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The Bible calls

Posted By: Patty on 2009-05-22
In Reply to: required to hate?? - dnh

homosexual acts an "abomination." Look it up. It means "something to be hated." God tells us to hate that act. We obviously do not serve the same God. Mine teaches me to love all men and to hate sin such as homosexual acts. I believe you missed my point. Of course, it is possible to hate the sin and love the sinner but NOT if you are a member of the homosexual community. Once again, an opinion is not a judgement and it is a fact that homosexuality is abominable, ergo, disgusting if you worship the same God I do as I believe what He says. Of course, I have sinned. And I do not expect others to accept my sins as well and good. I don't even do that myself, so why should I accept that homosexuality is a good thing? My point is....We all sin, me included. You are not to accept my sin as good even though I may label myself as the sin I commit. You are not to hate me because of my sin but only hate my sin. People who commit homosexual acts and call themselves homosexuals would have us accept that sin because that is "who" they are not their sin. I don't think it's that difficult to understand.


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anyone who calls upon the name of sm
the Lord shall be saved. His sins are forgiven, under the blood of Jesus never to be remembered again. That is the beauty of salvation, it is a free gift for all who repent and believe.

You are placing salvation in good works. You can "believe" what you like but it WILL NOT get you to heaven. There are many sincere people out there but they are sincerely wrong and mistaken. Only REPENTENCE and belief in the blood of Jesus Christ, HIS son for the remission of our sins will get you into heaven. There IS ONLY ONE WAY. I hate to believe that you would "think" you have a "chance" at heaven when you can KNOW where you are going without a shadow of a doubt by placing your faith and trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Ya calls 'em the same way I do.

It's what the left calls
'having an agenda,' (except not when they do it.)  Then I think they call it 'reporting.'   Go figure.
She definitely calls them out on their flip flops
xx
I realize YOU don't care about the calls but
I ain't a republican... I'm independent........thank goodness.
If these calls did not amount to a hill of
beans when it came time for my representatives to *roll up their sleeves* and do *THEIR JOBS,* then it is time to fire them and elect someone who will listen to the calls. That is why we elected them, to listen to their constituents and REPRESENT us! You just do not get the picture at all.
One of you call them enemies...the other one calls them terrorists!
Could you please figure out what you are talking about and let the rest of us know? Are you talking about enemies (people who do not like the US) or terrorists (people who want to destroy the US). Do you really believe that Obama is friends with terrorists? What right-wing rag baloney have you been buying lock, stock, and barrel?
And Obama calls this man his political father, his
who got him interested in politics. Why is that? You can believe there isn't racism there if you want, but I can't put my head in the sand.
Oprah calls O "The One". The man is a politician,
nm
Capital hill is being flooded with calls
to stimulus. So, if Obama states one more time during his speeches with a bunch of pronouns and adjectives, "The people want this!" I am going to..... well, barf! I still WANT MY MONEY BACK FROM THE BAILOUT. GOVERNMENT SUCKS!
Capital hill is being flooded with calls
to stimulus. So, if Obama states one more time during his speeches with a bunch of pronouns and adjectives, "The people want this!" I am going to..... well, barf! I still WANT MY MONEY BACK FROM THE BAILOUT. GOVERNMENT SUCKS!
United Methodist Church Calls For Withdrawal ...sm

Sweet Victory: United Methodist Church Calls For Withdrawal


It's one thing when former high-ranking members of your own Administration come out against your war. It's another thing when two-thirds of the country calls the invasion and occupation a mistake. It's really something when your own church issues a statement urging you to pull out the troops now.


Last week, the United Methodist Church Board of Church and Society--the social action committee of the church that both President Bush and Vice President Cheney belong to--resoundingly passed a resolution calling for withdrawal with only two 'no' votes and one abstention.


As people of faith, we raise our voice in protest against the tragedy of the unjust war in Iraq, the statement read. Thousands of lives have been lost and hundreds of billions of dollars wasted in a war the United States initiated and should never have fought.... We grieve for all those whose lives have been lost or destroyed in this needless and avoidable tragedy. Military families have suffered undue hardship from prolonged troop rotations in Iraq and loss of loved ones. It is time to bring them home.


The board also issued a strong statement against torture, urging Congress to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate detention and interrogation practices at Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.


