86730@LAWRENCE (Bill Sklar) (01/12/90)
> My sole reason in asking was to find out why Bill would say that a >certain statement sounded "fairly Christian" to him. I am still at a loss, >but I hesitate to ask again. > > Bob Weiss Oh well... I post something in Love and I get attacked for it. (nice of you to inform me that this wasn't an attack, Bob, but I have to say I simply do not believe you). Your original questions were an attack. They were meant as such. Does everyone else see what we do here? This isn't just you, Bob, I think to some extent it's all of us. If someone posts something, we pull it apart bit by bit and find every flaw in it we possibly can. We, as a whole, take good comments and what good people say, and completely discard all good in them. We then proceed to find something we don't like and say how un-Christian or whatever else we think it is. If someone has love to offer, we seem to want to break it down with petty hate. Has Satan really got such a strong hold on this list that we break down so easily? I, as most of you know, have a knack for saying things which piss people off (forgive the language, if any of you find it offensive, but it's the *best* expression I have for it). Fine. Go ahead and get annoyed with what I say. Dislike it. I don't mind one bit. What I mind is when we get so PETTY. Rather than adress the issues at hand and openly disagree on an intelligent level, we simply hurl accusations back and forth. Rather than coming together as a community, we're leaping at one another's throats. Rather than making any effort at love for one another, we are simply informing each other about how wrong they are. Elizabeth, in a recent post said something to the effect of "we're all friends here, right?" (I forget the exact statement, but it was something to that effect.). Well, unfortunately, we are not. I have made some wonderful friends on this list. I think some of you have taught me so much and I am learning more and more each day about working through my faith and working WITH Christians. I can not honestly say, however, that we are all friends. Friends do not behave the way we behave towards one another. Friends do not wait for the first open opportunity to attack one another and leap the moment they spot fresh blood. Each and every day this list grows more and more spiteful. Each and every day this list fills itself more and more with hate. There are some here who have so much love that none of this seems to daunt them-- nothing will get them to respond with the slightest hint of spite. Those few of us are truly blessed. I have much to learn from you all, for there are too many things in this world which still make me ANGRY. Somehow I must learn to let God handle this bitterness I see. Somehow I must learn to once again (for when I was a child, I could do this like no other) simply stand undaunted in the face of adversity, knowing God is my shield. I am slowly working my way back towards that, but every time I see a friend attacked, or hear someone lie when I know what the truth is, I seem to lose track of that inner peace I'm finding, and somehow I find myself back in the middle of a battlefield, while rarely ever intending to start a fight. I say many things on this list that if anyone else were to say them would probably be dismissed or maybe dealt with quicky and quietly, but the moment I open my mouth on the subject, fire is drawn. In other words, it seems to me that most of the fights on this list revolve around comments I make, and not because of the comments but because *I* made them. Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we can do a lot better-- anyone else up to having a go at it? Last time I suggested we do something unifying, Trent came up with the really cool notion of "Prayer Request Day." Well, I am suggesting it again. Let's put aside our differences (temporarily at least) and I'm sure that between the lot of us we can come up with something to do as A COMMUINITY. You know, working as a group, together, etc.? (I at least hope we're all familiar with the notion). Personally, I can't think of anything offhand which we can try, but I know there are some good heads here. I think we're perfectly capable of putting them together. Any agreement? --Bill