The laws you're talking about are part of Russia's anti-terrorism legislation. Obviously they've taken a different approach and chosen to limit free speech in order not to give free rein to Islamist ideology and other foreign influences. Time will tell the results, but calling it a holy war is indeed absurd.ATL Bear said:Absurd? It's because I know the history that I point out what Putin with his Patriarch lackey Kirill are doing. They've even added a greater Rus prayer to the liturgy. Your boy's so enthralled with his history he's apparently thinking they're building the third Rome with the techniques from the Middle Ages. The West put away the holy war approach a long time ago, unlike the Islamists. Kirill is bringing it back under Russo-nationalism. Your crusade era quote appears to try and justify it.Sam Lowry said:I don't lack sympathy for Baptists under Russian law, nor am I saying we should follow the example of the Crusades. I'm just pointing out the irony of your comparing Patriarch Kirill to an Islamic jihadist when Christians have long justified anti-Muslim crusades in the same manner. And of course Protestants and Catholics have committed many crimes against each other over the centuries, with Protestants being the worse by far. None of this is new. Just get a little sense of history before making such absurd statements, that's all.ATL Bear said:You'd think on a Baylor message board there'd be the slightest bit of sympathy for the Baptist's in Eastern Ukraine getting tortured and demanded to pledge loyalty to the Russian Orthodox Church under the guidance of priests. %A0Or the outlawing and restrictions on evangelism in Russia proper, or the outlawing of denominations like Jehovah's Witness under terrorism laws. %A0But then you provided a crusade era quote in defending Patriarch Kirill. %A0I knew you guys held Putin and Russia above the U.S., I just never expected you to hold them above our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. %A0Welcome to the shame of Christian nationalism. %A0Sam Lowry said:They are certainly being persecuted in Ukraine, but there's no point in arguing about that. The next time you recognize an obvious fact will be the first.trey3216 said:If so, then it is lobial absentia to believe Russian Orthodoxy is a victim and at stake here. %A0The poor poor persecuted Russian Orthodox Christians, following their despot in the fight against the anti-Christian world around them. %A0Sam Lowry said:If so then it's equally misguided to criticize any political entity for not being a defender of Christianity.trey3216 said:Considering any political entity a defender of Christianity in any form is as misguided as it is idiotic. %A0Sam Lowry said:The GOP is no bastion of Christian ideals, but it is often a defender of Christianity. Two things can be true at once.trey3216 said:There you go again thinking Russia is this bastion of Christian ideals and defender of Christianity. %A0Absolutely insane. %A0The_barBEARian said:ATL Bear said:You guys are distracted. In 2022 we spent $4.5 Trillion on medical services of which 90% was paid for by private insurance (highly subsidized/regulated industry) or the preponderance by Medicare and Medicaid. %A0A number that rises at a 4-8% clip annually regardless of inflation. %A0Check it out. How much of your income goes toward Ukraine versus the healthcare costs of others from your private insurance to your Medicare tax to your income tax that gets allocated to Medicaid? %A0If there's a "MIC" you're a wage slave to it's the Medical/Healthcare Industrial Complex. %A0Doc Holliday said:ThanksRedbrickbear said:Doc Holliday said:whiterock said:add this to the stories of four-digit hammers and five-digit toilet seats...... %A0It's what happens when you place cost controls on the big-ticket parts of the program. %A0It causes allocation of expenses into the margins. %A0 %A0Doc Holliday said:
You can have your wars%85but this BS has got to stop:Waltz: How much do you think the Air Force pays for this bag of bushings?
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 17, 2024
Sec. Kendall: I don't know.
Waltz: $90,000.
pic.twitter.com/9WwmkP3MVr
If this was a case of garden-variety bilking, we would not be seeing steady trends of consolidation in our defense industrial base.
If global hegemony domination means we turn into a quasi socialist country made of wage slaves forking over financial freedom%85then what is the point of global hegemony?
Great point
I kind of see it like selling our soul. We're willing to drop trillions on Ukraine and any other war/s in order to supposedly dominate Russia or other countries that pose a threat to western dominance and in process of doing so we print trillions further devaluing the dollar by creating insane inflation.
We "succeed" in war efforts at the cost of destroying our middle class, in effect it's like we're becoming that which we're fighting against.
That is if we want to have an honest conversation about fiscal concerns. %A0
While I agree in principle, at least Medicare has a direct benefit on actual Americans.
Foreign aid has a negligible benefit to Americans and is the most obvious and insulting waste of tax dollars.
Especially in the case of Ukraine, where supporting them turns a Christian Orthodox Russia into an unnecessary enemy.
Putin already said multiple times he is ready to take a peace deal. Was Hitler offering peace deals after he annexed Austria?
It is you psychopaths who support Biden who are perpetrating this war but ofc you are too cowardly and pathetic to actually go fight it yourselves.
I know Putin is using the church to manipulate and control Russia, I'm just shocked at how many of you seem to sympathize with the effort.
It would be arrogant to presume that the "modern" way is the only way of doing things. The American experiment is just that, an experiment. It is not the measure of all things. Our system of laws is the product of many centuries of social and economic development. If we really want to nurture liberal democracy in Russia, we should stop trying to bully and exploit them and allow progress to occur.
