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December 23rd, 2013
03:29 PM ET
A Christmas apology, and the seeds of hopeOpinion by Rachel Held Evans, Special to CNN
I’m sorry that this season has become about fights over manger scenes on public property, about complaining when clerks say, “Happy Holidays,” instead of “Merry Christmas,” about rampant commercialism and faux persecution. I’m sorry that Christians in the United States can be so entitled when we’ve long enjoyed majority status, when we can be so blind to our own privilege. It is ironic, really, because in the church calendar, the seasons of Advent and Christmas call us to reflect upon and celebrate what Christians believe was the most radical act of humility of all time - the incarnation. The doctrine of the incarnation holds that the God of the universe, in his love for humanity, emptied himself of his power and became human, like us, in the form of Jesus. The word incarnation literally means “to make into flesh” and refers to the apostle John’s teaching that “(t)he Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). “No one has ever seen God,” John explains, but Jesus “has made him known.” In other words, if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus - Jesus, who was born as an oppressed minority in an occupied land, Jesus who was an immigrant, Jesus, who surrounded himself with the poor, the sick, the marginalized and the “untouchables,” Jesus who was criticized by the religious for hanging out with sinners, Jesus who treated women with dignity and respect, Jesus who taught his disciples to love their enemies, to give without expecting anything in return, to overcome evil with love, Jesus who suffered, Jesus who wept, Jesus who - while hanging on a Roman cross - said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Quaker theologian Elton Trueblood put it this way: “The historic Christian doctrine of the divinity of Christ does not simply mean that Jesus is like God. It is far more radical than that. It means that God is like Jesus.” It means that God suffers, God forgives, God fellowships with the poor, God cares for the sick, God loves His enemies. Even as a lifelong Christian, I struggle with doubts about God. I struggle to make sense of the violence in the world, the violence in the Bible, the violence in my own heart. I don’t have all the answers. But even when there’s nothing left to my faith but a little seed of hope, that hope is in the incarnation, in the radical teaching that God loved us enough to become like us, and that when God wanted to show us what he was like, God showed us Jesus. Rachel Held Evans is the author of "A Year of Biblical Womanhood" and "Evolving in Monkey Town." Evans blogs at rachelheldevans.com, and the views expressed in this column belong to her. |
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WHITE PEOPLE!!!!
CHECK!
YOUR!
PRIVILEGE!!!!
Enjoy my day!
Merry Christmas folks.
And to you, bostontola.
Happy Holidays to you too.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/2-merry-christmas-card-blair-wainman.jpg
http://b.dryicons.com/files/graphics_previews/snowing_christmas_card.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_femhrxbNtS0/TOC1Ry6kCmI/AAAAAAAAIjc/OsR4ZHjm8zU/s1600/CHRISTMAS+CARDS+07.jpg
And a Merry Mythmas to all and to all a goodnight !!!
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16 KJV)
The Apostles' Creed 2013 (updated by yours truly based on the studies of NT historians and theologians of the past 200 years)
Should I believe in a god whose existence cannot be proven
and said god if he/she/it exists resides in an unproven,
human-created, spirit state of bliss called heaven?????
I believe there was a 1st century CE, Jewish, simple,
preacher-man who was conceived by a Jewish carpenter
named Joseph living in Nazareth and born of a young Jewish
girl named Mary. (Some say he was a mamzer.)
Jesus was summarily crucified for being a temple rabble-rouser by
the Roman troops in Jerusalem serving under Pontius Pilate,
He was buried in an unmarked grave and still lies
a-mouldering in the ground somewhere outside of
Jerusalem.
Said Jesus' story was embellished and "mythicized" by
many semi-fiction writers. A bodily resurrection and
ascension stories were promulgated to compete with the
Caesar myths. Said stories were so popular that they
grew into a religion known today as Catholicism/Christianity
and featuring dark-age, daily wine to blood and bread to body rituals
called the eucharistic sacrifice of the non-atoning Jesus.
Amen
(References used are available upon request.)
