blackbird

Did you mean to say "my faith is not a substitute for YOUR reason or facts"? Of course that's what you meant. My faith is based on Biblical truth according to how I understand it. It is perfect? No, but it seems a lot closer to the truth. Your reason or facts is based your world view which is the liberal world view.

Now you are lying. I state something I believe is from the Bible and now you are calling me arrogant. You have gone beyond the pale and falsely accusing me of arrogance now. I might have had some arrogant tones in past comments, but you calling everything I say from the Bible is arrogant is something else.

Look, I go by what the Bible says. If you are going to reply to me, then you should be willing to accept my views are based on what I believe God is saying in the Bible. You go by secular humanist thinking, which is contrary to what God says in the Bible. Human life begins in the womb at conception. God recognizes the unborn as persons in the Bible in different verses. Nobody has the right to end the life of unborn babies.

There is a difference between an unborn baby and a properly convicted murderer who is sentenced to death. If you can't see the difference, you have a problem. A human whether it is a unborn baby or a 1 year old baby is still a human. Whether it is one week, one month or six months old in the womb, it is still the same human being. There is a physical difference but he is still a person according to the Bible. You can't make up your definition of when a human is a person.

Already explained all that at length. I didn't mean to offend you by talking about the Bible and what it says. You forbid me to talk about my beliefs. So that's where we are.

What gives you the right to end an unborn baby's life? If you were a doctor, what gives you the right to end someone's life? If you were a patient, what gives you the right to actively end your own life? In other words, is suicide moral? Is it right or wrong to commit suicide?

Is a baby in the womb a separate life? Why should someone have the right to end a baby's life? How does that even fall under control over a woman's own body? Isn't a baby a separate person?

So you are ok with people killing unborn babies and receiving doctor assisted suicide, but don't think murderers should be given capital punishment. You don't see the fallacy or contradiction in your thinking?

As I already said, the justice system could be improved and more safeguards put in place to avoid wrongful convictions. People die in operating rooms and hospitals sometimes receiving medical treatments. We don't ban medical care. People die on highways. We don't ban liquor from being sold and liquor stores. We don't ban driving. We allow people who speed and drive aggressively to drive and innocent people get killed. What about that? So why not improve the justice system to make wrongful convictions very unlikely and have capital punishment. Do you think murderers don't deserve to die by capital punishment?

Why would you oppose it for murder? Do you also oppose abortion and medical assistance in dying? Or do you just oppose capital punishment for murderers?

Actually I said I support the death penalty for murder and it must be done by lawful authorities after a proper trial and ensure there would be no mistake. I also said the justice system should be strengthened to make sure there would be no incorrect guilty verdicts.

Random attacks against citizens is getting worse I think. Something needs to be done. Would you oppose capital punishment for murder?

I did not say that. We do not have capital punishment in Canada. I said capital punishment for murder after due process and by lawful authorities would be a good idea. Most Canadians support that idea. The law would have to be changed first. Attacks on innocent citizens is out of control and occurring daily. Just heard this morning that several more people were stabbed. This is not something that we should tolerate.

There are countries that outlaw any public criticism of someone else's religion. I don't think that is the case in America or Canada. There are some authoritarian countries that forbid public speaking about many subjects, places such as China, Russia, Iran, and N. Korea. Some countries you could end up in prison or even sentenced to death for saying the wrong thing. I was wondering how far freedom of speech should be permitted to go. Should there be limits and what should those limits be? Who determines what the limits should be?

No, I am not saying that. There are immoral laws because governments are made up of fallible, immoral men of varying degrees. We are living in an imperfect, fallen world.

No, I don't think God knew every country would be acting lawfully and wisely. Don't forget the world is a fallen, corrupt place since the fall of Adam and Eve. The fact that the Bible says the world was created in six days is a supernatural event. The Bible is about the supernatural. That is how God created everything. I understand lots of people don't accept that but I am not sure how they explain the existence of the complex universe. What do you think?

Forgive me for my ignorance but I'm not sure what you are asking. Yes, according to the Bible human life is sacred. But according to the Bible in Genesis 9:6 KJV, murderers were to be executed. This would be by lawful authorities or government, not vigilantes.

I am sorry you took it that way. I apologize if I came across as arrogant. Actually you are blaming me for my God being the only true God, but in fact that is what the Bible and Jesus Christ say. So if I am believing God and Jesus who is also the Son of God and part of the triune God of the Bible, how am I being arrogant? I am simply saying what God said in his written word, the Bible. You can fault me for coming across as arrogant, because I can understand your point that in a world of many major religions and belief systems, when one religion such Christianity claims to be the only true religion, naturally you would interpret that as arrogant. People who don't believe the Bible to begin with would naturally interpret that as arrogant. So I don't blame you for believing that I am arrogant. If claiming Jesus and the God of the Bible is the only true God and the only truth, defines one as arrogant, then I have to plead guilty. I am sorry that offends you though. My failure is I am a poor communicator for Biblical matters. I have failed at communicating what I believe and what the Bible says without coming across as arrogant. I concede that is entirely my fault. I am sorry you were offended by it. My problem if you call it that is that I take the Bible literally in general and I take Jesus words literally. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." gospel of John, ch14 vs 6. KJV Jesus is saying right in that verse that he is the only way to heaven or to reach the Father. The way I see it is that it means Christianity is by it's nature an exclusive religion. If one takes what Jesus said at its face value, then all other religions and belief systems must be rejected because that is in effect what he is saying here. Or is my interpretation wrong? That is the problem I face. So I must acknowledge I have been arrogant. I just don't know what to say about it other than what I have said. I am truly sorry you find it offensive and arrogant. Perhaps I need to learn how to better communicate in a diplomatic manner. I am still struggling with that because I don't know how to do that. That is my fault and problem. You are not the first person who has found me to be arrogant. I am still struggling with that problem. I admit it is my achilles heel or weakness. How do I communicate if my beliefs are so repulsive? I don't know.

