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Originally Posted by Harsha Shah
Yes, it is Harsha Shah here once more and I am answering you. I am hoping that I am not offending you.
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Just take it as a given that you are offending us. It will save everyone involved a great deal of time.
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I am wondering if Mr. Toole is being familiar with the story of the blind men and the elephant: one is touching the belly and thinking that it is a boulder and another one is feeling the tail and mistaking it for a broom.
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Miss Shah, are you familiar with the expression, "beating a dead horse"? Because you have been dragging out that "blind men and the elephant" story repeatedly. At this stage, there are no more intact elephant parts for the blind guys to misidentify. We are down to elephant molecules now and you must let it go. The elephant metaphor has outlived its usefulness. It is an ex-elephant.
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I am also thanking Mrs. Handmaiden for her educated reply and I am asking if my colleague was not becoming an angel, what was taking place. . .
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Death and subsequent damnation; that was what was taking place.
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and she would comfort his distraught relatives, yes?
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No. She would not.
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He was a member of the Church of Scotland but not an active one and he was sometimes mentioning that he was still a believer to a higher power, yes.
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If the fellow actually believed in a "higher power", then he should have checked on his source of information about that "high power". What did the "higher power" want? Were there any particular expectations in place regarding the "lower v higher powers" obligations to each other? Aren't you studying law or something? How hard is it to figure out? If you claim to believe in the God described in the Bible, then read the Bible and learn how to act on that belief.
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I am also agreeing with Mrs Handmaiden that angels are or course silly fairy tales. . .
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I never said that. My point was that people have silly ideas about what angels are like and those ideas do not come from the Bible.
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. . . but they could have been providing solace, yes?
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Well, there are many moving, comforting passages in the Bible. That is why vulnerable human beings turn to its pages. There are also many difficult, distressing passages which people choose to ignore because those instill the opposite of comfort.
I didn't write the Bible, but I will admit that it is challenging to read and following its instructions requires ceaseless, hyper-focused effort. This may be overwhelming for many people. The problem is that the Bible itself doesn't offer a "commitment-lite" option. Being a Christian isn't a part-time job that one works for a few hours a week to earn a few "extra" blessings. It is an all-or-nothing deal.
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I am hoping that I am not offending you. . .
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Again, you are. But I'm used to it by now.
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. . . but I am thinking that many christians are not thinking very much when they are offering their words of comfort to those who are grieving. No.
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These individuals may not actually be Christians, and chances are they aren't thinking very much, ever. Very few people seem to be doing very much thinking at all lately. My current project is getting used to that reality. Being Saved® from false beliefs gives me some peace of mind.