Comments by "Reformed Sauron" (@ReformedSauron) on "The Texas GOP, Ten Commandments, And How to Lose" video.

I'm all for embracing religion, but I also know you don't make this kind of move to help religion when you are still facing great pushback. It will inspire an equal and opposite reaction in times of great social turmoil like now. There is no reason to legislate this for public schools. Government will never make anybody more religious, that is people's job. If anything government trying to do so will actually inspire them to be less so... Just like the satanic panic. Also Christians ought to know better than anyone that Christ did not advocate for Caesar to do the job of the Christian faithful. Christianity was supposed to be a church and individual effort. If you need Caesar to do what is your responsibility as a Christian you are a failure to your faith.
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Technically, both parties need to get the first and second amendment through their skulls, just in a slightly different way for each.
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Just because they shove something down our throats doesn't mean we should do the same. The response to someone waving a rainbow flag in a classroom isn't to wave yours, it is to allow neither to be promoted with State funds. While I would agree that the faith is more wholesome, the proper response isn't to shove our thing down their throat the way they are shoving theirs down ours.
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They are one-hundred-percent a good thing, but it's not a public schools job. If kids are not getting it at home they aren't going to care if it's in a public school. Caesar is not the way to convert your kids, and Caesar is not the way to save the lost. That's our job as individuals.
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@Chud_Bud_Supreme it's more like if you score a touchdown try to do it in a way in which you don't give them the ability to do the same. This gives them the ability to do the same. Find a different way.
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Government is not the answer to reviving religion. Whenever the government tries to apply that it actually hurts religion in the long run. Want to help religion? Get more important people interested in God through social networking. Get active. Tell me when the government has ever been the answer.
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Praying in public school should totally be protected, as should wearing Christian apparel, and even bringing a bible into a publicly-funded school too, but yes it is your job to teach your children about Christ not Caesar's. Christ always envisioned conversion happening through the individual not through Caesar. Never once did He advocate coercion.
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But will it be winning if it inspires a reaction that actually takes your wins in the future away? Think a few steps ahead. You know what they're going to do and you will have handed them with justification they can twist around successfully for propagandistic purposes. They love when we do this. If they are capable of stretching too far then we most certainly are. If you want to win you cannot be like them.
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So teach it on an individual level like it's always been done and successful in doing so. Christ never once advocated for Caesar to be the one that does this.
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@daltonnelson94 so which states have established an official religion? I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but I'm also saying you'll never find that consensus in any states over one particular religion. That means you're going to step on a lot of toes even within your own ranks. For example, I'm a Catholic and a largely Protestant state with a large Catholic minority. The largest group in the state of Massachusetts is irreligion, but only by plurality, not outright majority. Mormons are of course the majority in Utah but not exactly buy a whole lot. If at some point in the future, one state becomes outright majority irreligious, or Jewish or Muslim or Hindu does that mean they can make their states officially one of those? And what would be the religious rights in public settings of those who do not practice that established religion within that state? We've got a lot of differences in America demographically even within religion, so it's not feasible even if it is technically constitutional. But you can guarantee that that asshat Lindsey Graham will do the same thing he did with abortion on the religious thing if he gets a chance and he will hurt the federal level GOP chances with it and then that will trickle down to each and every state that is in swing territory.
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@kennytendo7255 more particularly on the religious aspect they were escaping forced religion. They wanted the freedom to practice and teach their religion alongside others that may have differed with them without being forced by their neighbors. They were not fleeing inherently irreligious governments, they were fleeing religious governments who were doing it wrong.
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Not the teacher's job though. Never has been. You should also not trust them to execute it properly. Morals being instilled are not a government worker's responsibility. If something is lacking that is a parental responsibility problem. Why would you trust Caesar when not even Christ expected this of him?
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We are majority Christian religiously and fundamentally by our philosophical foundations of governance (as are most western Nations actually). However, this does not mandate that our institutions are. What about the non-christians paying into that public school system? Should they apply for tax exemption? I'm a Christian too, but I also recognize that this is probably not solid ground to argue on. We have no State religion, only a religious foundation. Know the difference between being a Christian Nation and a Christian State.
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While I do think he is resentful towards God and religion in general, he has a point about tactics-- the reason a lot of people got fed up with Christianity is because people were literally pushing it hard in government. Government will never make people more religious that is the individual's job. The satanic panic is a perfect example because there were government pushes of religion over something that in the end was a nothingburger and it hurt Christianity in this country big-time. While Marxism here may not be a nothingburger in this country, it will be fueled with a false sense of justification with this kind of thing. Do we really want to inspire another satanic panic they will actually cripple Christianity that is starting to rise once again in this country once more? Why would we shoot ourselves in the kneecaps right when we're starting to get back up?
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So was the country we separated from. That's not the point.
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You can do plenty of that outside of a public school setting. All you really need to do is eradicate woken us from within the schools and deal with everything you want to outside of it. No need to just do the opposite end of what they are doing in a public school setting, unless you are not about consistency and it's only a double standard when they do it.
