Can we make MN less hostile?

[Josh]

“Looking at facts” is not the same thing as discerning truth; I’m not a modernist.

Boot, you and I have a good relationship, and I’m even sympathetic to a lot of left wing views and opinions. But we can’t even agree on what the sources of facts are.

I would argue it out more thoroughly, but for various reasons I don’t see anything beneficial about me going on public record gathering lots of facts and figures to make Trump look good. And that’s basically the position you put the rest of us in when you constantly find facts and figures to make Trump look bad.

Can’t we go back to finding the Third Way?

[Wayne in Maine]

I see my point about "Trump is... " has been validated.

[Josh]

I feel MN is a terrible forum for discussing specific political issues.

However it is a great platform for discussing overall principles including ones that affect politics.

It’s easy to talk about people. It’s tougher to talk about current events. It’s hardest, but best, to talk about ideas.

Trump isn’t really worthy of discussion. Events surrounding Trump may be a good springboard to talk about ideas.

[GaryK]

I regularly hear people who claim to be separate mindlessly chanting political "truths" that they may not have examined and associating them with a Christian worldview. Sometimes people think I'm doing that too - if so, let's examine these beliefs together and get past them.

Boot, I'm curious if you are speaking of MN when you say you "regularly hear people who claim to be separate mindlessly chanting political "truths"..."?

Not specifically. And I really don't claim to be the authority on any individual.

This is what has been baffling me for some time. In many of the political discussions, it has seemed to me that you have been arguing against something that IMO is not very prevalent on MN. I don't think MN should be used as a place to argue against something that is primarily outside of MN. Doing so certainly appears to be promoting a particular political side.

When I read articles like this, my mind almost immediately goes to how you have been promoting political "truths" that don't seem to take into account the reality of what is actually happening on the border.

I don't bring this up to rehash the whole border saga but to simply point out that it often appears that you are doing the same thing you are arguing that others do.

[Robert]

I see my point about "Trump is... " has been validated.

Kind of like the Nazi reference within three pages of a forum thread. What was that called again OJ?

[Bootstrap]

I see my point about "Trump is... " has been validated.

Kind of like the Nazi reference within three pages of a forum thread. What was that called again OJ?

Now find me that quote. I can clarify what I actually said if needed. Sure would be helpful if people would avoid "rewording" what other people say and turning their rewordings into talking points.

Godwin's Rule, I think.

PS - here's the original quote with clarification:

http://forum.mennonet.com/viewtopic.php ... 574#p38574

[Robert]

I can remember years ago on MD with LC and a few others. Things would get heated, then cool off. We discussed those things, but spent a lot of time just connecting and having fun. We seem to have lost the fun part and just deal with the heavy stuff a lot.

Just about every topic has been discussed over and over. After a while, I find people are not interested in hearing, but just projecting their opinions. While we may round the sharp edges of each other a little, we each hold to our core beliefs and seldom change them here. We may go through a transformation in real life, then come here and project that change, but seldom is someone swayed or transformed by a forum post. I think that is a good thing. We need to be shaped by real life, not by an internet tool. It should only enhance our life and perspective, not dominate it.

So to those who want to change me, you better meet my wife and work through her. You got little, but better chance of changing me that way then here.

The best way to reduce the hostility here is to shut down the Current Events section. While we would all get along better, it would be more boring.

[Bootstrap]

When I read articles like this, my mind almost immediately goes to how you have been promoting political "truths" that don't seem to take into account the reality of what is actually happening on the border.

I don't bring this up to rehash the whole border saga but to simply point out that it often appears that you are doing the same thing you are arguing that others do.

That link points to arrests of 6 gang members at the border. I don't think that contradicts anything I have said, and none of these seem to have been asylum seekers or people whose children were taken from them.

I'd be happy to discuss that kind of thing in a separate thread - or not - as you prefer.

[Bootstrap]

The best way to reduce the hostility here is to shut down the Current Events section. While we would all get along better, it would be more boring.

Sure would be nice to see a lot more activity in the other sections, though. Can we do a better job of fleshing out what we mean by living in the Kingdom? Or how our Third Way relates to what is going on around us?

[Josh]

The best way to reduce the hostility here is to shut down the Current Events section. While we would all get along better, it would be more boring.

Sure would be nice to see a lot more activity in the other sections, though. Can we do a better job of fleshing out what we mean by living in the Kingdom? Or how our Third Way relates to what is going on around us?

I post plenty in the other sections. Of course, my threads there tend to get derailed with attempts to get me to denounce Holdemanism or trap me in a statement proving they are not a church that follows Jesus (for example), or turns into an argument about Eastern Orthodoxy (for another example). I have no idea why anyone else thinks MN is a good place to argue about Eastern Orthodoxy with me.

The simple reality is MN is hostile, and MN is hostile to me. The answer when I raise this is “Grow a thicker skin”. That’s fine, but it means MN is still a hostile place.

There are a lot of personal testimonies, victories, and things like that I would love to share, but I don’t want to here since they would simply get ripped apart and devoured.