However he existed and did try to teach us to not hate each other.
R2, I don't believe that stuff. What are your references?
1. Historical Jesus Theories, earlychristianwritings.com/theories.htm – the names of many of the contemporary historical Jesus scholars and the ti-tles of their over 100 books on the subject.
2. Early Christian Writings, earlychristianwritings.com/
– a list of early Christian doc-uments to include the year of publication–and an extensive discussion of each.
30-60 CE Passion Narrative
40-80 Lost Sayings Gospel Q
50-60 1 Thessalonians
50-60 Philippians
50-60 Galatians
50-60 1 Corinthians
50-60 2 Corinthians
50-60 Romans
50-60 Philemon
50-80 Colossians
50-90 Signs Gospel
50-95 Book of Hebrews
50-120 Didache
50-140 Gospel of Thomas
50-140 Oxyrhynchus 1224 Gospel
50-200 Sophia of Jesus Christ
65-80 Gospel of Mark
70-100 Epistle of James
70-120 Egerton Gospel
70-160 Gospel of Peter
70-160 Secret Mark
70-200 Fayyum Fragment
70-200 Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
73-200 Mara Bar Serapion
80-100 2 Thessalonians
80-100 Ephesians
80-100 Gospel of Matthew
80-110 1 Peter
80-120 Epistle of Barnabas
80-130 Gospel of Luke
80-130 Acts of the Apostles
80-140 1 Clement
80-150 Gospel of the Egyptians
80-150 Gospel of the Hebrews
80-250 Christian Sibyllines
90-95 Apocalypse of John
90-120 Gospel of John
90-120 1 John
90-120 2 John
90-120 3 John
90-120 Epistle of Jude
93 Flavius Josephus
100-150 1 Timothy
100-150 2 Timothy
100-150 T-itus
100-150 Apocalypse of Peter
100-150 Secret Book of James
100-150 Preaching of Peter
100-160 Gospel of the Ebionites
100-160 Gospel of the Nazoreans
100-160 Shepherd of Hermas
100-160 2 Peter
4. Jesus Database, http://www.faithfutures.o-rg/JDB/intro.html –"The JESUS DATABASE is an online a-nnotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus that have survived from the first three centuries of the Common Era. It includes both canonical and extra-canonical materials, and is not limited to the traditions found within the Christian New Testament."
5. Josephus on Jesus mtio.com/articles/bis-sar24.htm
6. The Jesus Seminar, http://en.wikipedia.o-rg/wiki/Jesus_Seminar
7. http://www.biblicalartifacts.com/items/785509/item785509biblicalartifacts.html – books on the health and illness during the time of the NT
8. Economics in First Century Palestine, K.C. Hanson and D. E. Oakman, Palestine in the Time of Jesus, Fortress Press, 1998.
9.The Gn-ostic Jesus
(Part One in a Two-Part Series on A-ncient and Modern G-nosticism)
by Douglas Gro-othuis: http://www.equip.o-rg/articles/g-nosticism-and-the-g-nostic-jesus/
10. The interpretation of the Bible in the Church, Pontifical Biblical Commission
Presented on March 18, 1994
ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PBCINTER.HTM#2
11. The Jesus Database- newer site:
wiki.faithfutures.o-rg/index.php?t-itle=Jesus_Database
12. Jesus Database with the example of S-u-pper and Eucharist:
faithfutures.o-rg/JDB/jdb016.html
13. Josephus on Jesus by Paul Maier:
mtio.com/articles/bis-sar24.htm
13. http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/jesus.htmm- Historical Jesus Studies
14. The Greek New Testament: laparola.net/greco/
15. D-iseases in the Bible:
http://books.google.com/books/about/The_d-iseases_of_the_Bible.html?id=C1YZAAAAYAAJ
21. Luke and Josephus- was there a c-onnection?
in-fidels.o-rg/library/modern/richard_carrier/lukeandjosephus.html
22. NT and beyond time line:
pbs.o-rg/empires/pe-terandpaul/history/timeline/
23. St. Paul's Time line with discussion of important events:
harvardhouse.com/prophetictech/new/pauls_life.htm
24. See http://www.amazon.com for a list of JD Crossan's books and those of the other Jesus Seminarians: Reviews of said books are included and selected pages can now be viewed on Amazon. Some books can be found on-line at Google Books.
