Bunny Trails

[Bootstrap]

I have my own AI chat bot account if I want to get an AI’s perspective on things. Can you post things in your own words and perspective instead?

And your AI chat bot won't give you the kind of overview I posted if you just ask it a simple question, will it?

This isn't me putting a question into a chatbot and copying the answer. It took some time and care, and I think it's a useful overview that does reflect my knowledge and background and perspective. Creating this from scratch would have taken more time than I could justify. And I think it's valuable enough to post.

I think we each have the right to create useful overviews and post them. I think you have the right to ignore them.

[JohnH]

This isn't me putting a question into a chatbot and copying the answer. It took some time and care, and I think it's a useful overview that does reflect my knowledge and background and perspective. Creating this from scratch would have taken more time than I could justify. And I think it's valuable enough to post.

I think we each have the right to create useful overviews and post them. I think you have the right to ignore them.

There is a general consensus that cutting and pasting AI output is not particularly helpful to this forum, particularly when you keep refusing to include your prompts and other inputs you use to generate this output.

Most people just ignore it and move on. I am giving you enough courtesy and respect to ask you to stop.

[Bootstrap]

This isn't me putting a question into a chatbot and copying the answer. It took some time and care, and I think it's a useful overview that does reflect my knowledge and background and perspective. Creating this from scratch would have taken more time than I could justify. And I think it's valuable enough to post.

I think we each have the right to create useful overviews and post them. I think you have the right to ignore them.

There is a general consensus that cutting and pasting AI output is not particularly helpful to this forum, particularly when you keep refusing to include your prompts and other inputs you use to generate this output.

Most people just ignore it and move on. I am giving you enough courtesy and respect to ask you to stop.

Much of that thread responds to a similar post that Ernie created with AI. People are free to ignore either of our posts and move on.

[temporal1]

I can't imagine you posting such strong criticism against Trump. Interesting that you, as a Catholic, choose to post this about the pope. In fact, when directed against Trump, you vehemently object to this kind of thing.

I continue to think the current pope is being targeted for political purposes. I'm not Catholic and never will be, but it's hard to miss the political nature and the kind of media we are looking at here.

As Mennonites, I guess the question for me is this: how can WE be a credible witness against religious violence and religious hatred?

is T1 a Catholic?

all around discouraging.

1) sigh. i’ve never been Catholic. after all these years .. The videos i posted were opinions of devout Catholics.
The question has come up about whether Catholics question the pope. It seems they do.

2) i believe all popes are targeted for politics, and always have been. some have embraced it.
targeting takes place behind closed doors - as much or more than in the open. present example, David Axelrod, Jewish? maybe atheist?

3) i wouldn’t use the word, “vehement” to describe my disagreement with vehement criticism of T.

i see him as an imperfect man, fallible, 100% mortal, unusual. i believe all are unique, no 2 exactly alike.
i believe i’m consistent in not hating him, i’m not afraid of him, and, as for all presidents+leaders, i pray for him.
i pray for God to inspire leaders, no matter stated faith or no faith. He can.

If i were AI, probably “what i write” would be interesting-enough to read to various others.
i’m not. i can live with it.

- - - - - - -

i am interested in JayP’s response to the videos.
he likely knows or knows of those speaking.

[JohnL]

And apparently, American "Christians" believe their law is superior and that killing Iranians, "honorable" killings in war and killing anyone who gets in the way of their global ambitions is allowed.

Wow that’s a heck of a leap into generalized assumptions. We’re talking about a state law within the USA jurisdiction and not warfare that has other causes on foreign soil.

Welcome to Mennonet

It is a generalization but not that big.

Sure it is. We have a saying that if everything is thrown in a boiling pot then it tastes like nothing. Making big generalizations never ever solves anything it just muddies the solutions which is a sad old trick of politicians. Stick to the smaller problems and focus on those solutions and pretty soon a lot of problems will be cleared up. Of course I firmly don’t believe a Christian should be taking a top down approach by depending on govt agencies. We can work for God and solve our local problems and leave the rest of the mess for God to handle. Jesus himself said he didn’t come to be a political leader so I’m pretty sure that as his follower I’m not to be seeking political solutions but God’s miracles.

