[At writes:]
>> Yes, I am involved in one and only one competition. It is
>> the competition between the two interwined paths, the one leading to
>> eternal life and the other to eternal death.
>>
>> No, I do not have or want a following. Those on the path to eternal life
>> have only leader -- the one who walked it first.
>>
>> yes, the lecture as with any other method of teaching outlives its critics
>> when it serves humankind to get and proceed on the path leading to eternal
>> life.
[Steve Eskow replies:]
> what you have said above is, to non Christians, offensive as well as
> untrue.
Steve, it looks like you're doing here what your message accused At of
doing: asserting a "truth" on behalf of all non-Christians. I'd have no
trouble accepting it if you said "what you have said above is, to Steve
Eskow, offensive as well as untrue". The tone of your messages makes it
clear that you feel offended. I suspect (although I won't judge ;-) that
that strong feeling leads you to misinterpret some of what he writes.
That's a shame, because you do have much to contribute to the dialogue,
and in your cooler, more considered responses, you probably are helping
him to learn, as his replies should be helping you.
Personally, I'm a non-Christian who finds nothing offensive in At's
messages. He speaks authentically as a committed Christian; given the
scope of his vision, it would be impossible for him to keep his faith out
of it. For myself, I find much in what he says that resonates with me,
that creates a learning experience within me (and where it doesn't
resonate, or where I'm not sure I understand, I'm willing to dig deeper,
to understand the tension -- another, more expensive learning experience).
The difference in religion is no more a problem for me than the difference
in nationality or culture.
Also, rather than trying to convert us, At has said repeatedly that
anything any of us learns from his lectures will relate to us, the
learners, not him. His vision can't become ours, just as the learning
that we trigger in him belongs to him, not us.
--Don Dwiggins "The truth will make you free, SEI Information Technology but first it will make you miserable" d.l.dwiggins@computer.org -- Tom DeMarco
[Host's Note: I labeled the quoted lines above to make clear who said what. ...Rick]
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>