Two areas of comment, 1. At one stage I was contracred to Te Maata Waka to tutor maximum security prisiners st Papaeua men's prison. That convinced me that permitting prisoners voting rights was not an empoweringvidea nor one they should exercise in a state that should value free expression. The men whom I worked with were selfish, cruel, unlikely to be rehabilitated. They were mainly in 40s and older, were recidivist criminals who lacked empathy. Similarly I oppose lowering the votingcage to 16 for psrallel reasons...cognition is not developed.
2. Re the pontifex max he was silent on organ harvesting from political prisoners in China, ( well documented by Human rights lawyers), he was not as forthright or supportive towards the most marginalised, vulnerable group in every society, i.e. trafficked women and girls. As a Franciscan he should have displayed those values of concern for humanity's oppressed ( he was intelligent enough to recognise the men behind and in the trans movement as abusers, as oppressors)instead of equivocating on pivotal issues.
The Christian walk is complicated, as where compassion & tolerance can become compromise, & judging others becomes condemning oneself! Rom 2:1-16
I'm reminded of Jesus words to the adulteress:
Jn 8:3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and DO NOT SIN AGAIN"!
So here is the lesson, on one hand there was forgiveness & grace, on the other hand, a strong directive NOT to sin again! There is the issue! We can be compassionate, but there also needs to be a change in the behaviour of the 'sinner', not an acceptance of sin, "Oh that's fine, carry on doing what you are doing, God loves you regardless"! NO! That is not the case, otherwise there was no point in Jesus sacrificing his life, Heb 10:26-31, NOR the Israelites offering animals as atonement for sin!
The whole point of religion is to restore man back to God, & you can't DO that if we don't deal with our sin! Jn 14:21-24, Jn 12:47-48, Phil 2:12, James 1:22-25, Rom 2:13, Rev 20:12, Rev 3:1-3, 15-17, Mt 25:24-30
The Word, the Law is inescapable, no matter how much God loves us, Mt 5:17-20, we must fulfil our responsibility ("do not sin again") & conform to the Word, as we were created in God's Image according to the Word! Mt 28:20
If we bury our 'talent/grace', our 'responsibility' to obey our Master, Heb 5:8-9, we will be 'cast into the outer darkness to wail & gnash our teeth'! Mt 25:24-30, Mt 8:10-12
Jesus gave many Parables & 'direct statements' warning us of what would happen if we didn't 'keep' his word! Mt 13, Mt 25:1-13, Mt 22:1-14, Mt 23, Mt 7:13-27, Rev 2-3, Jn 12:47-48, Rev 21:8, Rev 22:14-15
If I were a prisoner given the vote, I would be voting for the party that wants to get rid of prisons.
That’s a fair point! Who’d be voting for harsher penalties 😂
Two areas of comment, 1. At one stage I was contracred to Te Maata Waka to tutor maximum security prisiners st Papaeua men's prison. That convinced me that permitting prisoners voting rights was not an empoweringvidea nor one they should exercise in a state that should value free expression. The men whom I worked with were selfish, cruel, unlikely to be rehabilitated. They were mainly in 40s and older, were recidivist criminals who lacked empathy. Similarly I oppose lowering the votingcage to 16 for psrallel reasons...cognition is not developed.
2. Re the pontifex max he was silent on organ harvesting from political prisoners in China, ( well documented by Human rights lawyers), he was not as forthright or supportive towards the most marginalised, vulnerable group in every society, i.e. trafficked women and girls. As a Franciscan he should have displayed those values of concern for humanity's oppressed ( he was intelligent enough to recognise the men behind and in the trans movement as abusers, as oppressors)instead of equivocating on pivotal issues.
The Christian walk is complicated, as where compassion & tolerance can become compromise, & judging others becomes condemning oneself! Rom 2:1-16
I'm reminded of Jesus words to the adulteress:
Jn 8:3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and DO NOT SIN AGAIN"!
So here is the lesson, on one hand there was forgiveness & grace, on the other hand, a strong directive NOT to sin again! There is the issue! We can be compassionate, but there also needs to be a change in the behaviour of the 'sinner', not an acceptance of sin, "Oh that's fine, carry on doing what you are doing, God loves you regardless"! NO! That is not the case, otherwise there was no point in Jesus sacrificing his life, Heb 10:26-31, NOR the Israelites offering animals as atonement for sin!
The whole point of religion is to restore man back to God, & you can't DO that if we don't deal with our sin! Jn 14:21-24, Jn 12:47-48, Phil 2:12, James 1:22-25, Rom 2:13, Rev 20:12, Rev 3:1-3, 15-17, Mt 25:24-30
The Word, the Law is inescapable, no matter how much God loves us, Mt 5:17-20, we must fulfil our responsibility ("do not sin again") & conform to the Word, as we were created in God's Image according to the Word! Mt 28:20
If we bury our 'talent/grace', our 'responsibility' to obey our Master, Heb 5:8-9, we will be 'cast into the outer darkness to wail & gnash our teeth'! Mt 25:24-30, Mt 8:10-12
Jesus gave many Parables & 'direct statements' warning us of what would happen if we didn't 'keep' his word! Mt 13, Mt 25:1-13, Mt 22:1-14, Mt 23, Mt 7:13-27, Rev 2-3, Jn 12:47-48, Rev 21:8, Rev 22:14-15
We are without excuse!