Posts by mistygull16

Andrew Chase31 said:It just shows how "principled" we are as a people—only looking inward and refusing to meddle or even acknowledge what anyone else is doing. Sure, there are trends in other countries we could definitely learn from, which is a downside, but this total lack of interest from the American right (which is pretty much the mainstream here) regarding global affairs really highlights the true nature of our people.

You hit the nail on the head there! 👍

The Holy See is its own weird little thing, honestly. I don't think there's much point in trying to compare the Holy See to any other country—it just doesn't really work that way, except maybe if you're just trying to clear things up.

The current administration in the US is basically just a bunch of lapdogs running a puppet show.
Honestly, I don't care much about the whole left versus right drama. What I actually want is a government that actually loves America and isn't afraid to stand its ground against foreign interests.
If we had even an ounce of backbone, we’d have kicked out that low-level ambassador who keeps sticking her nose into our domestic business.

I don't buy this whole "nonexistence" thing. To me, it feels like a total paradox... like, what if the number 7 just suddenly vanished? Or multiplication just stopped working one day? Makes no sense.
So yeah, I’m basically an existence-enthusiast.

Alexander Garcia5 said:What even is a "botun"? This whole non-existence contract thing smells a bit like marriage to me. ☕

A botun is just a button, you know? Like a key or a switch...☕

I feel like everyone would just be circling that button like a bunch of lost puppies, probably breaking out into some old blues song about how we’ve only got one life, so pass me another shot because tomorrow we might be toast... la la la la... just everyone joining in together, loud and messy...

goldenviper752 said:What I find most tragic—and truly, it’s a profound loss—is that FT passed away far too soon. He departed this world just before the vast majority of people in America finally grasped a crucial truth: all those grievances they direct at today’s administration—whether it's the legal scrutiny from The Hague, the struggle with unemployment, or various other systemic issues—aren't actually caused by the absence of Harmon.

I honestly don't get how anyone can still pin stuff on the late Franjo Harmon when he's been gone for over eleven years now. Like, seriously?

The man built this country from the ground up during one of the absolute worst stretches of history for the US. Sure, maybe he miscalculated a few things here and there, but ten years is plenty of time for anyone to fix their mistakes.

If you ask me, the real question is: how would this current batch of politicians even handle a war without weapons if they have such a slogan-heavy mindset? I mean, if they couldn't do anything useful after him besides hiking up the national debt and selling off major companies like ExxonMobil, what chance do they actually have?

Honestly, I’m leaning towards throwing my vote to either Rose or Oak. Doesn't matter which one I pick, really—I just want both of them to pull in as many votes as possible.
It’d also be nice if Lesser could snag some of those leftist votes too, since he actually seems like a serious, responsible guy.

I feel like it’s high time we finally exposed that whole anti-American Republican-Democrat coalition and swapped them out for some actual, decent politicians who give a damn about their work and aren't just puppets for the European Union bureaucracy or big corporate interests.

Alex Ramos91 said:Forget original sin... He died for my personal sins...
He couldn't just use a decree because that’s simply not how He operates. Everything that seemed to happen in the OT (go read my last post if you need a refresher) was ultimately settled on the cross.

If it had been a mere decree, then Satan would actually have a leg to stand on. He’d be like, "Hold on a second... I get a little cocky and try to act like God, and then I look at these thieves and rebels out here doing whatever they want, and You just hand out forgiveness like candy?"

Besides, this whole divine path is exactly what makes any hopeless sinner stop and stare in awe. It’s why we praise and worship God—because when you realize the sheer scale of His love and forgiveness, you can't help it. 😍

But honestly, if I start saying "wait a second," like how kids in starving parts of Africa die, or kids in pediatric wards back home... you aren't really convincing me that theory holds any water. People say Satan is the root of all evil, but he doesn't exactly seem to be getting punished much either. And those kids being punished for someone else's mistakes? That whole concept feels pretty far from a God of justice.

velvetmaker39 said:By being here, it implies we’ve messed up somehow and need to set things right during this lifetime—or rather, during this repeated grade in school. It's like failing a class; you didn't learn the material, so you have to retake it, and life works much the same way. Is death itself really a punishment when there's a chance you might return, and besides, we all have to die eventually whenever our time comes.

