Free Republic

By the end of the year...a strategic cooperation agreement.

Oh man, why post something that foolish here. You are agreeing with evil Iranian mullah against Israel ? FR is better than that

There are some here that likely do, and many who oppose aiding Israel.

broken brackets that used to hold my trust in the government. I came across this interview with Snepp after I posted about the PBS censor, Katherine Maher,, who also is with the WEF, saying that the First Amendment made it hard to stop the public from saying things.

What about trust in the MSM, which hardly seemed to find that the First Amendment made it hard to stop the public left from promoting lies:

Keystone is one factor in all this. It was not designed to merely get heavy Canadian crude to the US, it also was to ship some of our light shale oil to Canada to be mixed with the heavy stuff, making said heavy crude much more “pipeable” back to the US

Like opposition to nuclear power, which is very "green" and surpasses all relative to production per mile in that regard, stopping it is driven by quest for power by leaders, along with ignorance. We pay high rates due to stopping a pipeline to the NE, though there are some legit considerations to that among land owners.

If all had gone according to plan, the Constitution pipeline would be carrying fracked gas 124 miles from the shale gas fields of Pennsylvania through streams, wetlands, and backyards across the Southern Tier of New York until west of Albany. There it would join two existing pipelines, one that extends into New England and the other to the Ontario border as part of a vast network that moves fracked gas throughout the northeastern United States and Canada. For a while, everything unfolded as expected. When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project in 2014, the U.S. was in the midst of a fracking boom that would make it the world’s largest producer of natural gas and crude oil... Yet the developers did not anticipate landowners, neighborhood residents, community leaders, and anti-fracking activists statewide forging a coalition to kill the pipeline. In a landmark defeat, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation denied the project’s water-quality certificate in 2016, leading Williams to abandon it in early 2020.

The defeat of the Constitution pipeline marked the start of an uncertain era for interstate pipelines in New York and beyond. The company behind the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, which would have carried shale gas through New York into New England, abandoned the project just days before the state rejected the Constitution pipeline. In 2017, developers walked away from the Pilgrim pipelines, which would have funneled fracked oil from New York to New Jersey. In May, state officials denied a key permit for the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, commonly referred to as the Williams pipeline, between New Jersey and New York City. - https://grist.org/fix/advocacy/how-activists-shut-down-key-pipeline-projects-new-york/

The leftists at the Harvard Crimson have spoken out against transgender athlete bans and claimed that the evidence to support the case that men have a physical advantage over women is “less conclusive.” However,

From a related article: “But even with roughly uniform levels of fitness, the males’ average power during a punching motion was 162% greater than females’, with the least-powerful man still stronger than the most powerful woman. Such a distinction between genders, Carrier says, develops with time and with purpose.”

Yes, from the related thread:

Why males pack a powerful punch...males' upper bodies, on average...90% more strength than females...punching motion was 162% greater than females'

according to new research from the University of Utah. Males' upper bodies are built for more powerful punches than females', says the study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology...

For years, Carrier has been exploring the hypothesis that generations of interpersonal male-male aggression long in the past have shaped structures [as if there was no Designer] in human bodies to specialize for success in fighting...

It's already known that males' upper bodies, on average, have 75% more muscle mass and 90% more strength than females'. But it's not known why.

"The general approach to understanding why sexual dimorphism evolves," Morris says, "is to measure the actual differences in the muscles or the skeletons of males and females of a given species, and then look at the behaviors [not design] that might be driving those differences."

To test their hypothesis the researchers had to measure punching strength, but carefully....

To test their hypothesis the researchers had to measure punching strength,...even with roughly uniform levels of fitness, the males' average power during a punching motion was 162% greater than females', with the least-powerful man still stronger than the most powerful woman. Such a distinction between genders, Carrier says, develops with time and with purpose...

It's an uncomfortable thought to consider that men may be designed for fighting. That doesn't mean, however, that men today are destined to live their ancestor's violent lives...

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and included additional co-authors Jenna Link and James C. Martin, both of the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology at the University of Utah.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...

Man can do that simply due to a Software failure:.

