I've been very busy over the weekend and not had time to check email. I had hoped people would use the time to say their goodbyes, but I see many chose to keep their dialogue going.
As I had mentioned, I hoped to send some impressions about TruthTalk members. So, I begin now. One of the TruthTalk members who I have appreciated the most is Dave Hansen. Why? Well, most of my interaction with Mormons over the years has been rather superficial. Virtually anytime I have gotten into discussions on a substantial level in person with Mormons, the door to future dialogue has closed after a few meetings. I know Kevin indicates having a greater success in this area, and I don't know why the difference, but most of my doors always close down. With DaveH on TruthTalk, I have been able to explore more about Joseph Smith and the teachings of Mormonism more than just about anywhere else. Blaine has also contributed, as well as a few others, including Dave's nephew. The bottom-line is that my knowledge and understanding of his religion is much greater now than it was before TruthTalk. I realize that there will be some TruthTalk members who think that all such knowledge is vain and that it might be foolish for me to spend time learning it. I don't see it that way. The reasons it is beneficial are too numerous for me to enumerate right now, so I will at this time simply say thank you to our Mormon participants on TruthTalk. Although I am probably more contrary to the religious establishment of Mormonism than I have ever been before, I have appreciated the opportunity to hear your perspective and engage you in dialogue. As I have explained in the past, the biggest smoking gun for me in regards to your religion is the Book of Abraham and the manuscripts we have which Joseph Smith claimed to translate. Another big issue for me is the polygamy of Joseph Smith and the fragmented nature of Mormonism after Joseph Smith's departure. Thank you Dave for many years of dialogue and for the several books you have sent me in the past. I will not forget you. I will continue to pray for you. Surely you are ingrained in your religion and your relationships in your religion will likely keep you there, but I will continue to pray that the Lord open your eyes to the true nature of his church. David Miller ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "TruthTalk" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 11:34 AM Subject: [TruthTalk] Saying Goodbye Well, it is Friday. Time to say our goodbyes. I will leave the list up through the weekend to give time for lurkers to catch up and perhaps make their final post. Please bring the other conversations to a close and focus on saying your final farewells. I will start with this one, but I plan to send some more posts where I talk about past members of TruthTalk and some of my impressions, for good or for bad. In this post, I want to talk about TruthTalk in general. In my opinion, much of the difficulty of TruthTalk these last several years has been related to a problem described by the proverb, FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT. I have seen this same phenomena in home churches too. When a small group of people become so thoroughly familiar with each other that much of what others would say become somewhat predictable, people become more free to speak their mind and tend to focus more upon faults than strengths in the other person. Marriages often illustrate this same difficulty. The time frame for this seems to start at around 4 years, and within 10 years, it becomes rather entrenched. Those groups that tend to be focused upon itself exhibit more of this tendency than groups that tend to reach out and pull in fresh people. On TruthTalk, there was a time when that polarizing of groups became rather noticeable. There came to be the liberals versus the conservatives, which eventually turned into the liberals versus the fundamentalists. When this first came to light, I questioned the group whether we should encourage this kind of sectarian dialogue. Several on the list thought it was natural human nature and fine not only to allow it but encourage it. Interestingly, some of those most outspoken for this perspective are no longer on the list. My personal judgment in hindsight is that any kind of sectarianism like this is counter productive for good discussion. What happens is that people speak more from bias and emotion rather than engage in a teamwork of discovery. People tended to work harder on putting the other side in their place rather than trying to hear whether or not there was even a grain of truth in what was being said. Overall, I have appreciated TruthTalk very much. It has been a source of motivation for me to study issues that I might otherwise have left untouched. My heart has been warmed by many who have posted here, and my mind has been enriched with a diversity of viewpoints to consider and examine. Some on TruthTalk have steered my thinking in certain directions that I might otherwise not have gone. Some have blessed me by pointing me to resources and individuals that have previously been outside of my realm of study. In some future posts, I will discuss some of the members of TruthTalk who have most impacted me and how they influenced me. 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 If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed. ---------- "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 If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
