Heirbyadoption wrote:Brother Boot?
I'm not ignoring this as much as taking some time. Here's something I want to be careful about - I don't want to pour gas on the fire to satisfy your curiosity, but I don't want to ignore your questions either. Let me give it a try.
First off, I appreciate you and Gary for confronting me directly on this. Someone else confronted me in a PM, and Valerie also expressed her concern.
Heirbyadoption wrote:I'm curious too, Boot. I'll agree Max started out seeming a bit arrogant and elusive (while, in fact, he's been much more polite and less in your face on MN than he was on MD, as far as I can tell unless I missed a run in between you two), but your seemingly persistent and rather aggressive attitude toward him on here is hardly conducive toward Max or any other recipient responding or continuing to engage you.
I apologize to everyone here, and to Max, if I am being aggressive. And I definitely get the feeling that this has been too much.
Heirbyadoption wrote:And no, I'm not defending him in any way, I'm just curious the same as Gary - what is it that you are trying to disprove? Maybe we're all misunderstanding or ignorant of the reasons behind your approach. It would seem that if he feels he or his group (real or otherwise) of separatist Catholics (or whatever they may be
) are in transition toward an anabaptist theology or ecclesiology, so be it.
If that's what is going on, I wish he would say so, and clearly. That would make it easier for me to relate to him. I had the impression from his other statements - on MD and on a Catholic forum - that he is saying he is 100% loyal to the Catholic Church and to its teachings. He made those statements a while back, if this has changed, saying so would help me understand. That would be an explanation for choosing Anabaptist-style clothing, if he is rebelling against Catholic teaching for the same reasons we did.
I would also find it helpful - if he is really asking plain Mennos what they believe or do - if he would simply ask, with open ended questions. What set me off in that recent thread is that it felt like a sermon saying that non-resistant Anabaptists and Catholics do not talk about politics, and discussing what the appropriate strategies are for talking with that tax collector over there. I think both groups do talk about politics, and Max had been participating in a political thread up to an hour before he posted that thread. I think we all struggle with getting stuck in political conversations that are uncomfortable, that we feel trapped in and don't know how to get out of. And perhaps I'm being overly sensitive, but it felt to me, especially given the timing, that the thread was aimed at implying something about me, while also explicitly telling me that I could not participate in the thread.
Heirbyadoption wrote:Feel free to disagree with him. After all, this is still theoretically a multitude of counselors; playing nice starts with "me", not the other guy. But it seems to continue to spill into ongoing threads. Can you enlighten us a bit?
I agree that playing nice starts with me. And I know that sometimes I don't get it right. Perhaps a multitude of counselors can help me do better. I'm listening.