It's getting tiresome. As a 9 1/2 year member of RF, I never cease to be amazed by those posters who cannot even begin to conceive of the idea that someone else may have a valid point. I just started reading a fantastic book. I'm going to quote something from page 2:
"We all inhabit geographical, linguistic, and social words that shape our vision and our impressions of what is normal, what is real. Our worldview is a collective set of assumptions we carry with us that condition every question we ask. These 'paradigms' make it possible to guide inquiry, but they can also limit and impede our inquiry. They can get us off on the wrong foot, obscure our line of sight, or simply misdirect our focus. This is because, all too often, we don't realize the limiting assumptions with which we are working."
If you are one of those people who can never acknowledge even the possibility that you don't have all the answers, and know better than all the rest of us what "Truth-with-a-capitol-T" is, you have no idea how frustrating it can be for the rest of us to try to have a mature dialogue with you. Every one of us is coming from a distinctly unique place. I would venture a guess that the vast majority of those who come here for religious debate and discussion genuinely believe that their perspective is correct. They do so because of what they've been taught, what they've experienced, and what faith, reason, or a combination of the two tells them is correct. It is, of course, possible, that some people haven't ventured very far out of the box, and haven't given much thought to any perspective other than their own. I really feel sorry for them, whether they have come to some of the same conclusions as I have or not.
This constant, "I'm right, brother, and you're wrong," is starting to annoy me to no end. (You know who you are.) How about saying, "I believe..." or "From my perspective..." or "The way I see it..." for a change? None of us knows anything "for sure." God (and yes, I'm going to assume He exists because the idea that He does resonates very strongly with me) has not handpicked you to be the purveyor of all truth while letting the rest of us wallow in ignorance. Believe what you will. Stand up for what you believe. But for Heaven's sake, stop equating what you believe to be true with fact, because it's not. It's your belief, your opinion, your perspective. That's all it is. And try to let up a little with respect to the condescending responses. It's making all of us despise you. This has nothing to do with what's true and what isn't. It has everything to do with your attitude.
