Just to keep you abreast of the situation..
So my sister wrote this from earlier, above. The links are a joke, she was making fun of me for including links in the original email. And then I made fun of her making fun of me back (below), so don't worry about clicking on them. 
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Originally Posted by Emproph's sister
I don’t know why you’re so interested in the lives of Irakeess and Muslin’s www.fabric.com when you do nothing but cause a daily verbal and non verbal war on your own family. You are no better than Bush. www.nickjr.com
By the way who the heck is Haliburton and what hard earned tax dollars are you talking about? Yours??????? You have to www.work.com to earn www.dollars.com that could be www.taxed.com.
Anyhoo….Blah Blah Blah about the rest.
www.gottago.com |
so then I wrote this back:
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Originally Posted by Emproph
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And then my mom wrote this,
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Let's just agree to disagree and end it. Love, Mom.
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And then I wrote this,
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First of all it was not my intention for this to get this far, and I don't mean this as an attack, but this is my point. What is it that we are agreeing to disagree on?
That silent pause, that's what we're disagreeing on. The importance of agreeing on what is truly evil. Lip Service would cover the bill, at least I would know you were thinking about it enough to appease my heartfelt concerns.
Again, I'm not pressing you or anyone on this right now, but it's come this far so I'm explaining. In fact scratch that, just tell me you're upset about innocent people getting killed in your name, or does that not bother you. I actually do need to know that. If I can't put that to rest, then it never really ends and this anger will just rear its ugly head again at another opportune time.
I don't consider the legitimacy of the lives of others to be a negotiable point to be agreed or disagreed upon, if you infact do believe that, then we perhaps can agree to disagree on that. But I would need to know that specifically.
What are your feelings, what have you thought on this? Think about it, think about my asking about it. Take your time. I don't mean that patronizingly, but I am asking sincerely.
Thank You,
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And then she wrote this,
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I had no idea you would not KNOW that we are in agreement with you about all of the murder. But here are a few of my thoughts.
In fact, I am quite sickened by what is going on in our world, namely: all those young boys getting killed in wars (Five of my uncles in the same family were in WWII simultaneously - thank God they all came home), the 40 million (abortions) read that slaughtered babies that have occurred in the last many years in the US alone, the rampant abuse...sexual, physical and emotional, the kidnappings, the pornography, the hunger, the poverty and the lack of peace in the world.
I mean I could go on and on and on. I hate it all. It angers me and sickens me. Evil is so prevalent in our society. Why? Because God has certainly taken a back seat. "So many have wandered further and further away from the truth and the enemy is making fools of them." God has allowed evil to flourish for the time being, but it will not prevail in the end.
Make no mistake, there is Spiritual Warfare going on. There is a constant battle being waged for our souls. That's another thing we used to hear about growing up....our souls. Keep them pure. After all, it is our soul that lives on. But do we even HEAR about this any more? No. It is, indeed, the core of our being. Our souls do not get nourished, consequently, we (the world) do not thrive spiritually. God brings peace. The enemy brings distress.
One mother said, "I can say that a spiritual attack takes away the desire to be with God." I would even say this entire lack of unity within our family and the negative emails going back and forth, stirring up animosity, is from the devil.
The devil sends temptation and "works tirelessly to sow seeds of restlessness and anger, frustration and bitterness. He has so well camouflaged himself that we lose sight of him if we are not looking carefully."
The following comes from a book I have read, One chapter is titled, Who is the Devil? The FBI uses criminal profiling to assist with crime investigation and prevention. Profiling an offender helps to identify one likely to commit a certain type of crime. It is good to know our enemy because we can then protect ourselves from those who seek to hurt us. Below is a list of characteristics of the devil.
Arrogant, cruel, proud, hateful, envious, angry, jealous, liar, cold, unfeeling, duplicitous, callous, selfish in the extreme, unkind, sneaky, sly, unscrupulous, manipulative, stubborn, hates innocence, unfaithful, mocking, destructive, slippery, gleeful at humanity's pain, false, phoney, fake, mimics holiness/goodness/honesty, disobedient, dishonest, evil, tricky, never changing in terms of his goals, always seeking destruction of mankind, slave to his hatred, it rules him, dictates his every action and emotion, raging, furious, Did I say arrogant? Untimately helpless, which fuels the rage, uses humanity like playthings, greedy, bullying. fair weather friend, gluttonous, instills fear and confusion, aggressive, blows hard, rants/raves, mixes bad with good to confuse, mixes truth with lies to confuse, seeks to incite, seduce, disillusion, leads away from duty, distorts truth and motivation, humiliates, destroys dignity and integrity, seeks to mould souls into his image as mimicry of God, inconsistent in strategies, blends, adapts changes tactics when necessary.
