Recent Comments

1. about 16 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   OK, if one lives in Washington DC one pays taxes but has no voting representation in the House or Senate but do have a vote in the presidential election, albeit a fraction of what it would have been based on their population if they were a full-fledged state, as they should be.

   If one lives in Puerto Rico, one pays taxes but has no general election vote for President and no voting representation in the House or Senate.

2. about 17 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   Re: “Jesus lived in the Roman Empire. … There was no representation for taxation as we in the U.S. have.”

   Of course, if one lives in Washington DC or any of the territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa) one pays taxes and has no voting representation in the House or Senate.

3. about 17 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   Again, I cited Jesus’ earliest followers’ understanding and how they implemented it on the largest scale possible to them while under Roman rule and that it was enforced under threat of death. What would be the point of instructing people to initiate public policies that everyday people had no power to implement while under Roman rule?

   Roman rule did nothing to preclude group projects, service organizations or churches/temples, so please “quote the words Jesus spoke to say that” group projects, service organizations or churches/temples should be used to care for those in need or acknowledge that, according to you, since Jesus did not mention those — which they could easily create (and did) — then those are also against what Jesus didn’t say.

   In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus asserts that salvation is based solely on whether or not we fed the hungry, cared for those in need, visited to those sick or in prison, the stranger (no mention of papers), the least among us, the neighbor, the Samaritan, the leper and even the enemy with NO OTHER QUALIFICATIONS. And it does not say it has to be individual. It does not preclude service organizations, churches/temples OR PUBLIC POLICY. Basically just says to get it done.

   I guess that is the kind of absurd “logic” required to be a conservative.

   I do not know you personally or have any idea of how directly or extensively you are personally involved in activities to benefit the hungry, the needy, those sick or in prison, the stranger or the least do note that, but in my experience in the general world, I do note that most of the ones who say that Jesus limited his statement to individuals and not public policy, also tend to do little or nothing themselves, individually.

4. about 18 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   As I said, nothing in the text says it has to only be out of one’s personal funds. You cite two instances in which Jesus was addressing what individuals could do individually.

   Nothing in the texts you cited precludes working together with neighbors, groups, organizations or the larger community nor does it preclude public policy initiatives to get things done on a larger scale.

   Jesus’ earliest pre-Pauline disciples did exactly that to the largest scale that they were able while living under the rule of the Roman Empire, which was not exactly famous for its concern for those in need.

   As I cited an earlier reply above, in Acts 2:44-45 (“All that believed were together, and HAD ALL THINGS IN COMMON; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS.”), and enforced by threat of death in 4:32-37 and Acts 5:1-11.

   Shades of Karl Marx! If Jesus were to return and preach the same thing today, would those who claim to follow him call this long-haired wanderer who consorted with prostitutes, lepers, the hated Samaritans and even — gasp! — tax collectors, a Communist?

5. about 19 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   Re: “ Jesus taught his followers to care for the poor with their own money, not with taxes.”

   You just made that up. It is not in the Bible. Jesus never said they had to use their own money and not taxes. That differentiation is never made. Basically he just says “get it done” and doesn’t specify how. Nothing says it has to be individual and cannot be collective or a community effort. You just made it up because you don’t like the text as it actually exists.

   But that is what conservative “Christians” do — rewrite scripture to make it say what they wish it said.

6. about 19 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   You are 100% correct. What can I say? The hour was late, the wine was good and I was sloppy. If we could edit text like in Facebook I would change it; for now your correction will have to do.

7. about 21 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” has more in common with the teachings and practices of first century Christians, who said it first, than it does of Karl Marx.

   “All that believed were together, and HAD ALL THINGS IN COMMON; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS.” (Acts 2:44-45; emphasis added; this was enforced by THREAT OF DEATH in a more detailed description in Acts 4:32-37 and Acts 5:1-11)

   Shades of Karl Marx! If Jesus were to return and preach the same thing today, would those who claim to follow him call Jesus a Communist?

   The Golden Calf has grown up to become the Wall $treet Bull. Jesus drove out the money changers. Today’s religious conservatives ARE the money changers and believe Jesus wants to give them a tax cut and exempt them from “rendering unto Cæsar.”

8. 1 day ago on Non Sequitur

   The primary base of MAGA cult worshippers are conservative evangelical “Christians” (who, ironically, represent the 360° diametrical opposite of every teaching or moral value attributed to Jesus).

   Their god is the ultimate authoritarian, who demands total submission to total authoritarian control, and unquestioning acceptance of dogma, as delivered through their authoritarian prophets, popes and pastors whose authoritarian control SHALL NOT BE QUESTIONED.

   They are groomed to follow authoritarian dictates without question, because they are small of mind, weak of spirit and nonexistent of spine. They crave a strongman leader to tell them what to do since they are incapable of managing their own lives.

   They worship the harsh, cruel, vindictive, legalistic god of the Old Testament and of the “apostle” (more apostate than apostle) Paul who respectively preceded and followed the brief shining moment of illumination in teachings attributed to Jesus of a salvation based on universal compassionate empathetic kindness demonstrated by how we treat the hungry, the needy, those sick or in prison, the stranger, the least among us, the neighbor and even the enemy.

9. 3 months ago on For Heaven's Sake

   January 20? God is sending a PLAGUE?

10. 3 months ago on For Heaven's Sake

    There is no evidence whatsoever — none — of god helping the Pilgrims. On the other hand, as they believe they were following him, he dumped them on a rocky New England shore just as the harsh New England winter was getting ready to set in, and just left them to die.

    It was the Wampanoag who saved them, not god.

    To try to redirect the credit from the actual people who saved them, to an invisible sky wizard whose existence is purely a speculative guess invented by primitive bronze age fishermen and sheepherders trying to explain a complex universe that was beyond their pre-scientific ability to understand.

    To try to redirect the credit from the actual indigenous people who saved them is to deny them credit, to minimize their contribution, and continue the great Western tradition of cultural genocide — treating them as the primitive savages that they definitely were not.