FearMeAndDecay

This is a very good explanation. To answer the specific question about modern offering plates, those are fine bc it’s not selling anything, it’s a free will offering to support the church. Of course, some churches put a lot more pressure on their congregants and basically force them to give beyond their means by saying shit like “God demands you give x amount” or “buying salvation” and stuff, and that behavior would likely get them whipped by Jesus too. Unfortunately the people who do stuff like that, don’t actually care about Jesus and his teachings

I don’t think it “goes against the spirit of capitalism” as capitalism prioritizes profits. I’d say it goes against free markets tho bc companies are encouraged to monopolize industries or work together to artificially inflate prices and depress wages. I think capitalism without intense regulation always ends up placing profits over people

Trump has been riling up his fan base and conspiracy theorists since the election. Actually, he has been riling them up since the 2016 election by accusing the dems of all being pedophiles and saying he was going to lock them up. But in the 2024 election, he talked about Epstein specifically quite a few times and led his base to believe he would actually release the Epstein files. Unlike the economy, which you can use various metrics to claim it’s doing good or bad (stock market, grocery prices, etc.) Epstein is a pretty black and white case of “he’s literally a pedophile and was found guilty for doing lots of horrible things.” Everyone, conservatives and liberals, has spent many years rightly hating the guy, but also waiting for everyone he was involved with to also be punished. The maga base was dumb enough to believe that it was only dems and maybe a few unimportant republicans on the list, but they’re out for blood that Trump is refusing to give them, so they’re starting to actually turn on him, a little at least. Trump’s big mistake was thinking that he could use the Epstein files like he’s used everything else so far. In his mind, pedophilia is no different to Hillary’s emails: just a way to rile up his base and use their anger. He assumed that if he stopped talking about it then they would too. He’s so out of touch and evil that he didn’t realize that to the average, non-elite American pedophilia is unforgivable and it’s something conservatives will actually fight against (that’s why republicans accuse trans and gay people and basically anyone they don’t like of being a pedophile: it’s wildly effective)

That’s why you gotta primary out the ones that don’t actually do their job. Like if it’s too late to primary one out then yeah vote for the dem over the overt fascist but that’s a last resort. If you have the time, check and see if any actually good candidates are running in the primaries and see if you can volunteer and help them out with their campaign. Obviously not everyone has the time or ability, but every little bit helps if you can

Yep. Unless I’m being dramatic, then it’s mother

Thanks! I’ll check those out!

Yeah I’ve been considering switching to Linux but I’m not a tech person. I know enough to play some games and install some Minecraft mods and that’s it. Since I was thinking about getting a new lightweight laptop I was gonna get one with Linux instead of windows to give it a try but every time I found one that said Linux I’d look at the specs and it says the operating system is actually windows. I’d be willing to learn how to get Linux myself but I’m worried about ruining my computer because I don’t understand even half of the technical stuff. If anyone has any up to date very beginner friendly guides, I’d appreciate the recommendation

Oh come on, don’t forget about all the deregulation Trump helped him do! Think about how much more money the rat got!

In the US, at least, usually if you’re asked about your ethnicity (say when you’re doing the common app for colleges) it means that you are at least a quarter (I think, maybe it’s an eighth) of whatever the ethnicity is. So for example, my dad was a Hispanic immigrant, which makes me 50% and therefore ethnically Hispanic despite living in the US my whole life. Honestly, I don’t have much in common culturally with Hispanic people who grew up in a Hispanic country, however I have a fair bit in common with other Hispanic kids who grew up in the US, distanced from our parent’s culture. Sure the Wikipedia definition may say that that’s just one way the word ethnicity is used, but if you just go ask people “hey what’s your ethnicity” aside from very likely being confused why you’re asking, they’ll likely answer something like hispanic or Asian or whatever

I think culture is the better word to use instead of ethnicity in this case. Like others have said though, the internet is such a big place, that it’s not very descriptive to say your culture is internet culture. Even in your original comment, you had to clarify that you’re referring to the western/english side of the internet, and even that can be broken down further. Do you primarily use TikTok or Reddit? Instagram or Facebook? Do you collect memes or read fanfics? Do you play video games or watch craft how-to videos? The internet is vast and obviously you have more in common with the people and content you find on the internet because the whole point of the internet is to be able to find people like you. But there’s a whole bunch of other people out there using the internet that have nothing in common with you, like for example, your neighbors. It’s not wrong for you to say it, it’s just not particularly descriptive without a bunch of extra info

I’m not one of those “the world is ending types” but fucking hell, every time I read the updates from that website I have to pause and stop the doom spiral

It took me a moment to notice the edit lol

Yes, but also, the craziest people will say either A. That the pastor should be the one preaching (like the people in this case did) or B. That that’s really just politics (even if you’re literally quoting there Bible), and politics should stay out of the church