too many people glean the exact opposite.

In fact I go by what the bible teaches.

2 Cor 5: 14. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19. that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In Paul’s world there was Jew and Gentile… as a Gentile I would have been a pagan. In fact Gentile simply means “the others”… SO it was seen there was a separation between the chosen Jew and the “Others” or Gentiles.

Yet after the death and resurrection of Jesus, there was no longer this division as we are all now equal… Sin was the leveler, while Cross took sin away and the Resurrection gave us new life… or made us “New Creation(s)”.

So for me there is not Jewish Nation… ( not meaning that it does not exist but that the New Israel is Jesus Christ not a plot of land in the middle east.

There is much more… but for now.

iggy

Why would I want to withhold truth from those over whom God enables me to weep over?

that’s not what we were talking about. that’s fine. if someone is receptive to you sharing your faith, knock yourself out. i was talking geopolitically about how dangerous it is to approach world affairs, especially those that deal with another religion, from the closed-off standpoint of one’s OWN religious beliefs.

as in “they’re a false religion, so we shouldn’t respect their perspective.”

as in “well, yeah, Jerusalem is the holy city for three religions, but i think Judaism and Islam are crap, so it doesn’t matter what they think.”

for that matter, “i think God gave Israel to the Jews, therefore, here’s the wall i’m building to keep out the brown Muslim people, whose perspective doesn’t matter on this.”

or:
“over here in Amurka, we’re a ‘Christian nation’ and Israel is part of God’s plan, so we should really turn a blind eye to all the heinous thinks Israel has been doing to the Palestinians since 1967 or so, because WE personally believe God signed off on all this.”

it’s two completely different subjects, and one has absolutely no place in the other.

This says as much about Israel as it does the Palestinians.

yeah, really. have you met my friend, “slow, sturdy genocide”?

Yet, opinions are not the same as truth

according to you. other religions say the same thing. that’s why religious considerations have absolutely no place in geopolitical affairs.

I smart enough to see the folly in arguing with a relativist. Last word is yours, Evan.

Not sure who that is…

My point is that even if one is not “religious” that their own view is also skewed with bias.

Yet, opinions are not the same as truth.

iggy

Maybe you could help me with how those sentiments fit into the discussion at hand?

Neil

This says as much about Israel as it does the Palestinians.

i never said anyone didn’t have a right to their own deeply-held beliefs.

Okay, then, my deeply held belief is this:

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NLT

This is what I really and truly and deeply believe. And for me to NOT share that belief with others, through words and actions, would demonstrate that I HATED those who believe differently than I.

Why would I want to withhold truth from those over whom God enables me to weep over?

Why would I desire for anyone – Jew, Muslim, rich, poor, peace-loving Palestinian, terrorist loving Palestinian, loving Jew, full-of-himself Jew, “good” American citizen, on-death-row American citizen, “nice” child of the rich suburbs, street-hardened gangster, in-name-only Christian, agnostic, atheist, – to live apart from the Father?

it’s not about a last word…i’m trying to give you some perspective here on how others view Christians.

i never said anyone didn’t have a right to their own deeply-held beliefs.

look, it’s okay to have YOUR beliefs. but you must always recognize that they are just that: yours.

they would make the same exact argument as you’re making.

so the point is that when dealing with intra-religious issues, one must never approach from the viewpoint of “well, MY religion is the true one, but blah blah blah blah blah.”

because that’s all that anyone else hears.

“blah blah blah blah.”