Dems More Fearful Of Virus...

[Starlight]

You missed the latest news. The ozone layer above the arctic is at its thinnest layer ever. WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...d-low-in-march

You're the one who added the "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE".

The article itself you link to says things like...

scientists expect stratospheric ozone levels to recover to 1980 levels by mid-century.

So, the scientists are saying it's fine. You're screaming about everyone dying. So it's you who's the nutcase, not the scientists.

Which is why Democrats/liberals in this country are the most frightened. They read and watch mainstream news and accept it all without question.

I think a truer view is that Fox News peddles fear and anxiety to their Republican audience.

[Ronson]

You're the one who added the "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE".

Sarcasm.

The article itself you link to says things like...
While such low levels are rare, they are not unprecedented...

Which is a contradiction to "NASA Reports Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Hit Record Low in March". A "record" means it hasn't happened before. Precedents means it has happened before.

scientists expect stratospheric ozone levels to recover to 1980 levels by mid-century.
So, the scientists are saying it's fine. You're screaming about everyone dying.

So it's you who's the nutcase, not the scientists.

NASA has been desperately trying to find new purpose in an age of reduced space flight. And in doing so, it has decided to carry the mantle of Climate Change. So here we have an article straight from NASA that serves no purpose. It says we have record ozone depletion, but it's happened before, so nothing to worry about.

None of this bothers you?

[Mountain Man]

Exactly factually backward like so much of your understanding of the world. Conservatives being more fear-based and more totalitarian than liberals are both well-known and studied phenomena.

e.g. Psychology Today: Fear and Anxiety Drive Conservatives' Political Attitudes - Can brain differences explain conservatives' fear-driven political stances?

Here's how I responded the last time you posted this canard:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/b...ns-fear-center

[Mountain Man]

I could say something about certain people being too stupid to know enough to be afraid ... but I won't.

Are you suggesting that Christians are stupid?

"God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
-2 Timothy 1:7

[Ronson]

So, the scientists are saying it's fine.

this is concerning

So not "fine". Just no doomsday predictions.

[Starlight]

It says we have record ozone depletion, but it's happened before, so nothing to worry about.

None of this bothers you?

It's a poorly written, self-contradictory article. I agree it says both that this is abnormal and that this is normal.

That's totally typical of science journalism. I've yet to meet a scientist who isn't bothered by the ever-poor state of science journalism. This is a multi-decade problem.

[mikewhitney]

They face-plant at the first example.

One of the 10 commandments is against murder. But there's heaps of God-condoned-killing in the bible. So clearly not all killing is murder.

Factually speaking, pretty much all codes of laws I am aware of, present, and past, have not classified abortion as murder. Even those that banned abortion do not have it classified as murder, and they have different charges named for it, different penalties for it, and a different part of the law applies than the normal murder section. Nor is there any section of the bible that would suggest the Israelites classified it as murder. So, in that sense, saying "abortion is murder" is a factually false statement if one means that the act of aborting a fetus falls under a definition of 'murder' in law codes.

You are, of course, free to believe that 'abortion is murder' in some sort of vague philosophical sense if you yourself want to, but inserting your own personal premises into the bible is hardly a 'straight-line' of any kind. Many/most Christians in my country view the US Evangelicals' views on abortion as pretty bizarre.

Ok. So there are some places that consider abortions as part of having families and growing up. We'll remember not to have families in New Zealand. It is not quite the paradise that some have thought it to be.

Are these church groups or people who would accept the Apostles' Creed and some of the other ancient creeds and confessions? Would they acknowledge the Trinitarian understanding of God? Do the accept that Jesus was raised from the dead? I've not really looked at the state of Christianity in New Zealand.

[oxmixmudd]

And yet you keep directing that same nastiness at your fellow (though I now use that word very loosely in regards to you) brothers and sisters. I'm taking Jesus' criteria of "knowing them by their fruit" and I honestly don't think it's possible for another Christian to toss out as much vitriol at other Christians as you do. I don't even sense that from the atheists in here to the degree that you do it. That's a huge red flag to me. Your self-righteousness and judgementalism is another signal to me that you're a phony. But good luck to you. I hope it works out for you. And every political issue you're bringing up is just BS. For example, being concerned about border security is not hatred of foreigners. But again, in your hatred of Christians, that's how you automatically interpret things like that.

I guess you think Jesus hated Jews then? Cause he sure called out a whole slew of their hypocrisies. No, pointing out serious and compromising flaws in certain cultural corruptions that have discolored our faith does not mean I hate either Christians or the Christian faith.

But it does mean I love my fellow Christians and my faith enough to urge them to return to what Jesus taught in place of this bastardized version that places self above others, rich above the poor, worldly success above self-sacrifice, and worldly political power above kingdom values and character.

[oxmixmudd]

Are you suggesting that Christians are stupid?

"God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
-2 Timothy 1:7

Many Christians in the US have adopted an anti-science worldview (effectively a 'fear' of knowledge and Truth) that has, unfortunately made them ignorant and the victims of a large number of false claims about the world around them.

