"Friendly" Corrections

[lvmaus]

Just happened to see the latest edition of The Gospel Advocate. An entire article on WWJP (What Would Jesus Post). Entire paragraph or two explaining how OMG was a sin.

What, only a couple paragraphs! Im surprised the The Gospel Advocate didn't dedicate an entire issue to the sinful devastating OMG controversy. They didn't spare the ink when attacking Leroy Garrett and W Carl Ketcherside over the years ... perhaps they're getting soft in their old age.

I don't remember GA doing that, but I well remember Contending for the Faith devoting issue after issue to attacking those two gentlemen.

If my memory serves me correctly it was in the early sixties. The GA was quick to malign these gentlemen publically, but refused them the courtesy to reply to the accusations in their paper. Ketcherside could only reply through his own paper the Mission Messenger.

[NotFarEnough]

It's the "holier than thou" thing.....always highly obnoxious.

Very true, Ivy. Some C o C folks have to display their "holiness" by correcting those whom they think are wrong on something.

Many years ago my C o C girlfriend(whom I call "Miss Narrow Mind) and her whole family jumped on me for saying "Gee." They all let me know that "Gee" really means "Jesus" and wasn't acceptable.

Glad I got away from that legaiistic garbage.

Interesting. My hard core brother-in-law used to say friggin and other words very close to actual wordy dirds, and he said them all the time. Though I liked him at the time that always bugged me. I always wondered why he didn't just go ahead and pronounce it correctly already! Gee is something of a stretch though. Of course this is the CoC, the True church of the Hypersensitive.

[agricola]

We weren't allowed to say gee, or golly, or gosh, or darn, or dang, or heck, or any other euphemism.
It really exasperated me at about 15 or so, when READER'S DIGEST (for pete's sake, READER'S DIGEST! Is there anything more vanilla?) had a story about 'the seven classic four letter words'* and me, a real bookworm and general nerd, could only think of - THREE.

I felt so isolated and ignorant. I knew arse, because I read Shakespeare. And I knew h-e-l-l and d-a-m-n because we used those words at church, mainly: after that, I was stuck.

*fortunately for my sanity, the seven words were actually listed in tiny print in a footnote somewhere else in the magazine.

[faithfyl]

You can delete the comment by clicking on the upper right hand corner of the comment, there is a "x" and you click that and it's gone. Then you can block the person, which you should do, so that they can no longer comment on your page.

[agricola]

You can delete the comment by clicking on the upper right hand corner of the comment, there is a "x" and you click that and it's gone. Then you can block the person, which you should do, so that they can no longer comment on your page.

ummm.

Is there something I should be aware of?

[coffeegrammy]

I have several coc friends on fb (one in particular) who continually post coc propaganda that is demeaning to anyone outside of the coc. This has gone on for years and I have never responded, even when I could tear their statements to pieces. One reason is out of respect for my husband and the other is I just don't want to face the wrath of my mil and many coc friends. I live in a small town in middle TN where 99.9% of the congregations are hardline. I still attend with my husband on Sunday am, but he goes by himself on Sunday evening and Wednesday. He never misses a beat. Anyway, sometimes I wonder if maybe I should respond just in case there is someone out there who is miserable in the coc but too afraid to speak up or leave. Sometimes all it takes it someone else being brave. I'm still chicken right now. Shame on me.

[agricola]

I have several coc friends on fb (one in particular) who continually post coc propaganda that is demeaning to anyone outside of the coc. This has gone on for years and I have never responded, even when I could tear their statements to pieces. One reason is out of respect for my husband and the other is I just don't want to face the wrath of my mil and many coc friends. I live in a small town in middle TN where 99.9% of the congregations are hardline. I still attend with my husband on Sunday am, but he goes by himself on Sunday evening and Wednesday. He never misses a beat. Anyway, sometimes I wonder if maybe I should respond just in case there is someone out there who is miserable in the coc but too afraid to speak up or leave. Sometimes all it takes it someone else being brave. I'm still chicken right now. Shame on me.

Care for yourself first. I agree that seeing something would be helpful to others who are too scared to speak, but that doesn't mean you are obliged to be the sacrificial lamb. If you decide to take a deep breath and jump in, make sure you have a good idea of the potential consequences and are willing to take them. ((hugs))

[KLP]

I agree that there is no one right way to respond. I too worry or think about what other people might be thinking. Like I wonder what someone (like myself originally) would think about some of the slamming of CofC that is on this site. I think it is helpful for people to vent and to be able to say some things they have not ben able to say about the CofC in a sort of public/open forum. And that is a good. But then I think about the person who is frustrated with CofC but think leaving CofC is tantamount to leaving God and they are very afraid of a slippery slope should they leave CofC. And so maybe they are testing the waters, sticking in a toe, and they come to this sight and see something so off putting (like all CofC are hateful and ignorant) that they give up on thinking about leaving CofC.

So this is always bugging me, how to balance those that are here and need a certain type of support and also how to make it easy for those still in CofC to finally make the exit. I say all this to say there never seems to be one right answer. You are trying to be polite and taking other things into consideration in not confronting certain posts....but then does that make you seem complicit or in agreement? I can never tell the best path. If anything I tend to just point out a considered alternative or a different way of looking at things, trying to be as non-emotional as possible. And I tend to respond when I am addressed specifically. I know it is unlikely to change the mind of people who are well entrenched in their position. But it may cause them re-consider future postings or as you point out it may help someone on the sidelines know there are alternative ways of thinking about the topic.

Good luck

[Ivy]

When they start addressing you as "Friend", as though that were your name.....that is a huge red flag for awful things to come. Run away as fast as you can.

[coffeegrammy]

Care for yourself first. I agree that seeing something would be helpful to others who are too scared to speak, but that doesn't mean you are obliged to be the sacrificial lamb. If you decide to take a deep breath and jump in, make sure you have a good idea of the potential consequences and are willing to take them. ((hugs))

Thanks so much. I am not ready or willing at this point to be a sacrificial lamb, so I don't directly respond. Although, I have posted things from "denominational" preachers or pastors. Some of those posts actually get some "likes" from coc locals.

I finally figured out how to use the quote thing! Yay me! lol