JosephM

On 1/10/2021 at 9:52 PM, PaulS said:

It’s hard to imagine that the US was putting its best foot forward when it’s leader was deliberately ‘playing down’ the severity of the virus to the people, in conjunction with politicizing the wearing of masks and social distancing.  Could he have done better?  Absolutely.

Hindsight is always better. If the other party was in control, who can say what would have  been done. They most often take opposite points of view even if they might agree. 

One thing that is wise to remember....  Whoever controls the media, controls the narrative and whoever controls the narrative controls the minds of the masses.

With the latest impeachment, there will be only be  further division. Parties need to stop acting like children and if unity is wanted a party needs to move on , not further agitate those who believe differently. Trump would be gone in another week anyway and now his supporters have something else to be angry about.  It seems to me, the divisiveness is not over.

16 hours ago, John Hunt said:

"Perhaps they are seeing something the media doesn't report?  Perhaps free elections in the US are not as free as originally thought in schools or by past propaganda and many people are now realizing it?"

Comments like this really do need some kind of evidence, rather than relying on hearsay and conspiracy theories.

" i don't understand why Democrats are worried about a recount or challenges."

I don't see how they are. The Georgia count, for instance, went through three recounts. Under a Republican official, Brad Rraffensberger, who'd voted for Trump and contributed financially to his campaign. And with stood the pressure of an hour long phone call from the president to ""I just want to find 11,780 votes," - his words.

"The number of mail in ballots were soo great"

Of course they were. 350,000 Americans have unnecessarily died because of Covid. If the country had taken the right precautions at the right time, like countries in the east - South Korea, Taiwan etc...it should have been more like 5000. 

 

John,

You have to look at deaths per million population and take other factors into consideration like density of population. Italy and the UK and others have more deaths per million population than the US. Were all their deaths unnecessary?

We are 12th in death rate per million population. Also alot of countries like China and Russia may not be reporting accurately. Austrailia is a different beast as its population  is spread out. except in a few big cities. NY , New Jersey and Mass which are tightly populated lead the US in deaths. I doubt anyone could have done better.

On voting its not the number of recounts that matter, its the legitamacy of the ballots. Matching signatures, and looking for duplicates , dead people voting, computer filled votes, etc.. Mail fraud is much easier than voting in person. 

Secondly if you think our elections are free to all  then why was 14 billion spent on the 2020 election. That's a record here. It takes big money to get elected. Money and propaganda and slant in the news determines the winner even if the votes are valid. We only have the appearance of free and fair elections in the US and we are also big in meddling in other countries elections.

On 1/6/2021 at 4:34 PM, PaulS said:

I find it too hard to imagine that all of the media in the free world is involved in a cover up of a fraudulent election.  It’s this nonsense and Trump’s promotion of it that will now cost the Republicans their two Senate seats for Georgia and control of the Senate.

It isn’t a ‘realization’ of anything - it’s buying into Trump’s delusions and not accepting Democracy in action. This is what Trump had been about since day one - dividing the country, not uniting it.  You reap what you sow.

Well, while i don't have a conclusion of a cover-up of a fraudulent election here,  i do see that the Associated press is very capable of and does use propaganda. The AP is a powerful non-profit cooperative  published and may i say blindly  in many cases republished by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters. The AP operates approximately 248 news bureaus in 99 countries. 

Trump may be delusional among other things but if one looks at mail in voting one may plainly see it is more subject to fraudulent voting than voting in person with a valid ID. Only a small percentage are caught and prosecuted but a Pew Pew report shows that it does happen regularly. Recounting ballots does little good for major fraud for a number of reasons because of differing laws in different states. I'm not saying Biden stole the Election or fraudulent votes caused him to win the swing states because I don't know. I'm just saying we need to look at it closer and make it more uniform and don't make it too easy to vote by not requiring enough ID and checks because some call it voter suppression.

Anyway, it water under the bridge.  What one thinks of the matter is fine with me but knowing people and organizations from my own personal experience i wouldn't easily dismiss some of the many conspiracy theories regardless of what the AP and its rebroadcast co-operatives repeat.

Just my 2 cents      

On 1/5/2021 at 3:59 AM, PaulS said:

I'm not sure the US is out of the woods yet, with the way Trump is behaving!  One can only hope this sideshow will finish soon enough.  Then again, there seems to be millions of Americans who seem happy that Trump is behaving this way.  Go figure.

