• kava@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    If Jesus showed up he would be considered a radical woke liberal.

    “Love your neighbor” somehow became report your neighbor to ICE

    To be fair to Trump, ideology is always co-opted and interpreted however convenient. The Nazis were “socialist” after all. NK is a people’s republic. etc

  • Juice@midwest.social
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    2 days ago

    And then they discovered the true meaning of Christianity, not a story about the son of the Creator preaching and living faith, charity and humility, but a scheme to blame the murder of that prophet which was committed by the Romans who founded the church, on the ethnic group the prophet came from, the Jewish group which was historically enslaved and persecuted by the Romans.

    The biggest myth in the bible isn’t whether Jesus existed, or Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, tricked by the serpent (although establishing the reason for humanity’s inherent evil, the whole justification for religious belief itself, according to some, is a big one). The biggest myth is the one that makes you the main perpetrator of your own suffering, while the victimizers live in palaces and mansions where most suffering can never touch them.

    We should have listened when Nietzsche said “God is dead, and we have killed him.” If we had listened maybe we would have asked what had replaced him. And if someone says “nothing” then they still believe the biggest myths of the bible.

  • _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 days ago

    Reminds me of that story a couple of days ago about the homeless guy that got ran over by a bulldozer when they cleared out his tent to tidy up the city for MLK day. Nothing says you admire MLK like killing some poors, right?

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Country that has never once given a shit about fire codes suddenly discovers an excuse to arbitrarily emiserate dozens of people.

    • Bob Robertson IX@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      This is a lot like how our government is all concerned about National Security™ when it comes to pretty much anything else, but a bipartisan bill, supported by both of the last 2 presidents, and upheld unanimously by our current dysfunctional Supreme Court, with National Security™ as the excuse, and we still have Tiktok.

      Laws are only there so the ruling class can keep us in line and them in power, and they will never be enforced homogenously.

    • friend_of_satan@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      I’d love to talk shit about the current administration too, but I’ve been in buildings where fire inspectors would cut off the power cords of any space heaters they found because they violated code.

      • Ricky Rigatoni 🇺🇸@lemm.ee
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        4 days ago

        The people who hire the fire inspectors don’t actually care, but the fire inspectors do. Probably because they’ve smelled far more charred human flesh than anyone should.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        I’ve never seen a fire inspector in any building I’ve worked in. Twenty five years on the job and it’s never happened.

        • tektite@slrpnk.net
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          3 days ago

          And I’ve personally witnessed the fire marshal annually inspect my last 3 jobs. I may not have been present for the inspections at other jobs.

        • Darth_Mew@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          I’ve been working about ~15 years and every job I’ve ever had I’ve seen a fire inspector about 6 times

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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    4 days ago

    Trump is the great Deceiver, like Lucifer he casts a light in darkness, and just like Lucifer all who follow that light expecting to find freedom will only find damnation.

  • Dae@pawb.social
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    3 days ago

    I get the sentiment for this one, but the pastor in question is simply acting like they’re above the law. Hemant Mehta (AKA “The Friendly Atheist”) covered this story on his YouTube channel:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JrlUNGFVN4I&pp=ygUgVGhlIGZyaWVuZGx5IGF0aGVpc3Qgb2hpbyBwYXN0b3I%3D

    The short of it is that where this pastor’s church is set up is not in the right zone for housing people, the building isn’t designed for it, and he’s actually puttinf them in danger. And on top of having already been in trouble for this once, I found out in the process of finding the first video that he’s still doing it!

    That said, I still up-voted the post, because while the pastor is actually in the wrong, so is the state. There’s zero reason why these people should have to resort to sheltering in a building that isn’t safe just to avoid succumbing to the elements.

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Wow, the guy you linked comes off as a total tool. Pretty much all the city violations he’s creepily giddy to list off with his Ajit Pai smile all turn into a moot point when the alternative is LITERALLY SLEEPING ON THE STREET. You think someone gives a single shit if there aren’t enough visible exit signs? You think they care if the functioning smoke detectors don’t have a record of regular inspections? He also lists off how “dangerous” the homeless are, with their drug use and past crimes. Yea, they’re fucking homeless. What? You think they all have a squeaky clean record?

