The Folk Prophet

Would you distinguish the two ideas as being different?

This isn't an indication that the US isn't great. It's WHY the US is great.

Disagree!!

I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure starving your kids to death is already illegal.

You talking out of both sides of your mouth when you say you have no moral outrage but then follow it up by saying what they did was offensive. "Morally outrageous" and "offensive" are the same thing. Moreover, you're discussing it just as much as anyone else here, which means you're also giving them exactly what they want. But mere attention is not all they want. Not by a long shot.

Actually, I'd be okay with repentance.

How does one make this equation? I mean I assume when you speak of "THE Antichrist" you're meaning the 2nd beast mentioned in Revelations 13? Let's look at that: I gotta ask.... how does Trump "fit the mold" of this? I mean unless one wants to claim that Trump performed a miracle by getting shot in the ear... which, granted, I've seen a lot of commentary that it was by providence.... but not that Trump performed it somehow. Either way...it's not exactly making fire come down from heaven in the sight of men. Or are you speaking of literal references to "Antichrist" in 1 John 2:18,22: Has Trump denied Jesus or the Father and the Son? Or 1 John 4:3: ...and... 2 John 1:7 Once again... has Trump done these things? I'm not making a pro Trump point here. But "the", or even "an" Antichrist is a pretty ridiculous assertion. I mean, here's some Trump quotes: “People are so shocked when they find … out I am Protestant. I am Presbyterian. And I go to church and I love God and I love my church,” “Though I was confirmed at a Presbyterian church as a child, I now consider myself to be a non-denominational Christian,” "Melania and I have gotten to visit some amazing churches and meet with great faith leaders from around the world. During the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, I tuned into several virtual church services and know that millions of Americans did the same.” And, lest we forget: I mean, sure...it was a bit for show...and the cynics, obviously, consider it ALL for show. But to call it "anti" or him THE Antichrist? Once again.... how does he "fit the mold"? I mean people who have Trump Derangement Syndrome are going to have Trump Derangement Syndrome. So I don't expect any convincing to be done here either way. But this kind of thought is legitimately laughable. Calling Trump "the antichrist" is as laughable as calling Trump "the savior".

The arrogance of these sorts of readings of the Book of Mormon always kind of amazes me. Of course it's typical of so-called "academia". When they are learned they think they are wise, indeed. It's one thing to understand conceptually that the prophets aren't perfect. It's another thing entirely to point out specific imperfections, as if we are somehow more enlightened than they are and well suited to judge when, if, and how they weren't perfect. If and when the scriptures or a prophet explicitly states that something said was mistaken then I'll accept that. Until then, I think I'll assume that my imperfections are the problem rather than looking for theirs.

Depends on the joke. Not to justify anything...but speaking of beyond the pale.... When I was in high-school, I seem to recall a bout of "dead baby" jokes becoming all the rage. Some of them were hilarious.

Maybe not continually. But in a 5 shot burst it's not even that fast. Count to five in a second. It's not that fast. A Thompson Machine gun (ye olden days ganster machine gun) shoots 25 rounds per second. Just to be clear.

You can literally just pull the trigger 5 to 6 times a second without that.

Yeah, I could do some googling and try to figure out where I found these I suppose. But since someone else could just as easily do said googling, I'll leave it to them if they're that interested. @Lindsay Powell I apologize for not more explicitly sighting where I pulled the quotes from. I have no idea where they were from other than that I use search engines (church website, google, bing, etc.) to look for stuff the same as anyone could.

Sure. But I expect the wording wasn't such that if looked at carefully it meant "you must have a career". Maybe. I dunno. Worth considering.

Oh... and for what it's worth, the above doesn't imply having a career.

There are already repercussions.

I guess what I can't help but think is.... we always look at these sorts of things as if our job is to make it as easy as possible for others to return to God. To remove all obstacles. To lay out the red carpet, etc., etc. Obviously there is some correctness to this idea. And yet... Life is meant to be a trial. And how do we know that we aren't meant to be a trial for someone else? I mean....maybe God put someone in our path because He knew we'd rub them the wrong way in everything we say and do and they're being tested to see if they'll stay true to Him despite that? That doesn't mean we ought to go about being jerks to people on purpose with the idea that we're testing them. (Everything being relative. Because He has asked us to speak truth boldly and warned us that we will offend, and he that is ashamed because of the offense of the world is not worthy, etc., etc.) I just worry about second-guessing that because of OUR wisdom in what's offensive and what isn't. The simple matter-of-fact is that Christ offended. Constantly. Every where He went. He offended, and offended, and offended. They put Him to death for it. And we've been asked to take up the cross and follow Him. We should expect that doing so will EXTREMELY offend others. I've learned, sadly, that speaking the truth offends. And it offends badly and often. If we speak the truth, we will offend. I get what you're saying. I have, myself, often made changes in my communication methods to try and better align with what I believe God would have me do and say. But we also need to be careful to not hide away, fail to speak what is true and right, etc., because we fear offending others. There's obviously a balance there to be struck. And maybe some strike it easier than others. I struggle with it.

The creepy music they added helped.

#defundTheMods

Oh...I have no current complaints. I only claim RIGHT to be able to complain....hashtag ...#allModsAreBulliesWithBadges!

We need a private forum where we can talk about the moderators behind their backs!

Nevertheless, I don't agree that the Community of Christ should be classified as a church of God. It's not led by God and it has none of God's authority. Those are my defining criteria for a church being God's. Not whether it has some truth and light or not.

Since you followed up your "yes" with a view that seems to believe that stating that it's stupid to believe the earth is flat as a general statement on a forum is equivalently improper to telling someone they're stupid to their face, and exactly opposite to holding one's tongue when speaking face to face with a flat-earther, I am entirely unconvinced by your claim to recognize the difference.

Just out of curiosity, do you recognize the difference between, for example, stating on a forum that believing the world is flat is stupid and going up to a flat-earther and telling them that they're stupid?

This is an interesting thing to think about. I accept what you're saying as valid. But.... I also have to ask myself.... how can one fight falsehoods without truth? It's an interesting challenge. If one cannot respect father-dom how can they respect our Father? It's absolutely requisite. And we'd get nowhere by not teaching them the truth of that matter. But...tact, timing, line-upon-line, etc.... Those things matter. It's interesting.