Dave Sable said:
I know I will probably get slammed on this one, but I have mixed feelings about Brandon's article.
Bob Smith said:
Now that speaks volumes.
Why would someone on the AB fear getting "slammed" by simply having mixed feelings on an article? Dave is a regular contributor to the AB. Why is he afraid?
Dave knows the history of the AB and how people have been and are being treated. There is no such thing as independent thought. Questioning the goings on is prohibited. Challenging the validity of an article by a spoiled kid will get you, well, "slammed."
I have a question for Dave. If you are afraid to speak your mind why are you still contributing to that board? Is it the battered wife syndrome where you keep going back for more? The fear that if you leave it will be worse than if you stayed?
Break free, Dave. You don't need to take the abuse. Seek out a healthy group of believers that imitate the character of Christ. Many of us have. Its wonderful. Don't try to appease the AB leaders by compromising your values.
To those of you still in it, you too can be free. You can stand for righteousness and no longer tolerate the abusive conduct of the AB. The Lord will stand with you.
I will admit to having a sense of fear regarding certain posters on this board. I think of their methods as bullyish-- not awfully different from the methods used on the SWTE board, which give me the same sense of fear.
I attribute my fearful feelings to my basic cowardliness, and to years of experience of being literally bullied during an emotionally abusive upbringing and during my tenure in an emotionally abusive assembly.
The reason I walked away from reading the SWTE board and have never looked back was not because of bullies or fears, but because I found the postings there to be without redeeming value, unedifying and unprofitable (as well as unprophetable). Worse still, I found myself drawn toward participation in debates which held no promise of resolution.
The reason I remain active on this board also has nothing to do with my fearfulness or with bullies, but because I have been encouraged here and have been able sometimes to encourage others.
My fears are not from God, but are a natural issue that I must deal with. My conception of "bullies" among my brethren is an imagination that has to be cast down and brought into subjection to the obedience of Christ. This board helps me confront that and many other personal problems.
I have no hesitation in saying that our Lord has used this board to instruct me. The criticisms I have received here have had corrective results for me. As I credit God, not men, for the gains I have made here, I hold no one but myself accountable for my anxieties.
"Bob" may not realize it, but for those who are in Christ, He is always with us, wherever we are...
al
