Arrogance

As I have mentioned before, I find myself in frequent debates with people on various Blogs. Most of them are healthy debates. Ones in which I have learned and, I hope, people have occasional learned from me. You are also undoubtedly aware that some of these debates have nothing to do with learning experiences. They are more a matter of simply butting heads.

In most forums I will only go so far with someone who obviously isn't engaging in the same conversation I am. I have too many other ways to better spend my energy. As such, I just let them go there own way. There are certain individuals that I will run across though that manage to set the stage on which simply walking away won't work.

For months I have been in a number of debates with one person in particular. (If you haven't done so, you can follow the link to the right, to the only Blog that is linked. You will quickly see what I mean.) I have sat down and thought about it several times, and it finally occurred to me what my issue is here. Why it is that I am continuously driven to respond to comments he makes to me. Initially I thought it was simply because he was directly referencing or commenting to me, but there is more to it than that.

This man is a Pastor. No big surprise. Many of us that travel amongst the Blogs I frequent are ministers of one type or another. I certainly don't hold the title against him. Yet what bothers me is attaching this title to the method of debate thus far. You see, (or you would if you had read our debates) he tends to ignore the bulk of what is said or twist it to say what he wants it to mean. This isn't a good quality in a leader. Certainly not a religious leader. If it is your job to lead people, you need to be able to correctly illustrate what the map and instructions say. You also need to demonstrate that you are capable of listening to the people you are leading, even if to acknowledge and disagree. People you don't listen to tend not to listen to you.

I know some of you have a greater problem with religions in general than some of the rest of us. That's your right. Still, while I have more tolerance for all religions, I can't abide theocracies. It is one thing to say, "Listen to God and live his words" and another thing altogether to say, "Listen to me, I'll relay the important words to you." Then again, I suppose that is the crux of most organized religion.

The thing is, if a member of your congregation comes up to you and tells you their problems, they should be able to expect that any preaching or counseling you provide addresses those problems, not something completely unrelated. They should be able to expect that you will answer what they say, not what you think or want them to mean. Now I know that I am not a member of his congregation, but I also know that he is not likely to completely change his personality with them. Besides, I have seen him do it to a member of his own congregation as well.

I think this is one of the areas that MC comes real close to being right on. Without any established religions, we wouldn't have as many self righteous, closed minded individuals thinking they have a right and a talent for insulting those who don't fall into an immediate lock step with them. Maybe that's just a part of life, or something close to it.