yikes.Josh wrote:temporal1,
The OP formally disfellowshipped me and quoted 1 Corinthians 6:10 to inform me that he thinks I have lost my salvation / am not saved.
I generally avoid getting into arguments with the OP and going back-and-forth, but I feel like I can participate in MennoNet too, and I respond sometimes when other people are part of a conversation.
I have asked multiple times for authentic reconciliation between myself and the OP and have gotten no response; at this point, I have given up on that. I don't think it's fair of the OP to request a "boundary" that he can never be challenged by anyone he disagrees with.
this forum never ceases to surprise me with responses/no responses.
part of its charm.
i suppose, from what i'm reading above, maybe there should be no "foe" option?
i tried it a couple of times in the past, but, did not find it useful, because it only works when you are signed on. i often read without signing on. so, i no longer bother with it.
i've read, max uses it, and, he has some way of staying logged on (?) .. so, it works for him, at least, in a general way.
it doesn't work when members "quote" posts, either.
it's not a perfect system.
however, i appreciate the intent of the option.
the foe option (which i consider an ignore option, not a foe option) .. is intended to allow members to create some space. why not?
while i agree with Robert's view above that discussion CAN lead to better understanding, there are times when space+time are constructive, too. Robert might recall, he has, himself, chosen space+time .. it's valuable. time+space can look different, in different circumstances.
[(Robert and boot know each other IRL, Robert enjoys teasing, bantering with, boot. that's a personal relationship not all have.) it takes time to develop closer relationships, they don't appear overnight. some close relationships begin on rocky roads.]
recall Paul and Barnabas.
conversely, attempting to force discussion just does not work.
who has not experienced it?!
i have often said, and believe, "the shortest distance between 2 points is NOT always a straight line."
sometimes, God has another path that we cannot see, that is much better.
but, here's the puzzle (for me, as an observer.)
is it reasonable to demand a response from anyone who is unlikely to even see the demand?
then to go on to accuse that person of various failures? which makes him look bad to others who probably do not know he is not seeing those questions, observations, requests, demands?
this would not surprise me, at all, on worldly sites, but it does surprise me on this site.
if the foe option is not going to be observed by members, admin, mods, i would prefer it just go away.
it causes confusion, does not accomplish anything constructive for the forum. (imho.)
at worst, it's misleading, and can cause negative presumptions not based in balanced fact.
that's not good, or godly.
that is my view of the foe option; it's not my decision to make.