I have been challenged by Proverbs 26:4 and 5 several times in my life:

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

The recent "dialog" with Steve Baird is a good example.

I interpret these verses to say that you can't just leave him have his say without answering his posts, but we have to be careful not to reduce ourselves to be the same kind of fool he is by doing the same thing he does. That is, never REALLY read replies and simply post similarly abusive counter attacks.

Balance is hard to keep and easy to fall off of.

Keep up the great work folks. Use this as practice so you can be ready in other situations as well.

boyd

...was to reconfirm us in our beliefs and help us to define them more clearly and precisely. Thanks, Steve!

Just before I blocked him, I emailed him and thanked him for all the verses and information that gave he us which supported our naturism even more!



Boyd Allen
"May the Lord protect our nudity from the sight of those who will not benefit, and may he allow us to be seen by those who will."

I agree with you. At some point, you have to let them say what they say and leave at that. As Jesus said, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces" (Matthew 7:6). Of course, Jesus was known for not letting others draw Him into arguing. Whenever someone took issue with Him and tried to trip Him up, He would simply turned their own arguments back on them. Most of the time, they didn't even know how to respond afterwards. That still works today, too...but like those in Jesus' day, they'll probably just walk away upset and ready to kill you.

Greg C
http://www.geocities.com/greg_pc/

 

Or they would say "Yeah, but..." and then continue where they left off without even considering what you say.

Anytime someone says "Yes, but..." (or "Yeah, but..") what they are saying is "YesI agree with you, but, I'll argue my point anyway".

Boyd Allen
"May the Lord protect our nudity from the sight of those who will not benefit, and may he allow us to be seen by those who will."