Chastity cages and Christianity

For example: the Gospel of John tells us that when Christ appeared to the disciples after his crucifixion, Thomas placed his hand inside the wound in His side. We also hear that when the resurrected Christ met some of the disciples on the shore of the lake, He was cooking some fish which He then ate. These eyewitness accounts establish that Jesus was physically resurrected from the dead. There is also the agreement of the gospels that the tomb was empty and the bandages in which Christ’s body had been wrapped lay there empty. On what basis, therefore, do you doubt His full, physical resurrection?
I can understand the skepticism of @JaySaysYes - he simply rejects the whole story as a fabrication. But you appear to believe something partly related to the Gospel text but diverging from it in a number of ways. I’m trying to understand what informs that divergence.

 

I know. But the Bible (at least my version) has Jesus' words in red. They are differentiated from the teachings of the disciples. Sure, the disciples probably wrote both, but a lot of the bible is the disciples interpretation of Jesus' mission. And we disagree with what the "central tenets of Christianity" are. There are some that most definitely define them as a belief that Jesus is the son of God. And yes I did have a close friend tell me once that I can't be a Christian if I don't believe that. But I disagreed at the time and still do. How can I claim that Jesus is God when I don't know what God is? But really, I don't think it's important (at least to me) to resolve that question. I accept Jesus. I just don't know what words to put on it. But I feel spoken to, comforted by, Him. But unless I can actually define God, I can't define what Christ is/was.

He may well be God. I guess I get hung up on words. Believe is another word. I tend to think that to believe something, you don't have doubt. In actuality, you can have doubt and still believe. In which case, I guess you could say I believe. My point is, I have doubt. And the reason I have doubt is I have no idea what God is. Is he a concept? A guy with a beard living in the clouds? Is he singular? Is he sentient/conscious? Does he know me? I don't have answers to any of that. I don't really even have much of a conviction about the answers to any of those questions. I don't believe we can know. We are not capable of ever understanding it. We are organic material that did not evolve with the abilty to comprehend that. I don't have to define God. Attempting to is a waste of time. There's a 99% chance (actually more like 99.99 (hundreds of 9's) chance that no one who's ever lived is anywhere close to correct about who/what God is. I just know He exists because of the order and because of the Spirit. The New Testament's message is correct in my mind (when not taken literally). And for that reason, I call myself a Christian. When Jesus says things like, "Through me you will gain eternal life", he is not saying (in my opinion) that you must believe He is God, but rather you must accept his messages about life. I don't expect you to understand. And your understanding of Jesus is most certainly what most Christians would agree with.

 

You Americans run yourself round in circles and none of what you have said has anything to do with chastity. There doesn't seem to be much chance a Christian or Judaism follower will fly planes into our cities so why don't we leave them alone to think what they will? It's a disgrace that bethlehem is at the centre of what could be the next world war. Jesus, holy man or not was a pretty cool and thoughtful guy. I respect him for his thoughts

 

You’re just making life needlessly hard for yourself! By your yardstick, no one “knows what God is” and in fact we can’t, because He is beyond rational comprehension per se. But fortunately we don’t have to, since He has given us the revealed Truths of scripture as understood in the Traditions of the Church. It’s clear that what you’re doing is putting more faith in your own critical mind than in what that Tradition tells you, and that’s an odd thing to do because our own individual minds are so blatantly limited, subject to error and distorted by passion.
Try starting with your evident love of Jesus, then re-read the Gospels in a spirit of trust instead of suspicion. Then you’ll see that Jesus endorses the Old Testament revelation 100% and speaks of the Father as being the God of Abraham, Moses and the Prophets. He knows that Father intimately, and if you believe ANYTHING Jesus says, it makes no sense whatsoever to doubt His main message, which is that this Father, the God of Abraham, is real and is the sovereign creator of the universe. Then, having accepted this (without needing to “understand” it), you can begin to learn WHO (not “what”) the Father is. The Old Testament gives a very detailed account of His character and actions. And Jesus is a devout, observant Jew, Who states clearly He has come to “fulfil the (Jewish) Law and the (Jewish) Prophets” and to offer this revelation not just to the Jews but to all humankind.
One of the things that’s written in red in your Bible is Jesus saying “anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” and He is talking there to a Jewish audience so Who He means by “the Father” is the God of Abraham and Moses.
You have the book. Put aside your doubt and set to work believing it! You have a great adventure ahead.

 

Try reading the Book of Jonah, because Jesus says “I tell you this, no sign shall be given to this generation but the sign of Jonah and the whale”. And it’s a really short book, easy to read. It tells the story of a man who doubts God and puts too much trust in his own critical mind!

 

I opened a “Religious discussion” thread under “off topic” in view of some people’s justified observation that there’s lots of Christianity here and very little chastity!
Serious contributors interested in religious themes welcome, also japesters/people who think religion is twaddle but still want to discuss it.

 

It's a unique perspective, bringing in Colossians 3:5. Let's hope for more open conversations like this that foster understanding. Also, if you want to have Christian art at your home, check out Christian Walls. Good luck!

