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DeborahDP

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Everything posted by DeborahDP

  1. I understand why you think Americans are stupid. I have found them to be "willfully ignorant" where the $hrubites are concerned. But before you assume that he was re-elected consider this: It was impossible to re-elect him. He wasn't elected the first time. Also, there is a very real possibility that they stole it again. Here is but one of many articles on the net regarding this possibility: Despite mainstream media attempts to kill the story, talk radio and the Internet are abuzz with suggestions that John Kerry was elected president on Nov. 2 – but Republican election officials made it difficult for millions of Democrats to vote while employees of four secretive, GOP-bankrolled corporations rigged electronic voting machines and then hacked central tabulating computers to steal the election for George W. Bush. The Bush administration's "fix" of the 2000 election debacle (the Help America Vote Act) made crooked elections considerably easier, by foisting paperless electronic voting on states before the bugs had been worked out or meaningful safeguards could be installed. Crying foul this time around isn't just the province of whiny Democrats. Consider that The Wall Street Journal recently revealed that "Verified Voting, a group formed by a Stanford University professor to assess electronic voting, has collected 31,000 reports of election fraud and other problems." For more go here: http://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/Story.asp?ID=4688 And here is the site where I found the above article: http://legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news Scroll down to find more articles on the same subject. An excellent web site devoted to the subject is http://www.blackboxvoting.org/ You might also check out the Yahoo! search I did: http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=slv1-&p=...ebold++election There seems to be a very real possibility that Kerry actually WON--just like Gore did in 2000. But we will probably never know for sure. Personally, I am convinced they stole it this time just like they did in 2000. Until the integrity of our ballots is restored, the Dems and other liberals are just spinning their wheels. They will go on losing no matter what they do.
  2. Just a few thoughts running through my brain-- like a squirrel in his exercise wheel... First, we can not "re-elect" bu$h. He was not elected the first time-- he was selected. Second, does anyone think our votes will count any more in November than they did in 2000? Nothing was done about that fiasco. Worse, the bu$h jihad has had four years to perfect it. Third, IF Kerry gets in, will it really matter? First he votes as Senator for the war. Then he says he will ADD 40k troops. And his latest is that he says even if he'd known then what he knows now he would've voted with the bu$histas. Fourth, I really hate the way he ram-rodded his way to the nomination (some think he BOUGHT it... I wouldn't doubt it) and the way his supporters have virtually silenced any dissent within "his" party. I guess what I'm trying to say is I am very disillusioned and nervous about America's future no matter which one gets in. I do not like Kerry, but I pray for several things: 1) that when I vote for him, it actually counts. 2) that he wins. 3) that everything I've read about him the last couple years is just dead wrong. Either way, I am dreading November 2.