25. Father Edward Schillebeeckx's words of wisdom as found in his books.
27. The books of the following : Professors Gerd Ludemann, Marcus Borg, Paula Fredriksen, Elaine Pagels, Karen Armstrong and Bishop NT Wright.
28. Father Raymond Brown's An Introduction to the New Testament, Doubleday, NY, 1977, 878 pages, with Nihil obstat and Imprimatur.
29. Luke Timothy Johnson's book The Real Jesus
19. JD Crossan's c-onclusions about the a-uthencity of most of the NT based on the above plus the c-onclusions of other NT e-xege-tes in the last 200 years:
http://wiki.faithfutures.o-rg/index.p-hp?t-itle=Crossan_Inventory
16. Religion on- Line (6000 a-rt-ic-les on the hi-story of religion, churches, theologies,
theologians, eth-ics, etc. religion-online.o–rg/
17. The New Testament Gateway – Internet NT n-tgate-way.com/
18 Writing the New Testament- e-xi-sting copies, o–r–al tradition etc.
n-tgat-eway.com/
A sampling as presented at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html
:Jesus the Myth: Heavenly Christ
Earl Doherty
Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy
Jesus the Myth: Man of the Indefinite Past
Alvar Ellegård
G. A. Wells
Jesus the Hellenistic Hero
Gregory Riley
Jesus the Revolutionary
Robert Eisenman
Jesus the Wisdom Sage
John Dominic Crossan
Robert Funk
Burton Mack
Stephen J. Patterson
Jesus the Man of the Spirit
Marcus Borg
Stevan Davies
Geza Vermes
Jesus the Prophet of Social Change
Richard Horsley
Hyam Maccoby
Gerd Theissen
Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet
Bart Ehrman
Paula Fredriksen
Gerd Lüdemann
John P. Meier
E. P. Sanders
Jesus the Savior
Luke Timothy Johnson
Robert H. Stein
N. T. Wright
The studies of these NT scholars are also reviewed on the referenced web site. Peruse them well especially those studies that are well researched.
20. Early Jewish Writings- Josephus and his books by t-itle with the complete translated work in English :earlyjewishwritings.com/josephus.html
Nothing speaks facts like historical and theological THEORIES.
And the weirdest theory is that Jesus was the product of the intercourse of an spirit god and a human. Might want look at the references to get more plausible scenarios.
Added details:
So after thorough analyses of the NT Christmas passages, what are a few of the conclusions of some of the top contemporary NT scholars?
Matt 1:18-25: From Professor Gerd Ludemann in his book, Jesus After 2000 Years, pp. 123-124, "The fathering of Jesus from the Holy Spirit and his birth from the virgin Mary are unhistorical". Ludemann gives a very detailed analysis to support his conclusions. One part being the lack of attestations to these events and the late time strata of said story.
"Lüdemann [Jesus], (pp. 261-63) discounts Luke's account as a legend deriving from Jewish Hellenistic circles that were concerned to hold together the procreation of the Spirit, the authentic sonship of the Messiah and the virginal conception. "
Then there are these additional conclusions:
Bruce Chilton
"In [Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography] (2000), Chilton develops the idea of Jesus as a mamzer; someone whose irregular birth circu-mstances result in their exclusion from full participation in the life of the community. He argues for the natural pa-ternity of Joseph and finds no need for a miraculous conception. In his subsequent reconstruction of Jesus' life, Chilton suggests that this sustained personal experience of exclusion played a major role in Jesus' self-ident-ity, his concept of God and his spiritual quest.
John Dominic Crossan
"In [Historical Jesus] (p. 371) Crossan treats this cluster, like 007 Of Davids Lineage, as an example of the interplay of prophecy and history in the development of the Jesus traditions.
