What is your favorite Tolkien quote, book, personal story, or character?

(I’ll post some of mine below)

https://twitter.com/historicalrook/status/1962809225161081324

Such a good quote from one of his letters.

Ted Cruz holds a wrong, but common interpretation of Genesis 12:3.
In the below thread, I’ll show the proper interpretation by putting it back into its context.
🧵 👇 Who is Israel, and what is its blessing?

God said to Abram in Genesis 12,
“I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”

The Early Church on War, Peace, and The State

1/
A thread 🧵 2/
Have you ever heard the phrase “the early church?” It’s typically used when referring to Christians during the years of AD 30 – 325. This is marked at the beginning with the death and ascension of Christ, and then the end with the first Council of Nicaea.

Most Americans today have a completely contrary version of dropping nuclear bombs on Japan, than the military leaders that were there.

The noninterventionist is always charged with rewriting history, but when honestly reviewing historical data, we can see a predominance of historical revisions stem from nationalistic justification of atrocities.

A 🧵 "...the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." DWIGHT EISENHOWER

Tolstoy on Soldier Suicide, 1894
A 🧵
(1/12) (2/12) “People are astonished that every year there are sixty thousand cases of suicide in Europe, and those only the recognized and recorded cases–and excluding Russia and Turkey; but one ought rather to be surprised that there are so few.

John Newton’s Wisdom on Politics
A 🧵
(1/10) (2/10) John Newton, once the master of a slave ship, later converted to Christ and became one of the world’s most beloved pastors, was an abolitionist and composer of the hymn ‘amazing grace.

Who is Israel, and what is its blessing?
A 🧵

God said to Abram in Genesis 12,
“I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.” Through Abram’s descendants the world would be blessed, but is that blessing to the world a nation state, or something else?

(1/8) “Valentine, …cared little for the ambitions of Emperors, and so he began to marry couples in secret. By defending marriage, Valentine also subverted the war effort and helped young families resist the draft. For his treason and sedition, Valentine was executed.” (2/8) On the western calendar of saints, February 14 is traditionally the feast of St. Valentine of Rome. The eastern calendar, which is followed by most of the Orthodox Church, celebrates St. Valentine of Rome on July 6.

"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier"

Verse 1
Ten million soldiers to the war have gone,
Who may never return again.
Ten million mothers' hearts must break
For the ones who died in vain.
Head bowed down in sorrow
In her lonely years,
I heard a mother murmur thru' her tears: Chorus
I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier,
I brought him up to be my pride and joy.
Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder,
To shoot some other mother's darling boy?

(1/5) “Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; (2/5) ...the booty is divided by the law agreed on. If, by the admittance of abandoned men, this evil increases to such a degree that it holds places, fixes abodes, takes possession of cities, and subdues peoples, it assumes the more plainly the name of a kingdom,

(1/9) We are finally here- The High Holy Day of the Civil Religion. There are many events and practices in the Civil Religion that mimic and impersonate Sacraments, and The Means of Grace, but maybe none as much as Election Day. (2/9) Where the other civil observances masquerade for our praise, and distract us from our Portion, Election Day is the State rite of a usurped Faith.

(1/10) “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (2/10) But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you,

According to Wikipedia, there were six primary reasons why early Christians were persecuted by Rome.

1. The exclusive sovereignty of Christ clashed with Caesar's claims to his own exclusive sovereignty. 2. The Roman empire practiced religious Syncretism & did not demand loyalty to one god, but they did demand preeminent loyalty to the state, & this was expected to be demonstrated through the practices of the state religion with numerous feast & festival days throughout the year.