A Question for the self-identified so-called Christians in the Season of Peace and Goodwill

Patheos How Does The Bible Define a Christian? | Dr. Michael L. Williams (patheos.com) on the old definition of Christian quotes:
– KJV eph 4:14-15 “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head… “



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Author: patd

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

48 thoughts on “A Question for the self-identified so-called Christians in the Season of Peace and Goodwill”

  1. yesterday, the 3rd day of advent, I was thinking of and missing our old trail friend jace.  imagine he would have lit a pink candle, posted a grand classic and have reminded us stormed-tossed that traditionally the third sunday is called “gaudete sunday” — gaudete is the latin word for rejoice — and we who survived the storms around us should be joyful, taking note of our good fortune.

    i think jace would approve of the message in today’s thread topic. 

  2. a song for jace and other missed mixers – rest in peace

    The Peace Carol · John Denver · The Muppets A Christmas Together

  3. Those who hold up the Bible, wrap themselves in the flag, and hide behind children are not to be trusted; they are only for show, if the the rest of their words and actions aren’t congruent.

    Do you serve those who voted you into office or are your constituents lobbyists who bring you cash? Do you want to protect children in schools from assault weapons or is your interest only your campaign war chest loaded with NRA money? Do you want to serve democracy or an orange fascist? Do you love your neighbor as yourself or is that just a nice saying by a worldview you don’t actually believe in, except when you need to use it to get votes…which gives you power…which gives you NRA money?

    They may quack like ducks, but they smell like skunks and act like wild hogs.

  5. Anyone who actually reads that collection of books already knows this:
     
    5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

  6. Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” -Epicurus

  7. Wow.  If the National Guard was actually ready (instructed?) to protect pro-tRUMPsky insurrectionists…smells like a treason.

  8. good for mitt. bet there won’t be very many GOPers who’ll dare say nice things about chris in fear of the former guy’s wrath.

    How Mitt Romney reacted to Chris Wallace leaving Fox News (msn.com)

    Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who has been a guest on Chris Wallace’s show several times, reacted to Wallace’s unexpected announcement with a tweet Sunday morning.

    “Thank you, Chris Wallace, for the years of truth & honesty,” Romney wrote. “I trust that what’s in store for you will be rewarding & impactful but even if not, you’ve already served with uncommon grace & generosity of spirit.”

    Romney continued, “You kindled the passion of your dad & took it to even greater heights.”

  9. and good for chief justice roberts as reported by msn:

    The U.S. Supreme Court this week rejected a challenge to block the federal mask mandate at U.S. airports and domestic air travel amid the ongoing pandemic. Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. denied the 89-page emergency petition for review without comment and without referring the application to the full court.

    […]

    Chief Justice Roberts did not comment on his ruling or refer it to the full court. According to the Times, this suggests he “viewed the legal question in the case as insubstantial.” In other words, this lawsuit has no chance to be taken up by the highest court in the land.

  12. Meadows Said National Guard Would Protect Trump Supporters on Jan. 6 – Rolling Stone

    The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol released a report on Sunday detailing its case to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress. The report paints a damning portrait of the former White House chief of staff’s involvement in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, an effort that included Meadows saying that the National Guard would be at the Capitol on Jan. 6, ready to “protect pro-Trump people.”

    […]

    ….. The report released Sunday adds to some of the tidbits the committee released last week about how Meadows reportedly used his position to advance the effort to overturn the election results.

    […]

    Thompson also wrote that the committee obtained an email from Meadows that referred to a PowerPoint presentation titled “Election fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN.” It was later reported that the presentation mentioned the possibility of Trump declaring a national security emergency in order to delay the certification of the election results, and that Phil Waldron, a retired army colonel who circulated a version of the presentation, says he met with Meadows several times, and that he or his team briefed members of Congress.

    [continues]

     

  14. more on that power point

    Jan. 6 PowerPoint reveals many more Republicans were in on Trump’s coup plot | Salon.com

    With the news that there was a PowerPoint presentation called “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for JAN 6”, reported here by Brett Bachman, Bannon’s revolutionary proclamations on his Jan. 5th podcast have become clearer.

    [… quotes from the podcast…]]

    But it’s clear now that Bannon was also talking about the plans laid out in that PowerPoint presentation which included some of what we knew but also reveals some rather chilling recommendations that add more detail to what was undeniably a coup attempt. When he said, “We are going into uncharted waters. We’re going into something that’s never happened before in American history,” he wasn’t kidding.

