China's strategy in Afghanistan.

It makes sense for China to keep ties with the Taliban, especially when afghan intel was working with Indian intel to attack Chinese engineers in Pakistan.
I hazard a guess it's the former vice president of A-stan which was behind these attacks; he'll get his comeuppance along with the Jai Hinds.

and that day is a-coming

plawolf said:

Same way you can have secular Christian governments?

Click to expand...

No, it's not the same.

Secularism was infused into the New Testament by its editors, at the Council of Nicaea, which was sponsored by Constantine. This is why you have statements in the Bible like "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". Whether Jesus actually said that, is an academic debate. Nevertheless, that's the basis of secularism in the West, and ironically, it is also the basis for the Church.

The Quran contains no such statements and is categorically against secularism and is also against the idea of a "church." Only God has political and spiritual authority, which is controlled directly by the Quran, period. In the government of Madinah under Muhammad and the first four Caliphs, there was neither 'secularism' nor a 'church.' There were no "priests" either. You had a government, whose constitution was derived from Quranic axioms, and you basically had technocrats, who managed the functioning of the State (which was the first "Welfare State" in political history.)

The division of responsibilities between rulers/priests came later in Muslim societies. Where our 'religious scholars' started behaving like priests in a 'Church' and assumed spiritual authority, while the rulers/emperors did whatever they wanted and had their wishes rubberstamped by them, just like the Church/Caesar dichotomy. This dynamic is what turns "religion" into the "opium of the masses." And this is why some Muslim intellectuals, like Perwez (who was a student of Iqbal), argued that Islam in its true form, is against "religion." It is no wonder then, that in the history of the Prophets, like Moses, Jesus and Mohammad, their greatest opponents were always priests and rulers.

These vets experience and observations pretty much says why the U.S. can't win on any war period

"This is why you have statements in the NT like "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's"

No

The Greek text is sufficiently clear to understand what occurred

They set a trap for him: -master, "do we pay or do we not pay" taxes to Rome

And the Nazarene answered: show me a Roman coin

- This coin, whose coin is it?
- Caesar's ?
-Well, give it back to Caesar: give this coin back to Caesar

DarkStar said:

It makes sense for China to keep ties with the Taliban, especially when afghan intel was working with Indian intel to attack Chinese engineers in Pakistan.
I hazard a guess it's the former vice president of A-stan which was behind these attacks; he'll get his comeuppance along with the Jai Hinds.

Click to expand...

China doesn't necessarily needs to keep ties with the (almost dead) Gov forces.
However it should retain and even increase ties with Afghan liberals.

These are the people who will fundamentally advance Afghanistan in the future. Issues like education for girls, work rights for women, science based thinking, education for all etc are (will be) the main drivers for Afghanistan to further develop.

Talibans are ok but with their medieval thinking(changing now?) they wont manage to grow Afghanistan too much.

China should improve relations with both of these factions. Talibans will ensure security and stability for country in order to allow investments to flow in. And gradually the liberals will inevitably start having more influence and start pushing for new rights and progressiveness in Afghanistan. This is a naturally occuring cycle which happened at most (all?) countries at some point of their history.

At the end, the Taliban will become right conservatives, and liberals will be the left liberals. The state will also remain a Muslim country ofc

China should keep working with all sides in the dark, in case the Taliban start committing any atrocities which would tarnish China's reputation as a responsible global powerm. This means, deploying private mercenary groups, setting up shell companies in order to funnel money to Afghanistan so that China can keep plausible deniability in case something happens and it gets exposed

New Testament

(ca. 40) Caligula's legions disembark at the port of Ptolemaida

(ca. 40-66) Mark

(66-) the high priest "Anas the younger" orders the stoning of "Jacob the righteous" "and others" of his brotherhood. Menahem - "no more lord than the Lord"- assaults the arms depot at Masada, distributes weapons, and - "no more lord than the Lord"- cuts the throat of the high priest Annas the younger son of Annas the elder father-in-law of Caiaphas and "burns the records of the Debts"

The sons of the Sadducee priestly aristocracy kill Menahem "after subjecting him to many torments" and redirect the agrarian riot: they go out to kill Syrians

"The events that occurred between us", are three:

(A) the civil war in Syria
(B) the civil war between "the people of the land" (Galilea, Perea, Idumea) and the ruling class of the city-Temple, and
(C) the war against the Romans

(-70) The legions of Titus and Vespasian, Legio X Fretensis, Legio V Macedom, Legio XV Apollinarus, destroy the Temple, fulfilling the prophecies of the Nazarenes

(ca. 80) Matthew

(ca. 90-100) Luke ... and Flavius Josephus

(115-117) Kitos War


(ca. 120) "Book of Revelation" i.e. "Apokalipsis"
(ca. 120) An old text spreads: John

Why are you quoting bible in this forum come on cut it out!

What Bible (!?)

I am talking about the history of the Roman Empire ...

... and historical documents of the Judeo-Greco-Persian culture

"quotes" ...

Are

From

It appears Afghan Taliban have released several hundred Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan prisoners that the previous government had imprisoned. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Is an al queda affiliated, afghan Taliban derived group dedicated to overthrowing the government of Pakistan and replacing it with a Taliban style theocracy. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is a main sponsor of terrorism in Pakistan, and particularly targets Chinese interesting associated with belt-and-road in Pakistan as a main, and particularly unislam, foreign subsidizer of Pakistan. If the Taliban is seriously interested in chinese support for modernization, it would not attack Chinese belt-and-road initiative in a Chinese ally in the region, much less help with trying to overthrow the China friendly government there.

I think this reveal more about what methods and agenda the afghan Taliban remain dedicated to, and suggest afghan Taliban running to China for modernization, and allowing itself to become a chain in belt-and-road is even less likely than might appear just a few days ago.