Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

re .0

Hospitable means showing kindness to strangers or guests.

From what I can remember, travellers especially in the time of Abraham relied
on the hospitality of others. It meant their survival in the terrain that 
they were travelling in and people along with Abraham recognised this. One can 
see to the extent that hospitality was shown by looking at the Bible account in
Genesis 18:2-8. Abraham did not know that these three men were angels, to him
they were strangers and yet he ran to greet them and had food freshly cooked 
for them. That was real hospitality.

Problem today is that people are suspicious of strangers. Much mistrust is due
to not understanding how other people live. This can be true of another persons
religion. Learning about other religions helps dispell such mistrusts. This
does not mean one has to accept their views but one can then show empathy.   

Are we all strangers? One common ground is that the majority of us are
Digital employees. As such we should atleast show friendliness to each other.

I have a feeling that many see Notes Conferences such as Christian-Perspective
as a place for fellowship. Hence you will get cliques, anyone that does not
want to fellowship will be isolated. A general interest Notes Conference should
be used for sharing views and experiences as well as asking questions and not
fellowship. A problem often arises when someone takes offence to another 
person's viewpoint. I feel this is wrong and such ones should not take offence.
However, if one is attacking another persons faith then that is a different 
story.

For example, I could say that "Jesus is not God". This is my view and affects 
me, it may get others to check their own belief but what is wrong in that.
After an interchange of words I will also check my own belief, I always learn
from doing this. But, if I said "You are not Christian because you believe 
that Jesus is God" then I am making an attack on whoever 'you' is. This is 
wrong and this is  certainly not the place for such judgmental messages.

Must stop there for I'm rambling on a bit

Phil.
 

	Actually, I think CP is more hospitable than other conferences that
deal with either religion or Christianity, but that is my
opinion. I have seen more diverse topics discussed in here with far less
arguing, put downs, whatever. People seem as though they mostly come in here to 
discuss the various ideals about religion and or Christianity. I have yet to 
ever see anyone not be allowed to say something they thought was the truth. They
may get challenged on it, but not too many people in here ever get set hidden 
because someone became enraged or that someone thought Conference rules were 
being broken (hmmmm.... does that mean there are no rules? ;-)

	The other thing I like so much about this conference is that for the 
most part people do tend to respect other people. I would also venture to say 
that the people who make up this conference are far more closer to what God 
would want to see in a person than in most other places. I like this conference 
and I like everyone in here. It always makes for interesting noting. :-)




Glen

   I cannot change C-P, it is a notesfile, electronic conferencing.

   I can change how I interact with conference members.  I have been
   working on listening(reading) carefully to all of the clues and
   words written. It is easy in this medium to lose contact with the
   person and attack a collection of words.  It's hard to remember
   sometime that those words were important enough to someone for
   them to write them here.   So I listen, look at my errors in
   listening and work to do better.

   The mirror side is what I write, writing for many years was locked
   up by fear.  Simple fears, spelling, grammer, that I despite being
   a unique person would have nothing to say of value.  So I learned
   imperfectly to write what I feel, trying to be clear and when it is
   not clear trying to be patient and explain until I've been as clear
   as I know how.

   Then I listen again.  As surely as tommorrow comes, someone else is
   trying to communicate with me.  If I listen well I to will learn to
   write and communicate.  If I am successful, someone else will try.

   Peace,
   Allison

    Put simply, I would like to see everyone here share his/her
    perspectives, viewpoints, opinions, about Christianity and/or
    how it relates and does not relate to one's own spirituality or
    religious affiliations or relationship with God.  This involves
    many disagreements in the course of any dialog, and that's healthy.
    At the same time, I would like to see less commentary/focus on the 
    person who puts forth opinions, including his or her motives, 
    intentions, sincerity, psychological deficiencies, and on and on 
    and on, and more commentary/focus on the *subject matter*.   
    
    Disagree all you want with what I am saying, and tell me why you
    disagree, and I'll do the same.   However, we should all be careful
    not to make each other the focal point of an issue instead of the
    subject matter up for discussion.
    
    I don't think this is too difficult to achieve, and it's certainly 
    not too much to ask for.    
    
    For example, I should be able to say that I interpret the Bible in 
    a certain way and even say that I do not regard it as 100 flawless
    without it being implied that I am self-centered or motivated by 
    feel-good earthly comforts rather than a search for divine truth,
    or whatever.
    
    For example, to air my views and ask questions about and disagree 
    with the Catholic church and its doctrine;   however, I should not 
    be allowed to demean, attrack, or address the personal motives and/or 
    intentions of any individual Catholic, or Catholics, as a group of people.
    
    Healthy disagreements and lively debates need not get personal. 
    And the temptation to 'get personal' is what I would like to see 
    erradicated (or at least, set hidden) in this and every other 
    religious/spiritual conference.
    
    Paul
    

One of the things that turns me off quickest is reading an attack on
personalities because one person disagrees with another. Too many 
Christians have murdered each other for nits let alone Truths.

How is it possible for people who believe in a God of Love to be 
Hateful of others because they do not believe precisely the same way? 

When I see such an attack I view the attacker as being sophomoric, with
no tools of logic or reason. All they have is their anger. I guess they
are to be pitied.

Best wishes,
Rollyn

I agree.

Ideally, mutual respect should prevail.  I believe mutual respect to be a
vital element of hospitality.

