Hey, everyone. I come to you fresh off a four or five day much deserved (probably) suspension. I have no way of knowing the specific cause, but it’s most likely due to some rudeness on my part. I may have the record for the most suspensions, and I’m far from being proud of that, but I thought I’d make a post about the impact of my Christiian beliefs upon the nature of my polemical posts, as well as the reverse.
I am well aware that I am strongly encouraged to love my enemies. Now in my past BC days I have known several people whom I would consider my enemy, but it’s been years since that has been the case. Of the many people I now know (in the “real world'') and with whom I come in constant contact, I can truly think of no one whom I need to forgive.The closest I come to thinking of a possible enemy would be my polemical sparring partners here at CARM. So I have to ask myself: IF I stretch the definition of “enemy” and IF Treeplanter, Pixie, 5wize, et al are my enemies, do I hate them? Now it seems to me that true hate would manifest itself in a desire for vengeance, or at least a desire for something detrimental to occur upon these alleged enemies. But I can swear to y’all that that is not the case. Nothing would delight me more than to hear about the spiritual conversion of one of these guys.
So how do my rude barbs toward these wise guys who blast and sometimes even blaspheme my Lord facilitate a conversion? They don’t. But do they impede conversions? If for example Treeplanter pulls one of his patented and tiresome comments out of his very limited rhetorical quiver accusing my beloved Lord and Savior of being an “immoral thug,” and I respond by calling him a shallow and petulant jerk, is that an expression of hate on my part? Before responding, should I think to myself, “Maybe if I call him a jerk, it will further harden his heart, so let me be nice to him. Let him see me rolling over.” To think he could be so easily swayed about something of such existential importance would manifest an even lower opinion of him than I currently have.
When Jesus called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” and when He overturned the moneychanger’s tables was He being unchristian?
Besides the facial ones, do there also exist two rhetorical cheeks, one of which should be turned if the other is attacked? “Oh, so you just called me a gullible fool? Don’t forget, I’m also a shallow idiot.”
Obviously I cannot myself be so pharisaical as to claim that I LOVE Treeplanter, but I do pray for him daily, so I can’t think of myself as hating him, can I? My prayers FEEL sincere at least. I think I love him, albeit ever so minimally.
It’s weird, but when my thoughts have gone misleading, I sometimes wish that just like in my younger days (BC), someone would do me wrong, so that I could at least test myself to determine if I have it in me to forgive. But dang it, I just don’t HAVE any enemies.
