I Was But Now I Am

[th1b.taylor]

I’m very happy for every soldier who is getting help from the VA. (My nephew is a disabled combat veteran who has been receiving such help and is also employed by the VA in Texas.) Someone who is being treated for PTSD should not be advocating for others to kill their enemies and have to seek the same treatment.

Killing your enemies screws up the mind, even to the point of pleading for others to screw up their minds.

If the reader is a veteran who needs help, please seek out. And for the love of God, don’t send others down the path that took you to this place in yours.

You will likely see your logical end come about and that is sad because you have no idea the barbarity of neither the Oriental nor the Islamic Military. There are cells of Islam here already and the Chinese are far ahead of them. You preaching this false fairy tale will comfort them.

 

[th1b.taylor]

The only thing that would make me look good in your eyes is if I preached that disciples of Jesus should kill their enemies. That’s never going to happen. I’ll happily remain a fool in your eyes and be seen obedient and faithful in his.

Looking good in my eyes will never help anyone... your issue is with the Word.

 

[Matthias]

Looking good in my eyes will never help anyone... you8r issue is with the Word.

The word says don’t kill your enemies, to treat others as you would have others treat you, to love them.

 

[Matthias]

You will likely see your logical end come about and that is sad because you have no idea the barbarity of neither the Oriental nor the Islamic Military. There are cells of Islam here already and the Chinese are far ahead of them.

There is no one here, nor will there ever be, whom the one true God and the Messiah can’t protect me, my family, all of his disciples from.

You preaching this false fairy tale will comfort them.

The Messiah’s teaching to his disciples regarding how we are to treat our enemies is neither false nor a fairy tale. His teaching will be of no comfort to them.

 

[Matthias]

“Sooner or later, in almost any serious discussion about peace and war, someone is sure to ask the standard question: ‘What would you do if a criminal, say, pulled a gun and threatened to kill your wife’ (or daughter or sister or mother, whichever one the challenger decides to use)? It’s uncanny how many persons - from seminary professors to draft board members - see this question as a way test the consistency of the pacifist’s convictions that war is wrong.

As we shall see, serious doubt can be raised about whether or not this question fairly represents the issue of war, or whether a pacifist would have to answer it in only one way. But because the question is raised so often, it should - and shall - be answered. Doing so will help illustrate the logic behind the Christian commitment to unwavering, suffering love.”

(John Howard Yoder, What Would You Do?, p. 11)

This is a great little book that every Christian should read.

What is lacking on the part of those who urge upon us killing our enemies? They're suffering from what they’ve done (and / or are willing to do) and looking for relief. Joining them won’t help them assuage their conscience and will do the same damage to the conscience of those who do.

They do not have “the Christian commitment to unwavering, suffering love” and they don’t want others to have it.

As has been seen in this thread, they will lash out against those who do have that commitment.

 

[Matthias]

“The assumptions behind the question

To deal with the issue, we must bring into the open any unstated assumptions behind the argument. There is no such thing as a simple situation unambiguously dictating a particular line of action. No situation interprets itself. So before we can analyze the ‘what if …?’ we must seek to understand the questioner’s assumptions.

1. Determinism

The questioner usually assumes that I alone have a decision to make. My relationship with the other persons in the situation is supposed to be one which unfolds mechanically. The attacker, for example, is preprogrammed to do the worst evil he can - or at least the evil he has fixed his mind on. He is not expected to make any other decisions or act in any other way.

Nor does the question as posed allow for any decisions on the part of the potential victim. I alone am the one making a decision. The assumption is that how I respond solely determines the outcome of the situation.

Later I shall return to this deterministic assumption and compare it to Christian understandings of the person and will of God. At this point two other observations about it are necessary:

a. This mechanical model is unrepresentative of the way decisions are made in war. …

b. Even on the smaller scale of the individual assailant, it is not reasonable to assume that the decisions I make are the only ones being made. …”

(John Howard Yoder, What Would You Do?, pp. 12,13)

One down, five to go.

 

[Matthias]

Twitter / X spy masters hitting my feed again.

