<<If we do this, perhaps we can disagree as -reasonable- -and- -loving- =
Christians, rather than just as battling tops, which will be the =
default, I can assure you, and we can already see.>>
My friend, Dr. Dallas Willard, who is a philosophy prof. at USC and one of the
best examples of Chrsitianity I know, uses the term "sweet reasonableness."
Even though I tend to be a fire starter, because we need those conflagrations
sometimes, I like that term. Something to work toward.
When it comes to groups, though, the ACLU has no qualms about starting fires.
They did it in Dayton, they do it today. They are not alone. People for the
American Way is another "watchdog" group that goes around with intolerant
matchbooks. These groups must be met "fire with fire," which is why, e.g., the
ACLJ and Rutherford Institute were formed.
<<Last word from me: speak the truth in love, count to 100 before reply to =
messages in this thread, and ask yourself "what's the most charitable =
and plausible way to read this persons words, and how can I precisely =
reply to exactly that?">>
Good advice. And here is what another wise man once said:
"Anyone can become angry--that is easy. But to be angry with the right person,
to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the
right way--that is hard." [Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics]
Jim