      Look at the violations he listed and ask yourself how many of those probably apply to your own place of residence. When was the last time you had a fire inspector come and certify that your fire alarms were working? Does your house have fire sprinklers in every room? If you have a propane grill, is the tank stored up to restaurant code, or is it just stored outside on the ground? Do you have a record of when you last replaced the vent tube on your dryer? No? Oh ok. So maybe people aren’t immediately in mortal danger when those codes aren’t followed. And yes, there’s a reason for the codes; but none of them should stand in the way of desperate people seeking shelter from the elements.

      There’s always more to the story. I’m not going to say the pastor is entirely blameless as it does sound like the city gave him multiple opportunities to fix violations. But when the fight is between a local government (which are notorious for anti-homeless regulations) throwing out a list of what seem like very nitpicky issues, and a guy literally just trying to give the most downtrodden people a temporary place to sleep and wash their clothes, I’m leaning toward the guy housing people being the one in the right.

    • Bronzebeard@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      How can a building be safe at one point of the day, but suddenly unsafe during another? That sounds like an idiotic code designed to punish exactly this.

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        In real terms, no, the risks are very low. Far lower than dying exposed in the gutter outside.

        In code terms, the laws are based in safety and to keep people from slumlording.

        Semi-public sleeping areas need to provide accessible beds, adequate fire alarms/suppression, and sufficient bathroom/sanitation access. Think of it like the requirements to run an actual shelter.

        Ideally, this would be a temporary situation, and they’d either relocate the people to somewhere with facilities or, if they intend to run a shelter, properly convert the church.

        • Bronzebeard@lemm.ee
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          2 days ago

          The actual code this church violated has to do with the plot of land, not the building itself. It has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with the people controlling how others use land they didn’t own.

    • schema@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I mean, we all know the Bible verse: “And so, the people of Bethlehem sent Joseph and the highly pregnant Mary away. They were in the right, since taking them in might have slightly inconvenienced them, and was against zoning regulations, posing a potential fire hazard”

  • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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    4 days ago

    This whole thing is really disingenuous. Here’s the article. HOWEVER. Look who represented the pastor: First Liberty. They’re a law group that only takes ideological cases, cases that would allow Christians to violate laws with impunity. This initial case was covered by The Friendly Atheist (Hemant Mehta) a few months back; it’s not a simple case of a kind-hearted pastor trying to help homeless people, and accidentally violating some zoning codes along the way.

      • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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        3 days ago

        IIRC the conditions were exceptionally bad, and the action appeared to be tailored to make a legal argument that a (Christian) church wasn’t bound by things like health and safety codes, occupancy limits, or zoning.

        It’s strategically created to make the Christian church in question seem sympathetic, although he could have moved to a different location, and/or complied with health and safety codes.

        Again - look for what Hemant Mehta has written about this. I can’t find the podcast ATM, and I’m too sick (flu) to spend all day trying to find anything he would have written about it.

    • Flax@feddit.uk
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      3 days ago

      At least you’re consistent with not wanting Christians to get special treatment

      • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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        3 days ago

        I would love it if Christians would actually help homeless people rather than using them in a legal ploy to expand religious exceptionalism.

  • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Don’t do the whole “not real Christians “ bullshit. They are Christians, these are the dregs of Christianity, it’s ugly side. Own it and fix it instead of saying “he’s not a REAL Christian” as if they’re the only problem and not the belief system itself.

    • Flax@feddit.uk
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      What’s the problem with the belief system? Sounds like in your eyes, the best Christianity is no Christianity.

      • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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        At its best it’s an antiquated belief system that has no real world applications in our world. It’s only good moral messages are common sense things you should already know, the rest is just filler and opinions and fictions, concocted, edited and man made books, picked by committees of old religious leaders and oligarchs. The teachings of Christianity have done nothing but fuel colonizers and monsters throughout history

      • Default_Defect@midwest.social
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        3 days ago

        Probably the cherry-picking of which beliefs to follow based on convenience, rather than just wanting to be a better person for the sake of it.

      • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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        3 days ago

        Which denomination would you like me to focus on to answer this question?

        And yes, frankly I think in a lot of cases no Christianity in the modern era would be better than none.

      • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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        Yes they are. Because they say so. And that’s literally all it takes.

        These people are the results of your religion’s teachings. They are the after birth and they are your people. Stop dodging the truth.