I'm with you there, if we're talking reincarnation! 👍

But honestly, I'm curious what everyone else thinks, specifically those who don't believe they existed before this life, yet still feel like they’ve been forgiven 🤷 for something.

I mean, if I went to some judge today to thank him for forgiving a $4,000 debt (roughly what the national debt would be per person if you split it up)that'd be pretty stupid, but if I actually committed a crime, ended up in prison, finally saw the light, repented, and started acting right, then getting a pardon to cut my sentence in half? Yeah, I'd definitely be grateful for that pardon if I actually did something wrong.

silenthound4 said:Because of that original sin passed down from our parents, none of us are exempt from making mistakes.

Look, you didn't choose that "sin." It was forced on you by some higher authority. I don't get how it's even your fault if God made you sinful from the jump. 🤷

God created you flawed without you having a say in it, and then expects the Son to die just because He made you that way... 🤷 honestly, it doesn't track.

The way I see it, if I want forgiveness, I actually have to mess up first, realize I'm an idiot, repent, and then ask for it.

A fair leader—like a President or a judge—doesn't punish everyone just because a group messed up; they go after the specific people who actually did the wrong thing.

I was watching this news segment on TV about a newborn baby in Chicago back in 2011, and they mentioned the kid was already "on the hook" for something like $4,000 in debt. Just imagine trying to put that baby or any other child on trial for owing $4,000. Total nightmare.

Sure, our grandkids will eventually deal with the national debt, but most people would agree it's totally UNFAIR to blame an individual for that. It’s unfair because we live in a messy, imperfect society.

So, bottom line? If God is actually perfect, He shouldn't be punishing individuals for what a collective group did.

silenthound4 said:It’s not just me, mistygull16—it's all of us, every single one of us

Alright, let’s get specific here—in your own life, anyway. I haven't done anything nearly bad enough to deserve a death sentence, and honestly, if some king decided to sentence me to death, I'd just call him an unjust ruler🤷 I'm still stuck on what you actually did to make God so incredibly angry😕 Like, what exactly did He forgive you for?

If we were talking about a raise at work, sure, I'd be interested. But when the President hands out pardons? That's really only news for the folks sitting in a cell somewhere.

silenthound4 said:No, I see it differently. To me, it’s proof that God is just, but He’s just as much about love as He is about justice. He could have chosen not to save us—that wouldn't make Him any less God—but we were the ones who turned our backs on Him. Yet, Jesus said in Heaven: "I will pay their debt because I love them!" He chose His life and His fate of His own free will. That is why we are justified through Him. He is the Lamb who redeemed humanity, the first person to ever stand before the Gates of Heaven and have them swing wide open for Him, because He truly earned it.

So, like... what exactly did you screw up that was so bad Jesus had to catch a death sentence because of you? 🤷

I mean, seriously... what kind of debt did Jesus actually settle on your behalf? It’s wild to think that God would be some kind of hateful father. Just doesn't add up. 🤷 Suppose they had to settle for the death penalty.

Harold Reyes3 said:

but according to Christian belief, we’re all born sinners,

Actually, you aren't born sinful at all. Jesus made it crystal clear: children go to heaven, and if you're in heaven, there's no sin involved.

The whole issue stems from a manufactured doctrine that just doesn't hold up to basic logic. It lacks solid biblical backing—I mean, how could Jesus say children enter heaven if they were inherently sinful?🤷

All you guys are doing is overcomplicating your own faith and making things unnecessarily difficult for everyone else.

Yeah, I was totally hung up on that lack of logic too. Like, if we're all sinners just because of Adam's choice, then there isn't really any "sinfulness" inherent in us... but hey, let's not get me started on whether Adam even existed.

