Neighbor against Neighbor

[barnhart]

For some reason, people seem less willing than ever to allow others to withhold judgment about a situation or to hold complex views about a situation.

This needs highlighted!
It's one thing to be judgmental. It's quite another thing to not allow others to not be judgmental.

There are certain things that scripture calls us to judge. But there are many other things that we don't know a lot about or things that are not black and white that require nuanced responses. And sometimes there is not time or energy for delving into the complexity. But in this day and era, people are expected to make judgments on things anyhow.

I propose the more we can see Jesus as having events under control and trust his ways, the more we can afford to wait or withhold judgement.

[barnhart]

I imagine two countries with high levels of internal unity right now are Canada and Iran, because they are both being threatened by exterior forces. Several years ago there were cracks in both but nothing unites like outside opposition.

With the collapse of the Cold War, the US was left without exterior threat, with the exception of Islamic terror, but that has proved incapable of sustained pressure needed to forge unity. Like an auto immune disease, the need to fight and defeat an enemy has turned inward. Once the church championed government fighting Communism "out there", not that aggression has turned internal. As the scripture says, the one who digs a pit will fall in it and the stone you roll will roll back on you.

[Valerie]

I imagine two countries with high levels of internal unity right now are Canada and Iran, because they are both being threatened by exterior forces. Several years ago there were cracks in both but nothing unites like outside opposition.

With the collapse of the Cold War, the US was left without exterior threat, with the exception of Islamic terror, but that has proved incapable of sustained pressure needed to forge unity. Like an auto immune disease, the need to fight and defeat an enemy has turned inward. Once the church championed government fighting Communism "out there", not that aggression has turned internal. As the scripture says, the one who digs a pit will fall in it and the stone you roll will roll back on you.

Hardly in Iran, it’s been approximated at up to 50,000 Iranian protesters killed by their leadership. Much disunity within-

[barnhart]

I imagine two countries with high levels of internal unity right now are Canada and Iran, because they are both being threatened by exterior forces. Several years ago there were cracks in both but nothing unites like outside opposition.

With the collapse of the Cold War, the US was left without exterior threat, with the exception of Islamic terror, but that has proved incapable of sustained pressure needed to forge unity. Like an auto immune disease, the need to fight and defeat an enemy has turned inward. Once the church championed government fighting Communism "out there", not that aggression has turned internal. As the scripture says, the one who digs a pit will fall in it and the stone you roll will roll back on you.

Hardly in Iran, it’s been approximated at up to 50,000 Iranian protesters killed by their leadership. Much disunity within-

I just saw that. I retract the Iranian example.

[Bootstrap]

I would like if we could have a discussion about doxing and neighbors against neighbors, without getting caught in the political polarization that is fueling it. Is that possible? Let's try.

I think some people have a world view in which we are at war, a culture war, and we each have the responsibility to act as Internet trolls, judging people we do not know, mocking them, telling everyone they are the enemy, spreading accusations of people by name in ways that result in them being targeted and harassed online.

Some people have had to leave their homes because of this, facing threats of violence. This also applies to groups, categories of people. If a particular influencer or political figure identifies a target, they want to make sure everyone knows exactly how to feel about Them.

There are several really big problems with this.

1. "My Kingdom is not of this world, else would my disciples fight". If calling your brother Raca is a kind of murder, surely this is. Our weapons are not of flesh and blood, so why are we acting this way? I don't think this applies only to fighting in physical wars.
2. Jurisdiction (1 Cor 6). We don't know these people, and the stereotypes sweep up lots of people for whom they simply are not true. So what business is it of ours to judge them? The Bible is pretty clear about this.
3. Fruit of the Spirit vs. Works of the Flesh - it's pretty easy to see a lot of works of the flesh in such posts.
4. "Gossips and Busybodies". If these words mean anything, surely they apply here.