Your TV watches you???? I read that a minute or two ago, posted the above response, and then went and looked it up, and it turns out that you are absolutely right. Kind of makes me glad that we're too poor to afford Smart technology!
It gets worse - turns out that all kinds of Smart tech - even your refrigerator, for crying out loud - can be used for nefarious purposes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joseph...ng-on-you-even-in-your-own-home/#70404db7b859 "Many recent-generation kitchen appliances come equipped with connectivity that allows for great convenience, but this benefit comes at a price – potential spying and security risks. Information about when you wake up in the morning (as extrapolated from data on your Internet-connected coffee maker) and your shopping habits (as determined by information garnered from your smart fridge) can help robbers target your home. Furthermore, potential vulnerabilities have been reported in smart kitchen devices for quite some time, and less than a month ago a smart refrigerator was found to have been used by hackers in a malicious email attack. You read that correctly – hackers successfully used a refrigerator to send out malicious emails."
Your quotation from Matthew 12:7 actually confirms what I said and thank you for providing it. You are well-versed in Scripture, something which is no measure of being right or wrong. As I pointed out, capital punishment should never be applied to the innocent. Our Lord said nothing about the guilty in this passage. The (proportionate) execution of the guilty is not a sacrifice, it is justice. Sacrifice involves, by definition, the offering of an innocent, a lamb or a Lamb. You are entirely correct with that last quotation. The liberal heretics and apostates have no hope of prevailing. They just greatly risk Damning themselves.
Thou shalt not kill is best understood as "Thou shalt not murder". I don't need the history lesson-I live a couple of hundred yards from a Mass Rock (I assume you are replying to me, due to your Johnson reference). It has always been the teaching of the Church, which she might not always have followed in practice, consisting of fallible human beings as she always is, that punishments be carried out in the most humane way possible. But this appeal of yours is a tangential, emotional one. If men "loose their bowels" in a hanging, it testifies to the competence of the hangman, as sphincter relaxation is a symptom of death. I think the immigration, colonisation (which improved most peoples' worlds greatly, despite the Marxist propaganda of envy and covetousness) and Penal Law (an example of the theft and destruction of a superior civilisation by an inferior one, and therefore not an example of colonisation) issues are for another time.
Note the promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against "it" rather than "you". That's where the Deposit of Faith comes in. No Pope has the authority to contradict the Deposit of Faith. Abortion is an intrinisic evil, meaning it is always wrong, has always been wrong and will be wrong for all time. If capital punishment were an intrinsic evil it would have been wrong for all time. If the Holy Spirit chose the Pope, we might as well use a roulette wheel rather than a Conclave. The Holy Spirit guides the Cardinals who have the free will to follow or not the Spirit's guidance. Pope Francis can make the death penalty, global warming or any other of his pet projects his personal priority but he has no authority whatsoever to contradict the Deposit of Faith which does not include either of those issues in the category of intrinsic evil. I am anti-Death Penalty but not on the erroneous grounds that it is an intrinsic evil.
Zeitgeistism is another way of saying that those who hear "the word" or "a word" stick to the meaning of "that word"! Jesus was the essential Zeitgeist of Gods word! He Was in fact, the Word of God! 1 Corinthians 1: 18-25 18 The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the road to salvation it is the power of God. 19 As scripture says: I am going to destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of any who understand. 20 Where are the philosophers? Where are the experts? And where are the debaters of this age? Do you not see how God has shown up human wisdom as folly? 21 Since in the wisdom of God the world was unable to recognise God through wisdom, it was God's own pleasure to save believers through the folly of the gospel. 22 While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, 23 we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
I think this is the best defense and description of Social justice as well as Pro-life that i have come across. I also just shared it with a friend who is a "revert" and Pro-choice, siting fear of criticism as a reason many don't state or stand up for what they believe in. While she says she is personally pro-life, she publicly says she is the other....FEAR. Given the circles she runs in, fear makes sense.
Not really a reply to you at all. Just musing a few thoughts as I read of Mr Johnston. He seemed so far removed as he penned his words. Interesting though as to his thoughts on patriotism and it's relationship in our world. Regards,
Here are a few more recent interviews with Mark Taylor, the retired fireman who had the "Trump Prophecy" back in 2011: This one at around the 6:20 point:
Degaulle, you are missing the whole point. Look again at Matthew 12:7, and understand its meaning: it is ALL about forgiving the guilty : And if you knew what this meaneth: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: you would never have condemned the innocent. God's mercy to us lies in forgiving us our trespasses, and our mercy toward our fellowman lies in forgiving their trespasses against us. When we forgive our fellowman, God forgives us. When God forgives us, sacrifice and burnt offerings become unnecessary; likewise, when we forgive our fellowman, there is no condemnation, and the death penalty becomes unnecessary. Thus when there is Mercy, there is no condemnation, neither the innocent nor the guilty suffer under the death penalty, but rather, we forgive others, and God forgives us, and His holy will is done, namely: [Ezekiel 18:23] Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live?....32 For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord God; so turn, and live.” 2 Peter 3:9 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. ....and if He is so patient with US, can we be any less so toward our fellowman, without incurring His wrath?