”When someone acts in an evil way toward you, let all know that you are different from the people of the world.” - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

x.com

x.com

These people who are doing their best to persuade others to kill their enemies as they have and / or would kill theirs are not letting all know that they are different from the people of the world. They are letting all know that they are no, or little, different from the people of the world.

 

[th1b.taylor]

The word says don’t kill your enemies, to treat others as you would have others treat you, to love them.

I know you are not that stupid... stubborn and prideful? Yes, I fear you are that. If you went to Semenary, you did not recieve the Unadulterated Word of Yehovah nor that of Yashua for John 1 and other passages are very clear that our Elohim, Yashua is Creator Elohim and other passages assure us He has not and never will change. He is the Elohim that sent Israel into war and sometimes He did the combat anjd at othuer times He went so far as to charge the soldiers with killing all men of every age, all of the women, sheep, other livestock and even the children, male and female. You are denying more than two thirds of the scriptures even exist. And not being forearmed to defend you personal family and the women and children of this nation, what was that, that God said about you? Scary!

 

[th1b.taylor]

Twitter / X spy masters hitting my feed again.

”When someone acts in an evil way toward you, let all know that you are different from the people of the world.” - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

x.com

x.com

These people who are doing their best to persuade others to kill their enemies as they have and / or would kill theirs are not letting all know that they are different from the people of the world. They are letting all know that they are no, or little, different from the people of the world.

Popycock!

 

[Matthias]

I know you are not that stupid... stubborn and prideful? Yes, I fear you are that. If you went to Semenary, you did not recieve the Unadulterated Word of Yehovah nor that of Yashua for John 1 and other passages are very clear that our Elohim, Yashua is Creator Elohim and other passages assure us He has not and never will change. He is the Elohim that sent Israel into war and sometimes He did the combat anjd at othuer times He went so far as to charge the soldiers with killing all men of every age, all of the women, sheep, other livestock and even the children, male and female. You are denying more than two thirds of the scriptures even exist. And not being forearmed to defend you personal family and the women and children of this nation, what was that, that God said about you? Scary!

It’s not your 8th grade education that’s keeping you from understanding and embracing the Messiah’s teaching concerning how his disciples are to treat their enemies.

 

[th1b.taylor]

It’s not your 8th grade education that’s keeping you from understanding and embracing the Messiah’s teaching concerning how his disciples are to treat their enemies.

LOL! You are a sad individual who will not even argue fairly. I fed you that worm and just like a Sun Perch you swallowed hook, line and, sinker. I feel for anyone not willing to teach the whole Gospel but your pride will not stop bitting and that hurts. I pray you are bigger than the image you project verbbally. May you open your spiritual eyes and Yehovah impart the Whole Gospel to your heart.

 

[Matthias]

LOL! You are a sad individual who will not even argue fairly. I fed you that worm and just like a Sun Perch you swallowed hook, line and, sinker. I feel for anyone not willing to teach the whole Gospel but your pride will not stop bitting and that hurts. I pray you are bigger than the image you project verbbally. May you open your spiritual eyes and Yehovah impart the Whole Gospel to your heart.

You’ve killed others. Now you’re teaching others to follow your example, not the Messiah’s. His way leads to life. Your way leads to death.

 

[Matthias]

“The assumptions behind the question

To deal with the issue, we must bring into the open any unstated assumptions behind the argument. There is no such thing as a simple situation unambiguously dictating a particular line of action. No situation interprets itself. So before we can analyze the ‘what if …?’ we must seek to understand the questioner’s assumptions.

1. Determinism

The questioner usually assumes that I alone have a decision to make. My relationship with the other persons in the situation is supposed to be one which unfolds mechanically. The attacker, for example, is preprogrammed to do the worst evil he can - or at least the evil he has fixed his mind on. He is not expected to make any other decisions or act in any other way.

Nor does the question as posed allow for any decisions on the part of the potential victim. I alone am the one making a decision. The assumption is that how I respond solely determines the outcome of the situation.

Later I shall return to this deterministic assumption and compare it to Christian understandings of the person and will of God. At this point two other observations about it are necessary:

a. This mechanical model is unrepresentative of the way decisions are made in war. …

b. Even on the smaller scale of the individual assailant, it is not reasonable to assume that the decisions I make are the only ones being made. …”

(John Howard Yoder, What Would You Do?, pp. 12,13)

One down, five to go.

