Missing EA......

[Brad Murphy]

Ya know, I'm so sick of the view that if we no longer believe a certain way, even if we were born into a culture and over time drifted from that culture, that we should not be allowed to interact with people who are still in that culture... It reminds me of stories of primitive villagers who the witch doctor controls with fear and guilt and they cast out of the village anyone who doesn't buy into the witch doctor's ideas.

I've said some very hateful things in my time here over the years (usually targetted at people who remind me of L.E. Westberg and his mentality) but eventually realized with the help of MissB that I am the one that changed (over a period of years) to the point that I am no longer just someone on the inside with constructive criticism, but instead am now viewed as someone on the outside "attacking" a belief system....so I backed off and try to stay away and not post as much, but it still makes me sad to see that SOME Christians are not interested in keeping any sort of strings to those of us who have left....

Oh, sure, they are interested in reaching the drunk laying in the gutter because they can give him a bath and a shave and then show off the pretty new soul they won... or the poor and uneducated villagers in some third world country because they have a clean slate to work with and they can throw a bunch of Pentecostal clothing and hairstyles on them to make themselves feel better that they have brought someone into the fold... but they see anyone who actually knows exactly what Pentecostals believe but disagrees with them (in one way or another) as a threat that should not be interacted with in any way. It wouldn't be as interesting to "win" someone who's only vice may be something as innocuous as going to catch a movie, and already live stable, productive lives in society.

I don't post here much (even though I know I am welcome) just because I'm tired of fighting when I know neither side is gonna budge... but for people like EA to be advocating discommunication (not sure what else to call it, if he doesn't even want us interacting with friends that we've known for years and came from the same background/culture)... on a forum that through three iterations has always had that as part of its goals (my understanding of JY's original vision, even though I know this forum is not affiliated with the original, it is still the direct but possibly "illegitimate" descendant of such) that just gets my goat.

The only people that actually give me hope about religion are people like MissB, or Pelathias, or MoW to name a few (too many good ones here to name but those are the names that came to mind first)... but I believe it is being suggested that we not interact with them (except maybe in private, but we wouldn't have even met them if it wasn't for forums like this...)