  3. It's a long read, but well worth it. I initially found it at a local political yahoo group I subscribe to.
  4. Subject: Christian Zionists are growing in influence rom the July 07, 2004 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0707/p15s01-lire.html Mixing prophecy and politics Christian Zionists are growing in influence - even as they fight for policies their critics say work against peace in the Mideast. For these believers, it's all about fulfilling biblical prophecy. By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor JERUSALEM - Ray Sanders and his wife, Sharon, grew up on farms in the American Midwest, but Israel has long been their home. Their journey began in the 1970s, when they read Hal Lindsey's apocalyptic bestseller, "The Late Great Planet Earth," which laid out a scenario for the end of the world according to a literal interpretation of Bible prophecies. "That awakened our understanding to Israel and its prophetic role in the Last Days," Mr. Sanders explains in his spacious Jerusalem office. "That was a real paradigm shift in our lives." That shift spurred the couple to leave their jobs, attend Bible college in Texas, and move to Jerusalem, where in 1985 they helped found a biblical Zionist organization called Christian Friends of Israel (CFI). With a handful of similar groups here they are marshalling financial and moral support from evangelical Christians around the world, and particularly in the United States, to fulfill what they see as their role in an unfolding final drama. Christian Zionists, an Evangelical subset whose ranks are estimated at 20 million in the US, have in the past two decades poured millions of dollars of donations into Israel, formed a tight alliance with the Likud and other Israeli politicians seeking an expanded "Greater Israel," and mobilized grass-roots efforts to get the US to adopt a similar policy. Christian Zionist leaders today have access to the White House and strong support within Congress, including the backing of the two most recent majority leaders in the House of Representatives. For many Jews, the enthusiastic support of these evangelical Christians is welcome at a time of terrorism and rising anti-Semitism. Several Israeli leaders have called them "the best friends Israel has." But other Jews and Christians have begun speaking against the alliance, which they see as a dangerous mix of religion and politics that is harmful to Israel and endangers prospects for peace with the Palestinians. The prophecy For Christian Zionists, the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham and the center of His action from now to the Second Coming of Christ and final battle of Armageddon, when the Antichrist will be defeated. But before this can occur, they say, biblical prophecy foretells the return of Jews from other countries; Israel's possession of all the land between the Euphrates and Nile rivers; and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple where a Muslim site, Dome of the Rock, now stands. Much, much more at the above link.
  5. Hi, Tammy. Welcome! That last would make a great bumpersticker. Excellent post. I tried being a Southern Baptist for a few years. It didn't take. Quite frankly, I don't understand how thinking Christians can tolerate being a part of that denomination. I had to leave for much the same reasons you gave for your dissatisfaction. Something to think about, whether you tithe or just give what you can every Sunday, you are helping to finance their nasty agenda. I would think long and hard about that.
  6. Rev Steve, I have been exploring your website. It's awesome. Thanks for sharing it with us. You give me much "food for thought." Thank You!
  7. What I don't understand is how/why so many supposedly "god-fearing christians" like/approve of bu$h and what he's doing. What am I missing here? I just don't get it. I keep getting this image in my head of Jesus shaking his head and weeping bitterly over what we are doing in his name. Come judgment day, America as a nation, and Christendom in general, is going to have a lot to answer for. I agree. We most definitely need to get the Idiot-in-Chief out. From a local yahoo group I belong to: The Last Word W's Second Term: If you think the first is bad ... By Robert B. Reich (former Secretary of Labor) Date: 04.01.04 Musings about a second Bush term typically assume another four years of the same right-wing policies we've had to date. But it'd likely be far worse. So far, the Bush administration has had to govern with the expectation of facing American voters again in 2004. But suppose George W. Bush wins a second term. The constraint of a re-election contest will be gone. Knowing that voters can no longer turn them out, and that this will be their last shot at remaking America, the radical conservatives will be unleashed. A friend who specializes in foreign policy and hobnobs with subcabinet officials in the Defense and State departments told me that the only thing that's stopped the Bushies from storming into Iran and North Korea is the upcoming election. If Bush is re-elected, "[Dick] Cheney and [Donald] Rumsfeld are out of the box," he said. "They'll take Bush's re-election as a mandate to wage the 'war on terror' everywhere and anywhere." The second term's defense team will be even harder line than the current one. Colin Powell will go. Condoleezza Rice will take over at the State Department. Rumsfeld will consolidate power as the president's national-security adviser. Paul Wolfowitz will run the Defense Department. Domestic policy will swing further right. A