The enemy of God has attempted to make Trump into the scapegoat, and will continue to do so, more & more.
God knows the truth.
The enemy's evil fruit will soon be fully ripe, ready for God's harvest.
Stay on God's path (or get on God's path ASAP), stay in His Word, help the weaker ones among you to keep the faith.
God's Will, not your will. God's perfect timing, not your timing.
The responses I have received so far are as follows:
Friend 1: "Words fail, [...]. Please remove me from your email list."
Friend 2: "[...] unless future emails relate to [our local men's group] activities I would also ask to be excluded from your email list."
Friend 3: "I see your bungee cord has finally snapped. Before you hit the bottom please take me off your email list. "
Did my email upset them because:
a) it mentioned Trump;
b) it mentioned God;
c) it mentioned both Trump & God in the same paragraph;
or d) some other reason?
Many people feel the discussion of politics &/or religion with family & friends are tabboo, forbidden topics.
While I have deleted them from my list of email addresses (ie. done as they have asked), I find this to be an interesting study in human nature.
Let's do a mind experiment. Instead of the above message on God and Trump, what if I had sent out an email saying:
" I have been contacted by a Nigerian Prince via email. I am liquidating my life savings to send to the Nigerian Prince so as to invest in his royal gold mine."
If you had received this email from a good friend, how would you have responded?
If I had received this email from a friend, the hairs on the back of my neck would be standing up as soon as I read "Nigerian Prince". I would have stopped reading, and started dialing my friend as soon as I read "liquidating my life savings to send to the Nigerian Prince".
To me friendship is built on trust. Trust depends on 4 factors, which create, build, & protect trust, or destroy trust if one or more of those factors are missing. One of those factors for trust is:
Open & honest communication
Everybody is entitled to their personal beliefs, and to choose for themselves how they will run their life within the constraints of the laws of God and man.
However in my view, family & friends are supposed to watch out for each other, protect each other, help each other.
For Christians, this also applies to helping & protecting neighbours, widows, orphans, and all who can't readily defend themselves. When the crowd asked Jesus exactly who is my neighbour, Jesus replied with the parable of the Good Samaritin (Luke 10:25-37), teaching us that neighbours include all humans, even when there is cultural differences and animosity between different groups. When somebody is laying in a ditch, bleeding to death, this is no time for bigotry, favoritism, arrogance, or distain (see https://et-manitoulin.blogspot.com/2019/12/christian-charity-at-christmas.html for more info on the extremes to which the Good Samaratin went to help a total stranger).
Instead of warning a friend about the impending disaster of fraud by a so-called Nigerian Prince, could some recipients of the email have ignored it (ie. made no response) with callous disregard for their "friend"?
Would it have been OK for a "friend" to have supported and encouraged the fraud, as vengence for some ancient slight, rationalizing that if the "friend" is so naive or stupid, he deserves what he gets, as in "a fool and his money are soon parted" (similar to Proverbs 25:20)?
If the "friend" is left scratching his head, unsure what to make of the email, or why it was sent, or the full meaning of the communication, what should a true friend do? I suggest a true friends asks for clarification. I suggest they say "I understand X and Y, but is there more here than that?
I suggest a true friend cares about what their friends care about, and learn vicariously through their friends. For example, I have no natural interest in professional sports, but I try to listen as my friends discuss the details, amazed at their in-depth knowledge on the smallest details, as I slowly learn from them. What kind of "friend" refuses to have sports discussed in their presence, especially when they know their buddy derives so much enjoyment from it?
Do true friends censor each other?
I believe there are some limits. If someone discusses a proposed crime, the listener becomes a conspirator to that crime before the fact, even if the crime is committed in a different manner than originally discussed.
Equally bad and unacceptable is sin, iniquity, or blasphamy. Discussions of these beyond education or reinforcement against them is either sinful, or a waste of precious time that would be better spent on productive efforts. Time wasters are the worthless stubble or tares that will be burned up with nothing to show for your mal-investment.
Beyond these limits, I believe in free speech.
Have I missed something? Are there other limits you impose on family &/or friends? Please add your thoughts in the comments below.
For further discussion of trust, see https://et-manitoulin.blogspot.com/2018/10/jesus-vs-satan-with-humans-caught.html
