Contention?
As in wrestling with the Truth -- is a good thing.
Ugliness and rudeness, indeed have no place here...

However...

Consider...
Perhaps without this very contention this place would be quite sterile?
Smiley happy faces all speaking the same soft fuzzy things...
Lukewarm to the max...
Bah -- even I spit you out...

Without the dynamic tension that conflict provides...this place would be just another dead log of text, like hundreds of others, drifting into oblivion...

This place is most alive when there is a flurry of ideas being hotly contested...

Safe and warm and nice are for those who don´t want their boat rocked...
Hope I´m a typhoon to you...


Look alive...raise your banners...draw your swords...bring on your best...

Or stare at the ground instead of the sky...



***All contention is evil***

How can that be if every day brings you face to face with contending against evil?

We wrestle and contend against error and falsity, and stupidity and cowardice, in practically every area of life...

Spiritual warfare is all about contending against spiritual wickedness...If we´re not actively fighting against it, we´re actively standing against it...

Contention with evil is a sign we are NOT asleep...

Fighting just for fighting sake is a waste of time, and advances nothing; and I agree is negative...forces of chaos spreading discord to bring down civilized discussion...


It´s those who do not contend -- that are asleep -- that serve evil by abdication and surrender. If you are not fighting evil, then by default you´re its prisoner to be used, if only as a human sandbag to clog the advance of Truth.

The status-quo is NEVER acceptable...

Contentment is a sign the battle has passed you by and you are derailed in the quagmire siren-song of the World...a prisoner of war in a padded cell...

.

[From this source: <http://www.visualthesaurus.com/online/index.html>]

contentious -- causing or likely to cause disagreement
contention -- the disagreement that results from opposing arguments
arguable -- capable of being supported by argument
arguable -- open to argument or debate
arguable -- plausible -- apparently reasonable and valid

This is the ´flavor´ of the word (we are used to all the negative connotations of this word -- with the reason to deliberately obscure its other meanings, tainting it, putting it out of circulation. And when all arguments are seen to be negative and tainted -- that´s when a totalitarian state steps in and gives you your positions so that there will be no arguments -- all in the name of protection.)

contentious --involving or likely to cause controversy

contentious -- can be connected to: bellicose -- having a ready disposition to fight (the willingness to fight as witness to the Truth against the World, the flesh, and the devil.)

contentious -- can be connected to: disputative -- inclined to dispute or disagree, even to engage in lawsuits (the despute involves just who exactly owns you, and the cosmic ´legal´ standing of that ownership.)

Setting aside the above shades of meaning for now...they´ve been discussed before, and I don´t want to deflect from the main meaning of the word -- to cause controversy.
Bringing a sword (Matthew 10:34) to divide is definitely controversy.

Balanced by this:
1 Corinthians 11
16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

So, (1 Peter 3:15) this reason I give, that men have hidden away from the confrontation of dealing with the truth, through the slow steady eroding of allowing men to express disagreement, to eliminate all philosophies except one universal inclusive tolerant one.


(...as for evil...some evil has the face of a creeping numbness...)


In case you misunderstand...this was a repost...basically a response to a thread that called for warm and fuzzy...implying that rocking the boat did people a disservice...

So consider this a cautionary tale...

Not to be afraid to post what you think and feel.
Be prepared to defend your position -- not responding like you are being attacked, but use it as an opportunity to hone what you think and how you think...
Some people really want to know, and they carry lots of doubts, and need to see how firm you are, or if you equivocate as if you were in doubt yourself...they want to know if you thought that thing out, or are just parroting someone, or if it's just a throw-away idea...
Anyone starting an argument, just for the sake of argument, will be seen through in pretty short order...If some things seem 'negative' or 'harsh'; it may be because that sort of post is being dealt with...

We have all been fooled at one time or another...some are 'gun-shy' of new things...

People want to know if it'll be a waste of time in considering your opinion -- if you're not willing to defend or expand on what you think -- others aren't going to expend any energy on following up on what you say...
No one is going to invest themselves in something vague and ephemeral...
People can read between the lines and tell when you personally are involved, are passionate about what you believe...there is something to what you say if that much of yourself is dedicated to it...
This of course, is different from posting articles, eliciting opinions on a subject...I'm not talking about that; and dry posting of other peoples' work isn't going to have that 'spark' that will set this forum apart from all the rest...I'm not against posting opinions and research...but to put a human face on ideas, and debating about them -- is what puts 'juice' into a forum...

Not all can be erudite or conversant with their subject matter...what matters is that you use what you've been given...
Ideas that ring true, don't need eloquence to get across...And by the same token, polished ideas that contain a fatal flaw can usually be spotted a mile away...