re-election would strengthen the White House's hand on issues that even many congressional Republicans have a hard time accepting, such as the assault on civil liberties. Bush will seek to push "Patriot II" through Congress, giving the Justice Department and the FBI powers to inspect mail, eavesdrop on phone conversations and e-mail, and examine personal medical records, insurance claims, and bank accounts. Right-wing evangelicals will solidify their control over the departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services --curtailing abortions, putting federal funds into the hands of private religious groups, pushing prayer in the public schools, and promoting creationism. Economic policy, meanwhile, will be tilted even more brazenly toward the rich. Republican strategist Grover Norquist smugly predicts larger tax benefits for high earners in a second Bush administration. The goal will be to eliminate all taxes on capital gains, dividends, and other forms of unearned income and move toward a "flat tax."The plan will be for deficits to continue to balloon until Wall Street demands large spending cuts as a condition for holding down long-term interest rates. Homeowners, facing potential losses on their major nest eggs as mortgage rates move upward, might be persuaded to join the chorus. In consequence, Bush will slash all domestic spending outside of defense. He will also argue that Social Security cannot be maintained in its present form, and will push for legislation to transform it into private accounts. Meanwhile, the few shards of regulation still protecting the environment and the safety of American workers will be eliminated. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will surely step down from the Supreme Court, possibly joined by at least one other jurist, opening the way for the White House to nominate a series of right-wing justices, a list that could easily include Charles Pickering Sr. and William Pryor Jr. After Chief Justice William Rehnquist resigns, Bush may well nominate Antonin Scalia for the top slot --opening the way for Scalia and Clarence Thomas to dominate the Court. Such a court will curtail abortion rights, whittle down the Fourth and Fifth amendments, end all affirmative action, and eliminate much of what's left of the barrier between church and state. Karl Rove and Tom DeLay, meanwhile, will have four more years to fulfill their goal of transforming American democracy into a one-party state. Congressional redistricting across the nation will make Texas' recent antics seem a model of democratic deliberation. Automated voting machines will be easily rigged, with no paper trails to document abuses. Changes in campaign- finance laws will permit larger "hard money" donations by corporate executives and federal contractors who have benefited by Republican policies. Finally, the Federal Communications Commission will allow three or four giant media empires -- all tightly connected to the Republican Party -- to consolidate their ownership over all television and radio broadcasting. Nothing is more dangerous to a republic than fanatics unconstrained by democratic politics. Yet in a second term of this administration, that's exactly what we'll have. If you know anyone who is on the fence, or even near the fence, send them this. and tell them to absentee ballot...we cannot trust the electronic voting machines.
  8. This ought to curl your hair. Red-Heifer Days Rod Dreher NRO Senior Writer April 11, 2002 8:30 a.m. Red-Heifer Days Religion takes the lead. Could this little calf born last month in Israel bring about Armageddon? The concept would have struck many people as absurd the last time such a calf was born, in 1997, and probably makes most readers laugh today. Big mistake: Never underestimate the power of religious faith to shape events, especially in the Holy Land. Especially right now. Our eschatological heifer story begins on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where tens of millions of Jews, Muslims, and Christians believe the central events of each tradition's Last Days will play out. The site, the Biblical Mount Moriah, was the site of the Hebrews' First Temple, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC, and the Second Temple, which the Romans leveled in 70 AD. Muslims, believing the site to be the place from which the Prophet Mohammed ascended into Heaven atop a steed, began in 685 to build the Noble Sanctuary, a 35-acre site in Jerusalem's walled Old City, containing the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al Aqsa mosque. Click on link above for rest of story. Enjoy!
  9. This may be true generally speaking, but my observation amongst "individuals" is that the war support crosses all denominational lines. In other words, there are fundamentalist factions in EVERY denomination. I left my weekly bible study group because I could no longer deal with what they were saying. Though they don't necessarily take the bible literally, they are still locked into what I would call "fundamental thinking." They aren't rabid. They would probably be considered "moderate." But I am too far "left" of them to be comfortable. I like and respect these people. I just had to leave while I still could like and respect them. I didn't formally leave. I just stopped going.
  10. Shiny Pebble: I not only wish you luck, I wish you Godspeed in your endeavors. To all: Thank you for all your thoughts on this subject. I am still finding my way, and you have all been a great help. Thank you. Carry on. This is even more enlightening than I had initially hoped.
