Roger,
Thanks for mentioning my "thick skin." I'm actually an overly-sensitive guy to the max. I like to say it's because I have a "keen spirit." But, trust me, even after 33 years of dealing with high schoolers, they still could crush the butterfly in me at times.
On the forum I have the benefit of time. I can't tell you how many fiery rejoinders I haven't sent. Once in a while I post hastily and, if it's in the heat of the moment, almost always regret that I did.
Concerning my over-protective stance on Lee, I think a lot of it is to balance out the other side that voices concerns here. I have no interest in exalting him as I once did. But when I read how terrible he was, that his theology was heretical, etc., I feel the need to provide a counterpoint to the discussion.
I do not want to diminish the hurt of anyone who has gone this way. Those scars are real, real, real. I've got a few myself, some that are still tender. But like every kid in a bragging contest about his injuries, I treasure those scars. Scars are miniature storybooks. A person with none has no stories to tell (well, at least not injury stories).
This goes to the heart of my entire present view of life: it is a grand story, one which we each play an individual part. I teach literature and have read a lot about plot development over the years. I've boiled it down to this:
Hero faces obstacle, tries to hurdle it instinctively, apparently succeeds but then discovers he not only failed but the obstacle got bigger, tries again with more thought but still without revelation, again thinks he succeeds but quickly discovers the cycle has repeated, cycle continues until the obstacle gets so huge there is no way to overcome it except by looking at it from a different perspective. In other words, by getting some revelation. The revelation may save his life or it may come too late, but it does save his soul.
Well, that's our lives. I believe the local church experience for many is a complete tale. And for a lot of us, we've been trying to hurdle the obstacles in too natural a way, unwilling to get real revelation. I'm not sure what that revelation is -- for everyone it's likely different -- but I think continuing to try instinctive solutions doesn't work. That's why I promote trying to see this LC thing from a different perspective, that actually it all has value.
Anyway, my apologies to any who think I tread lightly over their hurts. I know the hurts are real and I know it's hard to deal with them. As Red Green famously (actually, not so famously) said, "We're all in this together. We're rooting for you."
SC
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