[HondurasKeiser]

is T1 a Catholic?

all around discouraging.

1) sigh. i’ve never been Catholic. after all these years .. The videos i posted were opinions of devout Catholics.
The question has come up about whether Catholics question the pope. It seems they do.

2) i believe all popes are targeted for politics, and always have been. some have embraced it.
targeting takes place behind closed doors - as much or more than in the open. present example, David Axelrod, Jewish? maybe atheist?

3) i wouldn’t use the word, “vehement” to describe my disagreement with vehement criticism of T.

i see him as an imperfect man, fallible, 100% mortal, unusual. i believe all are unique, no 2 exactly alike.
i believe i’m consistent in not hating him, i’m not afraid of him, and, as for all presidents+leaders, i pray for him.
i pray for God to inspire leaders, no matter stated faith or no faith. He can.

If i were AI, probably “what i write” would be interesting-enough to read to various others.
i’m not. i can live with it.

- - - - - - -

i am interested in JayP’s response to the videos.
he likely knows or knows of those speaking.

Was I right about Lutheran?

[temporal1]

all around discouraging.

1) sigh. i’ve never been Catholic. after all these years .. The videos i posted were opinions of devout Catholics.
The question has come up about whether Catholics question the pope. It seems they do.

2) i believe all popes are targeted for politics, and always have been. some have embraced it.
targeting takes place behind closed doors - as much or more than in the open. present example, David Axelrod, Jewish? maybe atheist?

3) i wouldn’t use the word, “vehement” to describe my disagreement with vehement criticism of T.

i see him as an imperfect man, fallible, 100% mortal, unusual. i believe all are unique, no 2 exactly alike.
i believe i’m consistent in not hating him, i’m not afraid of him, and, as for all presidents+leaders, i pray for him.
i pray for God to inspire leaders, no matter stated faith or no faith. He can.

If i were AI, probably “what i write” would be interesting-enough to read to various others.
i’m not. i can live with it.

- - - - - - -

i am interested in JayP’s response to the videos.
he likely knows or knows of those speaking.

Was I right about Lutheran?

The questions made me think.

i arrived on MD as a happy Lutheran of a number of years, baptized by a wonderful pastor, our family enjoyed a church home there, we were at church Sundays and through the week. i began learning things on MD i’d never known. It was painful. i wasn’t mistreated, it was what i began to read and learn that was so hard.

Robert and george were raised Lutheran, knowing that helped me.
They were really active at that time, with their special friendship.

At that time, churches everywhere were still in acute pain from deep divisions over homosexuals and WIM.
A number of new members arrived on MD described they believed “their churches left them”. Some Catholics.
International new members!

i had so much to learn.
however, before MD, i’d started on my own, studying scriptures, it wasn’t all new. it was important to me.
i was ready and wanted to learn more.

My fav pastor died, he outlived doctors’ prognoses by years, eventually, we had to say goodbye.
We moved. We liked our new church, same synod, vibrant church, the pastor was a woman. We liked her very much.

We didn’t realize then the spectrum of liberal-conservatives within one church. And, it was becoming evermore recognized.

i continued on MD, continued learning.
As with the discussions on marriage-divorce-remarriage, i read about WIM on forum and in scriptures. i decided, altho we liked this pastor, WIM isn’t sciptural. (i read she eventually stepped away) i haven’t returned. i’ve visited a few various churches. i listen to sermons/homilies online. Many from churches i’ve visited.

My daughter married a non-practicing Catholic, i’ve learned about Catholicism.
Many Catholics hate Luther. They blame him for everything. Like it just happened.

When i visit, i’m with my family at church and school, i’m grateful to be included.
i wouldn’t be surprised if my family described me as “most Catholic” in the family, .. i don’t know .. my grdaughter is a devoted young believer, from toddler years. children have a sense of who loves them, Jesus loves them.

What am i? sad. i suppose a lot of people are in that boat. in that same time period. churches left them.

i frequently see reports of increases in church attendance and membership by young people, esp young men!
i’m hopeful for them. i hope they find good leadership. and become good leaders! much needed.

so. presently, “Christian”

bunny trails.
i’m glad you asked. sorry for the life review. thanks.

