Antifa Violence Erupts in Portland, Seattle, Denver

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-21T08:07:35+00:00

You have conflated Antifa with liberal minded people, and confused liberal minded people for being obnoxious Karens who like corporate coffee chains (much more a trait of Trump supporters and 13 year old girls from my observations).

For starters, when it comes to coffee (and most everything) liberal folks are big fans of supporting small/ local businesses. As an example: my community is pretty upset about the new Starbucks that just came to our predominantly artistic community in Nashville.

More importantly, Antifa is not a formal organization, so saying Antifa is like this or that is nonsense. People that boldly claim Antifa as a title are few, and what they want beyond an end to racism and fascism is anybody’s guess. They don’t represent the larger community of liberal folks striving to help the impoverished and working class anymore than Westboro Baptist represents all Christians.

Let’s be constructive and build a better America. The first step is knowing who and what we’re talking about.

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-21T07:50:06+00:00

They got a good education, got a good job, received paychecks for said job, invested in real estate. This might blow your mind, but they’re actively working to provide that opportunity for you and your loved ones too! It’s great!

They realize there are wealthy and poor people in this country. Contrary to popular r/conservative belief, they don’t want to do away with wealthy people. They like being wealthy. Instead, they aspire to provide opportunities for other people who don’t have comfortable savings and investments to be able to have them. When you hear them talk about raising taxes, just realize they’re talking about raising THEIR taxes, likely not yours. Out of their taxes your healthcare will be better, the schools in your area will be better, the pay at your jobs will be better, and hopefully your ability to save and invest will increase. When poor people get rich the economy benefits.

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-21T03:41:12+00:00

I can’t speak for what they would do. The examples I saw from the last 4 years were of overt deception, and this doesn’t qualify as that.

Again, let’s hold people accountable. But doing that means first asking, “Why did you say this, when this other thing happened?” If the explanation is nonsensical or there is no explanation at all, we can gather some deceit may be afoot. If a reasonable explanation is given (such as in this $2000 issue) then we say, “Ok, makes sense,” or “Ok, that’s not my desired outcome. I’d like to keep working towards my desired outcome, but it does make sense.”

We’ve become so desensitized to lies over the past few years that we forget that calling someone a liar is a weighty and consequential accusation. If they are a liar, such as Trump, then we should call it out boldly. But until it is clear that someone is wholly untrustworthy, let’s not be so trigger happy. Biden has been in public service a long time. You’ll be hard pressed to find a colleague on either side of the aisle who believes lying is a character trait he poses in a significant way. If he becomes a liar while president let’s call it out, but let’s reserve our “shit talking” of someone who has dedicated their adult life to TRYING to make this country stronger until then.

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-20T23:07:08+00:00

I would hope so. We need to hold our elected officials from all parties in all roles accountable.

But I think calling the $2000 issue a lie is a bit of a stretch. (A lie would be saying you have a healthcare plan for 4 years and never showing even a hint of it to anyone because it never existed). The Dems were fully prepared to give everyone $2,000. The republicans refused to allow it. I’ll admit, after I got my $600, and I heard Biden was pushing for $2,000 still, I was surprised, a little confused, but not complaining. When I realized they had actually intended to communicate they would be pushing for $1,400 to make a total of $2,000, I thought, “Oh, yeah that makes a lot more sense.” You know, the way an adult would respond.

Also as conservatives shouldn’t you be celebrating that the government isn’t spending as much money? Isn’t that the whole crux of the party?

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-20T21:55:16+00:00

I guess you didn’t hear, but they lied plenty. That’s not even considering they’re absolutely culpable in Trump’s thousands of blatant lies for selecting someone wildly unqualified for public office.

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-20T18:48:44+00:00

How about after 4 years of blatant, bald faced, lies from Trump the GOP crowd cools it on critiquing.

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-17T04:40:53+00:00

Here’s some very illuminating info on QAnon’s likely origin from the podcast Reply All: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reply-all/id941907967?i=1000491740644

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-10T04:36:47+00:00

Solid argument. How about a compromise: we skip 45 in the history books the same way old building elevators skip floor 13. We just pretend there is no 45, but if there were, he’d be a traitor.

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-09T23:48:42+00:00

Entirely strip him of his presidency. Make Joe the 45th president, and then on day one all the Trump supporters with 45 hats and shirts will have Biden merch

Joeladamrussell · 2021-01-09T05:03:44+00:00

They got Rush Limbaugh too

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-25T08:31:45+00:00

Honestly, this is the first I’ve heard or looked into the idea that hell would not parallel heaven in its eternal staying power, but on initial Google - you may be onto something. This will definitely be something I look into further.