Perhaps they are seeing something the media doesn't report?  Perhaps free elections in the US are not as free as originally thought in schools or by past propaganda and many people are now realizing it?

It seems to me "self" is indeed a creation of brain . However, there is a larger "Self" that is part and one with the All . One is fictitious in that it is not real as in a product of ego that perishes with the using and the other is part of the eternal substrate of existence itself. While it seems to me it cannot be proved, it is never-the-less capable of experiencing. Just my own take.

16 hours ago, PaulS said:

I wonder if religions, like Christianity, start out with good intent but as they become further and further removed from the initiators, they get changed and warped by well-meaning, but ultimately mistaken, individuals and groups.  I certainly think Christianity morphed from what Jesus actually meant to later early Christians making excuses for Jesus not returning when they expected.  'Theology' started getting developed around Jesus by people who didn't know him and were several generations removed from the Jesus experience.

I think most religions have something to offer, otherwise they wouldn't exist I guess.  Having been burnt by aligning myself with traditional Christianity early in life, I am loathe to ever commit again to any particular religion, but welcome any teachings or philosophies that add value to our lives and helps us live better with one another.

That would be my view also. Some have changed more than others and I find myself hesitant to rate them as the thread title asks.

On 12/12/2020 at 4:47 PM, phylmor said:

Hello Everyone!

My name is Phyllis, and I am new to this community board.  I am a seminary student, and am looking forward to learning and sharing with you all!

Greetings Phyllis,

Welcome to the forum. Also looking forward to hearing more about seminary school and your thoughts on progressive Christianity.

Joseph

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have pretty well made the rounds in Christianity.  Gardening can be a great pastime and pleasurable experience.  Had a farm in Kentucky at one stage of my life and tried a little bit of everything.

Hope you find this forum of some benefit and would like to hear some of your thoughts on Christianity today and some of your personal inspirational stories from your journey.

Peace,

Joseph

1 hour ago, PaulS said:

If that film clip is the worst of Joe Biden, I think the US is in for a much better 4 years!

😄  No that's not the worst. I could show you many more Biden videos but what's the point? It is what it is and I am okay with what is and don't remember having been given the power to change it. Anyway if so, that would interfere with my golf, wouldn't it? 😃

On the bright side... golf today... the market is up... Going to the shooting range tomorrow and golf the next day.

Paul,

Well, basically the papers are the Democrats. (at least in control) They portray people how they want. It's obvious to me that the major TV and Newspapers are no longer journalists in this country just reporting facts.  Personally, i am skeptical of anything they report and its not because of what Trump says but from listening to actual meetings and speeches and then reading the reporting and seeing their slant on things reported rather than letting the reader examine what was actually said for themselves and making up their own mind. 

As for Biden having a calming effect. Perhaps it is an act he is coached well with at this time? Perhaps this is the real Joe Biden below. You won't see this in the news.  

I think Biden MAY have genuinely won yet i don't understand why Democrats are worried about a recount or challenges. If everything is above board and the recounts balance then we will have more confidence in our elections. The number of mail in ballots were soo great that there is a real possibility for fraud greater than we have ever seen in the past. those who say there is no evidence only have to look at past proven fraud with less mail-in ballots.  Not every case of fraud gets caught so in the close states it seems to me good to do some rechecks.   https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud/search?combine=&state=GA&year=&case_type=All&fraud_type=All

Good call Paul. Maybe you should gamble more ? 😄

I can relate to what he is saying in my own life , however, personally i found it very hard for me to follow his words because of his accent. 🙂

On 10/21/2020 at 2:05 AM, PaulS said:

Things can change, but I do stand to win $80 if Biden wins which I can donate to maintaining this Forum for a bit longer anyhow!

You Aussie's are real gamblers! I could be wrong but the polls often are slanted to affect the minds of voters. There are a lot of silent Trump supporters who keep quiet to avoid attack by Biden supporters. 😄

Yes, If it goes to the 12th amendment it could be quite interesting as the house elects the president but the senate elects the vice president. In that case it could be if Biden wins with a house vote that Pence could win with a senate vote and becomes Biden's vice. If Biden doesn't make it through his term, Pence would become president and Republicans would take back the White House. (Strange but possible) 

14 hours ago, 4BeanMix said:

Hi all.

I joined the Christian forums (https://www.christianforums.com) around the same time as joining here. I was curious to know if anyone here is or was a member there, and if so, what were your thoughts ?