        • uberfreeza@lemmy.world
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          They’re not though. A misrepresentation of their own faith so bad that it almost seems deliberate is a fault of how they follow their religion and not the religion itself. In the same way I wouldn’t call a climate scientist a real climate scientist if they thought climate change was false.

        • wokehobbit@lemm.ee
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          2 days ago

          Bro, sit down with your hate. You have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.

          • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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            I spent over 25 years brainwashed and living in an evangelical community. I saw many a Christian doing evil in my time in the church and the teaching itself were insidious and low key bigotry disguised with bullshit love. It’s all a cult. I’m glad I got out, I know and suffered plenty enough to have an opinion, even if you want me to stay silent cause it makes you mad.

            I’m sure Jesus loves your language lol

      • Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works
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        4 days ago

        Does that mean Jesus could cause people to become intoxicated? Assuming he can control how much of the water gets turned into wine so he doesn’t just immediately kill the person he could pull off some fun pranks.

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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          I mean…thats how I took it when I went to catholic school.

          Also in catholic school, they never did answer the question of why we drank jesus’s blood, and ate his body. Why is that ok? And how did we STILL have so much left to go around so many centuries after his death?

          These answers went unanswered to me in 2nd grade. I did get to hang out in the principals office though.

          • Rooty@lemmy.world
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            That’s Catholic education for you - fill kids heads with abject nonsense, go full authoritarian when they ask for clarification, then later cry about lack of mass attendance when they grow up and want nothing to do with your institution

            • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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              …dude, were you IN my class? Or…ya know…what’s going on here? How are you narriating my childhood 30+ years later???

          • Darth_Mew@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            because the catholic church is the new Roman HQ and is ran by “antichrists” hence the ritual of ca(I)nnibalism. there are many others but no one wants to believe the church is opposite of what they say

          • jaybone@lemmy.world
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            Catholic school wasn’t so bad. I got a good education. And when I went to college I saw all these kids from public high schools who didn’t know shit, asking dumbass questions. For all my general education requirements I hardly had to study anything. Also they should have taught you about trsnsubstsatiation which would answer your question. Even though it’s not “real”, it explains the concept in their belief system.

  • CgH10N4Co2@lemmy.cafe
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    3 days ago

    There is no such thing as a “sin of empathy” and the dude who came up with that phrase is a fascist shitbag.

  • Bgugi@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    I know this is going to be a wildly unpopular opinion: regulations like these are written in blood. There was apparently no real effort to make the church properly habitable. People would be just as outraged (or more) if this headline was describing 18 charred bodies found in a burned down church that was REPEATEDLY told to do things the right way.

    If this was anything other than performative or a malicious attempt to secure lawsuits and/or headlines, the church would have been updated, they would have secured an appropriate facility, or these people would be in the congregation’s homes.

    • qwertilliopasd@lemmy.world
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      regulations like these are written in blood

      Absolutely 100% completely. But in this case it I’m not sure the church is actually violating codes, but rather the city is using the claim as a smokescreen to punish them for helping homeless people.

      This article quotes the city.

      Bryan’s planning and zoning administrator gave the church 10 days to stop housing people, saying it was in a zone that does not permit residential use on the first floor.

        • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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          Sorry, i get where your coming from, but if they were actually interested in helping or protecting the homeless, they would have stepped in to assist in an emergency. But their intention is to make the homeless problem “disappear”

    • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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      You’re right, but people won’t want to hear it. The people on the other side are right, too - it isn’t better to freeze to death than it is to die from smoke inhalation. But you just don’t violate fire code in public buildings, or people die. Anyone could list dozens of examples of this happening with tragic results after a basic web search.

      The correct response to this situation would have been for the city government to assist the pastor in meeting the fire code, especially since he is providing a valuable public service by housing the people that nobody else wants to help.

      Instead of a peaceful solution that probably would have been cheap to the taxpayer and could have been a PR bonus for the city, they chose to smack him with the letter of the law. Because people freezing to death in the streets isn’t their fault, but people burning to death after the city overlooked a fire code violation would be. All they care about is their liability.

      • ysjet@lemmy.world
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        The problem is that this fire code wasn’t written in blood, it was written in cash. The specific code they were violating was that commercial zones cannot house people on the first floor. That’s it. There’s no actual safety issue there.

  • AeonFelis@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    “The Sin of Empathy” would be a sweet rock band name except it’s not really rock so it can be a punk band name.