Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Good article - "Unearthing racism's Christian roots: How far-right Christianity quietly fueled Jacksonville shooter
[...]...Starting from the very beginning of European settlement, colonists used the Bible to claim Christian explorers had a divine right to seize lands that were not inhabited by Christians. They also argued that they had a godly duty to bring the Bible to native lands. These "Biblical" missions left fields of blood and fire behind them.
Then, as colonists took over the South, Christianity became a lynchpin of slavery. Faith leaders and policymakers professed that the Bible contained passages that clearly supported enslavement. "

To link a few

A message to all who see Christian vales under threat by naughty Democrats and others who support inclusivity of groups who have, for different reasons, been persecuted for a period longer than any of us have lived. Putin feels as you do. See excerpt from a post of December, 2022:
Vladimir Putin: a miracle defender of Christianity or the most evil man?
[...]
We have heard a lot of ranting from Putin about the threat to Russia from Nato encirclement and justifications for the invasion to denazify Ukraine .. https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine .. and stop their genocide of Russians. This is all propaganda and nonsense. What has been missed is the religious dimension in Putin’s thinking, although in delegitimising Ukraine, he did refer to it as an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.
P - This spiritual space is an important clue often overlooked. In 988 Vladimir king of the Rus was the first Christian convert. In Kyiv he summoned the whole city to the banks of the Dnieper River for a mass baptism. Holy Mother Russia was born. In 2019 the Ukrainian church broke with the Russian church and declared its independence. But Putin and the Russian church will not accept this because it is the site of the imagined mother church for all the Rus.
[...]And in Putin’s mind it goes further.
P - Just as he probed me about Christianity .. https://www.theguardian.com/world/christianity .. in the west, he reportedly said in a speech in 2013: “We see many of the Euro-Atlantic countries are actually rejecting their roots, including the Christian values that constitute the basis of western civilisation. They are denying the moral principles and all traditional identities: national, cultural, religious and even sexual.”
P - Kyiv must be taken, in his mind, to preserve the Christian battle. And there may be many Christians in the west who agree with some of his sentiments.
P - A miracle defender of Christianity or the most evil man? Well, it is Ukrainian Christians among others whom he is now slaughtering indiscriminately and he has little understanding of Jesus, who said “blessed are the peacemakers”.
P - No, this is a power vision threaded through with nationalistic Christian theology. And evil is the
right word when a leader uses religion to justify in God’s name invasion, violence and annihilation.
* Tim Costello is a fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity in Sydney
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=171417034]

Tim Costello, in my mind, could be described as one of the 'good' Christians. A thoughtful, compassionate Christian.

Is Tim Costello Australia’s most misunderstood Christian?
Where his mix of faith and activism comes from
[...]He has drawn on faith during his journey, giving up the offer of a partnership in a successful Melbourne law firm to go penniless to study theology in Switzerland – away from the powerful influence of his evangelical father. He describes meeting Italian Baptists who voted Communist and, perhaps worse, British and German Baptists who smoked and drank.
[...]For his Sydney audience, Tim Costello described the St Kilda he started ministry in as, “a giant sinkhole for abandoned kids and street people.” He had taken the “wrong” church, a red brick building in a depressing side street that the powers-that-be had decided to close. But as he observed, “I would have shrivelled up inside as a pastor in Melbourne’s Bible belt”. In St Kilda he was able to grow.
P - But there were lessons to learn from the people, such as Eva, a member of the Stolen Generations.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/is-tim-costello-australias-most-misunderstood-christian/

