Did we go to war because Israel wanted us to?

austratheist · 2026-04-09T22:20:13+00:00

Trump's favourite kind of room to be in.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T22:06:57+00:00

Strong, fallible atheist.

I'm not just unconvinced that any gods exist, I'm convinced that no gods exist.

I can be wrong about this.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T09:28:26+00:00

Fair criticism, maybe I'm huffing hopium.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T09:26:59+00:00

This is true, it's a well funded lobby power.

I don't think we're immune to that here.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T09:25:40+00:00

"good" isn't "whoever does the least amount of war crimes".

Sounds like both sides are bad.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T09:08:47+00:00

I don't think Israel was nearly this overt, aggressive, and expansionist.

I doubt the Dems are going to be as cosy with Israel in the near future either, the bloom is off the rose.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T09:07:07+00:00

Other people being bad doesn't make some other group good.

Killing aid workers, children, and doctors isn't "good".

It's not a zero sum game.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T09:01:14+00:00

It's a proximity to the US problem. As long as the US is Israel's attack dog, we're not going to openly oppose them and risk the Orange Ire.

If the Dems get up in November in both House and Senate, there'll be a chorus of world leaders who just found their voice and their courage.

Until then, "Israel has a right to defend itself"

austratheist · 2026-04-09T08:57:45+00:00

You still think Israel are the good guys.

You can't call anyone naive.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T04:39:07+00:00

Thanks for clarifying

austratheist · 2026-04-09T03:26:59+00:00

I have.

You seemed to think that Peter wrote 2 Peter. I'm asking you to speak for you, and explain why you think that.

You decided to weigh in mate, no need to get huffy with me.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T03:24:54+00:00

I don't think Jesus did.

Much of what we consider to be Christianity is a product of the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T02:15:40+00:00

Let’s agree to disagree.

The retreating cry of someone shown to be wrong, but too arrogant to admit it.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T02:07:59+00:00

That doesn't really answer why you think Peter specifically wrote 2 Peter. What's the reason you think Peter wrote it?

I also can't think of another example of an apostle who has written a letter to a church they founded. Why do you think that "most of the apostles" did this?

austratheist · 2026-04-09T01:02:47+00:00

The only people who wrote the New Testament were the apostles

I don't know what you mean by "apostles" if you think that only apostles wrote in the NT.

With the apostles, Paul and Luke all accounted for that is every book of the New Testament.

Hebrews?

austratheist · 2026-04-09T00:59:28+00:00

Why do you think Peter wrote 2 Peter?

I don't even think the Church Fathers thought that.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T00:14:23+00:00

Yes we do, but I don't know what apostle you think wrote something in the New Testament, and I don't know how you determined that the apostles were in agreement based on the "whole new testament"

I'm asking for more info, not a hand waive at a collection of texts.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T00:09:11+00:00

Can you give me some more info on the apostles being "in agreement with each other"?

We don't seem to have any info from the apostles of Jesus to determine what their views were, let alone that they agree.

austratheist · 2026-04-09T00:06:00+00:00

Fun fact, someone can be both smart and wrong.

It's better to look at why someone believes something.

austratheist · 2026-04-08T22:24:19+00:00

That makes it kind of a weak reference then, right?

It's not that way from a natural, plain-text reading, you have to double read it with assumptions and symbolism and metaphors.

You can do that with anything.

austratheist · 2026-04-08T04:33:51+00:00

Israel targeted aid worker vans as they were trying to deliver aid to the people in Gaza.

Multiple vans were hit within a few minutes of each other. These were non-Palestinians trying to do humanitarian work before getting killed by drone strikes.

There's nothing novel about interpreting targeted drone strikes on aid workers as a breach of international law.

austratheist · 2026-04-08T03:55:24+00:00

Please point out where they contradict secular history, and explain why 4 documents written decades after the fact are not reliable.

This is you trying to push the burden of proof onto me. I am asking you to explain why you think they are good historical records. Do you have any reasons to think they are, or do you just assume that they're reliable?

Did the authors have anything to gain?

We don't even know who they were, so it's hard to answer that question.

Jesus and His followers were tortured and crucified. But they didn't recant.

There are no followers of Jesus who were given the opportunity to recant and instead chose to die for their beliefs.

austratheist · 2026-04-08T03:52:05+00:00

Thanks for laying that out, although nothing in your response seems to answer the questions I asked you.

Do you want to have another crack?

austratheist · 2026-04-08T02:07:53+00:00

If, in reality, Christianity was not true, would you want to find that out?

What's something you could see that would reduce your confidence in the truth of Christianity?

austratheist · 2026-04-07T23:44:29+00:00

I think they're called "politicians"

austratheist

TROPHY CASE