www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Hotel Rwanda and why I switched parties

Diak,

We have been given this form of government. I don't know why but I trust that God does. Perhaps it is penance. Since we have been given this form of government I'm forced to compromise. Hence, I have.

I think I will drop out of this discussion until Eastertide.

Dan L

I'm even more confused by this answer.

Dan, objectively discussing form of government is one thing, and I am not sure why you interjected that as it was not done on this thread.

Biased partisan disregard of historic reality which I did see posted is another. Your answer seems to make less sense than your initial post.

As for what I was given by God, I can say with assurance I was given life and soul (including my reason and free will), my family and friends, a spot in His creation. Governments are the makings of men.

I can only rely on the example of our Lord who eschewed all major political parties of his time.

In Alice's defence she was responding to a private PM that she and I received from the same poster. He made it clear to her that he had written to me also. I chose not to respond to him privately but instead did so openly in the forum by asking my statement be removed if it created a conflict. The whole intent of my request was to avoid just what is happening.

Dan's statement to me is just his editorial. I received a good PM from him stating that he would let it go until after Pascha and rephrase his commnets. He also made the same request I did on the forum, asking for it to be removed.

Alice is a strong voice against evils in the churches and she is not afraid to take the heat for it. I respect your opinon Administrator, but she has said nothing wrong, she has not slandered anyone, she has simply made a statement that is just as valid as the PM you received.

However, the person who complained succeded in his goal of opening a controversy. I somehow suspect your PM is from the same person that PM Alice and myslef to create a stir.

Also, I am saying this in view of everyone so it is stopped. When the darkness is exposed to the light of Christ then it cannot exist. This battle ceases now in the Mighty Name of Jesus.

Pani Rose

Dear Dan,

One cannot but wonder, had it been white Europeans that butchered even 1/100th of that amount, the U.N. would have been up in arms. It seems the problem is not in what's being done, but in who is doing it.

But we do need the UN for it's capacity in organizing relief efforts. Other than that, I wish they would get the 'heck' out of this country and go to Switzerland or Belgium.

Zenovia

Dear Admin,

I was a little shocked at your response to Alice. I don't think you realized that she stated "liberal agenda's that go against basic Christian and Catholic teaching through the ages." By stating Christian and Catholic teaching through the ages, she limited herself to being scandalized only by those positions.

Zenovia

Now to put in my two cents. Actually I'm not scandalized by those who profess to be devout Christians when they vote for parties that have agenda's that are definitely not Christian.

I personally find that they are either 'naive', (usually young and idealistic), or old timers that still want to believe that their party is the way it was in the past. Then again, there are those that have not really studied the issues, or better yet, they don't want to study the issues. They might find they were 'wrong' and horrors of horrors, the 'right' might be right.

I'm not in great Lent yet, so I can say my piece.

Zenovia

Pani Rose,

Please note that I in no way condemned Alice for her post. I merely stated that I received a complaint and acknowledged that statement seemed too broad and, as such, could easily be misunderstood. Since you state that she was responding publicly to a PM, it is understandable that others who did not see the PM could come to an erroneous conclusion about what she wrote. Also, I underscored the need to go the extra distance to speak clearly so as not to give any opportunity to someone else to (innocently or deliberately) misunderstand our posts.

Don�t worry about controversy. We don�t have much on the Forum and can always use some.

Admin

Zenovia,

Please don�t be shocked. As I stated above I made no judgment about Alice�s intention. I merely noted that she should have used more clarity in stating her position. In stating �Those who write�yet advocate every liberal agenda that goes against basic Christian and Catholic teaching� she could have been stating that another poster had a habit of advocating teachings unacceptable for Christians to behold.

All I am asking is that we all make an extra effort to be clear, so as to avoid giving others the opportunity to misunderstand our posts.

Admin

Dear Brethren,

The poster who complained and I, cleared up this whole matter privately yesterday, so you can imagine my shock when I came home to all this.

I did not intend to be uncharitable, and when I speak of forums in the plural, I am not insinuating only this forum. I have read posts by Orthodox who advocate abortion rights on Orthodox forums, for instance. I have read Orthodox posts who advocate homosexual marriage on Orthodox forums. I simply made an off the cuff personal observation and as far as Byzcath, I even qualified the specific topic.

Although I did not mean to insult anyone or their politics in particular, (I also qualified this too in a second post--explaining that I have voted in both parties) one poster *chose* to take personal offense and started all this trouble. He knows who he is and personally, I think that what he has stirred up is somewhat uncharitable to me.

Lack of charity comes in many forms.

I apologize to the Administrator for not having been articulate enough to explain my intent and for it causing this much trouble. I am not new here, and I would have hoped that most people know where I am coming from when I post.

I thank everyone who has come to my defense both privately and publicly--I feel unworthy of your holy friendship.

I would also like to ask forgiveness of you for disturbing your Lenten peace of mind.

In Christ our Lord,
Alice, who is sad, sorry, and frankly--quite confused

Alice,

Thank you for your post.

You have explained things clearly and with great charity and I am grateful to you for this. I, too, am sorry for any confusion I may have added to the mix.

I thank you for your witness of Jesus Christ and the values that He teaches us.

I will now close this thread.

Admin