The "Edict of Milan " (313 A. D.)
When I, Constantine Augustus, as well as I Licinius Augustus d fortunately met near Mediolanurn (Milan), and were considering everything that pertained to the public welfare and security, we thought -, among other things which we saw would be for the good of many, those regulations pertaining to the reverence of the Divinity ought certainly to be made first, so that we might grant to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred; whence any Divinity whatsoever in the seat of the heavens may be propitious and kindly disposed to us and all who are placed under our rule And thus by this wholesome counsel and most upright provision we thought to arrange that no one whatsoever should be denied the opportunity to give his heart to the observance of the Christian religion, of that religion which he should think best for himself, so that the Supreme Deity, to whose worship we freely yield our hearts) may show in all things His usual favor and benevolence. Therefore, your Worship should know that it has pleased us to remove all conditions whatsoever, which were in the rescripts formerly given to you officially, concerning the Christians and now any one of these who wishes to observe Christian religion may do so freely and openly, without molestation. We thought it fit to commend these things most fully to your care that you may know that we have given to those Christians free and unrestricted opportunity of religious worship. When you see that this has been granted to them by us, your Worship will know that we have also conceded to other religions the right of open and free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times, that each one may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases ; this regulation is made we that we may not seem to detract from any dignity or any religion.
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why can't we live in peace as suggested in this law?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Translated, don't go unto other lands and tell those people they are damned if they don't practice your religion. Then while you are at it stop depicting Jesus as a Blond and eyed guy from Walking distance to Africa.

There are plenty of blonds in Africa and I'm sure most of them are eyed. And as far as I know, TLW didn't paint any paintings of a blond Jesus, but if he has who are you to judge his hobby?

if i have to paint a portrait of Jesus. I would depict a man with south american indigeneous characters.
for u guys to get it better, just imagine a mexican illegal and u'll know how my Jesus would be.

Perhaps you didn't get it so i will try to rephrase it. Christians, don't afford others this courtesy.

and the vicious cycle restarts therefore i withdraw.

what is so vicious, just practice what you preach.

withdrawing ...............
ah, it's worthless.
have a good day.

that is just like your religion, when you are faced with your sins you have no defense.

All 2+ billion Christians don't afford others that courtesy? TLW does. He has had harsh words for many Christians here who have prostylized. So you owe him an apology, IMHO.

As far as I know, we do live this way in America.

The only time there seems to be any problems is when people try to bring religion into politics. But that really isn’t a religious issue at all, that’s just a political issue disguised as a religious issue.

And if you’re talking about conversations on a religious discussion forum then again, that has nothing to do with freedom of religion. You are free to voice your religious views. And everyone else is free to voice theirs.

You problem seems to be that you get upset when you hear other people voicing beliefs that differ from yours. But that’s not stopping you from believing or worshiping the way you chose.

I imagine that you can go to church and gather with people of your faith all the time and have no problems at all. The only time you’ll run into problems is if you become involved in political rallies, (trying to us religion as your clout). Or if you try to convince other people to believe the way you do. Those other people have every right to return the favor and try to convince you to believe what they believe.

None of this has anything at all to do with your right to believe and worship as you choose. You are free to do that in the USA.

So I have no clue what you are talking about.

We do live in peace as suggested by the law you’ve mentioned. Except when religious people try to bring religion into politics, but like I say, then it’s no longer a religious issue, then it becomes a political issue. A whole different ballgame.

I'm gonna put it in words for u to understand. U claim I'm hypocrite for being christian, I claim the same of you because you are judging, the same as you complaint about christians.
yet my constant question in these forums remains unanswered.
who is really the hypocrite?
the one who cries first or the one cries after?

My Man

I think each person should be judged for his or her own actions. If Christians in general are guilty of all crimes commited by other Christians, then whose crimes are you guilty of?

no, no James, I've been with you for so long, yet you don't know me at all.
my problem starts when the ones who cry christain hypocrisy becomes as hypocrites or even more than christians.

Do you honestly believe that this means anything to him? He's beyond reach, his mind is made up. You have always been nice to him, but he can't treat you like an equal and assume your motives are what you say that are? I cannot find respect for someone who treats people like that. You used to write about how wise he was and how nice and talented and etc, etc, etc and he still spits on you by calling you a liar and questioning your motives in posting. It's disgusting to me. It really is. This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7, nothing you say will ever make him treat you like an equal. Nothing.

I really have no problem with you and your beliefs but it would be rather disingenuous of you to say the Christianity does not have a long and checked history of forcing others to believe in "their god".so perhaps the problem which many religions is just that. Maybe if we can all agree that the is no one way to praise or worship and that Gods Love is infinite and unconditional.

Some can get along, some can't.

To me the biggest trend I see is that as soon as people identify themselves as part of a group, a group from which others are excluded, they immediately begin to treat non-members less courteously and frequently treat them as automatic adversaries.

Well, on the one hand you seem to be talking about individuals on a personal level. Yet you start a thread asking why we can't live in peace as suggested by a law.

The law that you stated is basically already in effect in the land where you live. All I'm saying is that no law is going to control people's individual opinions.

Well, my problem is peaceful for many christians is that they are right and all the rest are damned. Coming up against a christian who then screams they are prosecuted for their religion is not a peaceful way of living with tolerance and harmony.

I have met christians who can accept that all do not believe the way they do but......and there is always a but, they feel they must "save" the others from themselves. This is not respecting anothers right to believe how they want to or need to. It is treating all non christians as ignorant of their own best interest. This is not peaceful, tolerant, etc....

I have no problem with whatever people practice in the privacy of their home. It is their right. Don't put it in my government, that is disrespectful to me. I do not recognize christians as the moral vein of this country, nor do I recognize their faith as a benefit to this country. Being christian does not make them better than me, more informed than me, more moral than me, etc....

So when we get through all of that, if a christian feels strongly about their beleifs for themselves, cool, I have no problem. Your religion applies to you, period, not the nation, state, county, city, neighborhood, etc...., just you are to follow your religious rules and that is how it should be kept.