fragmented understanding of what you are so quick to criticize.

>> ^StukaFox:
Does anyone even remotely realize what Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is actually about?


the rise and fall of David

Jesus_Freak*quote* We are also assured that wars and rumors of wars will be with us until the end of the age. War is a dreadful thing, and should be avoided whenever possible. I'm not a big fan of them myself. Implying, however, that my Christianity is nullified while there's boots on the ground fighting for my country only shows your tainted viewpoints and fragmented understanding of what you are so quick to criticize.

would you elaborate on this please?

enoch -

I was referring to Matthew 24:6-8.

In Jesus' own words, there are going to be wars, and they are clearly prophesied in the Book of Revelation as a prerequisite to the end of the age.

I take absolutely no pleasure in the images contained in this video. The first time I saw the image of that poor boy missing his arms months ago, I was disturbed and heartbroken almost to the point of frailty. I aspire to peace as the higher ideal, but take exception to being labled a hypocrite if my country is fighting a war. At the risk of using a cliche example, would it have been the more righteous act to stand aside and let Nazi Germany take over Europe?

I'm no fan of war, and I pray the engagements we're currently in can come to an end. From my religious nut point of view, we live in a broken world. There's no shortage of things that break my heart about the condition of the world today. Ain't gonna get any better. I just take exception to the cheap pot shot this video amounted to.

Jesus is cool, but some of his followers give me the creeps.

i think the shots are warranted.
maybe not to you,but they are not directed towards you.
they are directed towards people who conflate scripture to justify their cause.
it is a timeless tactic and i find it deplorable.
if you are a follower of jesus than any act of wholesale slaughter is strictly forbidden.
but there are those who would obfuscate that fact by twisting scripture for their own ends.
maybe people such as these:
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/hunting-for-jesus-fundamentalism-miltary

if you are true follower of jesus.you would lay your life low before engaging in murder.this is not subject to interpretation.thou shall not kill..pretty simple.
now,there are many scriptures which allow for defending oneself and family and those scriptures can be interpreted differently,but i think you would agree that burning villages and mass killings of women and children would not be covered...yes?
it is called the "warriors dilemma".that is a very personal,and internal struggle and i am glad i no longer have to deal with that particular moral/spiritual dilemma.

enoch -

On the basis of your last comment, you have my respect. I will not presume to debate you on any personal conclusions you've drawn from your first-hand experiences. I am thankful and appreciative to people like you that I have not personally faced the same dilemma.

I do encourage you to further evaluate the conclusions you're drawing from Scripture. "You shall not murder" is indeed the sixth commandment. Take note, however, that the 10 commandments were delivered to God's people BEFORE the conquest of the Promised Land. There were wars following this commandment, and they were clearly under God's direction. Some of these battles did result in total destruction, as you've described.

Jesus clarified that this commandment forbids hatred in our hearts, which is pure spiritual poison. He summed up the 10 commandments and all the laws and the prophets with the command to love. Again, this is on a personal level. Your video reference is ironic. Handing out Bibles instead of bullets? Is that not preferable?

read the article.
it goes into further detail.
bibles instead of bullets...nice ring.but it is false.
this is what i referred to as the deplorable tactic of twisting scripture to justify horror.on one hand it eases the conscience of a religious soldier,and on the other has the facade of preaching the gospel.
ill call it what it is...bullshit.
what if,lets say hypothetically,your town of devout christians was invaded by muslims.and those muslims sought to save your soul by preaching the one true god..allah..and gave everybody in town english versions of the qu'ran.would you embrace this action?deem it true and holy?
or would you view it as blasphemous and maybe even heretical?
how would you view these things as you watched your neighbors die and their houses burned?
how would you feel about these muslims then?
how would you feel if these muslim soldiers called themselves warriors of allah?
and how would that be different if they called themselves warriors in christ?

truth is a relative perception,and when christians start to call themselves warriors in christ,and that this is a "crusade" against the muslim heathens and that fact alone justifies whole-sale slaughter.when young men are convinced that they are killing in the name of GOD.
well.....we should all stand up and take notice.
because religious rhetoric is just that..rhetoric.
be it muslim or christian.
and i defy anyone to find me a passage where jesus spoke of whole-sale slaughter as being righteous or divinely inspired by god.
those young men are being deceived by those who would exploit their faith to enact atrocities by twisting scripture.be they muslim,christian or jew.
they are false.

for most of human history wars were fought using religion,but it was always the same goal.dominance of resources to perpetuate the powerful,by using the poor,ill-educated and "disposable".religion is a powerful tool to ignite the masses into a war spirit.
in the past 100 years that has shifted to nationalism,but still the same goals,using the same people.and always with the same results...death.
not for those who engineered these wars,be they the papacy,the crown or germany,US..oh heavens no.
it is the highest form of blaspheme..to murder in the name of god.

you seem a decent sort JF,dont fall into the trap those who speak falsely would lay for you.
there is never a holy reason to kill,maim,murder or go to war...never.
there is only greed.

If there exists an all powerful benevolent universal creator who created the Earth as the center of the universe, and it's beings so special in his eye/eyes/tentacles/noodly-appendages, then why the fuck would such an omnipotent all powerful being let us blow the shit out of each other. Slaughtering innocents, disease, suffering children, starvation, etc.

Why the fuck don't we all speak the same language even? Oh yeah. That whole tower of Babylon thing. If we can't communicate, then we can't build skyscrapers. Oh.. wait. Uh. I guess that plan didn't work out too well for the big magic man.

Oh nevermind. I get it now. He/she/it just works in mysterious ways. I guess that is enough for me. I'll drop the whole heretical idea then and just ignore the contradictions and take the fairy tales as 100% truth. Yeah. Smart.

I find it hilariously tragic that it's all the "good christians" who feel the need to drop bombs on brown people.