10 years, a $7 billion worth rocket, 4 Uninsured satellites and the confidence of a Space Industry giant, all were thrashed in 39 seconds. the European Space Agency didn't change some software in Ariane 5, It was the same which was used in Ariane 4. - https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-costliest-mistakes-ever-made-in-history/answer/Utkarsh-Sinha-119

Something I truly miss about not being in Houston is pulling up to a 7-11 or some such store and having a friendly word with a street preacher as he engages you.

Around here that is virtually unheard of! As would be a 7-11 or any store that allows it, except a Latino one.

Try reinstalling using a new download? But why use chromium-based Chrome? Vivaldi is the best chromium-based browser IMO.

In a feminized society of woman raised children and female run institutions, education and politics, the individual’s view of life and human existence shrinks and their world becomes small and focused on themselves and their oneness, their comfort and easiness of life, some start questioning the burden of carrying a child and delivering one and raising one, some today are even questioning the burden of a permanent male being a part of their comfortable little micro life. Children and husbands are no longer something to aspire to but possible disruptions and unwanted challenges in what are tidy, simple little lives focused on perfect harmony in one’s own structured, unchallenging life where the highlights are more self-indulgence, self-pampering and the purity of one’s own unchallenged thoughts and emotions.

In general terms, in a affluent country, enabled by contraception, this is much the norm. Spoiled, in one or two child families, not learning delayed gratification, increasingly "a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith." (Deuteronomy 32:20) However, in His mercy, more are seeking answers, and God can move hearts, while the need for street-level evangelical workers are needed.

God engineered the earth to adjust to changes due to certain factors.

You're not evangelical Christian. You're propagandist, probably an operative of some kind or another. If you are more concerned with Russia than this country, MAY GOD CURSE YOU and bringing you to your knees.

Rather, as my web site, postings and anyone who knows me can tell you, I am in-deed an evangelical Christian, and also more concerned with this country, than Russia - and the spiritual war behind it all, and do no promote any "one true" organic church, while you are the one who is evidenced as being part of a cult with Putin as you idol, who now has gone as far as calumny and invoking cursing due to my critical judgment of Putin and Russia's anti-evangelical laws, and suppression of publicly doing so. Even if not implemented as fully as stated (partly due to lacking electronic provision to do so).

Thus I will once close, not with a "may God curse you" but may God grant you “repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” (2 Timothy 2:25)

https://orthochristian.com/95503.html

From the source in power, the protected class, versus the multitudes who have experienced actually application of the law. Talk about relying on propaganda!

Are they saying that these groups’ missionary activities are “aimed at disrupting social safety and order, extremist actions, forcing adherents to break up families, and intrusion upon the personality, rights, and freedom of citizens; inclining people towards suicide, obstructing the reception of compulsory education, inducing citizens to refuse to fulfill their civil duty as established by law,”.. If their missionary work does have such aims then, yes, they are now punishable by law.

More sophistry, for not only is that is disrupting social order subjectively defined, but the law itself does not restricts the application to the above, but broadly,

The activity of a religious association, aimed at disseminating information about its beliefs among people who are not participants (members, followers) in that religious association, with the purpose of involving these people as participants (members, followers). It is carried out directly by religious associations or by citizens and/or legal entities authorised by them, publicly, with the help of the media, the internet or other lawful means"...Citizens are also required to report unauthorized religious activity to the government or face fines.

https://motabredsquare.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/missionary-work-after-the-yarovaya-laws-part-ii-legal-analysis/: The bulk of the effect of this legislation on missionary work concerns the addition of a large section dedicated specifically to missionary work to the federal code concerning the freedom of conscience.

Missionary work is defined in as broad a way as possible: “Missionary activity … is defined as activity of a religious association intended to spread information about its doctrines among people who are not participants (members, followers) of the particular religious association, with the goal of drawing those people into the group of participants (members, followers) of the religious association, carried out directly by the religious association or by citizens by the association or by legal entities, publicly, by means of the media, the information-telecommunication network “Internet”, or by other legal methods.”

