Weird Time for Christians

zoogs said:
but I just feel like there’s something especially dehumanizing when it’s a woman in adult film, or a sex worker, etc. 
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I mean, that's definitely true.

Maybe....I'll admit this is a big if, just entertaining hypotheticals and playing devil's advocate, but maybe they're trying to subvert that dehumanization? The porn industry is dehumanizing to women, period. Everyone either consciously or subconsciously knows that. So maybe they're trying to leverage that as a given to work as a megaphone of sorts towards how morally bankrupt Trump is? 

If I'm being honest, even I personally, as someone who thinks the porn industry is evil, unhealthy, and preys upon women, read this as a bigger indictment on Trump than if it was just some random faceless 'normal' woman. That's just my instinctual, honest and natural reaction. I don't think that's because I inadvertently think women who work in porn are shameful or less than, but the truth remains that because of that context it makes me think less of Trump, but not less of the woman. Idk.

 
It is especially apt to point out that she's an adult film actor because that fact exposes the hypocrisy of Trump's evangelical Christian base.  This is not an attempt to dehumanize Stormy Daniels, nor should we suggest that calling a porn actor a porn actor is bad. 

 
knapplc said:
It is especially apt to point out that she's an adult film actor because that fact exposes the hypocrisy of Trump's evangelical Christian base.  This is not an attempt to dehumanize Stormy Daniels, nor should we suggest that calling a porn actor a porn actor is bad. 
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Then again, if these so-called Christians weren't bound by their arbitrary morals and ancient 'wisdom', maybe we could have already passed things good for the country, like the legalization of marijuana, unified beer/wine/liquor laws, the legalization of prostitution, and/or having a frank discussion about abortion rights and how their position on them is hypocritical when their stance on child welfare and health is factored in. 

Christianity has been the one reoccurring factor impeding positive societal and scientific advancement through the ages. Not Islam. Not Hinduism. Not Buddhism.  Christianity. 

But this is a problem that will sort itself out over the next 30-50 years--the more Christians support hypocrisy in politics, the more repulsive the religion becomes, and the decline in membership already experienced will continue. 

 
VV - tell us how you really feel.  Blanket labeling does no good.  And many  good Christians & Christian organizations have lead in areas of science, social care, etc.  Step out of your resentment and do a bit of investigation on the positive side and you'll find that blanket labeling is speaking out of ignorance - Not saying you are ignorant but that statement is.  There are elements of unreasonableness in practically every group.    Speaking of  - I now address J Falwell Jr.

I consider some of these evangelical leaders (use that term loosely) to be 'turncoats'.  They have sold their faith for a political position and use their 'faith' as justification.  Those words by Jerry Falwell Jr  are beyond any comprehension that a Christian would state and yet so many are being led 'astray' by these religious / political swindlers who have sold their soul for the world of political gain.   To think he leads a univ full of students that could be persuaded by this garbage.  Yes, I understand the wants to support the 'pro-life' president, but at what cost?  

I've come to believe that in some ways the "Moral Majority" movement that his father led has become a Trojan horse within the church.  It distracts from the church's true mission. Yes,  Christians like everyone else can be involved in the political market place but that political marketplace should only be a tool for carrying out our mission  (love, justice, mercy and evangelism various avenues of expression) and not a distraction to that mission.  These group of leaders standing behind Trump don't speak for me as an evangelical  and I know they don't speak for many others.

 
Jerry Falwell, Jr. last July talking to Fox News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro…

 

“What I really appreciate was he’s (Trump’s) not bashful about talking about his faith. He’s all about religious liberty. He’s about God. He’s interested in defending the liberties of Christians, not just Muslims, like our last president. And I never heard a single liberal attack on any Muslim church for not having gay weddings and for not honoring the rights of women and transgenders. But this president has gone the extra mile to honor people of faith. And I even appreciate when he attached – the left is melting down. It’s incredible to how they still haven’t gotten over how Donald Trump won. I was just so impressed how the president never misses the opportunity to honor our veterans – especially on July fourth – to honor law enforcement. To talk about the things that got him elected: bringing back jobs, striking fair trade deals with other countries, national security, immigration, jobs, all those things. When he hits (his critics) back on Twitter, I really appreciate that. We’ve gone back to a bold leader who’s willing to speak his mind – like you Judge Jeanine.”