It is my hope and prayer that our statement against the war in Iraq will be heard loud and clear by our fellow United Methodists, President Bush and Vice President Cheney, said Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the UMC's Board of Church and Society. Conservative and liberal board members worked together to craft a strong statement calling for the troops to come home and for those responsible for leading us into this disastrous war to be held accountable.


With its bold stands against the Administration, the UMC is fulfilling the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who called for the church to be not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion but a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.


Bush has asserted that he entered Iraq on a direct order from God. Now, he has a direct order from his own church to leave. Is he listening?


Yes, Lurker, it's time to make more phone calls and get these

Hillary Clinton Calls for Privacy Bill...sm
Now I agree with Senator Clinton on this and I have said all along wire tapping should have checks and balances, goverment 101.

Also, living in an information society there has to be something in place to protect citizens privacy. This past week I read a blog with pictures of unknowing obese or tacky dressed people posted in the blog with comments about them. These people were enjoying a private day at the pool and this blogger was snapping their pictures. Not only was this downright evil and disrespectful but it should be illegal.
---------------


(AP) Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, drawing on her experiences as a young Watergate lawyer who decades later was investigated as first lady, urged creation of a privacy bill of rights Friday to protect people's personal data.

Modern life makes many things easier and many things easier to know, and yet privacy is somehow caught in the crosshairs of these changes, Clinton said in a speech to a left-leaning legal group.

Clinton's speech on protecting consumers from identity theft and citizens from government snooping was the latest in a series of talks billed as major addresses by aides. Previous speeches were on energy and the economy.

A potential presidential candidate in 2008 whose eight years as first lady were marked by numerous investigations, Clinton noted her work on a House committee investigating the Nixon administration's illegal snooping and other abuses.

And she ruefully called herself an expert in the loss of privacy.

Having lost so much of my own privacy in recent years I have a deep appreciation of its value and a firm commitment to protecting it for all the rest of you, she said, prompting laughter from the audience of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy.

Clinton wants to create a privacy czar within the White House to guard against recent problems like the theft of personal data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

She also wants legislation to let consumers know what information companies are keeping about them and how it is used, and create a tiered system of penalties for companies who are not careful with consumer data.

Clinton also waded into the debate over anti-terror eavesdropping. For months Democrats have hammered at the Bush administration over the National Security Agency's program of domestic wiretapping without warrants from judges. The administration insists it is both legal and necessary.

Clinton said any president should have the latest technology to track terrorists, but within laws that provide for oversight by judges.

The administration's refrain has been, Trust us,' said Clinton. That's unacceptable. Their track record doesn't warrant our trust. ... Unchecked mass surveillance without judicial review may sometimes be legal but it is dangerous. Every president should save those powers for limited critical situations.


MMVI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Sullivan is a RINO himself, so he's a hypocrit if he calls Bush one. sm
The fact is, Bush is not a true conservative and I have a lot of problems with some of his agendas.  Iraq is not one of them.  No one I know paints all liberals with the same brush.  Most of us who post here regularly have made the distinction between leftists and liberals. You just have chosen to ignore that.
Piglet: Kasparov calls Russia's elections...s/m

meaning the recent Putin reelection.....the *dirtiest* in their history.....


http://newsfromrussia.com/news/russia/03-12-2007/102126-kasparov_elections-0


What kind of man of character calls Chelsea Clinton
Looks like JM thinks family is fair game as long as it's dem family. Obama does not go down that path.
I didn't say I wanted our reps to ignore the calls.
it appears that is what they are doing...ignoring the embittered partisan protests (the likes of which I took issue with in my original post) and hammering out a compromise. In other words, they are doing their jobs. i.e., coming up with something that will move us forward and float SOMETHING that will address the ECONOMY, not partisan interests. So no, your assumption that I am proud of this would be false and your indignation, misplaced.
Calls for *maturity* from a childish SORE LOSER??
Pot meet kettle.  SNORT.  LOL!
Obama Calls on Bush To Admit Iraq Errors

Obama Calls on Bush To Admit Iraq Errors


'Limited' Troop Reduction Urged



By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 23, 2005; Page A03



CHICAGO, Nov. 22 -- Sen. Barack Obama said President Bush should admit mistakes in waging the Iraq war and reduce the number of troops stationed there in the next year. But the Illinois Democrat, a longtime opponent of the war, said U.S. forces remain part of a solution in the bitterly divided country and should not be withdrawn immediately.


