Maxwell,
I usually agree with you; and you have made a very plausible argument.
I see another (admittedly less likely) scenario.
What may have happened:
She came having had her faith shaken by an attack on God's Word by some outside lecturer.
She had been shown manipulated evidence that the text was corrupted.
She came looking for answers.
She encountered unanimous denial instead of explanation.
She became disgusted and went away.
Conclusion:
When someone raises a concern with any shred of credibility; it is better to patiently answer that concern than to dismiss it.
MarcR,
I always appreciate your posts, and your wisdom, and your calm and rational demeanor.
I think we have evidence, from her own words, that she had no intention of "reaffirming her faith", and that this was not the intention of her visit to CC. I think we could actually analyze her actions, and her reactions, and find this is very clear.
However, since humans are confusing creatures, and the Bible says we can even deceive ourselves...
I DO agree with your conclusion that we should patiently answer concerns rather than dismiss a person.
I agree completely.
Humans are both confused and confusing... so it's best to answer a person's questions.
I agree with you.
( I think there is a place to end things, and draw some lines, but that's a different discussion.)
Assessment and Action:
There is a difference between ASSESSING A SITUATION, and the COURSE OF ACTION we choose afterward; these are completely separate things. Often we get these confused in counseling.
But first we are to assess a situation, and then we are to choose a course of action.
Often the proper course of action is to act with more compassion than a person "deserves"... because we all need more grace than justice... we all need compassion.
However, before deciding how to act, even if we are to act with compassion, we need to first assess the truth of a situation.
This is why my first post in the thread was to ask the OP more about herself, in order to better assess the situation.
I asked her, frankly, that if she believed in God, but not in Christianity, was she a Muslim.
If she wanted to have a real discussion, she would have answered this question in SOME WAY, and that would have given us MUCH INSIGHT into how to proceed.
(Even if she denied this, she would have had to explain her current beliefs in order to deny, and thus give us the required insight.)
But as soon as I asked this question, instead of responding to it, she immediately posted a thread elsewhere asking for her account to be deleted.
Assessment of the Guilt Trip:
The assessment I made of her, later in the thread, was not to ridicule or drive someone away.
Rather, it was to assess someone who had already left, who came in here ranting and raving, and trying to "guilt trip" everyone for her own rage.
I didn't feel her "guilt trip" was fair to everyone, and so I posted my assessment, to help everyone see what she had done.
I didn't feel the CC members needed to be left awash in a waves of guilt after the departure of an angry person.
MarcR,
I appreciate and respect you a great deal.
That's why I took the time to discuss all of this, and explain my rationale.
God Bless
