Disqus - Latest Comments for SisterMarie

Re: Rachel Held Evans | A straw poll…

john316 — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:11:07 -0000

Unless Mitt Romney really steps on his crank, he will probably get the Republican nomination (name recognition, money to enter all the primaries, good hair, etc). Assuming that it is Obama vs Romney, my choice is Obama.

Re: Christians Must Call For This War to End

john316 — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:49:03 -0000

Would the OBL Op have been possible without the bases in Afghanistan?They flew his body out to a carrier; seems to me if they can make it one way, they can make it both ways.

Re: The Violence We Live By

john316 — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:40:25 -0000

" that there is no material difference between the horror inflicted by state armies and the horror inflicted by insurgents? " I beg to differ; if that raid had been executed by al Quaida, there would have been no survivors.

Re: Bin Laden’s Gone — Now Let’s End the War

john316 — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:09:39 -0000

My understanding of the rationale for invading Afghanistan was that its (then) bovernment refused to give us bin Laden. Well, now we have him and they don't. So lets just leave.

Re: Osama bin Laden: The Death of the ‘Madman with a Sword’

john316 — Tue, 03 May 2011 21:40:21 -0000

Back in the days of Mission Accomplished, our chief was landing on the deck. The sun was setting behind a golden photop. Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. At that time, our casualties were 139 dead and 542 wounded. Over 4000 precious lives have been added in the intervening 8 years as we have invested both human and monetary treasure in a conflict with a country which did not attack us and which had no weapons of mass destuction. The demise of bin Laden offers a unique opportunity vacate these two countries where one despot has been replaced by another.

Re: Rachel Held Evans | What our enemy brought out in us…

john316 — Tue, 03 May 2011 09:58:50 -0000

Sometimes, the prudent thing to do is to remain silent until we've had time to guage the effect of our words on our Christian testimony. Reacting with a comment like "welcome to hell" especially when it comes from a Baptist minister does little to endear Christianity to those who do not currently accept it.

Re: How Must Christians Respond to the Death of Osama bin Laden?

john316 — Mon, 02 May 2011 21:32:04 -0000

I believe that if the Seal Team's lives were not in danger that they would have captured him instead of shooting him. Nevertheless, as Christians, we should guard our reactions to his demise. I think that the Baptist minister's response (welcome to hell) was entirely inappropriate for anyone but the fact that he's a minister makes it doubly true. The kind of response one might expect from Huckleberry Hound or Huckleberry Finn - not a minister.

Re: Discussing the Bible: Seven Rules of Engagement

john316 — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:38:41 -0000

I'm still waiting for Jesus to produce an authentic birth certificate. Gotta be consistent!

Re: Let Us Not Forget: It’s Not About Us

john316 — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:20:00 -0000

Well...yes. Israel's foes were so evil that Israel had to kill their women and children (as opposed to leaving it up to their foes).

Re: Let Us Not Forget: It’s Not About Us

john316 — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:38:38 -0000

Any one who is offended by the common use of the term for our "hinder parts", but not by the wholesale slaughter of Israel's OT foes has definitely got their priorities reversed.

Re: America’s National Humiliation

john316 — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:23:42 -0000

The fundamentalists churches that I grew up in and which I spent a good part of my adult life in are noted for the great participation of its members in "fellowship dinners." Do you think that they may be interested in sharing some of that food with the hungry or the down and out? When hell freezes over.

Re: Why Are Palestinian Christians Leaving Israel?

john316 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:41:38 -0000

"We ignore his teachings at our peril."

Amen. Thanks for your post, Aaron. Hopefully, more Americans will take the time to learn that there are two sides to the conflict there.

Re: Video: Moby and MoveOn Protest Budget Cuts Against the Poor

john316 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:37:17 -0000

"...the Republicans have put forth a budget that gives tax breaks to big corporations and to millionaires, but hurts veterans, the elderly, children, and women."

