They help her get closer to God…or at least other people…
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Powerful people have always preyed on the superstitions of others who are less capable than themselves. The GOP these days is raising this to an art form.
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My takeaway is that there’s a Kenneth Copeland network? And on that network is a show that stole the name of a middling cop drama about a (I believe Canadian) SWAT team that usually solves problems with words, compassion, the avuncular wisdom of Enrico Colantoni, and only occasionally guns?
[citation needed]
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I got the impression she wasn’t entirely believing that whole spiel and was just pandering to the base.
I could be wrong though, I don’t have much experience with religious nut jobs.
When the Congressional thing doesn’t work out, a phony divinity school mail in degree and this chick will be ready for her very own prime time Buy Bull teevee show… perfect for the grifter deep within her soul and just another way to “massage the message” for all her faithful QAon followers back home. Broadcasting from the back room of a gun shop, of course, this psycho babbler, gunz nut, snake handling, climate change denier, former Congressional rep preaching her very own special brand of hellfire and brimstone to her flock… what else could possibly go wrong in those deep back woods of Colorado… did I mention the brimstone, the dead and dying pine bark beetle infested trees, drought, ??
…Pay no attention. Fire is the Devil’s only trick.
( …now, if I could just work in a Matt Gaetz joke into this…)
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I thought she meant The Natural Peanut Butter.
?As opposed to Jifff, the un-natural peanut butter?
They were hung up in CPB paperwork.
Though, perhaps this is a better fit, since Kenneth Copeland is mentioned.
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I was raised catholic (*) and they (…) are actually better at this. Luther set his followers up with a huge problem that still plagues many christians: They debate texts and seek understanding through logic where there is none.
It is in no way different than conspiracy loons, once they latch on an idea everything is warped and filtered to support that idea. This gets very complicated with intelligent and inquisitive people who are good at spotting the holes but who are also very good at making up gorgeously constructed piles of bovine excrement to fill them up.
The original solution used by traditional (Roman, orthodox etc.) theologist is of course that you are not supposed to understand it. (See: The Emperor’s New Clothes 
) It is a side step, for sure, but it works, for some.
(* I am better now, thanks)
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I think the thing that really bothers me about all of this is the degree to which she is clearly a current GOP coaching project.
She’s a dropout whose main contribution is running a gun-themed bar with financial trouble. Previous focus and image prior to gaining national attention was… a bit less focused.
Now? Clearly getting a lot of evangelical talking points and GOP party-line push. They’re investing a lot in building her credibility and shaping her image into what they want, and this is the direction they want to push it?
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So if I don’t like Lauren’s religion, is she gonna come after me?
Anytime someone says: “I am not an expert, but…”
you can expect a whole lot of goofy stuff.
I am not much of a Christian, and not an expert, but
the few things I remember from church are those statements
by Jesus:
“Who takes to the sword, will die by the sword”
Now, does that mean that Jesus loves guns? And wants you to have and
use them against whatever you are afraid of, whatever you hate?"
Then there is that story of the Good Samaritan: Which tells me that there
are lots of people who will not help the sick, the poor, the aged, because they are too rich, too busy, or too wrapped up in self-importance.
To me that story means that every Christian should consider it their Christian
duty to help others, as much as is reasonably possible. That sort of tells
me: “When someone asks whether a poor or homeless person has a right
to receive “free” healthcare”, then they are asking the wrong question. The right question here is: “Are you doing everything you can to be of help?”
Meaning: No one is asked to help above and beyond their means and abilities. It’s just a matter of a balanced “do what you can”.
The above two items should keep you busy for a lifetime. So, that’s why can’t even get to the Sermon on the Mount. Because hey, I haven’t done everything I can to be of help, either. I have tried though.
I can’t explain the universe, or God, or beliefs, or science. I don’t ask God any questions, and so his representatives here on earth can’t tell me any lies.
Went to the NAPA auto parts store the other day, and the guy asks me “Are you on our rewards program?” and I said “No, I am not worthy!”, while making a funny face. That was a good laugh for everyone there.
I see on this page here the word “Apologetics / Christianity”.
That makes me think: "If you have to apologize for your Christianity, then maybe you are “doing it wrong”? Am I? Are you?
From that angle, religions that are based on the fear, hate, prejudice, anger,
greed, envy, overbearing undue influence… are probably doing it wrong.
That doesn’t mean I am doing it right. I sometimes don’t even know what I am doing, despite telling others: “Hey, I know what I am doing!”
But, at least, I have not always been wrong.
(I don’t do chapter & verse, because that’s too complicated)
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Eh, I wouldn’t say it’s ol’ Martin’s fault. As you know actual Lutherans of the kind you find all over Northern and Northern Central Europe aren’t actually fundamentalists in the way American evangelicals are. They tend to be mostly harmless.
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I hope it didn’t come across like I was all tarring them with the same brush. Of course many christians are totally pleasant people!
But the theological problem remains the same, they are just not as nasty about it.
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I think her party philosophy is Confuseus.
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Apologetics are logical arguments defending the tenets of the faith. You might be familiar with this Socratic dialogue:
It’s not particularly contrite.
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“The sublime mystery of the trinity”
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