Missionary activity thus defined is allowed “without restriction” in buildings owned by the religious organization, and various other specially-designated places such as cemeteries, but (reasonably so) not in other religious associations’ property.

Missionary work is not allowed in residences. If there is one takeaway from the law, it should be this.

In other public situations, only the leader of the local religious association (or a designated alternate) is allowed to engage in missionary activities without a special permit – essentially, a legal declaration by the religious association that the carrier is authorized to perform missionary work. This requirement is notably targeted at Russian citizens, but a similar requirement is also required of foreign citizens. (It is my understanding that it is already the Church’s practice is to issue such declarations for missionaries.) Of particular note is the prohibition against missionary work intended to assist in the performance of “extremist activity.” This has been defined by recent legislation extremely broadly,...

One final provision clarifies that only religious services and rites, not missionary work, is allowed to be performed in people’s homes (by reference to the law governing religious meetings held outside of religious buildings). On the face of it, this suggests that anointing for the sick and afflicted is allowed in homes, and perhaps even holding Sacrament Meeting, but no missionary work. As a preventative measure, the provision also prevents the legal conversion of a residence into a religious space, meaning that you can’t just have someone in the branch register their apartment as a church and hold member lessons there. - https://motabredsquare.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/missionary-work-after-the-yarovaya-laws-part-ii-legal-analysis/

Mormon... not even to mention such groups as the Scientologists..or Aum Shinrikyo

Pathetic spin, for despite your attempts to make this all about LGBTQ and cults and actual terrorists - all of which traditional evangelicals oppose - these laws are not just restricted such, as the laws are far more inclusive of all who threaten the hegemony of the RO and thus Putin's ensured political dictatorship.

Orthodox Christianity as the most ancient, unchanged form of Christianity had no need of Pentecostal, Adventist, or Mormon missionaries, especially considering these organizations’ marked departure from traditional Christianity. Such groups can only bring confusion into a society that is predominantly Orthodox Christian, because they themselves are intolerant of Orthodoxy.

There you have it! The lie of Orthodox Christianity being the most ancient, unchanged form of Christianity, of traditional Christianity - which claim it shares with its competitor the RCC - , and which follows her aberration of using the power of the sword of men to punish theological dissent, none of which the holy fundamental Pentecostal (quite) NT church did not rely on or use against foes, but overcame such "By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left," (2 Corinthians 6:6-7)

Yes, in one sense, there is not separation of belief and state, as laws flow from beliefs, but while the state can affirm the basic beliefs of its people, its laws pertain to moral actions, and is not to deal with theological dissent by forbidding such (as the Left is doing here as well, as it imposes its faith-based ideological perversions), but ensure that such can be combated by holiness and doctrinal reproof, as the early NT church did.

If the issue was simply about stopping Western culture, then Russia should favor traditional evangelicals, but instead, its ant-evangelicals in the interest of the RO and political support thereby have served to placed a wedge btwn such, which see-no-evil Putin supporter as yourself attack them, thus showing RO fruit.

https://publicorthodoxy.org/2016/10/25/yarovaya-conservatives-traditional-values/...2013..Over the last several years, European and US religious conservatives have often rallied to the new Moscow-centered “traditionalist international.”...American evangelical heavyweight Franklin Graham began to warm to the Russian president as well. Viewing this remarkable rapprochement between American and Russian conservative Christians united by a culture wars agenda as potentially very harmful to the cause of human ri

ghts,...

the World Congress of Families—perhaps the single most important forum for collaborative efforts between West European, American, and Russian hardline religious conservatives... A rebranded WCF VIII went ahead with Russian financing, much of it linked to the ostentatiously Orthodox oligarchs Konstantin Malofeev and Vladimir Yakunin. Now billed as a forum called “Large Families: The Future of Humanity,” the event featured American WCF leaders as planned....A year later, WCF IX was hosted in Salt Lake City, and Russian Orthodox Christians played a prominent role there...