Atheists Are Sometimes More Religious Than Christians
[...]First, researchers confirmed the widely known fact that, overall, Americans are much more religious than Western Europeans. They gauged religious commitment using standard questions, including “Do you believe in God with absolute certainty?” and “Do you pray daily?”
P - Second, the researchers found that American “nones”—those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular—are more religious than European nones. The notion that religiously unaffiliated people can be religious at all may seem contradictory, but if you disaffiliate from organized religion it does not necessarily mean you’ve sworn off belief in God, say, or prayer.
P - The third finding reported in the study is by far the most striking. As it turns out, “American ‘nones’ are as religious as—or even more religious than—Christians in several European countries, including France, Germany, and the U.K.”
P - “That was a surprise,” Neha Sahgal, the lead researcher on the study, told me. “That’s the comparison that’s fascinating to me.” She highlighted the fact that whereas only 23 percent of European Christians say they believe in God with absolute certainty, 27 percent of American nones say this.
2021 - https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=164739959

NEVER FORGET, in many American eyes (as blinded by belief that they are) Trump represents (in their fact TRUMP IS) a gift from God. Irrespective of how nuts that sounds it seems to be an important ingredient in any consideration of Trump's possible political longevity.

Trump will use the indictment of HIS company and the CFO for a 15-year scam to rally his MAGA gang.
Trump has no shame - for Trump, no shame no sin.

No shame no sin. God's gift.

EVANGELICALS HAVE BEEN RESHAPED INTO THE IMAGE OF TRUMP HIMSELF
By Michael Gerson Oct. 28, 2019 at 5:25 p.m. EDT
[...]
If Trump survives the impeachment process, and somehow wins a second term, many explanations will be offered. It may be that the Democratic Party went too far left, or picked a nominee with a glass jaw, or couldn’t swim against the political tide of a good economy. But there will be one reason behind all of these reasons: because evangelicals lost their taste for character and gave their blessing to corruption. And this grand act of hypocrisy would mark them for a generation.
P - The reform of evangelicalism is probably the work of men and women of a rising generation, who have significantly different views and values from their elders. About two-thirds of young white evangelicals believe that immigrants strengthen the country. Their approval of Trump is significantly lower. Time will work in favor of sanity.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=151976140
.. and in reply ..
To link - Faith and freedoms: why evangelicals profess unwavering love for Trump
[...]
Evangelicals feel Trump has kept his covenant with them by nominating conservative judges to federal courts and to the supreme court; by tacitly supporting abortion bans; by supporting Christian universities and organizations that profess a moral objection to same-sex marriage or contraception; by supporting religious dispensations from anti-discrimination laws; by moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and other measures.
P - Meanwhile, Trump has addressed a central concern for white evangelicals that they are losing influence as a group and that the sun is setting on the United States they dream of – a nation that is white and Christian in its majority and in its essence.
P - “They’ll look away from the moral indiscretion in order to get their political agenda in place...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=151982070

The apocalyptic myth that helps explain evangelical support for Trump
""Is this fascism? No. Could it become fascism? Yes
"Is Donald Trump a Fascist? Part 2 of Interview with Robert Paxton, Father of Fascism Studies
[...]
“God’s used imperfect people all through history. King David wasn’t perfect. Saul wasn’t perfect. Solomon wasn’t perfect,” outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in an interview on “Fox & Friends” before going on to claim that he had given the president “a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago.
2021 - https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=164732870

History of Christmas
LOL .. "As you may know, I like bars and music and games of chance."
.. good one .. while you were into that good cheers/nice feeling present i was into drier history past .. guess y'all know
Christmas was banned for a time in America .. many might not know why NYC's first police force came into play ..
[...]An Ancient Holiday
The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice,
[...]In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.
[...]In the early years of Christianity, Easter .. http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter .. was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration).
[...]An Outlaw Christmas
In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell .. http://www.history.com/topics/british-history/oliver-cromwell .. and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.
P - The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. [lol] By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith .. http://www.history.com/topics/john-smith .. reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.
[...]It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?
P - The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York .. http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/new-york .. city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.
2016 - https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=127414973

In conclusion two replies to that one:

By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.
And we all know what happened to Jamestown...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=127415221

5 Strangest Theories about Santa Claus from Christmas Past, Present, and Future

https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=127419853