Interesting Websites

Pope Leo: “[Jesus] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” There is absolutely no biblical basis for this whatsoever. Christians should strive for peace, yes. We don’t revel in death and destruction. And a Christian could make a sound argument against the particulars of many wars throughout history, including the war with Iran today. A Christian could also agree that God shouldn’t be used to justify unjust wars. But to say that God is against war per se is flat out false. All throughout the Old Testament God calls for war in defense of His people. Exodus 15:3 declares, “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name.” David constantly prayed to the Lord while battling his enemies. He says his cries to the Lord “reached His ears” and God answered him. God didn’t just answer David by hiding him away but by giving him lethal strength: “He trains my hands for war” (Psalm 18:6, 34). If you discount these examples because they’re in the Old Testament, you don’t understand Scripture or God. Jesus is God; therefore everything God has ever done Jesus has fully agreed with and participated in, and He does not change (Hebrews 13:8). Mind you also that Jesus Himself promises to come back as a warrior to wage war against evildoers. There are categories of people whose prayers God does not answer: the self-righteous, those who pray with selfish motives. People who wage war are not automatically in one of these categories. I’m so glad our founders did not believe this way. I love this retelling of the story of the pacifist Quaker who allegedly heard Washington praying in the woods at Valley Forge: “He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was His crisis, and the cause of the country, of humanity, and of the world.” Sometimes force is necessary to defeat evil and advance good. When it comes to these matters, Pope Leo has repeatedly proven that he is not wise.

When the Pope makes questionable comments, it makes me GRATEFUL to be Catholic. Because the Pope has no authority to unilaterally change Catholic dogma with his pastoral comments. The Pope speaks in two ways, pastorally and rarely, infallibly (called ex Cathedra, which requires a certain set of specific circumstances as the Pope acknowledges, not invents, a doctrinal interpretation). The latter almost never happens. That’s important— His comments today are in his pastoral capacity. He wasn’t speaking ex Cathedra. Catholics aren’t required to agree with his opinions. It’s annoying for sure, I wish the Pope was a wiser leader on matters of politics. But I’m SO grateful to be Catholic because imagine he were the leader of a Prot church—he could change doctrine based on his own faulty opinions at a whim. That’s not the case with Catholicism. Grateful to God for His Church that remains as it always was and always will be despite the turmoil of the world and the sins of man. 🙏🏼

For the record: Iran is the oldest country in the world. The UAE was founded in 1971.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: NATO wasn’t there for us. We send billions of dollars to them every year to protect them. We would have always been there for them. But based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we? Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us?

Europe just *effectively" killed NATO through two decisions on symbolism. It doesn't seem like they have a realistic plan for what comes next. They symbolically sent a handful of troops to Greenland, posing at fighting the US. They refused to send even symbolic forces to Iran 1/

US source: We in NATO must identify the threat and send a message that what Spain and Britain have done is unacceptable

I used to default to the assumption that there's many very nice Europeans and Twitter just had a selection effect for terminally online assholes. As time went on and even "conservative" Europeans almost always began exchanges by calling Americans racially mixed mutts, this conclusion wavered. After 48 hours interacting with Japanese twitter, the stark contrast is making me think that most Europeans are exactly like what they present themselves as on here.

アメリカのみんなでデカイ肉食う事に憧れを抱きながらVRでその風景を観て一人で肉を焼く俺

They’re just like us

Wow... so you mean keeping the strait open WAS Europe's problem?!?!?! WHO COULD HAVE POSSIBLY FORESEEN THIS TURN OF EVENTS!?!?!