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%PRESBYNET ESSENTIAL THINGS MEETING RELATIONSHIPS+991028
%REFLEXIVE OBJECT SUBJECT SCIENTIFIC REALITY SINS+991028
%ABSENCE LACK MISSING COOPERATION HEALTHY DIALOGUE+991028
%DOMINATION SYSTEM CONTROL LAW ORDER CHAOS CONFUSE+991028
%REDEMPTIVE VIOLENCE COERCION SALVATION DICTATORS 991028
(The following was the opener note to begin a meeting
on PresbyNet under the heading ESSENTIAL THINGS.)
This meeting is a place to discuss extensive initial
notes posted in this meeting. The notes focus upon what
"THINGS" are essential to continued personal and communal
integrity.
The word "THINGS" will often be put in quotation
marks to indicate that the realities which are the focus
of this meeting are NOT objects, are NOT objective things
like objects, NOR are they things which can be manipulated
with integrity as modern scientists and engineers
manipulate material objects treated as means to the
achievement of certain objectives.
Essential "THINGS" are usually reflexive realities;
i.e., having to do with people-participating-in-personal-
relationships --- rather than having to do with isolated-
people-as-individuals-considered-apart-from their parti-
cipation in personal relationships.
Essential "THINGS" are essential in the sense that
people cannot long be healthy people of integrity within
an integrative community --- in the absence of any of the
essential "THINGS".
Essential "THINGS" are essential to the continuity of
both personal and communal integrity; for without an
essential "THING" both personal and communal integrity
decline.
Essential "THINGS" are not essential in-the-sense-
of-being-more-important than other essential "things".
Nothing which is essential is so important as to be the
ground for denigrating something else which is also
essential.
Essential "THINGS" serve as the foundations for
cooperation, building communities, conflict-resolution,
peace-making, and for the evaluation of other things which
are not truly essential to personal and communal
integration.
Readers may gain an insight into the way in which
essential "THINGS" in the sense of this meeting are
essential --- by considering some essential "things" in
the realm of human biological/medical health:
1. Adequate clean water and fresh air.
2. Adequate sewage and garbage removal procedures.
3. Adequate nutritious and clean food with essential
vitamins/minerals.
cialize.
6. Adequate medical attention and support when
illness strikes.
7. Adequate opportunities to relax and sleep.
- - - -
In the coming weeks additional notes from the
moderator will seek to stimulate some consideration of and
discussion of the implicit theological affirmations which
are made by people on opposite sides of hot debates within
mainline protestant denominations. Often people take
overt positions on controversial issues --- and then
engage in overt conflict with each other about the overt
positions taken on those overtly controversial issues.
Yet, the conflicts are really about some IMPLICIT
THEOLOGICAL AFFIRMATIONS which are the implicit
foundations for the positions taken.
The hope here is to help participants become more
aware of and clear about the IMPLICIT THEOLOGICAL
AFFIRMATIONS which often remain in the shadows of our
conflicts with each other within God's Christian Churches.
In this meeting you are asked to:
1. Offer suggestions of how to point to additional
ESSENTIAL THINGS which are not adequately pointed to in
the initial notes included in this meeting.
2. Offer criticisms of initial notes which are
posted in this meeting when you see them as vague,
misleading, confused, unclear, not-really-essential, etc.
3. Comment about, or ask about, implications present
in accepting ESSENTIAL THINGS as being essential to both
our personal and communal integrity.
4. Comment about ESSENTIAL THINGS which seem to you
be contrary to the plain meaning of scriptures in the
Bible, traditional confessions, church traditions, formal
church polity, etc.
5. Focus upon affirmations as much as is possible;
i.e., take care to avoid negative language as much as is
possible.
6. Address each other in ways which are gentle,
kindly, gracious and respectful --- focusing upon
theological affirmations rather than focusing negatively
upon people or classes of people and their beliefs,
attitudes, ideals, values, principles, or behaviors.
7. Avoid making statements which imply judgments,
condemnations and/or denigrations of individual persons or
classes of persons defined in any way.
8. Respond to notes as you usually respond to notes,
when viewing the text of the note, so that there is an
automatic reference to the note number included in your
response. Unless your response pertains to the full text
of the note --- seek to include only the portion of the
initial note which is relevant to your response.
END OF OPENING NOTE
(c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in
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