"In [Birth of Christianity] (pp. 26-29) Crossan uses Luke's account of Jesus' conception and birth to explore ethical issues concerning the public interpretation of the past. He notes the tendency of Christian scholars to disregard "pagan" birth legends while investing great effort in the defence of biblical birth narratives. He concludes:
I do not accept the divine conception of either Jesus or Augustus as factual history, but I believe that God is incarnate in the Jewish peasant poverty of Jesus and not in the Roman imperial power of Augustus. "
"The following ancient parallels to Jesus' miraculous conception should be noted:
Birth of Moses (Exod 2:1-10)
Birth of Plato (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 3.45) [see Acts of Jesus, p. 507]
Birth of Alexander the Great (Plutarch, Parallel Lives, 2.1-3.5) [see Acts of Jesus, p. 502f]
Birth of Apollonius (Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, I.4) [see Acts of Jesus, p. 505]"
And some final words from Thomas Jefferson, not a contemporary NT scholar, but indeed a very learned man:
"And the day will come,
when the mystical generation of Jesus,
by the Supreme Being as His Father,
in the womb of a virgin,
will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva
in the brain of Jupiter.
- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Letter to John Adams, from Monticello, April 11, 1823.
Once again, nothing speaks facts like historical and theological THEORIES
A sampling as presented at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html
:Jesus the Myth: Heavenly Christ
Earl Doherty
Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy
Jesus the Myth: Man of the Indefinite Past
Alvar Ellegård
G. A. Wells
Jesus the Hellenistic Hero
Gregory Riley
Jesus the Revolutionary
Robert Eisenman
Jesus the Wisdom Sage
John Dominic Crossan
Robert Funk
Burton Mack
Stephen J. Patterson
Jesus the Man of the Spirit
Marcus Borg
Stevan Davies
Geza Vermes
Jesus the Prophet of Social Change
Richard Horsley
Hyam Maccoby
Gerd Theissen
Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet
Bart Ehrman
Paula Fredriksen
Gerd Lüdemann
John P. Meier
E. P. Sanders
Jesus the Savior
Luke Timothy Johnson
Robert H. Stein
N. T. Wright
The studies of these NT scholars are also reviewed on the referenced web site. Peruse them well especially those studies that are well researched.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Amen Kev & Merry Christmas.
Have a lovely Christmas, Robert. Your family and friends as well.
Thanks Tom, I hope you & yours have great Christmas too. Santas work is done. It will be very entertaining in the morning.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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...................................................
Christianity is built upon a LIE ...
................ because ....................
..... http://www.GodIsImaginary.com ...
... and thank goodness because he ...
............. emanates from the .............
...................... http://www.EvilBible.com
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.......
...
....www.merrychristmastoyou.com
........
..........www.andahappynewyeartoall!.com......
....
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Point of order:
I noticed recurring criticism of Rachel's apology. I believe Rachel is being apologetic for "all parties," Christian and non-Christians for the irreconcilable differences.
Who is she apologizing to?? Does she think she is another mediator for the Mediator?? Sounds like RCC doctrines.
To be honest, I find these apologies on behalf of other Christians tiresome. Who are you to apologize for things that people do and who have no desire to apologize for what they do? Its like saying " Sorry for what my crazy relative of here says, they aren't thinking straight and they don't really know any better or whatever." Sorry, it just makes you look like a pious and self-righteous snob and comes off looking like you are overly concerned with how people perceive you.
There seems to be a lot of tolerance in the world these days, with the exception of any Christian who holds what is considered to be traditional values. I agree, Rachel's Christian apologist shtick is getting tiresome.
Mike,
Christians of "traditional values" frequently have no tolerance for gays and pro-choice supporters.
Not a fan of Death, the last enemy.
