Homosexuality is a sin? Well, Xtians, what about these other 76 things?

[KichigaiNeko]

Make that small s socialist festive and you will do ok I am thinking.

[Drich]

It's pretty obvious that modern US culture is, in many ways, more moral than Ancient Roman culture. We don't send political prisoners or prisoners of war to fight hungry, wild beasts in an attempt to entertain the masses.

Give it a generation or two we are headed in that direction. We are currently villifying anything/belief system that does not completely support our popular moral standards. It will be just a matter of time before it becomes our moral obligation to publically execute those who would stand against the state in a way that is benfical to the public as a whole... (It will be for the Children.)

We don't have slavery, though the system of slavery in Ancient Rome was a "gentler" form than the slavery that was practiced in the US (slavery wasn't always hereditary, slaves could marry, slaves could buy their freedom, slaves could be educated, all of which were not allowed under the US system).

Uh, we do. It's call wellfair.

The big thing that led to the fall of ancient Rome was the upper, ruling classes didn't pay attention and dismissed the power of the masses.

I thought you were going to say lead pipes.

They didn't seem to grasp that if you keep a large majority of your citizenship in desperate, impoverished conditions, they will eventually rise up and depose you.

I know this is what you address in your next paragraph but this is exactly what wellfare does. It forces people into permenate poverity. Why? beause we need a working class to do meanial things. All soceities do. Someone has to be a garbage man, poop truck guy, day laborer.

At some point in the near future someone will come to the understanding that throwing money at the impoverished does nothing but devaul the dollar. (Got to print more to make sure everyone has some, that seems to be the working model)
That's where the lessons of Roman colleseum will come back in. The destraction of the angery masses with the taste of blood.

We've already started the desensitizing with MMA fights. When it started it was a prooving ground for the person who had the ablity to use multiple martial arts diciplines. Now it's little more than a blood sport. Where men turn each other into hamburger. A fight is not considered to be good unless some poor guy gets knocked out, cut, or he is made to beg for mercy for all of the pain the other guy is putting him through. It took less than 10 years from being a show case of really good fighters of multiple disiplines to a out and out street brawl.. How long before the current street brawl gets boring?

To this end, yes, we in the US need to address the number of people we have in this country who live in poverty, which is still no where near the numbers of people living in poverty in Ancient Rome. We need to help lift the poor out of their poverty, which is largely due to no fault of their own, rather an outgrowth of the conditions they were born into, not from lack of motivation or hard work on their part (not in most cases anyway).
This is (partly) why I consider myself a socialist. If a revolution ever comes to America, my money's on the greedy, capitalist pigs of Wall Street and corporate America being the first group to go.

If it were to get to the point where the goverment could not protect the fat cats, then the EU possiable China would step in to secure their "investments." (As the US does not operate in a vacumm outside of the rest of the worlds intrest.)

This would trigger all hell to break loose as extreamists (on the red neckish nonsocialist side) would view this as an invasion on american soil, and all of the moderate gun owning fence sitters would quickly choose a side. which would result in the end of everything you and i both know and hold dear.

So lets hope (As I do not want to have to learn Manderian) that it never comes to that. Because if China steps in they will never leave, and all of the human rights concerns that you may have now (like gay rights) all go in the toilet as we will no doubtly will be forced to adopt Their value system. As in this case homosexuality is tolerated but not publically.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8478911.stm

[festive1]

Or as I see it, all sane nations of the world could unite to form a better, re-imagined UN, with teeth, to police global capitalist corruption, global climate change mandates, various conflicts, prevent super-powers like the US from attacking countries that pose us no threat (ie: Iraq), combat global poverty (which by comparison makes US poverty seem laughable, though its not), etc...
This is an interesting topic... If you start a new thread on it, I'll follow But we're derailing the current subject.

[Drich]

Or as I see it, all sane nations of the world could unite to form a better, re-imagined UN, with teeth, to police global capitalist corruption, global climate change mandates, various conflicts, prevent super-powers like the US from attacking countries that pose us no threat (ie: Iraq), combat global poverty (which by comparison makes US poverty seem laughable, though its not), etc...
This is an interesting topic... If you start a new thread on it, I'll follow But we're derailing the current subject.

I hate stuff like this because I tend to become alittle too apophenic, and we already have one of those on AF.org. Meaning I start seeing the appearently random patterns in world events and start ascribing revelational meaning to them. (How the end of the world will play out according to current eventualities in possible world events.) I did this once already in my 12-21-12 thread. When I do one of these I scare myself and yet feel very obligated to share, which makes me look crazier than I actually am. So, thanks but no thanks. But if You or anyone else starts a thread like that I will say I will read it.

[festive1]

I can see your point... A huge global power... That is kinda scary. With great power comes great responsibility, and hopefully checks and balances too!

[Ryantology]

I was not speaking of His consistency being a definition of good, it's a good thing though.

Is it? Tyrants, in particular, tend to be very consistent people.

I qualified who God is before that and, with Him being unchanging sets up the perfect standard for man. Why do you constantly leave out things I say, is it just to have something to say even though it's not relevant.

I saw no reason to trust your qualification.

His righteousness is what will determine the punishment nonbeliever will be judged by, sounds pretty important to me.

How, I mean how can you possibly mention Stalin as righteous, that's crazy dude. There are no victims with God, His judgement is completely just.

I can't. But, Stalin certainly thought he was righteous and just, which to him meant satisfying his personal desires. God thinks he's righteous and just, which to him means satisfying his personal desires. As a Christian, you are taught that selfishness is a virtue, but only for God, and only because he said so. It's the same message the Soviets were spoonfed sixty years ago, though not quite so directly. It's also worth noting that to Stalin, there were no victims, there were only people who deserved to die. If you think one is just, you have to think the other is just. Otherwise, you're just specially pleading for the guy you happen to like better.

Before you said you implied you had a good understanding of the Bible, but now you don't, which is it? The problem with your cognitive reasoning is one thing, you read the Bible with an intended bias.

I do not agree with your conceit that your understanding of the Bible is in any way more accurate than mine. You read it with a huge bias, as you accept everything in it at face value and question nothing. If you read it without that bias, it is what it is: a nightmare of horrors.

Nothing funny about that much evil in the world. By the way we're still here, He left this family to continue the human race, they were the only believers left. God judges evil and will do something about it.

Like Hitler, Stalin, or any other successful omnicidal maniac, God justifies his mass murders by claiming his victims are evil. Yet, he did not single out the evil ones. He killed men, women, children, newborn infants, so many people who could not have possibly understood the concept of evil much less committed any, indiscriminately and without remorse. When slighted by the Pharoah in Exodus, who does God kill in response? Firstborn children. Thousands upon thousands of people, young and old, all of whom had absolutely nothing to do with the Pharaoh or his actions. Your God is evil, and you are evil for glorifying him and making excuses for his crimes. At least, it would be so if any of this actually happened. Though, the fact that you believe it really happened and you're okay with it being real still makes you a really slimy human being.

[Drich]

I can see your point... A huge global power... That is kinda scary. With great power comes great responsibility, and hopefully checks and balances too!

I guess we will see. As we are indeed headed down that path.