Without citing specific numbers, Obama called for a limited drawdown of U.S. troops that would push the fragile Iraqi government to take more responsibility while deploying enough American soldiers to prevent the country from exploding into civil war or ethnic cleansing or a haven for terrorism.







src=http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif
Sen.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) greets well-wishers at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations after he said the administration has not given straight answers to critical questions on Iraq. (By Jeff Roberson -- Associated Press)




Obama also faulted the administration for tarring its critics as unpatriotic naysayers and said it launched the war to topple Saddam Hussein in March 2003 without giving either Congress or the American people the full story.


Straight answers to critical questions. That's what we don't have right now, the high-profile freshman senator told the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. Members of both parties and the American people have now made clear that it is simply not enough for the president to simply say 'We know best' and 'Stay the course.'


As other Democrats are finding their voice against Iraq policy, Obama took an approach closer to one taken by Senate Foreign Relations Committee colleague Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) than to that of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.). Murtha, a former Marine, called last week for an immediate pullout of nearly 160,000 U.S. troops.


Four prospective Democratic presidential candidates -- Biden, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and former North Carolina senator John Edwards -- have advocated a more gradual approach, with no sudden steps. Biden called Monday for the withdrawal of 50,000 troops by the end of next year and all but 20,000 to 40,000 out by January 2008.


Obama told the audience of about 500 people that the war has siphoned assets from homeland security and the global anti-terrorism fight. He said the administration's attempt to equate the defeat of the Iraqi insurgency with the defeat of international terrorism is overly narrow and dangerously short-sighted.


In a 35-minute speech scheduled just days ago, Obama argued that public opinion has raced ahead of politicians in seeking a clearly etched policy that helps produce stability in Iraq and the Middle East without exposing the United States to a war without end -- a war where our goals and our strategies drift aimlessly, regardless of the cost in lives or dollars spent.


Those of us in Washington have fallen behind the debate that is taking place across America on Iraq. We are failing to provide leadership on this issue, Obama said.


He maintained that Bush could take politics out of the Iraq discussion once and for all if he would simply go on television and say to the American people: 'Yes, we made mistakes. Yes, there are things I would have done differently. But now that I'm here, I'm willing to work with both Republicans and Democrats to find the most responsible way out.'


Al Qaeda calls Obama a "house negro" harder to recruit
Bush made it easier for AL Qaeda and Obama is making it harder.  That says a lot.
Tammy Bruce Calls The Obamas "Trash In The White House"

Tammy Bruce, guest host for Laura Ingram's radio show, had some harsh words for First Lady Michelle Obama.


Discussing the first lady's visit to a Washington D.C. classroom last week, Bruce incredulously recalled Obama's story about wanting to get A's in school and called out her use of a "weird, fake accent."


"That's what he's married to," Bruce said. "...You know what we've got? We've got trash in the White House. Trash is a thing that is colorblind, it can cross all eco-socionomic...categories. You can work on Wall Street, or you can work at the Wal-Mart. Trash, are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy..."


Tammy Bruce Calls The Obamas "Trash In The White House"

Tammy Bruce, guest host for Laura Ingram's radio show, had some harsh words for First Lady Michelle Obama.


Discussing the first lady's visit to a Washington D.C. classroom last week, Bruce incredulously recalled Obama's story about wanting to get A's in school and called out her use of a "weird, fake accent."


"That's what he's married to," Bruce said. "...You know what we've got? We've got trash in the White House. Trash is a thing that is colorblind, it can cross all eco-socionomic...categories. You can work on Wall Street, or you can work at the Wal-Mart. Trash, are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy..."


Bible
I don't believe I ever stated that the bible supports abortion, if i did, that was a typo. I said that Christ did not teach on homosexuality, yet Christians can be quick to judge homosexuals.

I do not believe that the bible says one way or another, though abortion has been practiced for 1000s of years by midwives through the use of herbs.

As far as my belief in the bible, I don't believe every written word in the bible is the ispired word of God. It has been translated (and changed) by humans through the years to suit their needs. For many years, only the wealthy could read (and women generally were not allowed to), so the scriptures have been misinterpreted (in my opinion) often. I have studied Latin to try to gain some meaning from more ancient texts, but I truly believe that much of the bible is a praise work (as in the psalms) and historical, but not 100% the word of God.




