[Vision2020] City Staff & NSA...and rhetoric

[Joan Opyr]

On Apr 14, 2006, at 10:58 AM, Michael wrote:

> As can be regularly seen, there is also encouragement for any kind of 
> defense of the Kirk so long as it is aggressive enough, keeping the 
> culture war alive.  Whether or not the defense is charitable, 
> reasonable, or insulting does not really matter.  If the defense is 
> even litigious and the argument insane, as long as it is an expression 
> of war time loyalty, it is met with praise….or at least a thankful 
> smile.  This becomes important when you consider that I had kirker 
> friends of 10 years start sending me notes like the one below as soon 
> as I started critiquing the leadership of the Kirk (without so much as 
> a phone call check up); the kind of conscience and discipline behind 
> this apologetic rhetoric is all too clear.  
>  
> Michael Metzler
>

To add to Michael's observations, as an outsider, what I have noticed 
is that there seems to be no defense of nor outreach to individual 
Kirkers in distress.  There is only a blind and blinding defense of the 
leadership of the Church.  I have read Michael's blog, 
http://poohsthink.com, for quite some time, and in the posts from the 
defenders of Christ Church, I have found no evidence of Christian 
charity.  None at all.  There is no spirit of honest inquiry in the 
posts against (rather than to) Michael; nor is any concern exhibited 
for him, personally.  I've seen threats masked as concern; I've seen 
accusations that Michael is mentally ill -- as if questioning church 
authority is an infallible sign that a member has become unhinged.  
I've seen appalling and catty references made to Michael's wife and his 
children, and I've seen snotty, dismissive, patronizing posts from the 
callow, the thoughtless, and the arrogant, all of which are designed to 
shame and/or embarrass Michael into submission to the Christ Church 
session.  Not submission to God, mind you, but to Doug.  The more rabid 
the poster, the less likely he is to be able to tell the difference.

What I have concluded from reading Pooh's Think is that it is far 
better to be a godforsaken infidel than an outspoken, questioning lamb 
of the Kirk.  There's no brother like a brother in Christ to kick you 
when you're down.  He always knows just where to aim the boot.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com


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