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This. It was never meant to be Caesars job. It was meant to be our job.
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I don't trust any government employee to ever do it properly. You can press the individual to do it properly outside of public school setting though... The exact same way it has been taught since the beginning of time: without Caesar's help. If you need Caesar to help you, it your fault there is decay. Even trying to do this as a deal with the devil.
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Our laws have bases in the Bible that is true, but Christ never advocated for the state teaching your children His word. You should be able to pray or bring religious material into a public school, but the public schools should not be teaching any religion with preference or putting one up on a pedestal with preference. Those are true principles and consistency right there, and it will still allow you to not simply have your faith confined at home and the church. Christ did not believe in the spread of the faith through the state or Caesar, he believed in the spread of the Faith by the church as and the individual. So for God's sake don't start saying that Caesar needs to help you out. This is not the way. It will simply inspire people to rely on government schools to teach their children what they need about God. If your community relies on the government pushing something in order to survive, then your community is already dead. No. It survives through personal effort not through State effort.
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Logic still works no matter where you are. Tactically he is not wrong even if his religious views are definitely not in line with mine. He could live on Mars and still be right tactically right now more than the Texas GOP is.
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Libertarianism as a primary political movement is not possible only as a s secondary one. However libertarianism within oneself at least to an extent, prevents you from becoming the monster you fight and from making the same mistakes. Tactically he is right.
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@mathewlett9104 not Caesar's job. If you need it to be Caesars job, you are admitting personal failure. Christ never once advocated for coercion to convert, Christ never demanded Caesar do his part in what was the responsibility of the faithful. The response would be simply remove their religion from schools too, not add in another. It's not that hard, unless you have a double standard like the left.
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This is a 10 times better solution than what is being proposed in Texas right now. Let's go with this. Best yet, it's not going to cross any constitutional lines or it get anywhere close to it.
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Tortoise and the hare indeed. Agreed.
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If you need Caesar to do this for you instead of how Christ wanted it by doing an individual level, you have failed your children. This was never meant to be Caesars job. Any conservative or Christian that relies on the state to teach God to their children in order to save their religion has already failed at home. Unfortunately Styx is right. Tactically this is a blunder. There will be an equal and opposite reaction if this is pressed hard enough, and you will create another satanic panic which in the end ended up hurting Christianity in this country by driving people away from it-- especially young people. There is a reason I am no longer a firebrand Evangelical because they have the passion like any other Christian, but they don't have the brains to play a few steps ahead. Religion has never been spread well by the state, it was always spread well by the individual. You are going to cause a hatred of Christianity in the young of texts as they grow up if this is pushed hard enough enough. And what do you think the punishment will be for that on judgement day? Christ was very clear on the proper way to convert people, and he never once advocated for coercion. You need to study up on his methods, otherwise the same people trying to help Christianity are going to be the same people who cripple its chances.
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Tactically it is awful. Also in terms of public school I do not see any way the government is going to do this well. In the long run it will more likely hurt the perception of religion, just like it has in the past using similar methods. Government will never make anyone more religious. If anything, it inspires the opposite just by trying to do so. I'm all for people being more religious I just do not think the government should have any hand in it. People can make each other more religious, not the state.
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The problem with being so deep red or blue is that you have little competition which results in stagnation. That being said you could do a lot worse than Texas as a general rule, but it is also the reason countless rhinos haven't lost their seat in a primary-- guaranteed GOP dominance.
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Just like the Republican GOP hurting the religious you are hurting the irreligious. You do realize you have just use the same kind of tactic he is advising against, yes?
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@Interfacer a pretty poor defense when you can't argue against his logic. Right now he has more brains than the Texas GOP as a whole. I don't even agree with him religiously and I can see this is going to kneecap conservatives in the country if pressed hard enough, and it might backfire so bad as to hurt Christianity. He could be on Mars and he could still be more right than you at this moment. Location means nothing when it comes to ideas.
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This is why I am no longer an evangelical. For the most part your assessment is right. Christ is awesome and it's great to have faith, but he also wasn't stupid when he tried to convert people. If we wish to change people to our point of view we cannot shove it down their throats are they are going to respond with an equal and opposite reaction. It will be the satanic panic all over again. That episode hurt Christianity in this country very badly. Evangelicals have the same passion as other Christians, but less brains. Outside of their own group they tend to scare people away because they do not know how to properly convert people without beating them over the head.
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Technically you can bring it into public schools it just can't be through the teachers or through some sort of official recognition. Pretty much anywhere outside of an official publicly-funded setting it is intended to be a religious free for all.
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@Chud_Bud_Supreme I don't trust these people to teach religion to my kids or even trust them to keep these put up on a wall in context, and neither should you. Teaching religion to your kids is your job teaching religion to your kids is your job and the job of your church or if you were to put your kid in a religious private school. You can trust they're going to get the right message there and Christ never said to gets lessons about his word from Caesar. Christianity is an individual effort not a government one. I think even Christ would be abhorred by this. Christ always converted through individual efforts. Christianity was supposed to be intimate: community efforts, charity, church and clergy, family. It was never to meant to be reliant on its preservation through the state. And by the way, if you teaching Christianity to your kids relies on the state doing it Christianity is pretty much dead for your kids already, because it means you are not doing your part. This doesn't apply for just you it applies for your Christian community if they're relying on the state to do it for them.