 

I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Are the only two possible outcomes on this topic that (i) anyone can buy a gun without a background check (which is indeed still possible in the USA today because of the NRA lobbying), or (ii) all guns must be taken away from law abiding citizens so that only criminals have guns?

Because there are 97%+ of Americans that can see (and do support) other possible solutions that don't involve either of those two stupid outcomes.

We the people. If it's broken, get to work and help fix it, while there is still life in your body.

I gave you actual numbers. Not some pre-chewed facebook meme. It's a bit frustrating to converse with someone who has no actual interest in factual information, e.g. your "ladders" comment.

I clean my guns on a table, but (since I now live in town) I don't leave them out and lying around. But you do you.

 

Both sides of this argument are a bit silly. That bit about leaving them lying around - no he obviously isn’t saying he does that, he’s asking you to do a thought experiment. But it’s a silly thought experiment because although on one level it’s true that inanimate objects can’t act on their own, clearly a technology can expand human potential for good or ill. For example, given how screwed up I was as a teenager I’m pretty sure I would have been a school shooter if I’d lived in the USA rather than UK.

 

Not sure where you buy guns without a background check. I certainly had a background check. Sure there might be a bunch of things in the middle, but show me a proposal that will keep the anti gun people happy. I have never heard one. It's a moving scale. They are never happy, nor will you be. And frankly it's tough to converse with someone who insults. I have not pre-chewed some facebook meme. I gave you a link to the data. You on the other hand throw out misleading data without any reference to where you get it from. That's the problem. Those where actual numbers reported by a national news organization, not fox, not some right wing site, and not from some organization supported by the NRA. You are not discussing anything in good faith.

 

Coming from a country where we don’t have a right to bear arms, I come down on the side of the gun lobby. Gun control and background checks clearly do infringe people’s rights. What would these background checks be like? I wouldn’t be surprised if they discriminated against people with so-called “mental health problems”. I.e. potentially anyone with minority views.

Obviously there are downsides to having lots of guns in circulation but they’re outweighed by the civil liberty argument. Freedom comes at the cost of risk.
We live in a world where the government recently put us all under house arrest for spurious reasons and nearly everyone complied. That’s scarily close to a police state and I wonder what comes next. I’d like to have some means to protect myself and my family against tyranny.

 

Hey @atxmtb are you coming over to the new thread to carry on our discussion about the Gospels etc?

 

In the US, only licensed gun dealers are required to do background checks. So any other seller is not required by federal law to do a background check. Some states are obviously much more strict, but guns can easily be moved across state lines (see: Chicago).

Even worse, there are (or were a few years ago, since I don't track this closely) US laws written by the NRA that make it illegal for the US to maintain an easily searchable electronic database for the purpose of background checks. Laws like that are dumber than shit.

I used the raw statistics published by the US government, but you're absolutely right that I should have included all the links in my post. I don't have the documents now that I was looking at when I wrote the response, but anyone should be able to easily verify the numbers that I posted (and if I get time, I'll go back and do so).

 

What do these background checks determine?

 

US CDC says "In 2021, 106,699 drug overdose deaths occurred, resulting in an age-adjusted rate of 32.4 per 100,000 standard population in the United States."
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/opioids/data.html

I can't find the government publication right now on the gun deaths, but a quick Google search on the number and "gun" shows a bunch of links e.g. "Gun-related deaths from preventable, intentional, and undetermined causes totaled 48,830 in 2021" from https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/guns/

For motor vehicle deaths: "In 2021, 42,939 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes, of which 7,388 were people walking. Millions more are injured – sometimes permanently – each year." https://www.transportation.gov/NRSS/SafetyProblem

 

from which you conclude…?
Sorry but I’m really not understanding this bit of the discussion at all.

 

God found better ways to smite the sinners as flooding or raining fire and brimstone down from above are too old testament.

 

He promised not to send any more floods, and as a sign He placed a Pride flag in the sky.

 

He had pointed out that I had not provided links to the information in an earlier post, so I was doing so.

 

I’m really lost as to what is being said by whom and what it has to do with either Christianity or chastity. How did the subject of gun control find its way here?

 

Oh I figured it out: long, long ago, one of the Christians called one of the atheists a communist, as if that was a derogatory term, and this led to a digression about “big government” and “small government”, which in turn got into healthcare and gun control. But all that was so far back! I’m not clear why it’s come back now.

 

????

 

Yes. We all come to this site looking for juicy chastity stories but we don't find much. Instead we resort to responding to just about any topic, as I am doing right here. Helps to pass the time. Sometimes I learn something. Topics can be just about anything. Like who do you want to win the Superbowl. I want Kansas City

 

Yes it is a thought experiment. Thanks for pointing that out. I agree on the tech argument, but the bottom line is that people still have to use that technology to kill other people. Find out the why they want to kill and stop that and you solve the actual problem. There have always been and there will always be implements to kill. It is absurd to think that banning all forms of weaponry will solve the problem.