This is the beauty of this conversation. The benefit of modern Christianity is the ability to apply critical thinking to scriptures intended to have staying power for numerous millennia. The downside is that western Christianity is obstructed by misunderstandings, extra biblical traditions, and secular depictions of Biblical concepts that have weaved there way into present day theology. For example, a lot of popular views of hell are based on Dante’s inferno, and Dante was by no means a theologian. All this is to say, none of us KNOW what is after death, but the best we can do is try to aim ourselves at the most true thing that can be known. Sometimes this task means stripping away untruths we picked up along the way. So thanks for this thought, and I’ll be sure to keep digging into this idea!

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-25T08:16:32+00:00

I think this is the point I’m making. If you think you’ve figured out a solution or mindset that is better than what is presented by God, that is your prerogative. Whatever fate comes of this line of thinking is yours to freely step into. The bet of Christians is that an eternal relationship with the creator of all things, with the embodiment of joy, love and fulfillment, is infinitely better than any coping mechanisms a person has invented. A relationship with God is actually the antithesis of a coping mechanism. It takes the craving we have for perfection, the desire for connection (attachment), the emptiness we feel from having less (the cause of envy), and actually satisfies those things. It scratches those itches instead of teaching us how to put them out of our minds.

The root causes of envy, attachment, and perfection are not bad things. Ultimately all three of those are a result of desiring an all encompassing love, but that desire has been perverted because it has been unsatisfied. God offers that kind of love, and a relationship with him unmarred by the imperfection of this current world, satisfies all our deepest cravings. This is what we believe to exist in Heaven.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-25T07:53:37+00:00

This is a great question, and one that has been asked many times. Still, I believe the answer is no. To exist at all is an undeserved gift, but it bestows upon us a responsibility as well.

Imagine someone, out of the blue, hands you a million dollars that you didn’t even ask for. What an outrageous gift! We wouldn’t think there’s anything cruel about that. But wait a minute... with money comes a responsibility. Money has just as much power to destroy as it does to prosper a person. The choice of how that money affects you is purely up to you. This is the same with life. God gave us life, something that no person in and of themselves could conjure up. But he didn’t just stop at the million dollars (the opportunity to exist) he gave us a fool proof roadmap for taking that gift and multiplying it in such a way that it allows that gift to continue growing and providing opportunities for joy.

He has not directly set people up to “fail.” On the contrary he has allowed what you’re calling failure to exist, and he’s given a clear and concise explanation for how to “succeed.”

Think of the game solitaire. There is an opportunity to win and to lose. That is what makes it worthwhile. If you can only win, there is no point in playing. It would require no thought, no choice, it would add nothing to your existence. You wouldn’t play. Now imagine I told you, if you knew one guiding principle you would win every time. But you have to trust that this guiding principle will consistently prove effective. The opportunity to lose still exists, but you are not set up to fail by any means. Quite the opposite! I’ve given you the means by which you can be a consistently win. This is what God has done.

An alternative to the kingdom of Heaven is what keeps God from being a cosmic dictator. He doesn’t want people who don’t want him. He desires relationship, not slaves. Just like we want true relationships, not people who feel obligated to spend time with us.

As I mentioned in the post you responded to, the people who choose not to be in relationship with God won’t suffer in the active way you’re thinking of. Let’s assume you are an awesome person (unsarcastically I’m sure you are), but somebody says they don’t want to date you. That person does not spend every day pining over all they missed out on. They believe they made the right call. That is their choice, and they’re free to make it. But you and I know that they’re missing out on someone SO awesome and all the remarkable experiences the two of you would have had together. This is like the kingdom of Heaven multiplied by infinity. People who choose not to be in relationship with God are convinced they’ve made the right call. They’ll go on doing things their way, convinced that it was the best option and nothing could be better than the decision they made. They won’t suffer, but they just won’t ever know how truly great their existence could have been.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-24T23:31:00+00:00

I think it’s a safe bet. God is a big fan of justice, but there’s no evidence that he gets off on torture. We are tortured sometimes with by our decisions, their consequences or our responses to life, but those are outside his perfect desire for our lives.

Additionally God is a BIG fan of metaphors, allegories, and illustrations. He know things are difficult for us to wrap our heads around, so he used these A LOT. Effective teachers today still use them because they’re truly the best way for us to connect with new knowledge. The picture of fiery hell is one of those. Most of the references of that depiction of hell in the original text used the word Gehenna. This was an actual place just outside where Jesus was preaching. It was a place just outside the city walls where they burned trash, where the lepers were outcast, and even the location of pagan child sacrifices. The people he spoke to knew this place well, so it was a very effective metaphor: Hell is a place that is ruthless, that is chaos and is beyond the scope of the law and goodness inside the city walls.

There’s more evidences of this interpretation, but I’m no theologian so I’ll stop there :)

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-24T23:12:08+00:00

Another element to keep in mind is that there is a great Biblical argument for hell not being a literal lake of fire and demons with torches. Instead, it is quite likely that it is simply an existence outside God’s eternal heavenly kingdom.