 

He sure did try and make Trump sound pretty “virtuous”, all the while degrading he predecessor. Apparently Obama forgot to buy those couple extra mulligans before he teed off.

 
schriznoeder said:
Jerry Falwell, Jr. last July talking to Fox News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro…

 

“What I really appreciate was he’s (Trump’s) not bashful about talking about his faith. He’s all about religious liberty. He’s about God. He’s interested in defending the liberties of Christians, not just Muslims, like our last president. And I never heard a single liberal attack on any Muslim church for not having gay weddings and for not honoring the rights of women and transgenders. But this president has gone the extra mile to honor people of faith. And I even appreciate when he attached – the left is melting down. It’s incredible to how they still haven’t gotten over how Donald Trump won. I was just so impressed how the president never misses the opportunity to honor our veterans – especially on July fourth – to honor law enforcement. To talk about the things that got him elected: bringing back jobs, striking fair trade deals with other countries, national security, immigration, jobs, all those things. When he hits (his critics) back on Twitter, I really appreciate that. We’ve gone back to a bold leader who’s willing to speak his mind – like you Judge Jeanine.”

 

He sure did try and make Trump sound pretty “virtuous”, all the while degrading he predecessor. Apparently Obama forgot to buy those couple extra mulligans before he teed off.
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It's hard to believe that's a real quote. Just the way he flows seamlessly from espousing how great Donald is for religion right into attacking Obama or the loony liberals on the left.

It seems to me Falwell is an opportunist, much like many evangelical Christian supporters of Trump - he loves him for what Trump can do for him. Whether or not he himself tries to lead a Christian life is irrelevant because he's got power. By the way, I'd note that Falwell doesn't actually stick up for other faiths, such as Islam, at all in that blurb - he merely uses them as a tool to bash people he disagrees with politically.

And again, for anyone that puts any amount of stock into Falwell at all & doesn't think he's a flaming hypocrite, I'd point you to this fascinating piece:


 
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knapplc said:
Celebrity pastors pretty much violates all of Jesus' teaching. These people are the 'false prophets' spoken about in the Bible, and they prey on the weak-minded and vulnerable.  It's horrible.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/01/08/pastors-private-jets/
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Yep, those "name it claim it, Word of Faith, prosperity gospel" (false gospel)  guys are some of the worse in missing the true gospel of good news. I'm in Tulsa - one of the centers of it all.  I get tired of hearing these guys say - send in money and receive a blessing meanwhile they buy jets - because they are too important to save contributors money by  flying commercial.  They promise prosperity but they alone build it on a list of contributors.  They terribly misrepresent the gospel to the world.  

 
BigRedBuster said:
Just look at the lives of Jim Baker, Joel Osteen, Jerry Falwell....etc....compared to Mother Teresa.....and it says it all.
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 Not just Mother Teresa - although she is/was the most visible but compared to most common Christians who volunteer to visit people in hospital, man food pantries, care for the sick,  support republican candidates ( Caught you :confucius ! just kidding on that one :P )etc  

. 

 
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Let's not fall for the Catholic Church's propaganda about Mother Teresa.  She was not the person they claimed.

Mother Teresa Was No Saint
 

A 2013 study from the University of Ottawa dispelled the “myth of altruism and generosity” surrounding Mother Teresa, concluding that her hallowed image did not stand up to the facts, and was basically the result of a forceful media campaign from an ailing Catholic Church.

Although she had 517 missions in 100 countries at the time of her death, the study found that hardly anyone who came seeking medical care found it there. Doctors observed unhygienic, “even unfit,” conditions, inadequate food, and no painkillers — not for lack of funding, in which Mother Theresa’s world-famous order was swimming, but what the study authors call her “particular conception of suffering and death.”

“There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering,” Mother Teresa once told the unamused Christopher Hitchens.

Even within the bounds of Christian notions of blessed meekness, what kind of perverse logic underlies such thinking?

The answer, unsurprisingly, given the locale of her work, is racist colonialism. Despite the 100 countries’ missions, and her Albanian birthplace, Mother Teresa is of India and India begat Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. And there, she became what the historian Vijay Prashad dubbed “the quintessential image of the white woman in the colonies, working to save the dark bodies from their own temptations and failures. “

Her image is entirely circumscribed by colonial logic: that of the white savior shining a light on the world’s poorest brown people.
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And before anyone has a conniption over HuffPo as a source, here's more:

Why Mother Teresa is still no saint to many of her critics

Mother Teresa: anything but a saint...

Mother Teresa is the quintessential image of the white woman in the colonies

 
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