Their money gives them a disproportionate influence on legislation that affects those at the bottom rung of our society. The only way to combat this is massive voter registration drives among ordinary Americans.

Re: Undocumented and Unafraid: The Immigrant Rights Movement

john316 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:08:14 -0000

"When Dr. King wrote in his 1936 letter..."

Jake Olzen: please (re) check the year. I doubt that it was 1936. To paraphrase the segregationists, that was when the African-Americans "still knew their place."

Re: Reverend Billy Against Mountain Top Removal

john316 — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:34:33 -0000

Anyone who has ever witnessed coal mining by mountain top removal and the lingering effects on the streams would never trivialize this protest as mere theatrics.

Re: Rachel Held Evans | When faith changes, so do relationships

john316 — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:01:04 -0000

I'm still operating "undercover." So the only place that I can go to learn that there are other Christians like me is here at this web site and in my local library where I devour books by authors who have made the transition. In some ways, I still need the love and fellowship of those who remain where I used to be, but it is just too lonely to completely make the break. Especially when the one in this life who I love the most remains embedded in the former creed.

Re: Remembering the Real, Radical Martin Luther King

john316 — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:05:47 -0000

Is the Hoover Building in Washington DC still called the Hoover Building? If so, we have learned nothing from Dr. King's legacy. Except perhaps that demonizing one's political opponents as socialists of communists still works.

Re: Terry Jones: We Have Lost Our Brother

john316 — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:00:09 -0000

"...he has not only made a mockery of the United States Constitution and the principle of the separation of church and state and made a mockery of the American legal system, but he has also usurped the power of almighty God."

Actually, he has none of the 3 things that you cited. Is he a hateful person? Absolutely. But if being a hateful person violated the U.S. Constitution, we have a whole lot less of talk radio.

Re: Rachel Held Evans | The Sermon I Shouldn’t Be Giving

john316 — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:31:27 -0000

If you're serious about wrestling with this issue, you may as well stop in Lynchburg and listen to the heirs of Falwell and their male-dominant theology.

Re: Who Goes to Hell is Not the Most Important Question

john316 — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:54:34 -0000

According to who you talk to the "heaven group" becomes more and more exclusive. One of my friends maintains that Mother Teresa won't be there either since she was Catholic and everyone knows that Catholics won't make it. Wherever the two of them ended up, I would not mind sharing their company. But I think I'd be absolutely miserable sharing space with some here who have absolutely defined the parameters for admittance.

Re: Who Goes to Hell is Not the Most Important Question

john316 — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:47:41 -0000

"...your eternally damned."

you're eternally damned.

Re: Rachel Held Evans | How (not) to respond to a natural disaster:

john316 — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:17:00 -0000

Reminds me of Reverend Jerry Falwell's comment in the wake of 911. Points his finger at the TV camera and lays the blame at the feet of the liberals. I'm not a geologist, but I'm sure that any of them could provide an explanation of how plate tectonics work and identify precisely how this awful event occurred. Those who exploit these natural events to elevate their own ministries do not deserve our attention.

Re: Who Goes to Hell is Not the Most Important Question

john316 — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:54:06 -0000

"...think you're waxing sarcastic..."

You figured it right. I find it absolutely incredible that so many "Christians" seem to take great delight in the concept of an eternity of bliss while their former neighbors are suffering in hell.

Re: Who Goes to Hell is Not the Most Important Question

john316 — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:32:43 -0000

Well, if it turns out that after I have strived all of my life to be as good as I can be - going to church twice on Sundays and also Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, paying my tithes, guarding my language, and being kind to others - if after all of that I find that I'm sharing space with out and out heathen - well, I just going to be very disappointed.

Re: Rachel Held Evans | Let love win in me

john316 — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:45:26 -0000

Thanks for admitting that you don't know the answers to the issues that you cited.

Neither do I.

And if they were really honest, they would also admit that they don't know either...