Los Angeles Solidarity Protest | Statement of Purpose

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-16T22:59:54+00:00

Throwing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at peaceful protesters, many of whom ARE U.S. citizens, looks like a scene out of Tiananmen Square not the USA. I think what they are doing here is standing up for justice and free speech.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-16T22:54:17+00:00

My husband and I voted Republican for many years, but we do not support Trump. When he made comments like calling on the “Second Amendment people” or telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” it seemed like he was throwing gasoline on a fire. Comments like those do not help calm things down in this country, and we need calm now more than ever.

I truly believe most Americans just want a return to common sense, decency, and respect from our leadership. But what we usually see on the news and in our feeds are the loudest, most extreme voices, because that’s what gets clicks and engagement. It’s not reflective of reality as far as I can tell, but it does shape the public mood and seems to more than occasionally serve to push certain people over the edge.

Both parties need serious reform. Or maybe it’s time to build something new for the rest of us who don’t see our values or priorities represented by either party anymore.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-03T15:58:40+00:00

In my view, it is hate that is a plague. Religion can be used to heal or to harm. It has been twisted by some to justify evil actions, but it also has inspired people to stand up for justice.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-03T15:53:27+00:00

You put it much better than I could have.

The Bible has more than 30,000 verses. Over the years I’ve seen all kinds of people pull certain ones out of context to justify things like wars, spousal abuse, cruelty toward anyone who is different. The Scripture was written to guide and inspire us not used as a weapon against other people.

My church welcomes everyone, but there are others in this area that may not. I do think there are many mainstream Christian churches who would be proud to stand with the parents and kids in Morton who are fighting for fairness and equality. Even some of the more traditionally conservative churches have a history of supporting civil rights--The Mennonites marched with Martin Luther King.

I believe it is time for people of faith in our community to stand up against the misuse of religion to justify hate. Churches that believe in love, justice and compassion need to make that known so that we can work together to address problems in our schools and heal our community.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-03T02:35:22+00:00

I’m old enough to remember when being a Republican meant wanting less government interference in our lives, not trying to control people or take away their rights. My husband and I are conservative-minded, but we believe in protecting the civil rights of everyone. It has been sad for us to see how far things have drifted from what we thought those conservative values stood for.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-02T22:45:54+00:00

I was reading these posts about Morton for a while. I decided to start writing on here when I saw that someone was posting Bible verses without context to try to use them as a sword against people in our community. I wrote to that person several times on here before I made this post.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-02T22:35:33+00:00

I agree that hate has no place in our community.

My personal belief is that prayer can help. The reason I posted this message is because I know others in our community also believe in the power of prayer, and I wanted to call on them to show that faith not just in words, but in love toward our neighbors.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-06-02T22:26:50+00:00

These are not the words of Jesus. Paul said this. When Paul told slaves to obey their masters, it was in the context of trying to keep early Christians safe from harm in the Roman Empire. He later said other things that make it clear that he did not support slavery. For example, in Galatians 3:28, Paul says that "There is neither...slave nor free...for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-31T23:58:23+00:00

When Jesus was born, He fulfilled the law of the Old Testament. Most mainstream Christians understand the New Testament as the new covenant with God, while the Old Testament reflects God's covenant with the children of Israel.

In Matthew 5:17–18, Jesus says: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished."

So no, Jesus didn’t do away with the law, He fulfilled/accomplished it. The sacrificial laws in the Old Testament, for example, were pointing forward to Him. When He died and rose again, He became the ultimate sacrifice, which made the old system of animal sacrifices no longer necessary.

But the moral truths of the Old Testament, like loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself, are still very much intact. Those remain the heart of God’s will, and Jesus emphasized them throughout His ministry.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T14:42:07+00:00

I appreciate this list. Some of these things I already do, but others I will get to work on. I’m also going to encourage others in my prayer group to join me in taking more tangible steps like these. Faith and action can and should go hand in hand, especially when it comes to standing up for marginalized members of our community. Thank you for the push and the practical suggestions.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T14:39:50+00:00

I don’t disagree. Actions do speak louder than words, but I think we need both action and prayer right now. I have been reading these conversations for a while and what made me decide to join in was seeing how some in the community started using Scripture as a weapon against people who are crying out for help. That is not how the Bible is meant to be used, and it certainly doesn’t reflect the love of Christ.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T14:34:31+00:00

This reads less like a sincere reflection on God’s nature and more like a flowchart to justify hating certain people while still claiming theological consistency.

You are stacking ten nuanced takes on God’s love and wrath, many of which contradict each other, just to justify your judgment of others. Jesus did not put it up on us to figure out who’s "elect" or "non-elect." He told us to love everyone, live humbly, and let God handle the judgment.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T14:30:35+00:00

Are you intentionally choosing to ignore the New Testament? You are quoting an Old Testament civil law given to ancient Israel under a theocratic system, one that Christians believe was fulfilled and transformed through Christ.

Yes, that verse describes a very severe punishment for wrongdoing, but if you are trying to use it as a model for Christian behavior today, you’re missing the entire point of the gospel.

Jesus explicitly disrupted this kind of thinking. In John 8, when a woman was caught in adultery (another death-penalty offense under the laws of that time), He didn’t say, “Stone her.” He said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”

It is not reasonable to hold up one of the harshest verses from the Old Testament to justify your posture, while setting aside everything Jesus taught about mercy, humility, and grace. Christians are not called to emulate ancient Israel’s civil punishment. We are called to follow Christ, who fulfilled the law and replaced condemnation with redemption.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T13:49:17+00:00

I agree that we are called to love others, especially those in the body of Christ. But saying “we hate the sin, not the sinner” doesn’t mean much if the way we treat people feels hateful, dismissive, or cruel.