The first sign of fraying relations came when the preparing for a World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians that Graham planned to host in Moscow, in collaboration with the ROC, was quietly put on hold by the Russian side last spring. In August 2016, however, Graham announced that the summit would be moved from Moscow to Washington, D.C. and take place May 10-13, 2017. Acting as if the initiative to break with Russia was his own, Graham cited Russia’s recent passage of an “anti-terrorism” package known as the Yarovaya Laws (for the key role of United Russia Duma deputy Irina Yarovaya in their passage) as his reason for moving the summit. These laws place severe restrictions on Protestants and other minority religious groups in Russia, essentially banning proselytizing. In effect from July 20 of this year, the Yarovaya Laws are already being enforced. Protestants are being detained and fined for conducting ordinary religious activities.

I reached out to William Yoder, a Belarus-based writer on church affairs who has decades of on the ground experience working with Protestant communities in Eastern Europe and Russia, to get his opinion on the current state of affairs. In his view, “the Yarovaya Laws are putting a damper on the budding relationship between the Christian right in the US and the Orthodox in Russia ... by persecuting Protestants, the Russian state is making it considerably more difficult for American Christian conservatives to count themselves among Putin’s right-wing fellow travelers. - https://publicorthodoxy.org/2016/10/25/yarovaya-conservatives-traditional-values/

More sophistry.

Another platitude because you can't back up your points.

To the contrary, it is you who must resort to sophistry since you cannot refute the fact that evangelism of the lost by evangelicals in (mostly lost) Russia is against the law.

Evangelical, protestant and Catholic churches all operate in Russia and preach the gospel without government interference. Based on your claims this church shouldn't be allowed in Russia, let alone with a website :

Which is simply more misleading sophistry, as charged, for the charge was not that overall evangelical churches cannot operate and preach the gospel in Russia, but that the laws at issue forbid Missionary work, defined as defined in as broad a way as possible: “Missionary activity … is defined as activity of a religious association intended to spread information about its doctrines among people who are not participants (members, followers) of the particular religious association, with the goal of drawing those people into the group of participants (members, followers) of the religious association, carried out directly by the religious association or by citizens by the association or by legal entities, publicly, by means of the media, the information-telecommunication network “Internet”, or by other legal methods.”

Missionary activity thus defined is

When any org. chooses personal due to political pressure over character, capability, and compatibility, then rather than working to create warranted esteem among those pressuring it to cater to them, then it actual fosters disdain of such compromisers, since the political pressure group knows this wrong, that they would not do this themselves, and looks upon the conquered group as having been defeated.

to understand why Russia engages in religious persecution, it is important to understand the Kremlin’s religious policy. Under Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church and other approved religions became tools of state policy. According to Putin, there are four traditional and “exclusively Patriotic” religions, Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism. Since 2012, when the Kremlin started incorporating religious and conservative messages into the government’s rhetoric, these institutions were showered with financial and political benefits due to their close ties with the regime.

Those who fell outside these four patriotic religions’ freedoms were subject to anti-missionary laws and state surveillance, which eroded their ability to practice their religion openly. This tactical choice targets independent religious activity outside of the Kremlin’s control and allows the regime to prosecute religious groups through incredibly vague laws. Notable groups target under these laws include Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, and Evangelicals. Indeed, according to a 2019 report, Evangelicals were the group most penalized under the anti-missionary laws. For example, the Kremlin forced a Russian Christian radio station to relocate from Moscow, Russia to Odesa, Ukraine. In 2022, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended labeling Russia as a country of particular concern “for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom”. - https://www.christianpost.com/voices/putin-is-not-the-defender-of-the-faithful.html

Russian Evangelicals happy with support from the Kremlin

More sophistry.

in the speech, Putin proposed creating a special state fund to assist the families of Russian soldiers who died during the war. The head of the Russian Evangelicals, Mr Ryakhovsky, was pleased with this. “I believe that the evangelical community needs to organise close interaction with the foundation on the spiritual restoration of the voiced category of citizens”, IRP News reports.

" pleased with this" for indeed all true Christians should assist the families of Russian soldiers who died during the war. And to "organise close interaction with the foundation on the spiritual restoration of the voiced category of citizens" to assist the families of Russian soldiers who died during the war is carefully nuanced enough to be acceptable as not conflicting with the prohibition against seeking to convert others to anything other than the RO.