“2. Control

The challenge at least assumes my substantial control of the situation, if not my omnipotence. It assumes that if I seek to stop the attacker, I can. Now in some cases this may be true, but in many cases it is by no means certain. The more serious the threat which an attacker represents, the less likely is it that I will be able to stop him by any means at my disposal.

Relate this to the issue of war. The classic theory of the just war includes the criterion of ‘probable success.’ It is not reasonable to fight a war which one is sure to lose. In that case, society would suffer both the evil which one inflicts and the evil which one had hoped to prevent. That is a still worse outcome than if one had willingly accepted the evil, however great, which had threatened. …

Failure to be successful is a serious possibility in every case of dramatic confrontation. That is all the more true when both parties to the conflict are acting in unfamiliar roles and under exceptional pressure.

In any war at least one side loses; in some wars, no side wins. On the basis of a calculation of the probability of success, the chances are less than even that I can bring about what I consider a successful result by harming the other party. This is true on a small scale becuse the attacker is a powerful person or armed for a premeditated offense. It is true on an international level because many dimensions of war cannot be manipulated with certainty even by superior power.

Thus it cannot generally be the case that violence is likely to be successful. Then why label as idealistic those people who have doubts about the successful outcome of the use of violence?”

(Ibid. pp. 13-15)

Two down, four to go.

 

[Matthias]

* Killing your enemy is a worst impulse. How many times in scripture does God say, “Be not afraid”? *

 

[Matthias]

“2. Control

The challenge at least assumes my substantial control of the situation, if not my omnipotence. It assumes that if I seek to stop the attacker, I can. Now in some cases this may be true, but in many cases it is by no means certain. The more serious the threat which an attacker represents, the less likely is it that I will be able to stop him by any means at my disposal.

Relate this to the issue of war. The classic theory of the just war includes the criterion of ‘probable success.’ It is not reasonable to fight a war which one is sure to lose. In that case, society would suffer both the evil which one inflicts and the evil which one had hoped to prevent. That is a still worse outcome than if one had willingly accepted the evil, however great, which had threatened. …

Failure to be successful is a serious possibility in every case of dramatic confrontation. That is all the more true when both parties to the conflict are acting in unfamiliar roles and under exceptional pressure.

In any war at least one side loses; in some wars, no side wins. On the basis of a calculation of the probability of success, the chances are less than even that I can bring about what I consider a successful result by harming the other party. This is true on a small scale becuse the attacker is a powerful person or armed for a premeditated offense. It is true on an international level because many dimensions of war cannot be manipulated with certainty even by superior power.

Thus it cannot generally be the case that violence is likely to be successful. Then why label as idealistic those people who have doubts about the successful outcome of the use of violence?”

(Ibid. pp. 13-15)

Two down, four to go.

“3. Knowledge

The ‘what if ...?’ question presupposes, if not omniscience, at least full and reliable information. Not only does it assume on my part that events will unfold in an inevitable way; it also presumes that I am reliably informed about what the unfolding will be like. I know that if I do not kill the aggressor, he will rape my wife, kill my daughter, attack me, or whatever. I also know I will be successful if I try to take his life.

Once again, the reasoning is questionable, even on the individual basis. The outcome of any kind of combat is unpredictable. Even more is this true on the international level. When military planners use hypothetical circumstances, any such scenario makes untested, unverifiable assumptions about the psychology of the enemy. …

As soon as a situation exists in which several persons are making decisions at the same time - all acting on the basis of what they think the others think and all at least partly trying to deceive the others - we can be quite sure of one thing: No one has sure knowledge of what will happen. Certainly anyone whose vision of conflict is deeper than that of the television western has some awareness of the complexity of situations and some notion of how seldom things turn out the way predicted. That is especially true when people predict positive results coming about through the use of violence.”

(Ibid., pp. 15,16)

Three down, three to go.

