Protestantism

» paper_turtle - Truth & Falsehood, Pt 2

continuing from where the quote above ends:
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The "Parable" of the elephant
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Once upon a time there was a king who thought of an interesting way of amusing himself. He ordered the royal elephant to be brought before him and invited some blind men, blind from birth, to come and touch the elephant and describe it. One touched a leg and said, "The elephant is like a tree." One touched the tail and said, "The elephant is like a broom." One touched the abdomen and said, "The elephant is like a wall." One touched an ear and said, "The elephant is like a fan." Each descried the elephant in a different way and believed that he had direct experience of the truth. Then they started quarrelling with each other maintaining that each was in possession of the complete truth.
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This, the Buddha said, was the way people quarrel about beliefs and lose their "goodness" as a result. To be good one has to be able to respect the other person's point of view and to refrain from saying that the other person is wrong or that one's own point of view alone is right.
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[end of quote]
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When we argue over Christian theology, we are just like those blind men--thinking we have seen the entire "elephant" when we have only seen one part of it. We become so wrapped up in proving our own rightness that we lose sight of the flesh-and-blood person with whom we are conversing. We then feel justified in allowing our anger to rule us. We think its OK to insult one another, and add fuel to the fire.
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But wisdom cannot speak in such an atmosphere. If we want to hear wisdom we must be quiet. We must speak and think calmly. And we must remember that our actions may speak much more loudly than our words.
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Please note: in the last few postings I have deliberately used "we" rather than "you," or indefinite words such as "one," "a person," "he/she." This is intended to convey an acknowledgement that none of us is perfect, and I freely admit to having, on occasion, resorted to anger, sarcasm, or other not-so-constructive behaviors.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle