Jesus speaking to his disciples:
Jesus speaking to his disciples:
Matthew 6:5 - And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Republicans choose to ignore this clear passage of the Bible because it interferes with their assertion that Democrats are trying to ban the right to pray in public, which Jesus specifically told us not to do. I think the reason for praying in private is to preserve our humility and avoid the arrogance of hypocrites who pose as faithful for selfish reasons (like getting re-elected). In fact, the Bible defines sin and evil as "arrogance."
Proverbs 21:4 - Arrogant eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!
Before Adam and Eve and original sin, Lucifer was cast out of heaven, not for lying or stealing or killing but for having the arrogance of believing he was more deserving than all others (Isaiah 14:12). Lucifer's pride is the first of the seven deadly sins and is considered to be the root of evil because in order to lie and steal and kill, you first have to believe you are more deserving than those you sin against.
Job 41:34 - He (Satan) looks down on all that are arrogant; he is king over all that are proud.
In the Garden of Eden, the serpent seduced Eve into an arrogant act of disobedience that resulted in the fall of man:
Genesis 3:4 - You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
The Bible instructs us over and over again to avoid prideful and arrogant behavior and to live a life of humility. In both the Old and New Testament of the bible we are told to heal the sick and feed the poor; to actually take up the cause of the poor.
Ezekiel 16:49 - Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Jesus lived a life of humility to show us how to avoid the pride and arrogance that brought down Satan, Adam and Eve and most of the tragic figures in the Bible.
Daniel 5:20 - But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.
Jesus told us: Blessed are the poor, the meek, the merciful, and the peacemakers. (Matthew 5) and love thy neighbor as thyself. ( Matthew 19:19). He fed the poor and healed the sick and set an example of how we should live our lives. All of these selfless acts of humility were the opposite of arrogance and pride.
1 Peter 5:5 - Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.The idea that some people are more deserving than others is very powerful. It allows good people to rationalize almost anything like "Greed is good" and it's ok to ignore the poor and needy if we focus on gay marriage and abortion. Some people believe that, if you are poor, you deserve to be poor and if you are rich you deserve to be rich, no matter how you got there. These people actually promote an economic philosophy called "rational self-interest." In the United States of America, they call themselves "Republicans."
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Psalm 10:2 - In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak who are caught in the schemes he devises.
Psalm 10:4 - In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
Proverbs 8:13 - To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
Proverbs 13:10 - Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
Proverbs 16:5 - The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 16:19 - Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.
Isaiah 13:11 - I (God) will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
Ezekiel 7:24 - I will bring the most wicked of the nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.
Ezekiel 28:5 - By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud. Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god, I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor. They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.
Malachi 4:1 - All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day will set them on fire
Romans 12:16 - Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.
Philippians 2:8 - And being found in appearance as a man, he(Jesus) humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!
1 Timothy 6:17 - Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God
Jeremiah 22:16 - He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.
Proverbs 14:31 - He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 21:13 - If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 22:16 - He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.
Proverbs 31:8 - Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Psalm 82:3 - Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
There are hundreds more in the Bible. Nothing about gay marriage or abortion.
I have long conversations with a friend about this topic and we agree that the fundies are people who find it difficult to deal modernity (don't we all!). Their answer is to run and hide behind their version absolute truth and to beg to be told what that is. In doing this they give up their God given gift of reasoning and demonize any thought process which questions authority. Because they feel weak they align themselves with the power structure and discourage dissent. This sets them up for expliotation and that is what has happened.
Now they will just have to go back to feeling like outcasts. This feeds their hatred of "libruls" which is a scapegoat term for everything that is wrong with the world. Instead of running for cover they should be out there trying to change things, but I guess they have to wait for the preacher to tell them to do this.
Is this what's taking place when the administration and its puppets continually tell and iterate to the public that they are acting for religious reasons and somehow think they know violent actions, treating others as lesser beings, and continually stating lies are all on behalf of our Creator?
It's obvious the administration its followers are judging, making politics and war their false gods, and taking vengeance on others. Of course, it is not the place of any human to judge or take revenge.
Personally, I believe the actions of military war and murder are the same. Why have persons throughout history been drawn in by politicians promoting war. And if we look back in time, some of these politicians fit the character of an anti-Christ or actually were that. Are we seeing this in the U.S. and why are letting our neighbors follow such negative so-called leaders?