THANKS TONS for your kind and meaty reply. I greatly appreciate it. Comments below.
If your friend is only incredulous, he really ought to check out my thread at
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,310790.msg1649744.html#msg1649744
He may well see it in this post or have already viewed it. I don't know. Thanks for that thread.
Lionel’s video, The Deep Cover of Purveyors of Inconceivable Inhuman Atrocities, explains one of the weirdest mechanisms of incredulity, and he does it in a way that I am sure psychologists would heartily endorse.
I really like Lionel. He's very sharp; knowledgeable; witty; sometimes funny; potent. His rapid fire style can occasionally wear on me but I try and listen to him weekly or so.
Here’s a nasty little irony: If your friend says that Lionel’s video is just more internet hogwash, then he is inadvertently confirming Lionel’s astute analysis. (Ah, that’s Divinely poetic justice if your friend has betrayed you.) Anyway, if your friend doesn’t soon repent of his willfully naïve attitude, then he is in for ONE OF THE BIGGEST SHOCKS OF HIS LIFE.
I don't feel betrayed at all. I was initially shocked when he became so stridently skeptical and even liberal sounding in some surprising ways. But I didn't feel and don't feel betrayed. I feel, still, somewhat shocked. He's way above average bright. He's an an extremely skilled psychotherapist/psychometrist, now also retired.
I think he very earnestly believes that his skepticism is the most rational; most reality based; most informed and most astute perspective possible, based on the evidence.
Personally, I think he is, in spite of his often extensive research, fairly unaware of stacks of evidence I've studied long ago as well as more recently. I don't know how to explain that. I'm sure he believes that there's no significant evidence he's unaware of.
I also think that he doesn't do as well at compiling and assessing nuance as well as a myriad of tiny details that most folks would not see as connected--though I tend to see connections that most folks do not see.
It's kind of mystifying to compare our two perspectives given that both of us are earnest Christians; both of us are extremely bright; both of us are well read; both of us are extremely skilled psychotherapists and very skilled at human assessment. He's a much more practiced psychometrist than I. However, I usually could tell most key things from 5-15 minutes of meeting someone--or even merely looking at 3-4 photos I could see their eyes in. And my test battery work was above average.
Don’t worry: If he is a true friend, he will eventually apologize.
I don't think there's anything for him to apologize for. I'd rather he be candid and real. I might wish we could have a more robust and more face to face dialogue but that's life. I'd certainly prefer that he wake-up from the evidence sooner than later. I cringe when I think of the slap's up-side the face that are likely to hit him hard when some of this stuff becomes brutally and starkly evident in the public square.
The mess our world is in is orders of magnitude worse than non-Christians believe. A lot of internet stuff is hogwash, to be sure, but that’s just another dimension of the Satanic deception. We are wrestling with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. There is practically no limit to the horrors that they will perpetrate through human fools. It will eventually get even worse in this world—largely because non-Christians will refuse to see how awful it already is.
There's plenty of truth to that, imho. C'est la vie.
Certainly Que Sera Sera--The Bible is clear that what has been scheduled to be, WILL BE.
I'm convinced that God is using POTUS TRUMP to afford us probably 7 more years of relative peace and prosperity and a beating back of the horrendous evils which have been flooding our land and planet for so many decades.
I believe this will afford a completion of the spread of the Gospel to all people groups/languages.
I believe that wise, discerning, perceptive folks will prepare their hearts, minds, homes, families better than they could have had Shrillery been installed.
I'm certain that Shrillery is several 100% WORSE than even a lot of conservatives believe. Her's and OThuga's degrees of demonization are more or less off the charts. It is evident in their eyes as well as their doings, tones, attitudes, word choices etc. I have no doubt of that. None.
As you know, you and I don’t agree on every aspect of eschatology—but our disagreement concerns only what will or will not happen immediately after Jesus returns. We agree with practically everything else. (Interpretation of the Bible is tricky. Heck, it is designed to be puzzling in peculiar ways. I have been studying the Bible for about as long as you have, but we are at a merely temporary impasse concerning the true nature of the Second Coming. In a manner of speaking, the most important stuff right now—as we eagerly anticipate the Lord’s return—is to appreciate the significance of the over-the-top evil that is going on right now. That wisdom, that awareness on our part, will steel us for the work we have been left here to do.)
AGREED. A favorite pastor advised to MAJOR IN MAJORS and minor in minors.
We shall see how quickly some of what we see is red-pilled to the whole of society.
I certainly pray earnestly for POTUS TRUMP's safety, maturity, humility, wisdom etc. etc.
Thanks again for your kind msg. Now, I need to get my papers to the tax man. LOL.