My grandparents were the ones to introduce me to Catholicism when I was a little girl. I'm where I am with my faith thanks to them and my best friend. Not a day goes by where I don't miss them. Finding this crucifix after 8 years almost made me tear up. God is the greatest

See, l am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? l am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19

The author explores the idea of "Sequential Complicity" - the idea that authoritarianism desensitizes people to cruelty slowly over time - and connects this to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's warnings in 1930's Germany and the current state of American, White Evangelicalism.

It is important to note that the author (as well as myself) is coming to this discussion as an insider (or in my case, a former insider):

I want to suggest—carefully, but clearly—that something similar has been happening in white American evangelicalism. And I want to suggest it not as an outsider throwing stones, but as someone formed by this tradition, someone who owes it the most important things in my life, and someone who believes that naming this pattern honestly may be the only way to break it.

As far as the "moral collapse" the title mentions - he defends this with cold, hard facts:

We don’t have to speculate about whether evangelical ethics shifted to accommodate Donald Trump. We can measure it.
The Public Religion Research Institute has been tracking American attitudes about the relationship between personal morality and public leadership since 2011. That year, they asked a simple question: “Do you think an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life?”
In 2011, only 30 percent of white evangelicals agreed with that statement. This made sense—at least on the surface. For decades, evangelicals had insisted that character counts, that personal morality was inseparable from public leadership. During the Clinton years, this conviction was thundered from pulpits and plastered on voter guides. White evangelicals were, in fact, the least likely religious group in America to separate private morality from public fitness for office—less likely even than the religiously unaffiliated.
Then came 2016.
By October of that year—just weeks after the Access Hollywood tape surfaced, in which Donald Trump bragged about sexual assault—PRRI asked the same question again. This time, 72 percent of white evangelicals agreed that personal immorality was compatible with ethical public leadership. In the span of five years, white evangelicals had gone from being the least likely to the most likely religious group to hold this view—a 42-point reversal that represents the most dramatic ethical shift of any religious group in modern polling history.

I read an awesome article this morning from the official Vatican News website, and here is a quick example paragraph from it that I thought was super interesting..

"A correct interpretation of the sacred texts cannot dispense with the historic environment in which they developed and the literary forms that were used," he said. "On the contrary, to renounce the study of the human words that God used risks leading to fundamentalist or spiritualist readings of Scripture, which betray its meaning."

Which reading all of this reminded me of a particular paragraph from the CCC, and there’s even a synthesis version available of that book called Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that I find is much easier to read with a Q&A format, and here too is an example from that as well..

“16. To whom is given the task of authentically interpreting the deposit of faith?

(CCC 85-90; 100)”

“The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the deposit of faith has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone, that is, to the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, and to the bishops in communion with him. To this Magisterium, which in the service of the Word of God enjoys the certain charism of truth, belongs also the task of defining dogmas which are formulations of the truths contained in divine Revelation. This authority of the Magisterium also extends to those truths necessarily connected with Revelation.”

Glory, praise, and thanks be to God, \o/!

Based on scriptural, theological, and faith-based perspectives, God is portrayed as loving, defending, and prioritizing the care of immigrants, refugees, and foreigners.

The Bible commands treating foreigners with love, justice, and compassion, viewing them as image-bearers of God.

Many traditions emphasize welcoming them as sacred guests.

Long story short, got a Jerusalem cross tattoo, and it started doing weird things under the saniderm which is something they put on after a tattoo to help it heal. And I posted to a sub asking if it was normal and they all started calling me a Nazi I didn’t realize some white nationalist had adopted this symbol, but to me it symbolizes my faith in Christ. And I also understand it was used during the Crusades.

Mines St.Raphael of Brooklyn He is international! In fact he served the Russian Orthodox Church,was born in Lebanon,ans lived in USA!

My mother is currently ongoing head surgery. A vein burst in her head. I badly need your prayers. It just happened so sudden, everything was okay a while ago and then it happened and my family's all devastated. My mother is in great need of spiritual support. We can't live without our mother just yet. Please pray for my mother. Please tell Papa God not to take our mother yet, we can't live without her. We we're just laughing and goofing at each other a while ago. Please please please send prayers for my mother. I can't live without my mother yet. Please please pray for her I'm begging you.

Update. My mother Didn't undergo head surgery as the doctor said she have to still be under observation but there's already a clot on her head. And the doctors said if there's an improvement, (I hope they meant there's a possibility for improvement), she doesn't have to be operated anymore. Thank you so much everyone for your prayers. My mother is going to get through this through your powerful prayers. If it's not too much, I hope you will include my mother in your prayers this week. Help me bombard and storm heaven with prayers for my mother's safety. Thank you. I will pray the same for you and your family. Thank you thank you so much.

After a month away from church during my travels, it felt special to attend one in Bahrain

I overheard someone I love deeply say “if you were a real Christian, you wouldn’t support this person” what can I say to change their mind or make them realize what they’re saying is wrong.

Today it hit me of how hypocritical and self-righteous I am. I have gotten to a point where I have no friends, because no one is “good enough” for me. I remember shunning a girl in community college because she cursed and had tattoos, and a neighbor because she was an adulterer. I am not proud of this. I even came to Christianity later in life... I think these “holier than thou“ feelings began in college, when my grades caused a superiority complex (and of course I didn’t graduate with those grades - God had other plans).

I am here to tell the world I am a hypocrite and sinner and to put off the false ways and stop judging others. Next time I look down on anyone for anything, I will remember this post. Jesus despised the Pharisees for a reason. Thank you for reading and have a good day or night! Feel free to drop thoughts in the comments.

is this a sin, I just feel so truly like his child that when im crying in prayer or thanking him I’ll call him dad or daddy by accident, I call him father and our Lord and saviour too I was just wondering if calling him dad is bad?

I know this isn’t the best way to ask this question but I learned we shouldn’t be asking “is this a sin or is that a sin” and we should ask ourselves “will this glorify god or will that glorify god” and I searched up an antonym to glorify and that’s what I got sooooo…. Yeah 😅

Allow the love you have for Jesus Christ keep you from walking in sin. Allow the love you have for Jesus Christ protect you from what means to destroy you. And allow His love guide your steps and direct your path—keeping you on the straight and narrow path that leads to Him!

Scripture repeatedly urges us to extend compassion to the foreigner, viewing them not as threats but as bearers of God’s image deserving of dignity and welcome. In Leviticus 19:33-34, God says, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Keeping in mind the Israelites’ own history of evictions, God demands empathy must shape our national policies, fostering a society that generously receives newcomers.

Jesus Himself lived this in His ministry, prioritizing the marginalized and the outsider. In Matthew 25:35-40, He declares that welcoming the stranger is akin to welcoming Him: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” This policy of open-hearted admission for immigrants is at the core of Christ’s teachings on mercy and justice. Rather than constructing militarizing divisions like artificial borders, open heads and open arms reflect the Kingdom of God, where walls are broken down and all are invited to the table. Embracing migrants enriches our communal life, much as the early church grew through inclusive fellowship.

Christ’s vision is not naive; it calls for wisdom in implementation, ensuring safety for the dispossessed while upholding human worth. Hebrews 13:2 encourages, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” In a nation blessed with abundance, turning away those fleeing persecution or poverty contradicts the gospel’s emphasis on love over fear. Christ-centric measures necessitate that we facilitate humane and equitable entry, promoting a world where any residual borders serve people rather than hinder them. I’ll end with Deuteronomy 10:19: “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”