    The presentation indicated that Mike Pence had more than one way to overturn the election. As vice president, he could seat alternate Republican electors (which Rudy Giuliani and the boys were working feverishly to round up), he could reject the electoral votes of the states Donald Trump was disputing (with no evidence) or he could delay by refusing to certify until there was a recount of all paper ballots. That last coincidentally tracks with the fatuous proposal by Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tx, and 11 other senators who planned to delay the count in order to conduct an “emergency audit” in the states Donald Trump was disputing in order to “restore trust in the electoral system.” Finally, Pence could just throw up his hands and say there was no way to ever know the real outcome and throw it to the House of Representatives which would vote as if it were a tie and Trump would win under the rules that each state delegation has one vote.

    None of those recommendations were remotely constitutional.

    Meanwhile, the PowerPoint also recommended that Trump brief Congress on alleged foreign interference in the election, deem all electronic voting in the states invalid, declare a National Security Emergency and put the National Guard on standby. (Politico reported that Chief of Staff Mark Meadows did order the guard to be available to “protect pro-Trump people.”) Here’s a little flavor of what they had in mind:

    twitter.com/BetsyStover/status/1470250917668605956

    The PowerPoint also features some of the looniest conspiracy theories hatched in the wake of the election. One slide states that a “key Issue” is that “critical infrastructure control was utilized as part of ongoing globalist/socialist operation to subvert the will of United States Voters and install a China ally leading to another one advising the president to say the Chinese government interfered in the election as a pretext to declaring all the electronic votes invalid.

    This presentation was released by the January 6th Commission because it turned up in former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ documents which he voluntarily turned over the committee. It took a day or so before the person who circulated it was identified — a former Army Colonel by the name of Phil Waldron, who told the Washington Post that he worked with Trump’s lawyers to put it together. Waldron said he contributed the stuff about foreign interference and he claims that he met with Meadows 8-10 times and helped to brief members of Congress before January 6th on what they had in mind, telling the Post that the presentation’s recommendations were “constitutional, legal, feasible, acceptable and suitable courses of action.” And he’s right — if you are plotting a coup in a banana republic.

    Not one of the people who read this disgraceful betrayal of American democracy blew the whistle. Well, except for Lara Logan, the Fox News personality who recently compared Dr. Anthony Fauci to infamous Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele. She tweeted out a version of the PowerPoint on January 5th but nobody paid any attention because she has no credibility. And yes, it was reported in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s book “Peril” that Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina “vetted” the fraud claims and determined that it wouldn’t be prudent to overturn the election. I’m sure others clutched their pearls in the Senate cloak room, worrying about how risky the whole thing was as well. Not that they said anything publicly, of course.

    [continues]

  15. given the treachery manifest in the power point, i repeat my theory that gaetz proposing the former guy for speaker of the house is just another back door attempt to make him prez.  they have shown they’re not above knocking off whomever they have to (ex: “hang mike pence” chant) to reach their goal.  remember house speaker ascends to presidency if something bad happens to the prez & veep to make them no longer here, available or capable of holding the reins.

  16. “Hi, I’m the Microsoft Paperclip!  Have you checked your coup-plotting materials for spelling errors?  Click here to learn how!”

  17. I am wondering just how  a bunch of twenty somethings  from the Guard could spot the folks who would do harm to the “Trump Heads”  …………… Name tags ?   Everyone wearing butternut pants ? 

  21. The Thwaites ice shelf of #Antarctica is closer to collapse — “This eastern ice shelf is likely to shatter into 100s of ice bergs,” raising sea levels. “What we’re seeing already is enough to be worried about. Thwaites is kind of a monster.”

  22. Republicans aren’t alone in exploiting budget fears to hobble government assistance. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), has set a new standard for the practice by opposing relief measures that would help his own state more than most others.
    “Few states are as reliant as West Virginia on federal money, or get back more than residents pay in taxes,” my colleague Jackie Calmes observed in reviewing Manchin’s opposition to elements of President Biden’s Build Back Better plan. “Manchin’s constituents relied on federal aid for 33.3% of all personal income last year,” compared with 20% in California.
    Among the provisions of the spending bill Manchin says he opposes are paid family and medical leave, home healthcare services and an extension of the child tax credit, all of which would flow to struggling West Virginians.
     

  23. Hey Sturg .
     
    The Thwaites is the size of Florida , it’s neighbor  the PIG  is even farther along  this path of losing it’s ice shelf.  Which act like doorstops, holding back the glaciers . 
    The cryoboys really missed this one , 15 years ago this was all 90 years in the future.  No one thought about warming sea water melting the ice shelves at the bottom where their grounding lines griped the sea floor .
    Nothing more useless that a floating doorstop. 

  24. The candle town in Ky , has a subtle  message in it’s  storm stories, no one there has any savings in the bank. 
    If you’re making candles for a living , you’re one peg above living on a commune on food stamps. 
    On a lighter note Elon Musk  is Time’s person of the year. 
    I’m sure this honor will humble him to no end. 