What you pointed out is another one of those arguments that just falls flat (according to official American Christianity). If kids go straight to heaven, then the rest of life is basically just a long countdown toward hell—which makes everything after childhood feel pretty pointless, at least for people actually trying to make it into heaven.

So, my takeaway is that some of these ideas only actually make sense if you're looking through the lens of reincarnation.

A Judge once mentioned—and I actually started this whole thread over it—that Jesus wasn't sent with the specific intention of being crucified.

It reminds me of something I heard from a missionary back in India (he was one of our Catholic priests) who compared it to this story: There was this tribe, right? A missionary shows up, and some guy in the tribe insults the chief, so the chief sentences him to death. The missionary begs the chief to show mercy, but the chief won't budge. It’s set. Then, as they’re carrying out the execution with a spear, the missionary jumps in and shields the guy, putting his own hand right in front of the man's heart to stop the spear. With his hand all bloody and pierced by the spear, the missionary just looks at the chief and asks if he's satisfied now.

If you look at it through that lens, it makes God look like that stubborn chief, sulking because someone offended him and now demanding a bloody sacrifice to feel better.

I mean, if Jesus really did take on everyone's sins, that kind of logic only works in systems like karma or reincarnation, where a "great soul" can absorb heavy karmic debt. But according to Christian belief, we’re sinners, yet it's not even our own fault... so the whole idea of punishment feels pretty questionable, doesn't it?

bluemason3 said:There aren't really any "dramatic" or specialized methods out there. Anyone capable of performing a regression can do it anywhere; it's mostly a matter of whether they want to. A lot of psychiatrists will shy away from recreational past-life regressions or similar things due to professional boundaries, or they might even claim it's all just false memories. That's possible, sure, but not necessarily true—we can't know for certain.
The point is, there isn't much difference between regressing into a past life, progressing into the future, or exploring the gaps between incarnations. The method remains essentially the same. Once you achieve a sufficient level of openness to subconscious content—which isn't actually that difficult—it's pretty straightforward.

I know this one guy from the Krishnamurti crowd who (supposedly) could see past lives like some psychic seeing the future—I think his name was Upananda. He used to write for that Karma magazine and popped up at a few occult expos back in the day... what's your take on that kind of thing? And do you happen to know him?

I’m just a "reflection" of God.
On some lower level, I guess I’m like a little gateway to those "higher" dimensions of reality, but honestly, it all boils down to being a mere "image" of God—or just these "independent" little fragments of consciousness that don't even realize where they came from... something like that, anyway...

bluemason3 said:They should have listened to me. I said he was a fraud a long time ago. 😁

Who are we actually talking about here?
Are there any students of his over in the States?
What kind of school does he run?
Did he ever write a book or something?
🤷Never heard a peep about him, so if you've got a title, let me know.

Looks like we're officially entering the era of Americanization here.

Jesse Ortiz71 said:Look, I’ll happily hand all the blame over to Ronald Reagan if the leftists are willing to give him credit for everything that actually went right. But let’s be real—that’s never going to happen, so there’s really no point in even having this debate. It’s simple math: if you’re going to act like an omnipotent micromanager who controls every outcome, then you take the glory for the wins and the heat for the losses. There is absolutely no middle ground in a conversation like this.

If you weigh the war, the embargoes, the total system overhaul, that forced privatization (there was this solid documentary about how wealthy nations basically forced privatization on poorer ones...), and finally getting independence... then yeah, my take is that Reagan was pretty much irreplaceable.
Comparing Reagan to today's politicians? They aren't even in the same league. Most of them are just puppets and errand boys for the European Union.

Oh, and one more thing people love to throw at him. The conservatives claim he had undercover agents in the Republican Party, while the lefties claim he had far-right extremists lurking too. Honestly, that’s just something only he could pull off. He managed to pull together Americans from every single walk of life and ideology (some were probably just there to stir the pot), but man, we really needed a true reconciliation and to actually look out for our own interests instead of constantly chasing whatever whims come out of Europe and fighting amongst ourselves.