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So you're going to trust the government to give your children the god pill when you are perfectly well and able to do it yourself? Last time the government tried to give kids the god pill the satanic panic happened and drove a bunch of people away from Christianity. Every time the government tries to shove something down children's throats the children become averse to it when they grow up. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results. Exactly what do you think this is going to result in? The government will never be the answer to the religious problems in society that is the individual's task. Christ never called for Caesar to be the one to do the converting. That was the job of his holy church and Christians as a whole. I'm glad God has helped you, but do think more than one step ahead. This has backfired before and it can backfire again and if pressed hard enough it absolutely will.
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Christian values can be found in a church and at home. If you bring them into a public school you may do so voluntarily of course, and if you want them taught in a school setting you have private schools for that. Government will never inspire religious devotion it may only inspire hatred of it. It even manages to inspire hatred of it by pushing it. Want people to get more religious? Convert them yourself, don't make it mandatory. Compulsion inspires aversion.
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 @Chud_Bud_Supreme it does not mean for secularism, that is true, but it also does not allow forced religion.
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Be careful that the way you gain ground is not built on the same techniques of sand their arguments are on. Elsewise you will collapse like them too, but they will be standing above you when you start to get up. If you're going to score a win, do so in a way that does not give them ammunition. This will give them ammo. Culture wars are most affected by individuals not government. Even now. Always has been always will be. Salvation is the job of the individual not the state. When you expected to start being the job of the state you will lose.
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 @retromario96 and what is your opinion of Catholics in this?
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Then perhaps don't allow the woke religion to be taught as well. Problem solved and the best part is constitutionally you can stay in the clear. Perhaps the proper response is to not allow either in a public school setting unless you are doing it as an individual who isn't on a government salary.
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Christianity was never at its heart a religion that has been supported by the state. Using government power and funds to push it will backfire and actually hurt it. Case-in-point the satanic panic. That didn't massive damage to us. Western Civilization is indeed built on Christianity, and I wish for that to continue, but the growth Christianity is not dependent on the state, it is dependent on individual action. Why do so many people think it is the government's job to get people religious? I don't want these asshats anywhere close to converting people because they will do it wrong. I do not want the corrupt GOP to affect culture, I want them to deal with day-to-day issues and leave the effects of culture to individuals as it always should be. Government can never get culture right anyway. They sure know how to corrupt and destroy it though, even when sometimes well meaning.
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@Interfacer texan or not, he does have consistency and strategy. I don't even particularly like his views on religion and even I can agree with him on this. He's thinking three steps ahead, and the Texas GOP is only thinking one step ahead. Ironically, if a lot of Christians took the same long-game strategy this a cultist is putting forth they probably would be in a lot better of a position in the future than they are setting themselves up to be in. Hell, if they would have started with the strategy he has had in the 90s they would be in a way stronger position now. You don't have to be in Texas to be the only one with a brain.
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@D4ngeresque I have to be better than them, so I must allow neither, despite my desire to allow the commandments. I have discipline enough to be able to do it elsewhere. We can either be the same thing they are on a different side of the aisle or we can be a different thing entirely. Beware of becoming just a different kind of them. If shutting things down our throats brought such a reaction to them what do you think this is going to do? There will be a reaction if this is carried out more and more across the country. Government will never inspire a growth and religion in but it can inspire animus against it, and like the satanic panic has proven it can do so by simply promoting it by forcing it down people's throats. I'm all for God and religion but I also know there's a proper way to try to convert people, and a way that turns them against us.
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@Realcjs I don't think it should fly in the schools either. The proper response is not one of the other the proper response is neither. If you was an individual want to bring your own thing into a public school setting that is perfectly fine, so long as you are not being paid by the government. Vengeance is not a strategy it is a reaction, and it does not put a stop to the cycle it only continues it. Stop thinking one step ahead and start thinking three steps ahead.
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Allowing people to pray in school is 100% fine but it shouldn't be coerced in it. If you aren't capable of doing this at church or at home you have failed God for children already. Caesar was never supposed to be the one who was responsible for this kind of thing.
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You could do that or you could just get the tranny ideology out of the school and leave it at that. Perhaps the best response is to allow neither to do it. If you can't do it at home and you have to rely on Caesar do it you have obviously failed already because you are admitting that without Caesar you are incapable of propagating your own religion. Christ never intended for the government to get involved with propagating our faith. Christianity is an individual effort not a government one. But it does rub up against legal scrutiny in the same manner that the trans ideology does when in a public school setting. Strategically he has a point. If there is degradation it started because of the weakness of Christians to respond on an individual level through their own efforts. As Christians we must accept our responsibility and allowing this to happen in the first place through our failure of strategy and our failure of action. We still have time to make up for it but we have to do it the right way in without making the same mistakes as we had before.
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