People who don’t acknowledge the goodness of God, and believe their own authority is better than what God has for them, will be allowed to exist forever just doing things their own way (and living with the mounting consequences of those decisions). It would be like earth now minus all the goodness injected from God. For the first part of eternity it might seem like fun (parties, drugs, sleeping around without the possibility of death), but the bet of Christians is that the human propensity for selfishness will result in an existence of indulgences with diminishing returns, interpersonal feuding, and ultimately isolation.

However, these people will have gotten everything they wanted, it will be the existence they chose. But just like a person stuck in a bad habit that keeps biting them in the ass, they won’t recognize the problem because getting what they want is always of the highest priority even though that is the cause of their strife.

In this way allowing people to choose God’s authority or their own authority for eternity is the greatest act of love. It’s like inviting someone to a party and telling them how great the party will be, and then saying “no thanks, I’m going to do my own thing.” It’s totally their prerogative to make that choice, and it would be very unloving to force them to come to the party. However the party is unquestionably a remarkable party, and one they would have thoroughly enjoyed had they chosen to attend. But they won’t ever know because they didn’t go, and they won’t feel regret about their decision because they have no way to see what’s happening inside the shindig. They think what they’re doing is as good or better than the party. They can’t conceive of anything greater than living by their own guidance. It is an existence of ignorance to the greatness that could have been theirs, and that sounds a lot like hell to me.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-24T06:59:18+00:00

Or in Trump’s case, he’ll plug his ears and pretend someone else messed with us, and then still do nothing about it.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-24T06:25:29+00:00

Great minds think alike 🤷🏼‍♂️

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-24T00:11:28+00:00

Sarcasm? No one who knows anything is actually calling for pure socialism. No one. We already have social programs in America, and they can be better and help all Americans. That’s what’s being asked for. Pure capitalism is equally dangerous, which is why it is not allowed in America. We have a version of it that attempts to spread the opportunities to all Americans. This can be done better too, so that’s what people are asking for.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-23T02:44:54+00:00

Even if this is true, the point of my post remains valid. Of course these bozos are lining their own pockets. They say they don’t want more taxation, but they implement plans that include additional taxation for THE PEOPLE. Nevertheless, their constituents still vote for them, and then they act surprised when these politicians who have proven themselves to be unconcerned with anybody but themselves and their own cronies ignore the tax payers.

The largest supporters of conservative politicians are working class people who are in no way served by that party. They never acknowledge this, and this stimulus seems to be the first time in a while they’ve noticed this. Unfortunately, their conclusion is to throw the baby out with the bath water. If they just threw out their loser politicians, they could vote in people who actually cared about the betterment of their lives.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-23T02:31:06+00:00

I don’t think you’re correct in your assessment. The most direct interpretation of the actual text is that the OP wants his taxes back because the people who are paying taxes are getting a meager $600 compared to corporations who have the ability to skirt paying their taxes yet are getting the bulk of the assistance.

I don’t know about the blind play through thing, but I also don’t care. What I do care about however is politicians using our taxes for the reason we pay our taxes: to provide security for the people in times of need. This is what conservatives consistently fail to achieve, yet people keep voting for them. When their conservative representatives fail them, they blame the whole government - turning a blind eye to those within the system trying to help them. And for that reason this is an incredibly appropriate r/leopardatemyface post.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-23T02:02:18+00:00

Guess which side of the government was advocating for more than $600...

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-21T06:10:47+00:00

When I pull the gas nozzle mostly out of my car, jiggle it a little to get any final drops, and then when I pull the nozzle fully out A FEW DROPS STILL FALL ON THE GROUND. I paid for those drops! I want them in my car. It happens every time.

Joeladamrussell · 2020-12-12T05:24:41+00:00

I say we as a country decide to not recognize his presidency starting Inauguration Day 2021

Joeladamrussell · 2020-11-19T17:29:24+00:00

This is about the most childish headline I’ve read from the left in a while. It’s been how long?? A month since the election happened? You tried for a month? Give me a break. The golden rule still applies to people who don’t practice the golden rule: Treat people the way YOU want to be treated. Even if they’re ignoring their own standard of “love your neighbor as yourself,” we ought to show them how it’s done. The alternative only gives them justification for their unacceptable actions.

Another catchy phrase that I think applies: People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. It’s cheesy but true. It is beside the point that they are spewing hate and intolerance. While we need to hold people accountable, legally and personally, for their actions - we must also recognize that many Trump supporters are too blinded by their own feelings of being forgotten and looked down upon to realize there are people more marginalized than them that they are actively suppressing.

It is imperative that we don’t stoop to their level. We must transcend, we must persevere, we must learn what true love is (providing for someone’s physical and emotional needs regardless of how you or they feel about each other in the moment) and employ it relentlessly.

Since I’m on a roll with quips, I’ll end with one more. Don’t fight fire with fire. Let us be smarter and more strategic in our resolution of the nation’s problems. To do this we must win their hearts and minds, not merely cram justice down their throats.

Joeladamrussell

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