Well, I am not a Christian anymore, I am an atheist so I certainly don't hold to traditional Christian values any longer. But when I was a Christian I was always frustrated with people like Evans and Claiborne always apologizing for other Christians, who do these people think they are? What gives them that right, its condescension wrapped up in piety, which is ironic for progressive Christians who claim to see through the faux piety of their fellow conservative religionists. And I don't think any differently as an atheist.
And on that cheerful note, Merry Christmas!
I like your original comment
Denis Diderot summed it up nicely when he said, and I paraphrase, "Humanity will not be free until the last king is hung with the entrails of the last priest."
A man's home is his castle. He's king and priest of it. "Give me liberty, or give me death" Choose the Spirit of liberty or the spirit of the age.
So you're a fan of Empress Catherine II of Russia?? The Monroe Doctrine didn't do you any gud.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Merry Christmas to you, and please enjoy a safe holiday season.
A politically-correct, perfectly non-offensive fair day to you, sir.
Non-Jews are idiots
Talmudic or sephardic? Ya gonna decipher between orthodox or zionists?
Nothing worse than a self-loathing Jew trolling the BB on Christmas Eve.
Thank you for the Merry Christmas, even though in your eyes I'd be a half wit. Looking forward to you wishing the Hindus a happy Ramadan next year.
Jesus was a mensch, no question. Too bad he had to be the atoning sacrifice for a God that demands sacrifice. Better he should have lived a long life, done a speaking circuit, corresponded widely and left a great body of literature. Now we argue about whether he existed at all and whether he said anything of what he is said to have said.
You do know the Way and the Life, and you will know the rest if you trust in the one Savior.
if you desire eternity with your savior, austin, what are you doing down here?
don't you have tall buildings where you live?
It's no use he's probably opening gifts with the kids right now.
It is a miracle that the word has flourished for 2000 years.
I believe there was a 1st century CE, Jewish, simple,
preacher-man who was conceived by a Jewish carpenter
named Joseph living in Nazareth and born of a young Jewish
girl named Mary. (Some say he was a mamzer.)
Jesus was summarily crucified for being a temple rabble-rouser by
the Roman troops in Jerusalem serving under Pontius Pilate,
He was buried in an unmarked grave and still lies
a-mouldering in the ground somewhere outside of
Jerusalem.
Said Jesus' story was embellished and "mythicized" by
many semi-fiction writers. A bodily resurrection and
ascension stories were promulgated to compete with the
Caesar myths. Said stories were so popular that they
grew into a religion known today as Catholicism/Christianity
and featuring dark-age, daily wine to blood and bread to body rituals
called the eucharistic sacrifice of the non-atoning Jesus.
Amen
(References used are available upon request.)
I'm stuck in a chimney, please help me out!!
Numerical home just for you dear. Enjoy.
I feel very hot with so many lights all over me. I'm afraid I could get on fire.
God is omniscient and omnipotent, yet the Great Flood was an abject failure. All sinners were killed, Noah a righteous man was saved. Yet his progeny were sinners. Why kill everyone to punish sinners when they would just spring right back. An omniscient God would have known that. The whole exercise makes no sense. Although I do like rainbows.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
Nowhere is it said that God is sane.
Just all knowing unlike us speculators.
Genesis 6: 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
We aren't told what this wickedness & evil was but I can't help but think is was worse than we can imagine. Think of the worst human you have ever heard of and then imagine all the people were that bad or worse. I think this is what led to the flood. So, yes we are all still sinners, but we could be a shade better than what was described.
The said wickedness was blasphemy/disbelief.
Classic. To paraphrase your comment...
"I don't know what it was, but I can imagine something and, therefore, will base my life and actions on this imagined reality. I can now also justify believing in a flood that never happened. I'll even expect others to imagine the same thing and draw the same conclusions and believe what I believe simply because I believe it, not based on any reasoned logic or evidence."
And that, folks, is religion in a nutshell.
Happy holidays.
Taking the Christian and Muslim god down a notch:
o From Schillebeeckx, Church: The Human Story of God,
Crossroad, 1993, p.91 (softcover)
"Christians must give up a perverse, unhealthy and inhuman
doctrine of predestination without in so doing making God the great scapegoat of history" .
