Hank,

I just stated the historical and theological facts regarding Protestantism, because your explanation did not properly reflect that. I did not try to defend their beliefs, neither am I a Protestant myself.


>So Luther (and others) are the authority of what the divine meant and means? Blasphemy!!! Which is really just a technical definition of those who would make the divine in their own image. A common enough mistake especially in Western Christianity. Usually defended against by doing more of the same. And then rejecting all appeals to reason (as in, you can't support your theory by assuming the validity of the theory) by doing even more of the same. Impervious to logic, impervious to the mountain of biblical historical, sociological, ethnological (did you know that the aramaic word for "hell" referred to the garbage pit outside Jerusalem that burned 24-hours a day?) and anthropological scholarship (who needs it when your theory proves itself valid?) produced over the past 30 years, impervious to the harm (by their fruits shall ye know them) the exceptionalist theory has led to (measured in number of lives taken, if nothing else).
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>And no, I'm not writing this to convert you to a non-blasphemous form of spirituality. Or at least I don't have that expectation. There are probably others, however, whose feelings about the matter are strongly opposed to the view you (pretty accurately, I think) expressed. By articulating some things I've learned over the years on the subject, perhaps they will be better able to articulate their experience, to themselves and to others. That's how cultural change happens.
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>Speaking of cultural change: Lianja presents a big cultural shift for Fox programmers. If you want to learn why you would do well to consider it, sign up for SWFox before 7/1, and you get a free precon -- and with that, you can pick (if you like) a workshop on migrating from Fox to Lianja. Lots of action, and anyone who wants to continue on past the allotted time (it will be in the a.m.) is welcome to do so. There will also be a session on moving a Lianja app to mobile.
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>Lianja is a big cultural shift; when I wrote my first migration app, it took me quite a while to see how it had to come together. It did, and there were some valuable lessons learned, both about the "how to" but just as importantly, how this new paradigm actually creates a better user experience, one that is self-teaching.
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>And if things go wrong as I present, you may hear some swearing, but you won't hear any actual blasphemy. <s>
>
>Hank