Bible







































• The Antichrist comes after a falling away or apostasy. (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
     - At times forbids marriage (1 Timothy 4:3)
     - At times commands not to eat certain foods that God says are ok to eat. (1 Timothy 4:3-5)
     - Has other teachings that are devilish (1 Timothy 4:1; Acts 8:20; 1 John 3:8, 4)
• The Antichrist is revealed before the second coming of Jesus. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)
• The Antichrist has a visible leader. (Acts 20:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Daniel 7:8)
• The Antichrist comes from within the church. (Acts 20:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:4)
• and then takes up residence in the church (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
• The Antichrist rules for a long period of time. (Revelation 13:5, 12:6, 12:14; Daniel 7:25)
• The Antichrist receives its power from the Devil. (Revelation 13:2; Revelation 12:9)
The Antichrist blasphemes God. (Revelation 13:5-6; Daniel 7:8,20,25)
• The Antichrist tries to change God's law. (Daniel 7:25)
• The Antichrist persecutes the people who keep God's law. (Revelation 13:2, 12:17, 14:12; Daniel 7:21)
• The persecution diminishes prior to the end of the Antichrist's rule. (Matthew 24:22)
• The Antichrist's long rule comes to an end. (Revelation 13:3)
• The Antichrist again regains power and prestige. (Revelation 13:3)
• The Antichrist deceives people around the world into worshipping it. (Revelation 13:3)
• Another forces people to worship the Antichrist. (Revelation 13:11-12)
• Miracles are used to deceive people into worshipping the Antichrist. (Revelation 13:13-14)
• Some resist the authority of the Antichrist so economic sanctions are then used. (Revelation 13:16)
• Some people still resist and a death decree is brought against them. (Revelation 13:15)
• The Antichrist has a mark of authority that must be avoided at all costs. (Revelation 13:16-17, 14:9-10)

"I think everyone had better get out their Bible
AIN'T IT THE TRUTH????
where in the bible does it say
abortion is wrong? Don't give me the murder crap, where does it actually say ABORTION is wrong? Abortion has been going on since the beginning of time and I am pretty sure there was plenty of it going on in biblical times, yet I don't recall seeing it mentioned ANYWHERE in the bible.
The Bible for one.......... sm
and I believe I have a responsibility to uphold its laws above and beyond upholding the right of perverts to access p*rn in the library while my child happens to see it.

I do believe morality has flown right out the window here. I think I need a shower now after participating in this thread with you.
Says who? Your bible, which is nothing more than
(no pun intended, of course)
no I don't. I believe the Bible is the sm
literal word of God and I believe it from front to back. There is a difference between reading a book and "studying" a book.
The Bible
is the only recognized source of even a knowledge of God. None of us would even know God if it weren't for the Bible. You go ahead and believe that. I'm not going to be in your corner.
look beyond your Bible, so that you can
see what is going on in the REAL world, not in the BIBLE WORLD.
Bible not bad book at all...
...and should have its basic tenets taught right alongside of those of the Qur'an and the holy books of all other major world religions. Students of any age who wish to read the Bible in my opinion should certainly be able to do so anytime they wish. Same for all other holy/religious writings. A person's education really isn't complete without a fundamental understanding of all of the religions that shape our world.

I would however sign any petition that forces anyone to do anything in the spirit of indoctrination or exclusion, or against any requirement that implies that THIS is the one true holy book and you WILL read it even if your negligent atheist going-to-hell-parents wouldn't force you to do it at home (and we're coming for them soon too - better join us if you know what's good for you). Unfortunately that is how this kind of requirement is perceived by many people in our current political climate - including me. And unfortunately, I believe this is exactly the attitude held by those who try to force such requirements into the public schools.

I don't think it qualifies as a "random act of kindness" - but rather as a deliberate act of religious supremacism.