[ken_sylvania]

"Wiping out an entire civilization" and sending them "back to the stone age", after killing thousands of civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure ... does that apply to "just certain expressions of Islam in a certain country", or everyone who lives in Iran and happens to be killed or have their homes destroyed or lose power and ready access to food?

This was an open threat of war crimes. Designed to inspire fear by threatening civilians- exactly what terrorists do. And some of our officials assure us this is what Jesus wants in prayer meetings in the Pentagon. Are you deflecting from all that?

Pope Leo is in the hot seat right now because he spoke out against this. I think Christians should speak out against this, especially when it is done in the name of Christianity.

That’s all good topics for discussion in a different thread.

The topic on this thread is Christianity and Islam in general.

I think this is the right thread. And I do think the criticism of Pope Leo is related to his criticizing Trump for statements like that. I prefer the Pope's approach to peacemaking - working with other faiths to combat religious extremist violence.

If the OP says something is off-topic for the thread, the respectful response would be to comply with the OP's wishes instead of arguing about it. You end up making yourself look obnoxious.

[ohio jones]

When i visit, i’m with my family at church and school, i’m grateful to be included.

Given that you post more Catholic content than the rest of MN combined, and at least as much as Max did when he was pretending to be Catholic, it's understandable that some could be confused.

When not at Mass with your family, where are you on Sunday mornings? St. Elizabeth? Our Lady of YouTube? The MN (and now MD) archives? St. Mattress?

After all this time on MD and MN, I really cannot understand why you haven't become active IRL in one of the local FEC or Evana congregations. I guess the Mennonite emphasis on community life just hasn't sunk in yet.

[temporal1]

When i visit, i’m with my family at church and school, i’m grateful to be included.

oj
Given that you post more Catholic content than the rest of MN combined, and at least as much as Max did when he was pretending to be Catholic, it's understandable that some could be confused.

yeah. but after 10+years with abundant disclaimers? i admit interest in the Reformation history i knew almost nothing about, and the long history prior. Catholicism is part of almost all if not all of it. i’ve come to believe the thing that defined the Reformation as different from times prior was the printing press. Anyway, it’s interesting, and interconnected. And the huge C Church has so much information available, virtually on any interest or pov one might have. Including harsh criticism of the C Church!

oj
When not at Mass with your family, where are you on Sunday mornings? St. Elizabeth? Our Lady of YouTube? The MN (and now MD) archives? St. Mattress?

Probably all of the above. i started a topic on Sunday services, it includes a variation of sermons and homilies. i thought it was a constructive idea. some response seemed negative, i wasn’t sure why. i let it go.
https://forum.mennonet.com/viewtopic.php?t=7016

oj
After all this time on MD and MN, I really cannot understand why you haven't become active IRL in one of the local FEC or Evana congregations. I guess the Mennonite emphasis on community life just hasn't sunk in yet.

In all these years since i became disillusioned with the Lutheran church, the one church i was most interested in was Robert’s in Topeka, IN. i searched a bit to learn about Topeka, i thought it would be a good fit, and i wish were in Indiana, anyway. Many in Illinois have moved to Indiana, and several Illinois counties really want to merge with Indiana (unfortunately, not mine).

However, Robert’s church seemed to be a casualty of the big divide that caused so much damage to churches.
i don’t think i ever mentioned it to Robert or anyone. i haven’t thought of it in a long while. Robert didn’t return to being a pastor. We never discussed it. i only know what i read on forum. It was hard for them. i felt really badly. We didn’t discuss it. At all.

i don’t know what i would have done if i’d moved to Topeka. i presume i wouldn’t have been happy at that particular church(?) without Robert .. There may have been others in Topeka or nearby. i don’t know. i may have been happy there even without that particular church.

i’ve encouraged my family to move to Indiana. Well run state with a great airport in Indianapolis. No takers.

My family now has a number of extended family non-practicing Catholics.
From what i see in family and all around, there are lots of non-practicing Catholics, they deny interest, they don’t attend, they’re sometimes hostile about it -BUT- they don’t let go of the name/label. i find this uncanny. They want that connection even when they don’t want anything else of it. Maybe they want that coattail connection, if push comes to shove, so to speak.