  25. Judge refuses to toss key charge in Capitol riot case

     
    U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled on Friday that an obstruction charge applies to the Justice Department’s case against Ronald Sandlin and Nathaniel DeGrave. Defense lawyers have asked other judges presiding over Capitol riot cases to dismiss the same charge on related grounds. ………………….. An indictment charges Sandlin and DeGrave with obstruction of an official proceeding on Jan. 6, when a joint session of Congress convened at the Capitol to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. The indictment alleges Sandlin and DeGrave broke the law by stopping or attempting to stop the proceeding from going forward by engaging in disruptive conduct, including assaulting law enforcement officers.
    In asking Friedrich to dismiss the obstruction count, attorneys for Sandlin and DeGrave argued that Congress’ certification of the electoral results did not constitute an “official proceeding” and that the men did not “obstruct, influence and impede” the proceeding.
    The judge disagreed, ruling that Congress’ joint session to certify the electoral results constituted an official proceeding under the law. Friedrich also concluded that the obstruction charge covers a broader set of acts than what the defense lawyers contended.
    “The indictment in this case alleges obstructive acts that fall on the obviously unlawful side of the line,” the judge wrote.
    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/judge-refuses-toss-key-charge-capitol-riot-case-81725860
     
     

  26. “Build , Back, Better ”
    Federal law states that FEMA money can’t replace infrastructure that is lost in a disaster  with anything above what was lost .
    We saw this when “Maria”  destroyed the grid in PR.  They could not replace poles and wires, and central power plants that burn fuel oil with micro solar grids , and wind turbines.
    This law means that we will always be  rebuilding  the past in  the future.  That human invention and progress peaked in 1966 .
    As we shell out billions more every year in disaster aid  , we might want to revisit just how we BBB. 
     

  27. Bob…..I don’t ordinarily see stuff like you post here in the day to day Twitter feed, but there that Thwaites piece was bigger’n shit….

  28. Sturg –
    Roger that .
    I followed this stuff for years  , and how hard it was to understand just what was taking place. 
    This news makes the Greenland ice melt like a trip to the kiddie splash park. 
    Then those two ice shelves  are gone.  The entire ice mass in West Antarctica is going to stand up and rush off the land into the Southern Ocean.  That will change the entire system of ocean currents as  the SLR  drowns  Key West . 
    Make sure they bury you at sea, or if they bury you on your island make sure the head stone  can be part of a reef. 
     
     

  29. Some  thoughts  about last Friday –
    Once again we here were in the “Dry Slot” , powerful 50 mph winds out of the Southwest  carrying huge amounts of dust.  We were 20 degrees above average , we have been there for months this fall.  It Mississippi  it was it was 80 degrees with lots  of a still warm Gulf moisture  racing into the  mix.
    Mean while it was 30 degrees North of the front .
    Then this deep Low mixed that soup. 
    This was once a spring time formula on the plains , that time is gone.  We never have this tornado threat any more.  All of it has moved East as the Gulf moisture fails to reach us , and dry moves East. 
    It is these extremes of wet and dry , hot and cold and lots of dust  that make for really big storms .  If they don’t make  cyclones, the dust makes it rain like hell.
    Dust at  25,000 feet  is a place  where water molecules get to know each other.  

  32. When Albert  came along the ” Laws of Physics ” died. 
    Gravity was a Law.
    Then it became a theory. 
    There  are still laws at work in physics .
    This one we all need to learn , for every  1C degree rise  in SST there is 7% more water vapor in the atmosphere. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas.
    You see where i’m going with this ?

  35. In asking Friedrich to dismiss the obstruction count, attorneys for Sandlin and DeGrave argued that Congress’ certification of the electoral results did not constitute an “official proceeding” and that the men did not “obstruct, influence and impede” the proceeding.

    It takes a lawyer with huge cojones to make that sort of argument with a straight face. It doesn’t take the same kind of “confidence” for the judge to tell that litigator to sit down and shut up. 

  36. Just in case you think me hopeless and grim , my favorite  album of all time ………………… A one hit wonder the world has forgot. 

     

  39. Back to the James Webb Telescope  mission   –
    300 things have to work in order , a million miles from Earth . If this thing works , we can do, and see  anything.  I mean Anything. 
    What a time to be live. , and witness these things , the greatest things men and women do , and the worst we can image. 
    I once bought gasoline for 19 cents  a gallon.  When my father was born the entire Universe was the Milky Way. 
    Now we know there are Hundreds of Billions of Milky Ways. 
    But there is still one Earth  and we still treat it like a plastic bag from Walmart.  Which still stick in my pecans trees. 
    We still have yet to learn how wonderful our world is. And how to love what it does for us.
     

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