The Bible says he did not "know" her
until after Jesus was born.  What's your point?
If you truly have read the Bible then you know...
God makes no distinction for sin and lumps it all together except in a very few cases where the word *abomination* is attached, and homosexuality is one of those things. So I was not comparing a homosexual and a killer...I was comparing sins. And yes, we do sin, all of us, every day, and will have to account for that some day. But calling it other than a sin does not make it so, at least in my book. I did not call homosexuality an abomination...God did. So take your argument to Him. I choose to believe what He said. I do not hate anyone, I do not treat gays any differently than anyone else as fellow human beings. I have been lied to, stolen from...I don't hate those people, but I don't condone what they did. However, I do not condone homosexuality, any more than I condone lying, stealing, murder or any other sin. You can love an individual but not approve of the sin. That is what, I believe, treating others as you would be treated means. Treat the person with dignity without condoning the behavior. I don't believe in abortions, but I do not condone blowing up abortion clinics or shooting abortion doctors. I do not believe in changing laws to accept aberrant behavior, and we seem to keep trying to go down that road. Years ago, you are right...premarital sex did go on, but it was called what it was...a sin and something that should not be done. No longer the case. Same with homosexuality...it has gone on since time immemorial. But it was called wrong. There used to be laws against it in the US. No longer the case. What next? Polygamy? Bestiality? Necromancy? You say that could never happen here. Thirty years ago your parents probably would never have thought that adultery would be celebrated as entertainment news, premarital sex celebrated on prime time TV, and gay marriage becoming law. Just be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. We have experienced a big moral decline in this country and frankly, it did not begin with conservative Americans.

My opinion only...don't attack all conservatives for what I say. Opinions differ. That is mine.
What does Nostradamus have to do with the bible? sm
Besides, wasn't what Nostradamus wrote so vague that it could be interpreted to 'predict' anything and everything... or nothing at all, depending on how it was interpreted?
Read your Bible. The

antichrist will come from Rome or EU.  Obama as the antichrist is absurd.


Uh, last I checked, the Bible said
to help those less fortunate than you, NOT those who just don't want to work but just want to collect money from the government for doing nothing.


VOTING ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
I AGREE.
Like the Bible says...."many shall come in my name..."
saying you are a Christian does not make you one.
I don't read the bible
And I don't want to.

Don't get me wrong. I've read it. I decided at a pretty young age that it's a fairy tale that for the most part was written by a lot of people who weren't around when Jesus was & that didn't have all that much to do with reality. If it works for you, fine. I don't need to read in some book what the right thing to do is, & I don't assign any particular importance to Jesus. I find it irritating, condescending and naive for someone to suggest that I should "know Jesus" and have my life saved.

It's possible to think all of the above and still be a moral person, & what makes a lot of (not all) Christians narrow-minded is their belief that this isn't so, but they unfortunately can't see this from the narrow place from which they operate. Do I believe in God? I believe in the godhead; the life force; the force that drives the green shoot up, as Dylan Thomas would say; the inferno of activity in the nucleus of every cell... Do I believe this life force manifests as a person? Sure I do. The godhead is in everyone. Jesus didn't have any more of a hotline to the godhead than any of us has. The thing that makes a lot of (not all) Christians narrow-minded is their belief that "God" only speaks "Christian." This concept is too ridiculous for words. The godhead "speaks" every religious "language." I put this into quotes because I specifically don't personify the godhead; i.e., the godhead doesn't "do" the same things that a human body does, though in this instance it's a fairly good metaphor.

I believe that everything -- EVERYTHING -- came from the godhead. Because I'm not a Christian, I don't believe in "The devil," who is a big enough part of that religion that you really must accept the existence of the devil if you want to be Christian, & I don't think that kind of polarization is healthy, nor do I have any compulsion to externalize/personify every human impulse into a creature with horns or one that sits on a cloud or whatever. The universe creates trying, challenging scenarios of all sorts, which in the interest not just of survival but of enlightenment are our tasks to address, understand, & solve, & these would include ALL forms of religious extremism.

The bible is a book that simply doesn't interest me. There are spiritual books that do interest me for their complexity and illumination, but I don't need to live my life by any of them, & I don't need any of them to be a moral or spiritual person.

There are many religions much, much older than Christianity. The godhead was here long before any of it (& believe me, it was longer than 4000 years) & we as a species did not only obtain the capacity for enlightenment after the bible was written or after Jesus arrived.

If you "love Jesus," great. Go for it. Just don't end a conversation with some smug, proselytizing last word that in the end is just a way to think you are superior.
bible quotes
Yes, I am fairly familiar with Old Testament, in Hebrew, but thank you. The Psalm was written by David, not by G-d. As for Jeremiah, yes G-d does know our souls, before we are even human.