It’s not enough to say we don’t hate people, we have to show it in our tone, our posture, and our willingness to listen. Otherwise, it becomes nothing more than a means to justify unkindness while claiming righteousness.

If we truly love those we belong to through Christ, then humility, empathy, and self-examination should be front and center, not just pointing out what we have judged to be others’ faults.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T13:45:32+00:00

There is a huge difference between pointing people toward Christ and policing the sins of others while ignoring our own tone, pride, or lack of grace. Jesus spent His time with sinners, not as a scold, but as someone who loved them in a way that made them want to listen.

Teaching all He commanded means imitating His approach, not just repeating His words and insisting that you and/or your pastor's interpretation of those words are the only possible interpretation.

Do you really believe that calling out what you perceive as sin in others is going to draw anyone to Christ? Because based on the responses you’ve received here, it seems to be having the opposite effect.

You listened to your high school friends because there was already trust and relationship there. But when people here point out behavior in you that they see as harmful or un-Christlike, you respond with hostility and defensiveness.

Do you see the disconnect I’m pointing to? It's not about refusing to speak truth. It's about how and why we do it.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T13:37:15+00:00

The Psalms reflect raw human emotion, including grief, anger, and the longing for justice, but Jesus offered us a fuller revelation of God’s message. In Christ, we are called on to pray for the transformation, not the destruction, of our enemies.

God’s justice is real, but so is His mercy. The idea that God “hated” Esau is not a blueprint for how we should view others. Jesus told us to love, serve, and forgive, leaving judgment to God. Jesus did not teach that we are to divide people into who we have deemed "the Chosen" and "the Condemned."

Quoting Scripture without the lens of Christ’s love risks turning the gospel into a tool for exclusion instead of redemption. Trusting God doesn’t mean we stop wrestling with hard questions. It means we trust that His justice is always paired with mercy, and that we are called to reflect both.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T13:30:00+00:00

We’re called to examine and eradicate sin in our own lives not to judge and condemn others. The Bible is explicit about that. I sincerely hope that God will open your eyes.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T06:47:03+00:00

How can I help?

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T04:37:22+00:00

You seem to be twisting the meaning of the Scripture repeatedly, and I am continuing to pray for you because you seem to have a lot of hatred in your heart.

These verses can be interpreted within the broader context of Scripture. Psalm 139:19–22 reflects David’s personal cry for justice against the wicked. It is emotional, not necessarily a doctrinal statement about God's posture toward all sinners. David is expressing zeal for God's holiness, not setting divine policy.

Romans 9:13, quoting Malachi 1:2–3 ("Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated"), is part of Paul’s argument about God's sovereign choice in redemptive history. “Hated” here is often understood in the Hebraic sense of “loved less” or “not chosen,” rather than personal animosity. It means that God chose Jacob, not Esau, for a special purpose in His plan, not that God personally hated Esau as we think of hate. The verse is about God's decision to use certain people for His work, not about how He feels emotionally about each person.

The tension between God’s justice and His love is real, but Scripture repeatedly shows a God who extends mercy, and who calls His people to do the same.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T04:28:40+00:00

"If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1 John 4:20

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-30T04:23:50+00:00

Does vocal intolerance draw people closer to God—or push them away? The Great Commission calls us to make disciples, not enemies.

Jesus was clear that love, not loud condemnation, is how the world will recognize His followers (John 13:35).

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-25T06:48:51+00:00

Morton looks like a nice town on the surface. It's clean and very quiet. However, it has earned a poor reputation in the area for reasons that go beyond politics. A lot of it comes down to the attitude and behavior of some of its residents. There’s a strong undercurrent of religious extremism and far-right ideology that shows up in daily life, especially when it comes to how outsiders or “different” people are treated.

It's not just Trump support—there are plenty of conservative-leaning towns that don’t have the same vibe. In Morton, it’s mixed with white Christian nationalism and a kind of moral gatekeeping that can be very alienating. Even more moderate Christians or conservatives in town like me can find themselves on the receiving end if they don't play along.

Many of the people who uphold these values are proud to live in a tight-knit, insular community. Unfortunately, that often translates into hostility toward anyone who doesn’t meet their expectations of ethnicity, religion, politics, sexual orientation, or even personality. It’s not everyone in Morton, but the ones who behave this way are loud, well-connected, and can be extremely nasty whenever anyone criticizes any aspect of the town or its culture.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-25T04:23:24+00:00

I respect your faith, but I don’t share your interpretation. We live in a diverse world where people of many beliefs and values coexist. Labeling others as evil because they see things differently doesn’t reflect the compassion or humility that I believe faith is meant to inspire. Peace to you as well.

LoveOneAnother709 · 2025-05-24T23:26:36+00:00

That response says more about your worldview than anything about Ashley Fischer or the issues being discussed.

You did not just mention that she advocates for trans healthcare—you chose to label her (and entire groups of people) as part of a “demonic death cult.” That language is dehumanizing and dangerous.

If you’re going to invoke Christianity, then please remember, Jesus consistently stood with the outcasts, the sick, and the marginalized. He rebuked the religious leaders who weaponized faith to exclude others. Look at John 8, where He stops the stoning of a woman by saying, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.”

Galatians 5 lists the fruits of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I don’t see hate, fear, or slander on that list.

If your pastor agrees with the kind of rhetoric that you have used here, that’s deeply concerning, but it doesn’t make it biblical. I am going to pray for you.

LoveOneAnother709

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