What makes you think it is imaginary friends? How did you come to that conclusion?

Saying that shows you are a deeply troubled individual. You sound like a very young person, maybe under 20 or 30. Pride is one of the deadly sins. That is a big ego thinking you know everything and there is nothing anybody can teach you or point out to you. That is pride, a deadly sin. "15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. " Romans 9:15, 16 KJV All mankind is lost unless God saves them. You cannot be saved and receive eternal life unless God chooses you. Nobody can. That is the way it is according to Romans ch.9 KJV "18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? {repliest…: or, answerest again, or, disputest with God?} 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: {fitted: or, made up} 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? " Romans 9:18-24 KJV I will say a prayer, but it is in God's hands. I pray that God will have mercy on you and open your eyes so that you might believe the Bible, believe the gospel and receive eternal life. In Jesus name, Amen.

" In “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom,” Hugh Whelchel charts the differences between the three terms. Whelchel says that at first glance the terms seem almost interchangeable, but there are differences. Knowledge, he says, deals with knowing the facts. People with knowledge can “collect, remember, and access information,” but they might not know what to do with that information. A person can be knowledgeable without being wise. Understanding, Whelchel says, is “the ability to translate meaning from the facts. Those with understanding can “extract the meaning out of information”—seeing the what, how, and why—enabling a person to produce life principles. Wisdom, then, is “knowing what to do next, given an understanding of the facts and circumstances.” A person with wisdom knows which principle to apply in a given context and do the right thing.' What Does the Bible Say about Knowledge? (biblestudytools.com) Many people who do not believe in God have knowledge. We know that. But wisdom is an entirely different thing. Without God there is no true wisdom. God is the source of true wisdom. When leaders of a country and other people allow or support abortion on demand, allow doctor assisted suicide, and yet oppose capital punishment for murderers, you know they lack wisdom that comes from God. They might have knowledge about a lot of things particularly their political ideology of liberalism. But when that is contrary to God's revelation to man, the Bible, then you know they lack wisdom.

Not according to the Biblical definition. "7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. " Proverbs 1:7 KJV There are many people who think they are wise according to this world's standards, but in God's eyes they are fools. The Bible says plainly those that do not believe in God are fools. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Psalm 1:1 KJV It is very clear so there is nothing to debate about it.

The U.S. is an entirely different country with ten times the population and runs entirely differently. The have Constitutional rights to carry firearms which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths per year. Of course it can't be compared and is not relevant to the discussion. Criminals likely don't think a lot about the penalty or they don't think straight or logically, but the death penalty should give some second thoughts. It's pretty straightforward and simple.

No. Wisdom comes from God himself. Faith in itself does not necessarily equate to wisdom, although it is a sign a person is on the right track to grow in wisdom. The wisdom come from almighty God through his written revelation as revealed by the Holy Spirit working in an individual. A good example of God's wisdom which Solomon had is described in 1 Kings ch3 in the Bible: "16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. {yearned: Heb. were hot} 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment. {in him: Heb. in the midst of him} " 1 King 3:16-28 KJV King Solomon had received wisdom of God. ________________ When society functions, there are accidents sometimes and cannot be avoided. A legal system is not perfect. But that does not mean that people who deserve capital punishment for murder should escape it. That is a denial of justice. Society is full of examples of things we do to function where there accidents from time to time, but we don't stop doing things because someone might get hurt or be killed by accident. An example is the health care system. People die in surgery or as a result of it form time to time. We don't stop operating on people because there is a chance someone might die. There are innocent people killed on the highways all the time but we don't stop people from driving because there might be an accident and an innocent person gets killed. We don't stop flying aircraft because an aircraft crashes once in while. By the same reasoning, we should not stop giving capital punishment because there could be an accident sometime. That destroys justice. We should however do everything humanly possible to avoid making a mistake.

What proof of that 16 years do you have? That could be in the U.S. not Canada. You mentioned the U.S. before. We are talking about Canada. There is no reason why the laws cannot be changed to make the time short. Of course there must be enough time allowed for an appeal, but the system can be set up so things happen expeditiously. No need to take 16 years. You just defined yourself right there and cast doubt on any argument you might have or made. "1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Psalm 14: 1-3 KJV Therein lies the real reason we do not have capital punishment for murderers... heathenism or an anti-God attitude that is destroying society and western civilization. The foundation of a civilized society has been our Christian heritage. That is what brought human rights, democracy, and a semblance of a justice system that gives consideration to the rights of the accused. These things do not exist in non-Christian countries or heathen nations. Read the King James Bible, Gospel of John and come to the knowledge of God and His Son Jesus before it is too late. You are speaking entirely as a natural man and spoke against the one thing that is the source of true wisdom, that is, God. " True wisdom, like God’s grace, is alien to the natural man. Wisdom is, in fact, a divine gift that is granted by God whenever any believer asks. This is the clear teaching of James:" The True Meaning of Wisdom - What It Is and How to Get It (biblestudytools.com)