  11. Well, it's a matter of personal belief and faith. So yes, let's agree to disagree. The only time I have a problem with that is when someone tries to tell me and or others that we are not Christian because we don't believe as they do. It's really not up to any of us to judge. In the end, we will all know where we are for sure. And I think we will ALL be amazed. The key here for me, is that we were all given Free Will, and supposedly intelligence. We were also created in God's image. Therefore, I don't think he expects any of us to be "programmed" robots, and only believe what we are told. I think he expects us to work out our individual faith in our own way. My thing is He made every one of us different. WHY would He expect us to all believe the exact same way? and to worship Him in the exact same way? We are not the same people who worshiped Him 2000 years ago, and they weren't the same people who worshiped Him 10,000 years ago. He created all the humans in all the cultures, so I seriously doubt there is only one "correct" way to worship Him. And for any one group to expect it to be this way, or to try and force it as some seem hell-bent in doing, is just pure insanity IMO. /sermon ends.
  12. Jeep, Might I make a suggestion? Why don't we just begin, and whoever is interested can just jump right in.
  13. I would love to join the reading group. Just let me know which book, date, time, place... uhhhh... strike that last one. Anyway, I'm in. I have several of the Spong books mentioned. I also have a good one by Killinger-- can't remember the title exactly, something like 10 Things I was Taught Wrong. Really good read. I'm curious about Borg. Never heard of him till I came to this site, but he sounds interesting. I know this is a progressive CHRISTIAN site, but I have also enjoyed some of HH Dalai Lama's books. Just a thought...
  14. Thanx Josh. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to answer. I'll check out those titles and Borg.
  15. I only got one question for the Christians of bu$h's stripe: WWJB? or Who Would Jesus Bomb? If they represent true Christianity, I'd rather burn in hell.
  16. I tried to answer the Worldview Survey. But the way the questions were worded, I found it impossible to answer with just the options provided. Those questions are LOADED. It was impossible for me to give a truly honest answer to most of them. I know surveys tend to be like that, but I found this one to be EXTREME. Had to quit just after 5 minutes.
  17. First, I would just like to start off saying that I was "born into the Baptist faith." As such, I was trained up from the cradle. I am now in my mid-40s and beginning to actually CONSCIOUSLY question my beliefs. Okay... so I'm a little slow. I have been preoccupied with more pressing matters. I have done A LOT of serious reading ie theology in the past couple years. I have become aware of the fact that Paul's writings actually come BEFORE the gospels, and that Mark is supposedly the earliest gospel. Paul's earliest writings came DECADES after the Crucifixion. Up until these things were written down, they were passed on strictly by word of mouth. The Old Testament was the same way, except it was CENTURIES before it was finally written down and NONE of it by Moses. Now, I think we can all agree that word of mouth is a very unreliable way of passing on information. The temptation is too great for many to embellish, and even those who try to be exact may not have heard exactly right or expressed themselves as well as they might. This brings me to my dilemma. (I apologize now for taking so long.) Growing up, I was taught that Jesus' was a Virgin Birth, Mary was impregnated by God Himself. Jesus was crucified, died and was buried and rose again on the third day. Jesus performed many miracles: healing the blind, deaf, and paralytics, exorcised demons, defied the laws of Nature (ie walked on water, fed 1000s with a mere 5 small loaves and 2 fish, stilled a violent storm, killed a fig tree instantaneously, etc.) All these things are found in the Gospels, yet Paul mentioned not a one. And he wrote BEFORE Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. Until a few years ago, I accepted ALL of these teachings without question. Granted, there were niggling doubts in the back of my mind, but I always pushed them aside... Until now. Now the questions refuse to go away. They demand to be answered. I'd appreciate any thoughts, opinions, suggestions, etc any of you might have. PS: I recently converted to Episcopalian a little over a year ago.
  18. My only concern is that it doesn't cause a rift. I, too, am glad to see that his appointment went through, but as a recently converted Episcopalian, I don't want to see a schism. But if it must be, then so be it. I will stay with my church.
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