Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
And Harold is not simply some atheist or unbeliever. He seems to be mired in a quandary between belief in God, and disbelief in a God that would have allowed a system that is so strong to claim his name to be so desperately wicked in some ways. Actually more wicked than many (most or all?) of the other Christian groups that they slander so mercilessly.
I think that he is squarely moving in his mind between Job, Job's wife, and Job's "friends" that came to tell him where he was the problem. He is not sure how to accept that free will can be allowed because of the problems it brings, yet demands that it continue to exist because he wants the free will to lash out about it.
This is not simply "wrong." It is not simply something that shouldn't be happening to him at this point in time. It is something that someone(s) close to him need to be walking with him through. Hopefully they will be better than those "friends" Job had.
And the issue is not that Harold is simply bad and we don't want him. he has been a good part of these forums for quite a while. But there has begun to be a dark side of it that is counterproductive in terms of the forum. And there is a lack of filter on his actions and statements. It is not to disparage Harold or hate him. None of us hate him. None of us want him to simply go away.
Actually, most of us hope he will stick around. But stop throwing out nonsense while refusing to actually think about the things actually being discussed. He is turning his back on what little help could be coming from this kind of semi-cold environment by lashing out at everything in it. I realize that it might be that what he really needs is to not be "listening" to our cerebral discussions about things and instead be speaking live with one or more true friends in Christ that can help him off this spiritual cliff he is dancing on. There is a need to be free to discuss the stuff this forum is about without these crazy interruptions. But there also needs to be a way for Harold to get some help. And due to the tendency for everyone to throw in their 2 cents, the open forum is not really a good place. I would suggest real-live people who are facing you or that you can at least hear their voices. But alternately, some ongoing email traffic, or even PMs to talk through things. Search through what is going on. Find answers.
Whatever. I doubt that I would be very good at this. But if I were contacted about it, I would at least try. I absolutely stand by some of the more cold-sounding things I said in earlier posts relative to the operation of the forum. But that does not mean that I cast Harold aside in the process. I'm just not sure that the forum is the fix. it might be more of the problem. It may be dredging up old problems. Highlighting the worst of the worst. Bringing it all back. And then some callous remark about how Mel whoever was not really so bad. Or a snip at the person rather than the post, action, idea, statement, etc. We all dance around that one. And despite our clear understanding that it is the idea and not the persons that we go after, we also know that it is sometimes hard to separate ourselves from our ideas.
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This also is my take except I would think the forum is the right place to hash this out. We all have a background in the LRC, we all have some knowledge of the people and events that may be causing confusion, and we are all here to exercise our faith, patience, love, etc. in helping one another. The shortcomings are not so much a shortcoming in the "forum" but in us.