Hi 4BeanMix,

No, not a member there. Left those kind of sites 14 years ago. To rigid and filled with dogma and intolerance to alternative views. Yet some people are drawn to that kind of drama in their life. I would rather have peace and goodwill toward others prevail regardless of ones personal beliefs.

Joseph

I already paypaled my support in full . No need to wait. It's a go.....    There is no pulling the plug in a week so if one is going to donate then go ahead and donate now so Paul doesn't have to carry the load for the rest of the 6 months.

1 hour ago, thormas said:

Joseph, is the jury still out on your negotiation of the pricing exception?

No. They would not negotiate. They said we should have been paying the higher rate already.

Even reminded them we have been a paying customer since 2003. The $45 plan is their least expensive plan as of a year ago. They caught it on a recent change in software and audit of accounts.

I took over in 2009 after our main site was shutting it down because it had deteriorated to name calling and a handful of people plus social media (Facebook) was on the rise. 

We built this site up to as much as 62+ active members each month and had 3-4 moderators in  2012

In 2014 it decreased to 1/2 of that and as social media became more and more popular has continued to decrease to present day 7-10 active members a month

The main site was not interested in further financial support in 2017 and we became self supporting. 

I am retiring now as site owner and and if this site is to continue and PaulS accepts PaulS will be the new site owner and responsible for seeing the financial support continues. Otherwise it will close and go off-line on October 8th, 2020

If any members other than Thomas and myself will continue to contribute please speak up now and communicate with PaulS.

Regards 

JosephM (present site owner)

Thomas, BTW,  This image has appeared with a link to how to become a Site sponsor over 319,000 times the last 2 years with  zero response.

http://content.invisioncic.com/r11202/monthly_2017_07/sitesponsor1.jpg.4e1d54aab9ea02a7654129fb64513c5e.jpg  

11 minutes ago, thormas said:

That was the past, perhaps the new circumstances will encourage others to contribute.

But we shall see.

 

 

Well, if you look at our statistics in the News area you will find we have from 7 to 10 active members each month total (usually the same ones). As an active member, are you willing to contribute $5 a month every month to keep the site going?  Ask the same of the other active members. Do you think you could get 8 other members?  Would you even be willing to sponsor 1 month at $45 yourself which would be less? Otherwise October 7th will probably be the last day this forum is online. Lets see what kind of response we get here.

1 hour ago, thormas said:

Regarding the possible closing of the site, a few thoughts come to mind:

* ask the 'regulars' if they would be willing to contribute something monthly (for example $5) and suggest (or charge) others who are not regulars donate $2 if they want to participate; if they become regulars then the donation moves to $5 (if the site brings in more than $45 monthly the balance is kept in an account for future payments should the number of regulars drop).

* have a minimal monthly charge for all (like the former Spong site) for membership and set the rate by the initial number of people (example 9 regulars X $5) who show interest, add members at the going rate as they show interest (bank the extra for future payments as above).

* join and make comments on the main site

^everybody join Facebook???

Not a bad suggestion Thomas but our present bill of $20/mo couldn't even get but 3 willing to donate $20ea for the whole year  . SteveS55 and Paul and myself.  So Paul and myself picked up the balance for the rest of the year to this October.  http://tcpc.ipbhost.com/topic/4350-help-our-annual-october-fund-raiser/

Perhaps joining Facebook or free social media may be the best suggestion as forums are on the decline.  

I'm working to see if they will make an exception for our pricing but if not perhaps there are free forums with advertisers paying the bill available elsewhere on the web.

I received the following message from Invision Power Services which is our software provider and host of this site ...

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Rhett (Invision Community)

Sep 22, 2020, 11:58 PM EDT

Wanda,

Welcome and sorry to hear about your problem. Personally i would recommend honesty and forgiveness to rid yourself of any guilt. With all the social media out there there is a lot of cult like information and videos out there concerning the issue you mention. If it were my father, i would not pester or argue with him him over the issue. You can share your honest feelings and then let it go. In my view, we can't  change others, we can offer advice but we have to accept that they have their own mind to make up. You don't have to let it "drive you crazy". You can choose to let him live with you or not. If you decide he is to remain living with you then it is my opinion that you need to get over that which about him is bothering you and stop lying about the wifi and his phone. The prayer "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. " may be applicable here. Also guilt cannot exist with a clear conscience. Honesty is usually always the best policy and practice.

Best regards,

Joseph