If you bought a bible, you are probably on a watchlist

[Sparko]

Can they freeze your bank accounts and other assets yet if you cheered on a trucker protest?

That's probably next.

[rogue06]

Were they the ones who were poking the Mormons, as well? Dum Dum Dum....

And the Scientologists -- which apparently prompted Isaac Hayes (who provided the voice of "Chef") to leave the show.

[Sparko]

I don't live in the US though, so my casual contempt or lack of it for Christians, is irrelevant to how powerful or persecuted Christians are in the US.

The simple fact is that the US is a de facto Christian nation. Every US president has been, or felt they needed to pretend to be, Christian. The phrase "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the lifetime of many people currently living. A substantial majority of the population claim to be Christian.

As much as some posting here seem to want to believe that they, as US Christians are totally a persecuted minority, that's just pathological delusion on their part and a victimhood complex a mile wide. They are in the majority. It is the persecution of minorities, such as Muslims, that they are here creatively reinterpreting as victimization of Christians.

It's mostly just the conservative Christians. Liberal Christians get a pass. Probably why they want to correlate things like purchasing MAGA hats with buying bibles, so they can tell the difference.

[Cerebrum123]

Remember South Park? Can't make fun of Islam or in this case simply show Muhammad. IIRC, in order to show they weren't intimidated (after being intimidated) the producers of the show did an episode making fun of Christians.

From what I remember they weren't allowed to air the episode that was supposed to show Muhammad by the station they were on

[Sparko]

So I see a problem with this whole thing about the government tracking purchases. If they are just getting the information from banks and credit card companies, they will only get the merchant and the amount. Not a list of the actual items you purchased.

I guess they an infer that you bought a gun if you spent $400 at a gun store. Or bought religious books if you shopped at a Christian bookstore or a Muslim bookstore. But if you shopped at say Bass Pro, how can they know what you bought? They sell everything from clothing to guns.

[mossrose]

That's probably next.

We’re way ahead of you.

[rogue06]

So I see a problem with this whole thing about the government tracking purchases. If they are just getting the information from banks and credit card companies, they will only get the merchant and the amount. Not a list of the actual items you purchased.

I guess they an infer that you bought a gun if you spent $400 at a gun store. Or bought religious books if you shopped at a Christian bookstore or a Muslim bookstore. But if you shopped at say Bass Pro, how can they know what you bought? They sell everything from clothing to guns.

Same with Dick's Sporting Goods and even Cabela's (but maybe to a lesser extent).

Btw, if you buy a gun you have to pass a background check so the government already knows of the purchase. This seems designed to intimidate people out of buying one

[Cow Poke]

Btw, if you buy a gun you have to pass a background check so the government already knows of the purchase. This seems designed to intimidate people out of buying one

Or, if you buy one from a friend or receive one as a gift - government doesn't need to know. Probably half of the firearms I may or may not have are not 'registered' to me in any way.

(And, no, I didn't buy any of them out of the trunk of that '67 Impala on 21st street)

[Cow Poke]

We’re way ahead of you.

Sadly, it seems Canada is leading the way in this. Americans need to wake up and smell the Canadian Bacon!

[Mountain Man]

Remember South Park? Can't make fun of Islam or in this case simply show Muhammad. IIRC, in order to show they weren't intimidated (after being intimidated) the producers of the show did an episode making fun of Christians.

Christians are a safe target because unlike Islam, our scriptures don't mandate that we kill those who mock us. On the contrary, we are explicitly commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

[Mountain Man]

So I see a problem with this whole thing about the government tracking purchases. If they are just getting the information from banks and credit card companies, they will only get the merchant and the amount. Not a list of the actual items you purchased.

I guess they an infer that you bought a gun if you spent $400 at a gun store. Or bought religious books if you shopped at a Christian bookstore or a Muslim bookstore. But if you shopped at say Bass Pro, how can they know what you bought? They sell everything from clothing to guns.

The store has a record of what you bought, unless you paid cash, and I'm reasonably certain many retailers would happily share that information with the government.

Although I'm not entirely certain that a bank or credit card company wouldn't also have access to that information, even though the statements visible to the customer only show the retailer and the amount.

[Sparko]

Or, if you buy one from a friend or receive one as a gift - government doesn't need to know. Probably half of the firearms I may or may not have are not 'registered' to me in any way.

(And, no, I didn't buy any of them out of the trunk of that '67 Impala on 21st street)

[Sparko]

The store has a record of what you bought, unless you paid cash, and I'm reasonably certain many retailers would happily share that information with the government.

That would take more doing, and I haven't heard of anything like that being done.

Although I'm not entirely certain that a bank or credit card company wouldn't also have access to that information, even though the statements visible to the customer only show the retailer and the amount.

That I have no idea about, but I don't think they do. They just send in the amount being charged and the name of the merchant and the ID of the transaction. You could do like you say above and use that transaction number to get the items from the actual merchant, but I think that would get a lot more push back. Especially from conservative type stores.

[Mountain Man]

That would take more doing, and I haven't heard of anything like that being done.

That I have no idea about, but I don't think they do. They just send in the amount being charged and the name of the merchant and the ID of the transaction. You could do like you say above and use that transaction number to get the items from the actual merchant, but I think that would get a lot more push back. Especially from conservative type stores.

Just because we haven't heard about it doesn't mean they're not doing it. How long did Facebook and Twitter exist before we found out they were actively colluding with the government to monitor user's activities (don't forget, those widgets that appear on every website can be used to track you across the internet, unless you block them). I also have no doubt that the government has ways to ensure cooperation from retailers. "That's nice business you have. It would be a shame if it were subjected to a ruinous tax audit."

It comes down to this for me: I no longer trust our government, and I am confident they are capable of doing great evil.

[rogue06]

Bob?

Is that you?

I'm still waiting on those M141 BDWs I ordered before Christmas. We need them post haste!