Several events, incidents, occurrences, and news articles over the last 5 or so years, and especially the last 16 months have prompted me to write on this blog about something which, so far as I remember I have never done, interactions on social media, only one kind of which I ever use or ever have. That one type of social media is Facebook and I have been induced twice to leave it for extended periods of time, one in 2017 for the entire month of October. Admittedly, I was on a long road trip then and didn't want the distraction. And in the last several months, I took another month off, without ever signing on to Facebook, simply because I was sick of all their targeted and unblockable ads. But this post is actually prompted by one little interaction I had on Facebook this morning and the recent trend in quite a few conservative churches in America, and especially in the south, to support Vladimir Putin's invasion of the totally innocent country of Ukraine. I had noticed some of it myself and got into a series of messages with a Facebook friend in Western North Carolina who has also been very concerned about the amount of this insanity he has seen in his own area. He sent me a link to this article about so-called "Christian" groups which have been praising Vladimir Putin. The article talks about Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, which he now controls, and his contacts with and praise for Putin. The article also addresses the World Congress of Families, another fairly right wing "Christian" organization which has actually partnered with Russian officials who have been sanctioned by the US government. Please note that if you want to go to these two groups' websites to see what they believe you are free to do so. But I have not and will not add links to those groups on this blog because of their works with or in praise of Putin and Russia which are helping him in his ultimate goal of destroying America, American Democracy, and general worldwide Democracy. If you want to know what they think, find it yourself.
But, the incident on Facebook this morning involved a woman on my Facebook friends list who made a statement that she was unfriending and blocking people she referred to as "atheists" because of their beliefs. Her actual statement was: "unfriending multiple atheists who insist on being rude and insulting to those who believe. Not putting up with it." I was instantly reminded of a Bible quote which I admit I had to find through a joint Google search and a search of Bible Gateway in the King James Version which is the only translation of the Bible I ever bother to read since I firmly believe that the more translations away from the KJV you get the farther you simultaneously get from the original intent of the writers of the particular book of the Bible you are reading.
In the interest of honesty, I will say that I am not particularly religious although I firmly believe in some form of creation by a power greater than the ordinary humans who attempt to be the self-appointed mouthpieces of whichever "God" they believe in. I will also say, for the sake of honesty, that I have actually read the Bible thirteen times "kiver to kiver" as the Old Regular Baptist preachers I knew in my youth used to recommend. Additionally, I have read major sections of the basic texts of several other world religions and was blessed to know a man named Dr. Billy Rojas, Ph. D. in my youth who was a history professor at Alice Lloyd College and used "The Portable World Bible" as a supplementary text in every course he taught in order to help his students understand that various religions have greatly influenced world history over the centuries and that in many cases that influence was markedly negative just as it is in America today.
Now that I have prefaced what else I am about to say the remainder of what I have to say about the adverse influence a few million people like the woman who partially prompted this writing have on the general public, let's get back to the gist of what I have to say. You will also find, if you do an honest comparison of many modern translations of the Bible, that quite often those modern translations have inserted words, phrases, and meanings into the text which are in direct conflict with the older translations and the actual meaning of the original wording of the various ancient texts on which the Bible is based. As a result, it is always best to read the Bible, any version of the Bible, with a copy of "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance" nearby. And you should always recognize, admit, and accept that there were numerous writers of the individual books of the Bible in at least three languages, on at least two continents, and at least a few hundred years apart. The particular quote I was thinking of in regard to the aforementioned type of deliberate alteration of the Bible is:
Second Timothy KJV 2:24-26- 24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
I appended that quotation to her post along with this comment "I suspect that if you are really seriously religious you should actually do what the Bible tells you to do which seems pretty rare today from most self-described "Christians". And I'm not religious at all, but I have read the Bible and understand it well enough to confront those who claim to know but don't. Actually as I said previoiusly, I have read the entire Bible, "kiver to kiver" as my ancestors used to say thirteen times but not lately, hence the need to look those verses up. The willingness of people today to use whatever interpretation of the Bible they like (generally their own or that of someone they like better than the Bible), can be traced to TRAITOR Trump and whatever most recent bizarre, illogical, and total unsupported by fact things he has said. Over the last 9 years especially since June 16, 2015, when TRAITOR Trump announced his delusion that he believed he was fit to become the president of the United States our country has steadily deteriorated morally and ethically while the people in the forefront of that deterioration claim they are doing what they do because of their religion which they can never seem to support with the actual words of the Bible. These self-described "Christians" have become more and more influenced by the Big Lie, actually thousands of Big Lies, from TRAITOR Trump to the degree that they believe a country and a leader, in the case of Putin and Russia, which have murdered, isolated, imprisoned, and endlessly sought to destroy Christianity is actually working to help them restore Christianity all over the world. They also deny the fact that Putin actually stole the 2016 US election in order to install his stool pigeon, the TRAITOR Trump in the White House in order to destroy America. They also claim to believe that it will happen again in 2024. The level of willful ignorance and willful blindness on the part of these people is astonishing to me. I have written about that aspect of it on this blog many times but this effort to aggrandize two of the most evil men on earth despite their public crimes, violation of all ten commandments, and outright murder of at least a dozen former KGB/FSB agents who were involved in the contacts between Putin and TRAITOR Trump absolutely astounds me.
Anyone on earth, when confronted by some self-appointed spokesperson for "God", their individual "God", should listen to that person's arguments very closely, examine them even more closely, and never accept any of their quotes and misquotes of the Bible, or any other religious text, as "Gospel" until you have verified it with a close examination of the Bible,preferably the King James Version, since it is the oldest version currently in widespread use in America today. And do that examination with a jaundiced eye and "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance" in hand. probably refer to this famous quotation from the Bible, which almost no one seems to remember today, before shooting off your mouth:
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. 6 But 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. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. (Matthew 6:5-8, KJV)
And, all of these people who claim to want to turn the United States into a "Christian Nation", especially those who claim they want to do so "because that is how it was founded" need to read some history also, accurate, factual, American History as close to the Founding Fathers as possible and realize that one of the primary reasons Americans fought for independence in the American Revolution was to end the domination of their lives by the Anglican Church, more commonly known as the Church of England, and to create a country where the practice, or lack of practice of religion of any or all kinds was solely up to the practitioner and not connected in any way to the government. That is what is called Separation of Church and State and it was, and still is, one of the most important building blocks on which this country was built. The fastest way to destroy democracy in America would be to allow churches, any churches, to dominate life and the government. As soon as we force all to practice one religion over all others, or we refuse to allow anyone to practice their religion of choice, whatever that religion may be, we have begun to destroy democracy.
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