The author also says the "devil can use a guilty conscience powerfully so we must be diligent about accepting God's forgiveness."
When I was growing up I learned from the Baltimore Catechism Series. Vatican II came along and it affected the next generation of teaching to the negative.
The first few questions in our book were:
Who made you? God made me. Why did He make you? To know him, to love, him, to serve him and to be happy with him in this world and the next.
Again, in the 50s, we were encouraged over and over again, to pray for the conversion of Russia. People said rosary after rosary after rosary for the conversion of Russia. Many years/decades later, Communism fell in Russia. It was prayer that did it. Don't ever underestimate THE POWER of prayer. It is THE MOST POWERFUL weapon....against evil, the devil and all the injustice that goes on in our world. The people who have been murdered are in Heaven. Those who murder will be dealt with by God.
What can I do? My very small, insignificant self can pray and serve......in many different ways. And this, by many, is what will change our world. Prayer, acts of sacrifice and service toward others.
I believe I will be dealt with by my omissions in life....what I COULD have done and didn't, rather than my sins of commission.
There is a prayer (among others) I say everyday:
I confess to Almighty God, the Blessed Mary Ever Virgin and all the Angels & Saints, that I have sinned, through my fault....in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done & what I have FAILED to do. And I ask the Blessed Mary Ever Virgin, All the angels & saints, and you my brothers & Sisters, to pray for me to the Lord, Our God.
This world is so temporary. It is only, really in the scheme of things, the blink of an eye. My main goal is to get to Heaven. It may not look like it, but DAILY, I am working toward that end. And for all of you to be there with me, too.
Yes, Patrick, I am as sickened by what is going on in the world. As I've mentioned above, prayer, sacrifice and service is my way of assuaging the evil in the world.
I love you. Love, Mom
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~~ My thoughts:
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“My main goal is to get to Heaven.”
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I think it's more about escaping hell in this instance. Such certainty of scarcity yet such reverent fear of a “loving” creator (shudder). Original sin is the belief in sin, but how do I say that to her? I'm so out of the fear loop I don't even know where to start. 
( there's my fear.. I'm confused, I don't know what to do. Never mind everybody, I'm perfectly afraid now..  )
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the 40 million (abortions) read that slaughtered babies that have occurred in the last many years in the US alone
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@40,000 needless deaths every single day due to starvation and malnutrition, that's nearly 15 MILLION DEATHS per year. Tragic as it is, forty million abortion deaths doesn't even cover the past three years.
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One mother said, "I can say that a spiritual attack takes away the desire to be with God." I would even say this entire lack of unity within our family and the negative emails going back and forth, stirring up animosity, is from the devil.
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I feel like this fear of animosity is the fear of resolution. Like the only reason it's fearful is because we're not used to it. As though there's not enough 'forgiveness' to go around. I'd rather have the space to argue and forgive than a peace that's confined. But I don't think I'd know that without this current experience.
characteristics of the devil (from above):
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Arrogant, cruel, proud, hateful, envious, angry, jealous, liar, cold, unfeeling, duplicitous, callous, selfish in the extreme, unkind, sneaky, sly, unscrupulous, manipulative, stubborn, hates innocence, unfaithful, mocking, destructive, slippery, gleeful at humanity's pain, false, phoney, fake, mimics holiness/goodness/honesty, disobedient, dishonest, evil, tricky, never changing in terms of his goals, always seeking destruction of mankind, slave to his hatred, it rules him, dictates his every action and emotion, raging, furious, Did I say arrogant? Untimately helpless, which fuels the rage, uses humanity like playthings, greedy, bullying. fair weather friend, gluttonous, instills fear and confusion, aggressive, blows hard, rants/raves, mixes bad with good to confuse, mixes truth with lies to confuse, seeks to incite, seduce, disillusion, leads away from duty, distorts truth and motivation, humiliates, destroys dignity and integrity, seeks to mould souls into his image as mimicry of God, inconsistent in strategies, blends, adapts changes tactics when necessary.
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Who needs to be TOLD all that? I realize that there are some people that may need this instruction, but is this need normal? In fact don't answer that.
And duplicitous? I don’t mean to nitpick or anything but that adjective alone pretty much makes the devil half God. Which makes sheer evil half good. If the devil is duplicitous by nature, then by nature it cannot be a cohesive unit. To the extent that duplicitousness is impossible, so too is the devil. The devil, by its own nature is impossible. 
Nothing could be truly duplicitous and still be one whole thing. And nothing doesnt exist! 
Now how do I put that into dogmatic terms even a Catholic mother could love?
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Nothing bad can ever happen.
~God
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