There are notefiles which are far more prohibitive than CHRISTIAN-PERSPECTIVE.
Now, prohibitions aren't necessarily wrong or bad.  Some may actually prefer
the shielding security that a prohibitive environment might offer.  Some may
resent the queasiness of having their boat rocked and splashed by the unsettled
waters of doubt and contradiction.  So, fortunately for them, other
conferences do exist.  Note 7 provides some of the names and locations of
some of these conferences.

The preceding paragraph should not be construed as an attempt to suppress any
interested Digital employee from participating in CHRISTIAN-PERSPECTIVE,
because it most assuredly is not.

At least one reader of CHRISTIAN-PERSPECTIVE has spoken of the conference
(offline) in terms of being a clique.  Though I disagree with this assessment,
in the interest of fairness I thought the perception worthy of our general
consideration.

Peace,
Richard

    I am honestly not sure how C-P could be perceived of as a clique. 
    Certainly it is true that many participants here know each other
    personally, address each other by name, and may engage in "chatty"
    notes with one another.  But I don't see an exclusiveness about that. 
    Generally, anyone who introduces themselves to this notes file is
    greeted with a warm welcome.  Anyone who posts a prayer
    request--ANYONE, as far as I can tell--gets several responses here.  Of
    course, there is also bickering here, expressive of the diversity in
    this notes file.

    That doesn't mean that everyone who participates here will receive
    universal acceptance.  As in life, the way you approach other people
    can affect the responses you get from others.  If you approach people
    warmly, with affection (and with the love that faith in Jesus
    supposedly calls you to do), you are likely to get warm responses in
    return; on the other hand, a consistently combative approach, or a
    pattern of suspicion, hostility, and sarcasm, is probably not going to
    endear you to others.  That doesn't mean that there is a clique
    involved; it is just a matter of human nature--what goes around can
    easily come around.

    -- Mike

Note 22.144

>    In the world outside of CP, as the trio of Jackson, Covert, and Sweeney
>    have mentioned,....

Hmmm, perhaps there's more of a clique here than I had imagined.

Peace,
Richard

I would like to share here that I don't like to see ideas, expressions
and feelings squelched.

In regular conversation, where a group of people are gathered, the more
quiet and introverted ones are frequently silenced by sheer lack of
opportunity, usually dominated by the more aggressive and
outspoken ones.

Because time is not as much a factor in Notes as it is in real-time
conversations, I thought Notes would provide a more equalizing medium
where the less likely would be more likely to speak up.  I have found
that this is not necessarily the case.

There are yet other ways in which conversation can be stifled, other ways
in which one may get the idea that their input, their thoughts and feelings,
are not welcome.

<sigh>

Peace,
Richard

Note 609.10

>   Thanks for
>   risking opening up.  I know this isn't always a safe place to do that.

Jill,

I'm beginning not to wince when someone has something less than positive
to say about this place (C-P).  It still happens though.

But, what you're talking about here intrigues me.  Over the years I've
seen a dozen or more drop away from this conference because of the very
thing you're talking about.  One of them was Ro.  I talked her into coming
back.  She is the only one who did.

Have you any suggestions which would promote hospitality "in this sometimes
unsafe place", short of tightening the reins of homogeneity?

Peace,
Richard

    
    I think it's a hard thing to do because faith is so deeply rooted in
    our being.  However, I think we need to try to depersonalize the
    issues. Both those who are writing and those who are reading.  I think
    we need to not respond based on past offenses, but on the premise of
    the current note and the current string.  I think we need to watch our
    use of labels and stereotypes.  Try to think about the consequences of
    your words on others.  Try to understand that if someone comes back
    saying that the Bible disagrees with your view, you may be fine with
    the fact that you're not in agreement with the Bible, so why argue the
    point?  Understand that if you present something you know is in
    opposition to the Word of God, that someone is going to post what God's
    Word says.  Expect it.  There's always gonna be someone with a
    different opinion.  That's okay.  The Holy Spirit is the One who
    convicts.   Work issues offline instead of having a mud-slinging fight
    in the  middle of the file.  If you're mad, get out for an hour, a day,
    a week..some amount of time to calm down.  In that time write down a
    response and re-read it when you're calm.  Then decide if that's would
    really benefit the conversation or if you need to start from scratch. 
    Apologize if you offend someone.  Not necessarily for your views, but
    the hurts feelings the other person experienced.  These are some basic
    techniques for resolving conflict.  I think they should work here just
    fine.
    
    Jill

>But, what you're talking about here intrigues me.  Over the years I've
>seen a dozen or more drop away from this conference because of the very
>thing you're talking about.  One of them was Ro.  I talked her into coming
>back.  She is the only one who did.
    
    I dropped out for a while because the conference was not a safe place
    for me. I still don't think it is but was talked into returning anyway.
    
    			Alfred

>But, what you're talking about here intrigues me.  Over the years I've
>seen a dozen or more drop away from this conference because of the very
>thing you're talking about.  One of them was Ro.  I talked her into coming
>back.  She is the only one who did.
    
**    I dropped out for a while because the conference was not a safe place
**    for me. I still don't think it is but was talked into returning anyway.
    
I agree with Alfred (even though we appear to be at opposite poles), I
still don't feel *safe* here and continually hover around staying/
leaving.  For example, I would love to share some some of the
intense spiritual experiences Carole, Don, and I had on our trip to
England but I hesitate for fear of being labelled a 'pagan Goddess
worshipper'.  Not that I think that being one would be *bad*, but that
in attaching a label to it, it cheapens the incredible communion we
experienced with both the female and male aspects of the Divine. 

Ro

    Ro,
     I would be interested in hearing about your experiences. 
    
    Marc H.