"Nothing is determined in advance: in nature there is chance and determinism; in the world of human
activity there is possibility of free choices. Therefore the
historical future is not known even to God; otherwise we
and our history would be merely a puppet show in which
God holds the strings.
For God, too, history is an adventure,
an open history for and of men and women."
And sumpin' to be ahem, PROUD of.
"The doctrine of the incarnation holds that the God of the universe, in his love for humanity, emptied himself of his power and became human, like us, in the form of Jesus."
If he emptied his power, how did he reincarnate after crucifixion?
If he wasn't totally empty of Godly power, then there was no risk.
I don't get it.
Where did you get emptied his power from?
I read the article.
True, I wonder where that notion came from?
It's obvious she's been associating with too many atheists. She stopped just short of apologizing for being a Christian before going into a ridiculous spill of incarnation.
People who write for fame cover all their bases for the masses... sad. But, atleast she's got those seeds of hope. I hope they grow.
Merry Christmas!
--------------
...................................................
Christianity is built upon a LIE ...
................ because ....................
..... http://www.GodIsImaginary.com ...
... and thank goodness because he ...
............. emanates from the .............
...................... http://www.EvilBible.com
-----------------
.............................................................
Yeah? She's been hanging out with atheists too much? Based on what? Your opinion?
She sounds genuine. You do not.
You reap what you sow. Bet your field is poison.
So suffering for sins was a good time?
I believe she is referring to God the Son, the Second Person of the Triune God.
Here is a quick reference on the Doctrine Of Incarnation:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_femhrxbNtS0/TOC1Ry6kCmI/AAAAAAAAIjc/OsR4ZHjm8zU/s1600/CHRISTMAS+CARDS+07.jpg
Ooops...sorry. I was browsing Christmas Cards!
Here is the correct link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarnation_%28Christianity%29
No he was all powerful. He humbled himself as a man yet fully remained God.
To do all of that on our behalf.
You can always spot the Christians because they are so hateful and unforgiving
You need help spotting Christians? Why? Christians will tell you they're Christians upon meeting them. They will walk up, introduce themselves and say something like "I grew up in a Christian family. It's a very important part of my life." Complete strangers. It happens to me all the time. I just assume its something the church tells them to do.
I know you speak for yourself, but why are you apologizing to those who would resist allowing mangers in the public square that represent the holiday that we are celebrating? How is that "your" fault, as a Christian? And I don't know where you are from, but I have NEVER heard anyone complain about a clerk saying "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas", but apparently you have. Again, I know nothing about you, but if your "Christianity" has afforded you a place of privilege, you may be confusing your "privilege" as a Christian with the fact that you may be of some other group of "minorities" that are afforded "special" treatment (i.e. gays, illegal aliens and their children, lesbians, blacks, etc.). I am a white Christian man, and have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, really. And just one more thing, before you apologize for making a clerk say "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" please note that the clerk is actually giving you a modified spelling of the word HOLY DAYS. You poor ('cause your rich), elevated, coddled, white, Christian woman.
Sorry, posted this in teh wrong place earlier
I'd like to apologize for CNN running a faith blog and not an educational blog.
All Children should be educated about the Savior of All the world.
not doing so is criminal in God's High Court.
you have no authority to speak for god, you delusional d-bag
I'm sorry as an atheist for coming to a faith blog instead of going to the science blog. I just have no idea what those scientists are talking about.
Atheists books at the book store are located in the religion section, not science section, by the way. I learned that the hard way. Turns out science has nothing to do with atheism.
You're a sorry troll you mean. Atheist is lack of faith. If you could read you could discover that your skyfairy theory is not supported by any science. I guess you were truthful when you said 'I just have no idea what those scientists are talking about.'
Now the socies commandeer feelings!! They stop at nuthin'. With no personal boundaries they can't possibly understand the concept of limited gubmint.
I like pepperoni pizza with box red commie wine.