This makes them appear pretty stupid from time to time, yes. But there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The former can be cured with a humble desire to learn and a recognition of the false fear of knowledge their culture has infused into them, the latter cannot.

Consider now the verse you quoted in the context of a fear of the knowledge science brings. Many Christian's are afraid of the truth about the world that careful scientific research can bring. Mostly because it often challenges presumed implications or traditional interpretations of scripture. But God has not given us a spirit of fear. We have nothing to fear from the knowledge science brings. And God has promised us the wisdom to know how to weave that new knowledge into our understanding of scripture. But we often cower back as if our faith cant survive if what we have learned is true rather than having the faith to trust God for the wisdom to move forward into the light He is revealing.

[Starlight]

Are these church groups or people who would accept the Apostles' Creed and some of the other ancient creeds and confessions? Would they acknowledge the Trinitarian understanding of God? Do the accept that Jesus was raised from the dead? I've not really looked at the state of Christianity in New Zealand.

Yes to all. It is common, across the rest of the Western world for standard, mainstream, evangelical, churches, to not take an anti-abortion stance. In much of the world, being anti-abortion is regarded as a specifically-Roman-Catholic position, since the bible itself doesn't contain anti-abortion teachings and the Catholics rely on 'tradition' for this teaching. That also used to be the situation in the US prior to around 1980, but the US evangelicals changed their position in quite a short timeframe.

So there are some places that consider abortions as part of having families and growing up.

I am not sure what you mean by this. Nobody I know has had an abortion (that they have told me about anyway). Obviously they are an extremely inefficient way to do family planning, and contraceptives should be employed if a child isn't wanted, and an abortion should obviously be a last resort. Legal doesn't mean common.

[lilpixieofterror]

I guess you think Jesus hated Jews then? Cause he sure called out a whole slew of their hypocrisies. No, pointing out serious and compromising flaws in certain cultural corruptions that have discolored our faith does not mean I hate either Christians or the Christian faith.

But it does mean I love my fellow Christians and my faith enough to urge them to return to what Jesus taught in place of this bastardized version that places self above others, rich above the poor, worldly success above self-sacrifice, and worldly political power above kingdom values and character.

When can I be as perfect as you?

[lilpixieofterror]

They face-plant at the first example.

One of the 10 commandments is against murder. But there's heaps of God-condoned-killing in the bible. So clearly not all killing is murder.

Factually speaking, pretty much all codes of laws I am aware of, present, and past, have not classified abortion as murder. Even those that banned abortion do not have it classified as murder, and they have different charges named for it, different penalties for it, and a different part of the law applies than the normal murder section. Nor is there any section of the bible that would suggest the Israelites classified it as murder. So, in that sense, saying "abortion is murder" is a factually false statement if one means that the act of aborting a fetus falls under a definition of 'murder' in law codes.

You are, of course, free to believe that 'abortion is murder' in some sort of vague philosophical sense if you yourself want to, but inserting your own personal premises into the bible is hardly a 'straight-line' of any kind. Many/most Christians in my country view the US Evangelicals' views on abortion as pretty bizarre.

Hey Starlight, are you going to get around to explaining yet how caring about how lockdowns are negatively effecting people is uncaring? Still waiting for an answer...

[NorrinRadd]

Exactly factually backward like so much of your understanding of the world. Conservatives being more fear-based and more totalitarian than liberals are both well-known and studied phenomena.

e.g. Psychology Today: Fear and Anxiety Drive Conservatives' Political Attitudes - Can brain differences explain conservatives' fear-driven political stances?

Meh. Probably the same sort of mutts who characterize the Biblical view of homosexuality as a "phobia."

[lilpixieofterror]

Yes to all. It is common, across the rest of the Western world for standard, mainstream, evangelical, churches, to not take an anti-abortion stance. In much of the world, being anti-abortion is regarded as a specifically-Roman-Catholic position, since the bible itself doesn't contain anti-abortion teachings and the Catholics rely on 'tradition' for this teaching. That also used to be the situation in the US prior to around 1980, but the US evangelicals changed their position in quite a short timeframe.

I am not sure what you mean by this. Nobody I know has had an abortion (that they have told me about anyway). Obviously they are an extremely inefficient way to do family planning, and contraceptives should be employed if a child isn't wanted, and an abortion should obviously be a last resort. Legal doesn't mean common.

https://prolife.org.nz/

http://voiceforlife.org.nz/who-we-are/mission-vision/

https://righttolife.org.nz/about-us/

Pro life, Protestant groups and even secular groups, obviously exist, in his own country and can be confirmed in 30 seconds of searching. He obviously lives in a very thick bubble and has no clue what goes on outside of that bubble.

[oxmixmudd]

When can I be as perfect as you?

You are already 'as perfect as I am' pix - if you get my meaning. But none of us are yet what God has called us to be. So instead of getting mad at me for holding a high standard, let us both instead purpose to move closer to that high standard as God would have us do.