I encourage you to post, because it takes all talents to build a comprehensive thing...

Your role here, may be to throw out the idea, that the more experienced can run with...or the idea that brings everyone back down to earth...
It may be the back-stop that catches the wilder notions and puts a practical face on them...
It may be the flights of fancy that ignites the imagination in some one else...
As long as it's honest, and contains something of yourself in it...it's going to be valid...

I have had entrenched positions, that would have remained that way -- but fortunately was goaded into researching and rethinking...
At times, I've gone for a quote, and suddenly be drawn up short -- saying, 'hey, wait a minute, this supports their position, not mine...' and then had to reassess my position all over...
This is a very good thing....

If you are disagreed with, don't give up...your opinions are valid...if not just you, statistically there are many silent ones who do agree with you...For anything to be held as belief, there had to be at least a grain of truth in it, or it never would have stuck...
This forum is here to sift this truth...and realize some answers may never appear -- at least in this world...
For the eternal optimists, don't be put off by the apparent discouragement from doubters...this is just a difference in personality and style...

Be open to change -- and with the seeming contradiction of sticking to your guns...
If your lines are drawn in stark black and white demarcation -- put aside striving to make everyone in that mold -- exist side by side with the relativists...each can use the other to further illuminate their positions...not in hostility, but in the idea that variety and diversity keeps everybody on their toes, and not sucked into brain-dead cultism...

Some are going to feel that all things are true, and some are going to feel that only one standard can be true...This is the stuff of controversy and contention...It can be dealt with stupidly on a footing of hate -- or with a judicious 'wait and see' attitude...

This is just my (unfortunately, not so humble) opinion...to invite your thoughts...
I see myself as one that just trying to get you to think...think for yourself...but don't think in a vacuum...
If this forum is going to work, it will take a little mental sweat from all who drift through here...but synergistically will give back to you much more than you put in...(as with any human endeavorer where seeking the Truth is involved.)

(for the Calling Ones --
Philippians 1:27
Jude 1:3)



I'm not for constant debate...the majority of subjects on this forum aren't candidates for debate...

Most of this forum falls under dreams and visions -- discussions and interpretations...

But there is room for sections where the question of 'what's it all about?' is going to come up.

After all....most of the visions are concerned with some sort of apocolypse...

And the flavor of the 'transition' and what it means, is very much up in the air...and it is the reason people pay so much attention to any glimpse into the future...And that's why it attracts debate because of its very nature -- a discussion of what side everything falls on...

In the cosmologies that recognize a Deceiver, where falsity is continually being generated to actively oppose apprehension of the truth; agents of truth are called to stand against damaging delusion. This takes discernment -- as to what may be, for example, a phase of youthful folly and is quietly waited out...or what might be deadly poison, and needs to be ruthlessly uprooted. And the exposure might not be applicable to you, but it may be life and death to someone else, and simply needs to be said...nobody's sensibilities could be more important than the potential saving of someone's spiritual life.
I know this sounds presumptuous to some...but gall in one man's eyes, is responsibility in another's. We can only operate in the light that we're given...if we act on the things we 'presume' to be true...realise that to us, standing by silently is to be treasonous...and show us some of that tolerance you say christians lack...
We 'suffer' under the 'handicap' of not having a cosmology of universal tolerance...tolerance towards humans, yes; but to certain ideas, no.

As we realize that not all will think alike, or share the same beliefs, we can come to the common ground of seeking knowledge, edification, and illumination...And agree that things are not as they should be, and that love is a worthy achievement, and that service to others is a higher standard than service to self...

If you don't have that kind of cosmology, you may not understand the sense of urgency or instinct to respond.. But when we got to uproot, we got to uproot.
If it seems 'negative' to you, think of it as doctors who can recognize a disease you don't see yet, needing to amputate immediately. Usually the points that need that sort of cauterization don't have a whole lot of meaning for non-biblical believers, and simply leave a bad taste in your mouth because the way that the idea was jumped on with both feet. Nothing personal intended.
But some of the ideas that sneak in, in our cosmology, have to be dealt with...other cosmologies that are more tolerant, won't see this....
But if it's an idea you just can't live without, and I see it as poison, you'll be called to defend it -- not to 'attack' you, but to make sure that you realize all the implications of handling something that is to us very dangerous....
Some posts may be a demonstration just to believers, (a lesson moot to some, invisible to others), directed for the edification of believers...the distinction might not be clear to all, but some things that are said would only make sense and only accomplish correction and be aimed towards, those of like mind.