Mr Putin also addressed Western Christianity and criticised the Church of England, which considers the use of gender-neutral terms for God. “What can I say? May God forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Mr Ryakhovsky shares this thesis, IRP reports. “The Bible says that marriage is exclusively the union of a man and a woman, there are no same-sex marriages, and there is no reason to talk about the gender neutrality of God.”

I agree! And as said, evangelicals would vote for Putin if he would uphold the constitution, in contrast to his rule. So, consistent with your attempted negation of what actually is the reality in Russia, since I agree with the above this must mean that I can act like an evangelical in Russia as here. A youth outside prayed with me today to ask the Lord Jesus to save him, by the grace of God. And as said, thousands passed by me on Monday as I held forth the word of life, which I hope I would want to publicly do in 63% RO, though against the law.

According to Ryakhovsky, the Russian Evangelicals have “a unique opportunity to engage in the spirituality of our people. Promote spiritual, moral, family and social values. Serve the community during this difficult time.”

Indeed - as said not by Putin but by a bishop of the Russian Union of Evangelical and Pentecostal churches - as all such situations is an opportunity. Christians in China - Putin's ally - often do the same, though the gov shuts them down more severely.

Thus in conclusion, all your poor attempts (seriously) to argue against the Yarovaya laws as meaning what they say simply fail to do so, and cannot withstand the abundant testimonies to them being interpreted as meaning persecution of evangelicals evangelizing or not being politically correct.

In reality, arguing with you has become akin to contending with a cult, or an atheist, of which I have some experience, and since you refuse objective judgment then I see little warrant for more time and energy spent in attempting to reason with you. And true conversion requires honestly.

May God grant you “repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” (2 Timothy 2:25)

Franklin Graham: "Isn't it sad, though, that America's own morality has fallen so far that on this issue -- protecting children from any homosexual agenda or propaganda -- Russia's standard is higher than our own?"

What kind of argument is that? I could say the same! As well as,

But Graham made clear Friday he does not support Putin's invasion into Ukraine. "There are a few things Putin has done that are right," As well as what Graham also said, "But this is a war. I don't support war and I don't know of any Christian that supports war. We pray for peace, not war. I don't support this at all." - https://www.charismanews.com/world/88491-we-pray-for-peace-not-war-franklin-graham-sends-disaster-response-teams-to-europe

Thus, according to your argument, in principle if one agrees with Putin on some things, and he somewhat seeks to enlist them in needy (and demographic spiral Russia), then it means they hold that Russia assures freedom of evangelical faith to act as such, as we see in the book of Acts. Not.

You're repeating PROPAGANDA. If that were true, why has Franklin Graham been embraced and allowed to speak in Russia? https://baptist.org.ru/en/news/view/article/1606505

What?! You mean an event allowed for political purposes (for both parties) makes the law itself as not meaning what it says, and the multitude of documented reports by Christians of suppression and persecution of evangelicals acting as such (sharing faith, etc.) is all propaganda?! Are you for real? Effectually calling all such Christians liars due to your "see no evil" myopia of Russia? Unbelievable! And a desperate defense.

If you believe that, you can also conclude that since Franklin's dad was also "embraced and allowed to speak" in the old Soviet Union in 1982,and carefully said he had not seen (how could he in his carefully orchestrated visit?) any evidence of religious persecution in Russia, also means all the documentation of the latter is also propaganda! Do you also believe that out of your love for Russia? If so, why not move there?

Your own credibility is what has hit a new low with this pathetic sophist attempt. What's next?

Excerpts of excerpt (300 word limit allowed). Quite complex and detailed. More reading required.

Be single, celibate and continent, or be married and have as many children as God will give, in a life of temperance and conservative evangelical faith. Besides negative birth rate, spoiled, over sensitive, children, there are other effects of contraception.

Related: The Amazing Baby Boom of Billerica, Mass.20 families had 11 children and 24 families had 12 children...large families were typical of early New England.