Not sure what Bible you are reading........... sm
but the quote I posted (paraphrased) is actually attributed to Joseph Dunniger.  Correctly quoted, it reads "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice."

Talk about needing to check one's sources! 

I am squeezing my Bible right now
because it is MY right to stay right here in AMERICA and squeeze my Bible ALL I WANT  WHEREVER I WANT.  I am also allowed to demand that PORN is not freely visible in public to my children.  sex is a natural way of life SURE but that doesnt mean I want my 11 year old little girl around it.  A u a MORON?  What if some guy is at the library and decides to flash his nudeness in public showing all his glory?  Is that OKAY TOO?  May as well be.  Seeing a naked person on line while walking by a computer in the library with my 11 year old is no different than seeing it in person in the library.  GET A GRIP and stop trying to take MY rights away.  I believe in Jesus and I am saved and I read the Bible and TRY to live by it and that is MY RIGHT. 
But the bible is not the same as the constitution

But the bible is not the same as the constitution
Nobody is stopping you from living my biblical precepts. And nowhere have I heard of any attempt to force churches to perform marriage ceremonies (interesting word- ceremony, but I degress). But I was under the impression that one of the critical differences between the USA and almost any Middle Eastern country is that we base our laws on civil liberties rather than letting religion be our guide. There are a lot of things mentioned in the bible forbids that we routinely do- I can't tell you when I last had the sabbath off, nor can I tell you when I last got to stone a harlot. My then widowed father did not step in to marry my aunt when her husband died and zoning laws prevent me from keeping a fattened calf in the garage.

My religious beliefs may not be in keeping with your religious beliefs, and neither one of us should be expected to live our life according to the other's.
I don't know about the catholic Bible sm
but have you ever really sat down and read your Bible or are you depending on a priest to interpret for you. You should sit down with your Bible and pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal his word to you.
Nowhere in the Christian bible

However, that did not limit the carnage done in the name of Christianity either.  Jews and protestant ''heretics'' and suspected heretics had some fairly unpleasant things done to them in the name of God.  Nor did it prevent the harm done to the indigenous peoples of this continent.  KKK members often cloak what they believe and do in terms of God's ''natural order.''  Nazis were mostly Lutheran and Catholic. 


Christianity, despite its well-published ''love one another'' philosophy, has been a fairly violent religion in the past. None of these misapplications of religion speak for all of Christianity.  However, there has often been a fairly vocal Christian contingent denouncing these atrocities.


Religion is good for good people and bad for bad people.  It can elevate the human spirit or be used to justify the most horrendous actions against others who do not share our particular vision of the almighty.  Radical Muslems are just the current bad practitioners. 


don't you agree that the Bible itself contains a lot
of gaps and 'mytserious', unexplained, downright illogical happenings?
The Bible gives us stories
about the beginning of time. It doesn't give us every story of every incident that took place or of all the things that God created. If it did, we would have a book so huge and thick we couldn't even turn the pages. Some have a tendency to believe that brothers slept with sisters to populate the earth since Adam and Eve were the only human beings on earth at that time. I tend not to think so as I believe God may have created other humans in different parts of the big world. Adam and Eve were the FIRST humans He created. There is no mention that they were the ONLY ones He created. Maybe Adam and Eve were the only ones to be recorded because they were the first. You never know and since you don't know, you can't determine that it isn't the case.
Since when did a Bible study..........sm
become a business meeting?

Bible studies, in case you didn't know, are not the same as Sunday morning meetings. They are for discussion and study of the Bible, nothing more, nothing less. Collection plates are not passed and church business is not generally discussed at Bible studies. Churches do have business meetings, however, in which church business is discussed and that is normally done in the church building. Since, as you point out, churches do not pay taxes, then that would, in my estimation, eliminate them as being a business, so therefore, a Bible study is not a business or business meeting. Apart from the subject matter, it is no different than 10 or 15 good old boys getting together on a Sunday afternoon to watch the races on Bubba's big-screen TV.

I read the article and the questions the law officer asked related specifically to a religious organization. I don't remember seeing where he asked if collections were taken during the meeting, only if they prayed, read the Bible, etc. This very much sounds to me like targeting a Christian group, nothing less. I hope the pastor asks his neighbors if they called the police because that is exactly what sounds like happened.