UNITY AND LOVE
Most religious and non-religious people will be surprised to learn that the bible is full of examples of disunity. That the topic appears so often is a clue about God’s attitudes about political, religious and social conflict. And when we consider bible stories about conflict with the right perspective, we will understand that they go to the heart of commandments about loving your neighbor as yourself. The stories exist as examples of the conflict that erupts in relationships when people do not love their neighbor as they love themselves.

STUDY TIPS: See these links for understanding of bible stories about interpersonal, religious and political conflict:

• • • • • • Religion is Injustice, Slavery, Oppression and Affliction
          • Religion is the Enemy
          • Gods at War
          • Sibling Conflict
          • Religion and Government

ㅤ
Most Christians and Jews will be surprised to learn that God has given clear instructions (i.e. commandments) on how to avoid conflict and heal broken relationships in dozens of scriptures scattered throughout the bible. Christians, including Christian Nationalists, tend to ignore these scriptures for a variety of reasons:

• • Many of the commandments are found in the Old Testament.
  • Many Christians don’t read the bible thoroughly or carefully.
  • Many Christians believe that trusting in Jesus as their savor somehow excuses them from consciously and intentionally applying the specific commands to their everyday lives.
  • Their religious leaders have never taught them to take the scriptures seriously and apply them to their everyday lives.

ㅤ
Jews ignore specific application of these scriptures because they focus on obedience to the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) which are the foundation of Judaism. That means that they ignore any commandments written in the New Testament.

People who don’t believe in God don’t usually read the bible. Nevertheless, who knows what might happen if they were exposed to God’s truths about how to achieve political and social unity — even if they don’t know that those truths are found in the bible? Hopefully, most of them will recognize wisdom when they see it — no matter what the source might be. And then, who knows, perhaps some of them will choose to intentionally apply that wisdom to their own lives just because those principles make sense. And, who knows, perhaps some of them might choose to intentionally apply that wisdom to their own lives out of sheer frustration over the fact that other human efforts to heal political and social division are working.

When it comes to the ability to recognize truth and act on it, the presence or absence of past religious beliefs and practices don’t really matter. Truth has a universal appeal that transcends all existing religious, political and cultural boundaries. This is true for all kinds of truth but is especially true for God’s truth. This is why it is critical to circulate truth as widely as possible. Who knows who will receive it and act on it.

The questions that remain are these:

What are the truths that need to be shared? Who is qualified to share truth? How will those truths be shared?

And here are the answers to these questions:

A. The primary truths that need to be shared are found in these links:  God’s Commands About Doing Justice  God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another  Attitudes and Behaviors in Religion and Politics  Do Not Seek Revenge Against Your Enemies  Choosing Friends, Making Alliances and Voting  Truthfulness, Honesty and Integrity  Prohibitions Against Giving and Receiving Bribes  Do Not Judge with Favoritism and Partiality  Right Attitudes Toward Government and People in Authority  Forgive Your Enemies  How to Relate to Strangers and Aliens  Practical, Doable Ways to Love Your Neighbors  How to Relate to the Poor   More truths appear in the following links: Truth vs Lies. Christian Nationalism Doctrines and Philosophy: Lies and Truth Dominionism Doctrines and Philosophy: Lies and Truth Early American Religious History. God’s Commands About Doing Justice for Others God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another. Memorable Truth and Lies Quotations Seven Mountains Doctrines and Philosophy: Lies and Truth Understanding the US Constitution. What God Says About Evil, Deceptive Hearts. How to love your neighbor.   B.  Everyone — including people who do not believe in God — can be a truthteller. C.  When, how and where truthtellers share the truths that are important to them is up to individual truthtellers.

ㅤ

People who do not believe that God exists or question his existence, or believe that if he does exist he is only concerned about how people should practice religion, will find proof in the links to truths listed above that God is very practical regarding human relationships. In fact, they will find that God values loving and caring for others the the same way he values love for him. More than that, they will find that God considers that failure to love and care for others is injustice and abuse and clear evidence that people who do not love others do not love him. This relationship can be summarized like this:

• • • People who love God will naturally love others.
    • People who do not love others do not love God.

‎
In God’s way of thinking, abuse or neglect of the poor and favoritism toward the rich is clear evidence of lack of love for God and disobedience to his commandments. This is a hard word that Christian Nationalists need to know.. Who knows, perhaps if they knew this truth they would change their ways. We won’t know unless truthtellers start sharing these truths.