Why are Christian businesses targeted .....

[Bootstrap]

I'll try again.

You probably will. But here's what I said:

We can decide to be part of the political outrage machine. Or we can decide to seek first the Kingdom of God.

I don't think we can do both at the same time. Often, the Kingdom of God doesn't seem to be the loudest voice in the room. And I think that is more of a threat than anything involving wedding cakes.

Is it possible to actually discuss that? Or not discuss it if you don't care to?

What about the Kingdom of God? Is it relevant? How do Christians act in a country like the one we live in? How does that affect the way we are seen? And the way the Gospel is seen? Seems like we mostly seek last the Kingdom of God. It's the last thing we turn to in order to frame our understanding. And that's a shame.

Suppose we limited ourselves to things we see Jesus and the early church do in the Bible. How did they face situations like this? By claiming a victimhood identity?

Suppose we compare persecution in the United States to (1) persecution of Christians in other places and times or (2) persecution of other religious groups in the United States, or (3) groups persecuted for their race rather than religion. Are we really such victims?

[GaryK]

I'll try again.

You probably will. But here's what I said:

We can decide to be part of the political outrage machine. Or we can decide to seek first the Kingdom of God.

I don't think we can do both at the same time. Often, the Kingdom of God doesn't seem to be the loudest voice in the room. And I think that is more of a threat than anything involving wedding cakes.

Is it possible to actually discuss that? Or not discuss it if you don't care to?

That is precisely what I was discussing.

You say we can decide to be part of the political outrage machine or seek first the Kingdom of God, but we can't do both. I agree.

I'm wanting to know if you constantly talking on MN about how bad Trump/MAGA is, is part of seeking first the Kingdom of God or part of the political outrage machine? Your refusal to answer a legitimate question based on something you said is telling.

[Ken]

So why do some Protestants and Mennonites feel like we are especially targeted?

Possibly because some of the targeting seems to be government-sanctioned?

Examples?

[ken_sylvania]

So why do some Protestants and Mennonites feel like we are especially targeted?

Possibly because some of the targeting seems to be government-sanctioned?

Examples?

[Ken]

Possibly because some of the targeting seems to be government-sanctioned?

Examples?

So that's a no then? Do you have any examples from this decade?

[ken_sylvania]

Examples?

So that's a no then? Do you have any examples from this decade?

[Grace]

I'll try again.

You probably will. But here's what I said:

We can decide to be part of the political outrage machine. Or we can decide to seek first the Kingdom of God.

I don't think we can do both at the same time. Often, the Kingdom of God doesn't seem to be the loudest voice in the room. And I think that is more of a threat than anything involving wedding cakes.

Is it possible to actually discuss that? Or not discuss it if you don't care to?

That is precisely what I was discussing.

You say we can decide to be part of the political outrage machine or seek first the Kingdom of God, but we can't do both. I agree.

I'm wanting to know if you constantly talking on MN about how bad Trump/MAGA is, is part of seeking first the Kingdom of God or part of the political outrage machine? Your refusal to answer a legitimate question based on something you said is telling.

I think you asked the same question four times and still didn't get a definitive answer. You are right, it is telling.

[Josh]

How did Christianity get caught up in this victimhood identity? I don't think it's a fruit of the Spirit. I think other religious groups are much more persecuted, and Christians are often in denial of the persecution that Jews and Muslims face here, which is worse than what we face.

Why is it a bad thing to persecute false religions? Do we have some duty as Christians to uphold false, satanic teaching?

[MaxPC]

That is precisely what I was discussing.

You say we can decide to be part of the political outrage machine or seek first the Kingdom of God, but we can't do both. I agree.

I'm wanting to know if you constantly talking on MN about how bad Trump/MAGA is, is part of seeking first the Kingdom of God or part of the political outrage machine? Your refusal to answer a legitimate question based on something you said is telling.

I think you asked the same question four times and still didn't get a definitive answer. You are right, it is telling.

Indeed, agreed and essentially par for the course.

[Bootstrap]

I'll try again.

You probably will. But here's what I said:

We can decide to be part of the political outrage machine. Or we can decide to seek first the Kingdom of God.

I don't think we can do both at the same time. Often, the Kingdom of God doesn't seem to be the loudest voice in the room. And I think that is more of a threat than anything involving wedding cakes.

Is it possible to actually discuss that? Or not discuss it if you don't care to?

That is precisely what I was discussing.

You say we can decide to be part of the political outrage machine or seek first the Kingdom of God, but we can't do both. I agree.

Good. That's a start. I'd like to see us focus more on how we seek first the Kingdom of God, what our role is as Christians, etc. That tends to get lost here. Which is ironic, since this is a Mennonite forum.

I'm wanting to know if you constantly talking on MN about how bad Trump/MAGA is, is part of seeking first the Kingdom of God or part of the political outrage machine? Your refusal to answer a legitimate question based on something you said is telling.

I really don't think that I am calling for outrage against Trump or MAGA. I do say that it is legitimate for him to go to trial, but I also say that he should have a fair trial, and we should let the system work. And I don't think we should beat each other up over it. I do think we should be able to explore what the facts are - at a factual level. To me, that's almost the opposite of an outrage machine.

I think that Trump / MAGA have created a political outrage machine that has energized a lot of people, and that this political outrage machine sometimes seems to say it is speaking for Christians, but it is not saying the same thing that Jesus and the New Testament taught at all. It does not have the same ethics or values. It does not teach discipleship to Jesus. We need to know what it is that we seek first and not get lost in this. And I see a lot of Christians getting lost here.

The main argument they make to Christians is that they are the only thing standing between us and horrible persecution. That's quite related to the topic if this thread. I don't think that's true. And I don't think they deserve our loyalty. I also don't think their media should define our worldview.