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Rich Aubrey's avatar

This reminds me of one of my favorite poems:

“Outwitted” by Edwin Markham

He drew a circle that shut me out -

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in.

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Holy Heretics's avatar

Wow Coach, that is beautiful. Thank you for sharing! Gat

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Amber Johnson's avatar

Thank you, Gary. You are incredibly self-aware. You are the only writer I still follow in the Deconstruction world. Same judgmental fanatics; they just switched sides. I no longer wanted to be a judgmental fanatic, on either side. I want to move on and live in peace. And inspire others to do the same. And that is what I did. What I continue to do. Sure, my entire life was greatly influenced by indoctrination in the white evangelical church, but..... I am so much more than the bad things that happened to me because of religion. That is a choice I have to make and a truth I have to own in a daily basis. Healing is possible, but it doesn’t happen on accident.

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Holy Heretics's avatar

Thank you my friend. It's been a long journey, but I too am tired of fighting this constant battle of sides. It's dualistic in nature, which automatically means it's not healthy or helpful. I've also found the deconstruction community to be mostly made up of hurting people who are often now hurting others, just from the other side of the pews. Wishing you well on your journey of recovery! Gary Alan

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Josie Ryan's avatar

Not sure why you thought you would be in trouble for this. I think it makes sense. I'm so tired of all the rage. I understand the rage, but I just want people to show mercy to each other on both sides of every divide.

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Melissa Whittington's avatar

Thank you for this post.

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