A question that was first presented by Socrates.

I know its hard to understand, but think back all the way to when Jesus came. It would seem as though those who accepted him, and the countries that live by his word for the most part are the richest.
This gets passed down through the generations. Is he giving us advantage? or is he just blessing us for believing in his son? Also for those that do not know what sin is, or the commandments, they are different than us. Paul speaks of this experience. *edit* close quotesThis message has been edited by riVeRraT, 10-26-2004 08:30 AM

Rich like Mexico? Poor like Japan?Does the fact that Mexico is poor a reflection of the way Mexicans approach God? That is your implication.So spirituality is now measured in monetary terms. I guess whichever religion has the biggest, most expensive church is the most spiritual?

I believe you are wrong in your assumption that Mexico on a whole accepts God.To be with Christ, you must be in Christ, and the leaders of Mexico do not act in such fashion, nor-do the drug lords that rule the poverty in that nation. Its up to the people to rebel, or start a revolutionary war in and ask for God's help. I do feel bad for those that are victim to this, they are such nice people the Mexicans that I know.Japan is no picnic to live in right now either. Our church sponsers a mission over there. She reported to us that the standard of living is higher over there, and that is because of how the people have honor, but that the nation is in disarray because things are so tough over there. They work crazy hours, (rush hour is like 10pm at night) and the children have to work because they can't afford to live right. The majority of the population is under great finacial strain. The cheapest membership to a golf club is $1million a year. There are many things going on over there that you don't know about.
If you were to accept Christ over there, your family would dis-own you. That is why it is such a tough decsion for them. I actually sponser 2 children from there, and recieve weekly updates on how they are doing.Or in China they might kill you for that.It is not measured in monetary terms alone, just blessings, which could include things like money, food, welfare, safety, etc. We share 95% of the wealth in this world along with England, and Canada? The average worker here is in the top 5% of money makers in the world. Most of our salarys could feed small towns in the poor nations.
we should be sharing it with them, along with Christ. Even though I support Bush, I wish we would have spent 80 billion, or the 77 billion that Clinton spent on war in spreading the gospel, and feeding those who need food.

The condition of the city/town that is described in Deuteronomy 13 is that the entire town is engaged in worshipping false Gods (and all that that entails). This is not killing a community for the sins of the few.Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? God told Abraham that if he [God] had found 10 righteous people in Sodom he would have spared the entire city!

So it is the religious beliefs of the rulers of a country, rather than its people, that determine if it is blessed or not? I've spent time in Japan, in both urban and rural areas, and have trouble seeing what your statements are based in - church mission propaganda, perhaps? Rush hour wasn't at 10pm when I was there. Children go to school six days a week and study all night (do you have any evidence that a significant portion work to support their families?). Are you saying American children don't have to work to support their families? What does "live right", mean exactly? A silly thing to say. That's because there's only a handful of golf courses in the entire country, not because the country is not blessed by Christ. Do you really measure God's blessings in terms of cost of country club memberships? In the United States many families disown their children for converting to Islam or Buddhism or any non-Christian religion. How is that different from Japan, exactly?If you looked as hard at the US as did at Japan, you'd find just as many points to bring up that make us seem less blessed than Japan:
We have to pay more than twice as much for our electronics than the Japanese do! We value money more than honor! Our education system is inferior! Children have to work to support their families! Tens of millions struggle for adequate health-care! Our workers our less ambitious! Our country is politically divided! We started an illegal war! We've lost the respect of the nations of the world!Egads! The US is in disarray! We are not blessed!

According to the 2002 International Religious Freedom Report, >95% of Mexicans identify themselves as one of the Christian religions.To put that in perspective, the United States is roughly 75% Christian, according to the 2003 Statistical Abstract of the United States.If Mexico is more Christian than the US, than why is the US more blessed than Mexico, exactly?

Do you accept that genocide is acceptable based on religious differences? or is it murder?What about the newborns that were murdered? Does the false God worship of adults justify infanticide in any moral framework?

If they are leading what do you think?
Who do you think is responsible for the terrorists? The terrorists themselves or the nations that allow them to hide?What if we had terrorist hiding here in America, what do you think would happen to them? What would happen to us if they attack Russia or something?What if our own government wasn't the way we think it should be? What would we do as God loving Christians? Sounds like what happened a while back.Its up to the people to make a change.
If they don't then are just going to suffer the sins of their leaders, thats my opinion, and I could be wrong. Its way more complicated and I don't know all the details, but it is what I feel presently. I don't know, could be, but this is what was told to me. Even if they are rich, the way it was descirbed is that there are a lot of social pressures over there that we don't have, we have much easier than them, and we get more for our money, and have to work less.
Besides, I mentioned the monetary is not the only incdicator of how well a nation is doing as far as the Lord is concerned. I know people that do very well finacially that worship the devil, or don't worship anything except money itself.I agree with most of your other points, especially this one I wonder is it coincidence that the decline of God loving Christians and how much we are blessed is kind of in proportion? mmmmmLets see were we are at 20 years from now, keep it in mind. If it even matters then anyway.

Because of what I told you.
My question is are their leaders acting in a Christ like mannor?Also, I find many Mexicans are blessed. They have things we don't like family values. They seem to be happy even though they are poor, at least the ones I meet. There's a whole country of them out there, so I don't know.

Can you give me an example of what you are referring to? Deuteronomy 13 was a law regarding a particular situation. It does not describe an actual event.Can you provide me with a specific example of what you are referring to so that we can take a look at it?

Is genocide or infanticide acceptable under certain conditions that would change your answer? Right. It was a command just as "thou shalt not murder" was."Thou shalt not murder" doesn't apply to a specific event, either - should we disregard it as well?

I would think a loving God would bless a country of worshippers, rather than curse them for the beliefs of their leaders. Besides, you haven't established that the leaders of Mexico aren't God-loving Christians. You just called them "drug-runners" I believe, a harsh accusation which you should probably justify with some evidence. George W. is on good terms with the Mexican President, I understand - perhaps they smuggle drugs together? Right, so the whole "US, Britain, and Canada wealth-proves-blessed-by-God" argument kind of goes at the window. Perhaps the US is cursed by wealth, which is why we have a leadership whose main objective appears to be to make themselves and the rest of the rich even richer. Probably, considering Conservative Christians constitute perhaps the most divisive group in America (but that is probably a discussion for another topic). Not to mention a so-called God-loving Christian leadership creates policies that hurt the lower and middle classes for the benefit of the upper class, and starts an illegal war to boot...

I think your question is based on an event you read/heard about in the bible.What I would like to do is bypass your attempt to trap me and just get to the point.What biblical event in particular would you like to discuss? I didn't say we should disregard it.

The 9/11 guys hid in Florida; does that make Jeb Bush responsible?

Pink Sasquatch,I am going off-line now but I will talk to you later.