Update: I now have the author’s permission to tell you that the comment below, which has since been picked up on several other blogs, was written by Jeff Martinhauk.
If you’ve been reading the comments on the Interpreting Scripture thread, you may have noticed this particularly poigniant and honest post. I thought it deserved wider circulation:
After reading this thread last night I found this morning that I was praying for one of the members to “become enlightened” with my viewpoint, similar to what some have mentioned here. And then I realized that my viewpoint may be “incorrect” and remembered what someone earlier in the thread said, that we in the Anglican tradition allow room for ourselves to be wrong. I tried this morning praying instead to be open to God’s “truth” even if it was different from what I currently believe, and I tried to approach God with an open mind, really trying to listen and let go of my preconceived beliefs around this topic so that I could meditate on this issue. I found it very difficult to contemplate, to really consider, the possibility that I was wrong. If I find it hard to set aside my beliefs even to talk to God no wonder it is difficult to set them aside in discussion– how easy it is to get angry, hurt, or attack. I wonder how much of the theological divide is a result of our unwillingness to let go and listen? What is it that we lose by letting go, or what is it that we each hold on to preventing us from moving forward on our journey? I have never understood why this fear is so pervasive. I guess it is just the condition of being human.