C'mon, Lily - Don't give up on my now!
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Lily wrote
CoA: I am now very tired and not feeling very friendly toward this diatribe. I answered you as well as I could. You have now called me an asshole, accused me of patronizing you, though that is in your head... whatelse? Now I have to intuit the answers you want and if you don't get them then there is something wrong with me. Your prose is not as clear as you think but I think I get it now.
It will not repay me to enter into any further discussion with you. Yes, the story about Constantine, to which you are alluding is pure bunk. I have even written here in some comment recently about that. There is no point to even trying to discuss that. Anyone who could believe it is beyond all but supernatural help.
Mary is not mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Gnostic gospels are not New Testament books but books produced by the Gnostics, a heretical sect. etc.
I really resent spending time trying to answer questions honestly only to find out that they weren't honestly put.
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I accept that you think I'm not being honest in my questions - I regret that my delivery made you feel that way.
All I can do plead that despite how I sound... I *am* being sincere.
I exclaim - desperately sincere! I hope my unguarded proclamation will assuage your frustration with me, at least to the extent that you can accept that we *must* be misunderstanding each other.
I'd rather admit that I'm a bad writer than let you carry on the impression that my questions, "weren't honestly put." It's shitty of me and counter-productive to insult you... and, I readily admit that my retreat to insult was all too easy, and all too rapid. I respectfully offer my sincerest apology.
I also accept that you weren't trying to patronize me. For me, however, this is a gesture of my faith in you. All I ask is that you review the what you wrote (the part I interpreted as patronizing) and see if you can try to imagine why I thought you were marginalizing me.
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Lily wrote
I can certainly point you to some books, essays, etc. that I have found helpful. But real life is always the best teacher. Do you have no friends who are active Christians? You would probably understand us better by helping out at Habitat for Humanity, volunteering at a soup kitchen ministry, etc. Sometimes just working along side of someone speaks volumes.
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Can you imagine how that might suggest to me, "You need to read some more and be around Christians... because you haven't tried hard enough"?
Also, it seems to me that you ignored me when I wrote that I have tried to talk to Christians before as I have... 'been down that road'... and I also implied that I have hurt people I care about by questioning their faith. Then, I wrote that I have decided I value my relationships with the Christians in my life too much to risk hurting anyone else.
Doesn't that alone suggest to you that must have a lot of contact with Christians ?
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I will try my best to answer the questions you have. But comboxes are not the best place for real discussions.
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I resubmit for your appraisal that these discussion groups are, for better or worse, the only place open discourse can occur without the formidable personal toll that often occurs in the non-virtual world.
Lastly - I leave all the other issues on the table as secondary. Because, what I have learned from this, if we accept each other at face value, is:
You and I - we two - despite sincerity of heart, managed to completely misunderstand each other in nearly every possible way that matters.
Would it that it give us both pause.
Shouldn't we have both tried harder?