"Misled" implies that a person, at one time, accepted the material as truth, but, for whatever reason, came to the "knowledge" that the information was wrong and even, purposefully wrong. I doubt DavidM ever came close to accepting Jonathan's bias on the issue.
Following is what Jonathan wrote that "pushed my buttons" as he would say:
Jonathan Hughes wrote:
I would also point out that this was a statistician using abortion and economic numbers to make his case. Putting a statistic on a 'moral climate' would be difficult if not impossible. ... What I am attempting to do with this article is to get people to actually take a look at an issue without the partisan glasses on. Here is a Christian statistician from a highly respected seminary who is pro-life. When he takes a good look at the stats, at the economics, at supply-side reproductive health, at the partial birth ban, and at the criminalization of abortion he comes to a different conclusion to that of most uninformed people. We can at least listen as you did, or toss the article away with flippant comments like others have.
The word "statistician" caught my attention, and the implication that the numbers were irrefutable and being published by someone who apparently would not normally agree with what the numbers tell us. I understood him to be saying that he thought that this study was something trustworthy, and that the only people who would disagree with it would be UNINFORMED people who would blindly follow their party even when facts were against it.
Now consider that I have acquaintances on many sides of this issue, some who believe that abortion is wrong in every situation, some who believe that abortionists should be killed and abortuaries blown up and demolished, some who think the abortion issue is important enough an issue to cause a state to withdraw from the Union and start a civil war, some who think that abortion is wrong except in cases of rape and incest or if the life of the mother was threatened, some who think that abortion is a Constitutional right whereby women should have the right to terminate their pregnancies. Here, I understand Jonathan to be saying that he thinks that there is some important data that the informed have which would change the mind of those who would but inform themselves of it. I don't have a lot of time, but I considered his claim important enough to make time to check it out. As I did, my expectations of what I would find came crashing down. You may think that I did not even come close to thinking that Jonathan might have something here, but you are wrong. I have not at all been happy with Bush's lack of concern about a balanced budget. The suggestion was somewhat intriguing *IF* the statistics were as irrefutable as he seemed to imply.
John Smithson wrote:
Maybe remarks about being "misled" have no place in an honest discussion between two who make the same claim to the Lordship of Christ. Do you think????
I'm not sure why you would even make such a suggestion. I am told that I mislead people quite often. I don't take it personal. I just try harder at communicating better. I never want to mislead anyone, but keeping my mouth shut is not the answer. Is it a sin for someone to misunderstand another and then feel misled? Is it a sin for that person who felt misled to communicate that he felt that way? If so, then how can the originator learn to communicate better?
Quite frankly, I think if Jonathan had omitted the word "statistician" from his post, and also omitted the word "uninformed," and perhaps also omitted the phrase "partisan glasses," then I probably would not have felt misled. Then again, I probably would not have taken time to check out the article as thoroughly as I did. :-) Sometimes there is a positive side to misunderstanding.
Peace be with you. David Miller.
---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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