The state has a duty and a right to protect its citizens so that is why the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty. Sometimes even the most notorious of criminals repent when faced with the reality of death and imminent execution. http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/10/01/the-killer-and-the-saint-pranzini-and-therese/
And sometimes the condemned do not repent, and we humans, in our infinite wisdom, forever end their chance of repentance in the future. It is true that the death penalty is not an intrinsic evil - neither is polygamy, and God permitted both in the Old Testament, but neither represents God's will for human society - we should be moving INTO His will, and doing our best to become more like Him, rather than making excuses about why it's really quite all right to do the contrary. "Q. Why are there different types of marriage in the Old Testament? A. As Jesus makes clear in speaking to the Pharisees and citing Genesis 2:23-24, a man and a woman who marry validly become one, and thus what God has joined together no man should put asunder (Matt. 19:4-6). When the Pharisees object and cite Moses’ certificate of divorce, Jesus tells them that Moses allowed divorce for their hardness of heart, “but from the beginning it was not so” (Matt. 19:8). So that’s one reason why marriage was different in Old Testament times. In addition, we see the frailty of man otherwise, including in the practice of polygamy and keeping of concubines. But we see that the moral law affirms itself, as moral absolutes substantiate themselves absolutely. Indeed, those who took multiple wives and/or concubines got into trouble for themselves and their children and thus God’s people in general, whether Abraham in fathering a child via Hagar, Jacob in taking multiple, and also King Solomon in taking 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3), in significant part in attempt to make peace with various peoples as Israel’s king. What God permits is not necessarily what God sanctions. Indeed, God sometimes lovingly punishes us by giving us our way. Jesus comes in the New Covenant to restore order and raise marriage to the level of a sacrament (see Eph. 5:21-33)." https://www.catholic.com/qa/marriage-in-old-testament-times
I'm not missing any point. Christ will not forgive the unrepentant guilty. Later in that chapter He warns that "He that is not with me is against me...". The passage you refer to is in the context of Christ's deliberations upon doing necessary work during the Sabbath. He wasn't talking about capital punishment, at all. You can quote all the Chapter and Verse for your own ends that you wish. The Church position on capital punishment has been unchanged for two millenia. It is unchanged and unchangeable. It is an incredible arrogance for any generation to self-righteously consider itself morally 'superior' to all those that went before, particularly this one, the most murderous and impure in history. This generation signals its virtue to itself in the mirror because of its 'empathy' for the most vile of criminals, while simultaneousy fomenting the most widespread, industrial murder of the innocents ever perpetrated. And some consider this 'mercy'. It is really a satanic inversion. And the greatest hypocrisy ever seen.
I was taught, long ago in college theology class, that Jesus was speaking of healing on the Sabbath, and at the same time was speaking prophetically of His own Death on the cross. As for our world becoming more evil, I think not . Concerning the secular world, this generation is indeed impure and murderous, the worst in several centuries, but hardly the worst in history. Gladiators no longer fight in the arenas of the most "civilized" society on the planet; slavery, while it still exists, is universally reviled and illegal in most countries, and the same goes for genocide: only 400 years ago, slavery and genocide were business as usual, even in countries that claimed to be Christian. It is largely due to the action of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of Christians that such abuses have come to be considered evil in society at large: the Church is Salt and Light, and as Christ perfects His Church, it has a salubrious effect upon the secular world around it. The progress is slow, sometimes one step back for every two steps forward, but it continues, and will continue for as long as the Father permits his Holy Spirit to remain active in the affairs of men. Impeding this progress are the barbarians, mostly in the secular world but also in the church: they have always been around, but in the last days, St. Paul says that they will become more numerous - " fierce, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding the form of religion but denying the power of it." Such people deny the power of God; those within the Church itself may uphold the fine points of theology (and especially, pomp and tradition), while simultaneously holding in contempt the primary attributes of God, which are LOVE and MERCY. As the last days grow closer, we will see more and more people like that, who pretend to be religious but who disdain the virtue of Charity, and whenever the Church becomes adulterated with these pretenders, it is only natural that its salubrious effect upon the secular world will also wane somewhat. Concerning the Church, however, the barbarians will not win in the end: the action of the Holy Spirit ensures that each generation of Christianity is at least somewhat purer and closer to God than the one before it -"Ecclesia semper reformanda est" (The Church is always to be reformed): Jesus sanctifies His Church, eternally in Heaven and day by day on earth. The Church, while possessing true sanctity from her divine source, is nevertheless always in need of reform and purification on account of the sinfulness of her members. She is therefore at the same time holy yet imperfect, and through the action of Christ, she moves closer to perfection each day and though each generation: "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27)
Slavery was originally an improvement. It involved the taking of prisoners in war, rather than their routine slaughter. Surely, genocide is the sin of the twentieth century. Never before had there been attempts to utterly annihilate races, as happened with the Armenians and the Jews. It is debateable whether there was such racial hatred until Darwinism and it's 'survival of the fittest' and natural selection concepts. Mercy is meaningless without Justice. They are both opposite sides of the same coin. If there is universal salvation, it would imply that God is a monster who created a universe full of unnecessary suffering, when He could simply have installed everyone in Heaven from the get-go and avoid all that redundant unpleasantness. Hence the necessity of Justice alongside Mercy. He is an avenging God. What is the theology you studied? It certainly differs from what I am familiar with ( of course, I am an untrained amateur).
I think most people would agree that, in some respects, the world has always been a bad place. The difference now may be that we are legalizing things that would have never been legalized years ago. So instead of moving forwards, we appear to be moving backwards in this regard. In addition, I don't know the statistics off the top of my head but we have less Christian based governments in the world. I get that we can't force people to practice Christianity but it is pretty sad that many people don't make the decision to practice Christianity on their own. I always think of what Conchita of Garabandal stated years ago, "That we lost the sense of sin".
