one of the things i do notice is the constant implication of the lack of free will, that humans cannot resist, they failed to resist, nevertheless they DO know it deep in their hearts that they must fight through. but instead of deciding to keep their dignity, they proclaim that they either do not have a chance to redeem themselves, or that they never were able to from the beginning and they start to parrot that all who suffered and struggled like they did must have gone down the same path that they did.
and when they notice that there were others that struggled but still managed to keep their dignity intact, they get offended, the mere sighting of a man who is pure at heart and resolute despite his hardships attacks them more than anything, which is why they cope with the idea that it's "all pretend".
they must deny the existence of free-will at every opportunity because if they believed in it, then they would have to open up the cracking dam that is their regrets, and beyond that they must face the path to grow from then on.
@branman65@BowsacNoodle@SuperSnekFriend i believe in free will, without free will you wouldn't have either evil nor good, just incentives, you would believe that your entire existence is just based on chemicals in your brain rather than a human soul (the one that God gave you)
4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
i am not that far in the bible to have gotten here yet, so granted i don't have much authority to speak here, just from what i have understood, and from what i have been taught when i participated in studying the bible.
ironically, just today i have heard of the story of Paul and Philemon and read it during lunch (both english and german).
i think this would be a letter Paul sent to the church in Ephesia.
so this would be referring to Christians, but it doesn't seem to specifically exclude non-Christians either in this, i will read through Ephisians fully eventually, and take my time with it, i still have a lot to read through still, while i did learn a lot through the bible study and was able to understand a lot more, i still have a lot more to go, so if i am somewhere wrong here do tell me.
what i have learned however, as a catholic here, is that free will is essential to our human experience, and the fact that we can choose to follow the Holy Spirit, is what gives meaning to our journey, this is also what i feel about it
@sun 2 months ago i talked to an american immigrant and they showed me how an american passport looks like, it didn't make a sound but i heard the eagle screeching nonetheless
@sun by "Jesus" they mean Christs teachings as per the church, the modern day catholic church just allows so much sin. Christ is not a hippie who just allows anything, it's not just about believing in him existing. the point of forgiveness is to avoid sin to the best of your capability, not to get a ticket from then on to do anything we please.
the thing men need isn't explicit direct support. i think the biggest factor is the loneliness epidemic, and a feeling of disconnection. men can tough out various hardships, in fact it is important to face mental hardships in life for men, the problem is that men do not get the means or purpose behind them. lacking a group of friends who you know also faced hardship, as well as in a society that teaches men to be individualistic, does lead to almost no purpose.
men have the ability to overcome hardship, but when they don't have a reason to or motivator it can be hard. not to mention an important factor is the lack of good exemplary men, pride can go a long way into it, if you see others who inspire you, that pride and willingness to become as great as them helps a lot with it.
as a man, outside of your father you will likely never meet exemplary men, and if you have an absent father then it's done. your teachers are probably mostly women, and often the men are too old, they can give wisdom which is important, but they cannot give you courage. and they cannot relate to your experience. why do you think it's often the PE teacher that is the favorite one among the boys? because they are usually relatively young (including middle age here), and they often show confidence and expertise, masculinity, it's the energy that they give off.
this is why despite being *morally* a negative influence, a lot of "hustle" (i.e andrew tate and co) got a lot of teenage boys to support them, because they show a man being masculine, and one that doesn't need help for overcoming his problems, he can deal with it, whatever comes up, and boys see that and they want to be like that.
also the lack of Women present in their life, even when you do have a partner you fail to actually connect with them on a spiritual level because a lot of the time relationships are viewed as "contractual" rather than any actual human bond "if she says this we are out" "if he does this then it won't work out". these are relatively superficial connections that are viewed based on a formatted list of idealistic beliefs that is aimed to make the relationship as comfortable as possible, when comfort means a lack of conflict, connections and need for understanding and empathy.
mental health works differently for men than for women, men NEED to overcome it, the problem isn't that the men are "weaker". it's that society fails to take care of them by giving any incentives for them, and whenever they do show actual signs of character building those sparks are quickly snuffed out in the name of combating "toxic masculinity".
i hold this belief that men cannot live for themselves, there's nothing a man wants more than to be relied upon by others, because it is in our nature to want to be needed. but men of today are abused by being used, and not even being thanked for their service, and constantly being told that they are not needed.
@veff@theorytoe@EdBoatConnoisseur >or using it to strengthen English vocabulary for me it's not that but it is fun recognizing the differences in "translation", sometimes there are words that are technically the same word in both languages, but they have a very slight different meaning. which languages are you learning btw?