 

[Matthias]

“3. Knowledge

The ‘what if ...?’ question presupposes, if not omniscience, at least full and reliable information. Not only does it assume on my part that events will unfold in an inevitable way; it also presumes that I am reliably informed about what the unfolding will be like. I know that if I do not kill the aggressor, he will rape my wife, kill my daughter, attack me, or whatever. I also know I will be successful if I try to take his life.

Once again, the reasoning is questionable, even on the individual basis. The outcome of any kind of combat is unpredictable. Even more is this true on the international level. When military planners use hypothetical circumstances, any such scenario makes untested, unverifiable assumptions about the psychology of the enemy. …

As soon as a situation exists in which several persons are making decisions at the same time - all acting on the basis of what they think the others think and all at least partly trying to deceive the others - we can be quite sure of one thing: No one has sure knowledge of what will happen. Certainly anyone whose vision of conflict is deeper than that of the television western has some awareness of the complexity of situations and some notion of how seldom things turn out the way predicted. That is especially true when people predict positive results coming about through the use of violence.”

(Ibid., pp. 15,16)

Three down, three to go.

“4. Individualism

The question as usually posed assumes that the decision and what happens are individual matters. Not only does this make the ‘What if …?’ situation quite unrepresentative of the social and institutional dimensions of war; it even makes it untrue for any particular case.

The person who is being attacked (my wife or mother or daughter) is also a responsible being and should be part of my decision-making process. If this person shares my values, then she would be guided by some of the same considerations which guide me. It would certainly be improper for me as a third party in the conflict to deal with her enemy in a way she would not desire. At least some Christian women would not want to be protected by lethal violence.”

(Ibid., p. 16)

Four down, two to go.

 

[th1b.taylor]

Truth

​

This is the year 2024 and the world I was born into on Jan. 25, 1945, a world ripped asunder by Japan and Nazi Germany, knew the horrors of war and close combat on a personal level. And yet the world I grew up in in the Fifties was a warm, kind and, friendly place. That is not the world of today.​

When I returned home in November of 1969, I and a few others were spit on in Frisco and falsely accused of murdering the little ones we were trying to assure their moms and dads they would raise their offspring in a safe world where they decided their form of government instead of being made Communist Slaves by crazy Hitler-like maniacs. Did we kill people in the Communist Armys? They attacked us, raped and murdered ladies, girls and, young boys so, yes, we retaliated, a thing many told us the French Soldiers had never done for the cause of the nationals.




Many Communist Idealists have taken over our education system from the top down and the lies they teach to be true are no less than incredible. My wife and I have been shopping and checked out as the power grid failed. The young Clerk knew how much we owed, the power went out just after it tallied the total but the clerk could not finish the transaction and remembering the total was $47.75 did not know how to make change for two twenties and a ten. He had to call the manager that had to use his battery powered calculator out to know we were to receive 25 cents.




And our Christian Faith Teaching is, almost, no more. The Communist Teachers have made a religion out of the Christian Faith. The Bible, the Word inspired by Yehovah, has been divided into chapters with numbers marking complete, as well as incomplete sentences and idiots... I mean Professors have built complete theological positions based on partial and/or complete sentences ripped from the very context that imparts meaning into the partial or complete sentences.




The single most important rule to remember is, IMO, "No single verse, single passage nor, any collection of these man divided scriptures can ever be understood, fully, without the imparted light of all scripture shinning upon that verse(s). These "Letters" inspired by Yehovah were never split asunder by Him and must not be studied as fool teach our youths to do today.




I began this thread hoping to find a real man, such as Sgt. York and to teach people like this Person that answered the truth of the scriptures. Yes, there are verses telling us to love our enemies and there are many others teaching that we are worse than an infidel if we will not take up armament and defend those depending on us for their safety.




Do not allow fake teachers, knowing not the first thing about The Ruah/Holy Spirit teach their lies to you. They teach religion and any religion will get you access into the Eternal Burning Lake of Fire and that includes Christianity as a religion. True Christianity is a life relationship with the Son of Yehovah, the only one that can save anyone and thuat is empowered through the constant presence of Ruah/the Holy Spirit in your spiritual heart.




And may Yahovah bless the scriptural truth into the hearts of all reading this.

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