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Multicolored Lemur

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Atheist / Agnostic
Nov 23, 2021
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33 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

36 Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?”

And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.”

37 “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”

38 Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

———————

Maybe Jesus was even annoyed with Peter at this particular point in time. So, be it. He still loved Peter, and in fact, all the disciples.
 
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Maybe Jesus was even annoyed with Peter at this particular point in time. So, be it. He still loved Peter, and in fact, all the disciples.
Yes, it's a remarkable display of loveship. NOwadays, love is perverted. Often confused with lust and many other things, or it's just superficial. But at least Jesus' love lasted through good and bad times.
 
Jesus loves everyone even though we all disappoint Him at times

except that a human Mom or Dad would work, fight, and think very hard to keep their child out of hell.

* in functional families, maybe not so much in certain dysfunctional families
 
Often confused with lust and many other things, or it's just superficial.

I once had a theory that,

Romantic Love = Liking + Lust + Respect.

And maybe that’s 80% of it! Of course, there’s going to be a few other important things as well. :)
 
Romantic Love = Liking + Lust + Respect.
When put together, I agree.

But I guess with me I was even talking about a platonic type of love, like the one between Jesus and Peter.

Nowadays, the only love people tend to know about is between romantic partners or family, but the love for a neighbor is lost, almost as if it's just outdated or out of fashion. If I told my male neighbor I loved him, he's probably assume I'm coming out of the closet 😅
 
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In my Humanities classes, I learned about Plato's views on love. There are 3 types that were covered:
Throughout these eras, platonic love was slowly categorized into seven different classical definitions. These were:
  • Eros: sexual or passionate love, or a modern perspective of romantic love.
  • Philia: the love of friendship or goodwill, often met with mutual benefits that can also be formed by companionship, dependability, and trust.
  • Agape: the universal love, consisting of love for strangers, nature, or God.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_love

Is it right to say that Jesus wanted everyone to have 'agape' love for everyone, even including for spouses (where we'd usually only think only romantic love is involved)??
 
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What have you done to keep someone out of Hell?
As a non-believer, I more think in terms of preventing various hells here on Earth. I’m sorry, but I do. For example —

1) why aren’t churches up to best practice on preventing sex abuse? No excuse, they really ought to be. With a yearly review and maybe a quick, non-tedious couple of lessons. For starters,if you get a report, you bring your A-game and you take it very seriously.

2) Jyst as far as basic first aid, I’ve had a couple of friends. And with anti-depressants, don’t go cold turkey. If the side effects are bad, go down to half. And just tell the doctor, I went down to half. And . . . people need to know these things! *

3) Gaza

4) Ukraine

5) South Sudan

There are a lot of issues, topics, and areas where we can make a positive difference. At least potentially, and sometimes actually! :)

* I’m very fortunate and blessed that I’ve never lost anyone to suicide.
 
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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_love

Is it right to say that Jesus wanted everyone to have 'agape' love for everyone, even including for spouses (where we'd usually only think only romantic love is involved)??
Yes, I agree.

But putting an emphasis on “Agape love,” I think Christians give a good thing to the world. It’s similar to “Buddhist compassion.” And Muslims also set a positive example with their goal of giving two-and-a-half percent to others. This is much more obtainable than 10%, and therefore, people don’t get down on themselves! :)

I’m remembering that “Agape” is pronounced with 3 syllables and the last syllable is “-pay.” Is this correct?