For example, a lesson in which chakra did what, (might only be an interesting bit of info for me,) would be vital in the understanding of a fundamental concept in your cosmology, and an insertion of correction on your part, be necessary to keep someone from being trapped in a dead-end on the way to advancement.

(I confess ignorance of those realms, and stay off those threads for that reason...I have nothing positive to contribute, and can only say that I disagree with the interpretation of the entire framework...I consider that a given, and say nothing, and merely go to posts that do carry more meaning for me....)

Nobody here in this culture needs to be warned of the physical and spiritual dangers of cannibalism -- but if someone came in here espousing such ideas -- then compulsively I'd have to jump on that idea...and not let go until I had voiced a warning as throughly as I could, and hopefully with them defending their position, perhaps getting them to re-evaluate some unexamined assumptions...and hopefully with the side benefit that any onlookers would gain the same message...

What I am saying is that no one should be afraid to post just because there might be disagreement -- and no one should tip-toe around taking pains not to offend, either...
Politeness and grace, yes -- stifling or silence, no...
In the sake of being pc, we exchange pleasantries but no solid concepts that transform...
hi-how-do-you-do's have their place, but shouldn't consume a forum just for the sake of having some artificial peace...



And it seems to me, not on a individual level, but on an 'organizational' footing (I hold a lot against organizations, but that's for another thread.); that the confrontations against evil -- contesting for the Faith -- has been laid out like a chess-style battle...

Demarcation lines drawn out...positions solidified (sometimes held for centuries)...standing, waiting for the obvious to come against it...a holding action against attacks long since obsolete...
Each in the hierarchy with their part to play...

But the 'real' Church (no organization --- simply similar spirits, the congregation of saints, having their Faith in common) finds itself embroiled in a battle that's more like a Go game, where all pieces are equal, and to surround is to capture....

The battle on this level, is not the one of contesting for individual souls, (that's a different issue) but for the soul of a nation, or community...in the standards we accept, in the morality that's followed, in the tone of life in our day-to-day affairs...Do we have a nature of helping, or of turning away?
The battle on this level is always one-on-one, treating any who cross our paths as a brother, as almost safe in our Father's house...a fellow traveler assumed to be going to the same destination...someone you are going to be spending eternity with...

We have one 'Head' whom we follow, but the style of the 'organization' in the way that, in its human wisdom, wages the battle...gives ammunition to the charges of the World when it points its finger at the church's bloody history...the buffoons on television...the slick suits smilingly stealing money from the poor...the smug assurance that they won't care when those outside their little bunkers burn in agony...the unfeeling way they never look around at all the need...their Medieval armored self-assurance that their white-bread culture is absolutely right...with puritanical zeal for draconian laws that suppress, while their money makes them immune from responsibility to follow their own rules....The smug looks that slide across their faces the minute they step out the church doors...the feigned innocence when they claim 'what could I do, my hands are tied'...the dark things they practice when they think no one is looking...the total lack of feeling, empathy, or compassion..."if you don't have a Cadillac, then god ain't smilin' at you"...with a cosmetic budget that would feed a family for a week...with a car that would buy a poor person a house...Justified with the feeling that they are IMMUNE...in their orderly chess rows, waiting for the attack that already has them captive and working for the enemy...

Contesting has two facets.....one to the outside World, and one to the lost apostate...
Although I may rail against the World, but by far my starkness is reserved for the apostate...those that should know better...who left their first calling...who traded the lawlessness of the World, for license to practice lawless behavior under the guise of 'religion'.

The call for confrontation is to this...to be contentious against that smug self-assurance, in a way that would reveal and expose true behavior, and true belief...So that nobody is confused at to what Witness one is standing for...

[The game of Go might be less confusing if you Googled it and read a clearer description of the actual game...but I'll give it a whirl as it relates to my analogy --

each piece in the Go game is used to make a 'fence' of connected pieces to surround and remove the opponent piece...

It becomes a swirling game of the surrounded becoming the surrounder, switching back and forth...

And instead of the one skirmish line of chess, becomes multiple battles all over...sometimes joining up with other battles, sometimes splitting into further little ones...

...waxing and waning...moving back and forth like the tide...

My point being that battles are not always clear cut (no treeplanting pun intended) lines, but that constantly surround you, and what seems like firm ground at one moment, can revert in a flash...

Where chess is a battle, Go is a war...too many times I get the impression that the Church assumes if you win the battle (by a soul's conversion) that that's the end of it...

Or if you stand on one line of dogma as an answer to a conflict, you'll find yourself out-flanked by the enemy...]