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RicOlie_2

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Members
Join date
6-Jun-2013
Last activity
4-Dec-2024
Posts
5,606

Post History

Post
#1617573
Topic
The Place to Go for Emotional Support
Time

Glad to hear it!

No need to worry about making me feel judged! If I’m going to bring up my religion all the time, it would be kind of silly to get offended about people disagreeing with me.

I can understand. I’ve been in that mindset (or at least a similar one–I can’t read your thoughts), so I don’t blame you at all. I just know how great it’s been to rediscover my faith (and discover how many misconceptions I had about it), so it’s hard to resist throwing it out there at random passersby.

But whatever you believe or do, I wish you well, and I’m truly happy to hear at least some things are looking up for you.

Post
#1590735
Topic
If you need to B*tch about something... this is the place
Time

Those people feel exactly the same way about the other side. What you mean by “alt right” is unclear, since the term get’s thrown around a lot, but I think it’s important to recognize that people on all sides feel the same way. There’s been a significant shift to the left in mainstream media in the last decade or two, and people who aren’t on board with it often react by going in the other direction.

Post
#1575019
Topic
The Place to Go for Emotional Support
Time

I’m really sorry Mike. I wish I could understand better. I am here for you if you need to talk. I know a short sentence isn’t likely to change the way you see your situation, but I’ve seen too many people who thought they had nothing left to live for rediscover the joy of life, for me to be able to accept that there’s nothing left for you. Your life still has value and there is still a future for you.

Please send me a PM if you think there’s anything I can do to help, even if it’s just to listen.

Post
#1555633
Topic
Religion
Time

Darth Tremor said:

RicOlie_2 said:

The belief that God doesn’t send people to hell, but that we send ourselves there, is exactly what mainstream Christianity believes (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and many varieties of Protestantism). It’s mostly just Calvinists and fundamentalists who don’t believe that.

God created hell for the devil and his angels, “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!” (Matthew 25:41) and He does send people there who refuse to believe (John 3:18), “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” (Matthew 10:28), “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15). In those cases yes the unbeliever paves there way to hell, but God does the sending / sentencing or casting into lake of fire at judgement.

Thank you for your reply. I think the verses you cited make a compelling point at first glance, but what was said in the above-posted article about prooftexting applies here.

There are countless ways in which the Bible attributes direct agency to God to emphasize His authority over all things. Another example is when Exodus alternately says that “God hardened the heart of Pharaoh” and “Pharaoh hardened his heart.” I don’t think there’s any reason to see those passages as saying different things–that sometimes it was God, and sometimes it was Pharaoh. Rather, Pharaoh’s heart hardened in response to God because of his own inner state and choices, just like some materials harden when exposed to the sun, while others melt (and it isn’t that the sun acts differently in the different cases).

Similarly, I interpret all of the passages you cite as figurative imagery, reflecting how the sinful soul is unable to endure the presence of God. It is almost impossible for us human beings to imagine condemning ourselves to eternal torment, so Jesus and Revelation speak of it in juridical terms, which would have been better understood by the people of that time.

The position of the Catholic Church is twofold: (1) we condemn ourselves to hell through our own actions, (2) God is our supreme judge.

My preferred theological interpretation of this (among several possible ones) is that in deliberately rejecting what is good (which is what a mortal sin is), we implicitly reject the source of goodness and the supreme Good (i.e., God). If we do not repent of that sin–in other words, if we do not come to see it as evil–we will hate whatever is incompatible with that sin. In coming face-to-face with God at our judgement, we will be unable to stand God’s presence and God will cut us off from that presence in accordance with our own choosing, so as not to override our decisions. Were God to simply change who we were or force us to be in His presence anyway, it would be an annihilation of ourselves–one might even say a kind of divine rape. That’s the summary version of it, anyway.

Post
#1548907
Topic
Random Thoughts
Time

NeverarGreat said:

I’d say that the Star Wars brand itself has had a lot to do with it, with TROS making a lot of people question the fandom in general. Other than Andor, the outlook has been pretty bleak.

That’s true. There was a decline in Off Topic with the bans and the decline in the Star Wars discussion happened later. I’m definitely less personally invested in new releases than I used to be.