Fine with me. But you might be required to bring some green chile and a not-so-clean tshirt from Indian School...

What exactly are we, anyway?

Simply put... the most extraordinary group of people it has ever been my privilege to associate with.

Some of the group I have met in person; others I feel I know well enough that I might as well have met.

Through emails, PMs, and bbs exchanges I have talked directly with many of the people on the board and wouldn't hesitate an instant to invite any one of them into my home.

With the exchanges you and I have had, Reverend, I would definitely consider you a friend and can only hope to someday shake your hand.

tanstaafl.

Well put.

I feel many here are my friends, some I have met in person and some I haven't but would like to. Some I converse with off the board and some I don't.

Hopefully more people will attend the next meet in Cincinnati this fall and hopefully the ones that came last year will be able to make it again.

the next meet in Cincinnati this fall

Yay! Count me in as a definite! The last one was hella excellent.

I wish I could meet more of you people! If there's ever something mid-east coast, I'll try to make it! Boston was too far north for me. Southern NJ would work, though, because I've got relatives there. I might even be able to work out a visit to my dad's family in CT. Otherwise, I'd love to get together with some folks somewhere between MD and NC.

I am about to announce a date for the NY area meet. Due to lack of time to plan, I decided to make it a lunch meet on a weekend. Most likely Saturday. Location choice number 1 would be in Nanuet, NY. Let me know if that is too far for you.

Most likely Saturday. Location choice number 1 would be in Nanuet, NY.

make it a sunday and I'll be there. Some of us work Saturdays.

In reply to:

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somewhere between MD and NC

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Im with you on this one, are we the only ones in the DC/Northern VA area?

I for one know exactly what you're talking about. If I'm discussing something I saw on the board I say " a friend of mine said..." IF there is little chance of them asking which friend. If it's more likely that they'll ask, I tend to say "I read on the Empeg board..." And then I have to explain why I am a member of a board dedicated to my radio, yes I know I'm a geek, and I have no idea whatsoever how we got on the subject of genetic recombinant theory."

Do I actually consider most of you friends? Some more than others, but basically, if any of you asked for my help, and I could help, you could count on me. So I guess the answer is yes. I consider many of you friends. I would be more comfortable with many of you staying the week-end at my house, without the fear of waking up to all my electronics missing than I would with many of my acquaintances here. And ya'll are the kind of people that would actually understand the value of them.

On the converse, I used to be a member of a couple of muds. For those who don't know, they are like Zork meets Everquest. If you still don't know, you wouldn't get it anyway. Anyway, I became "friends" with several people there over the course of a couple of years. There was this one girl with whom I would spend an inordinate amount of time hanging out and talking with. Only, at some point she started writing letters, then she sent a necklace, then she sent a plane ticket. At that point, I was sufficiently creeped out to switch to a different form of diversion. Any way, I'm rambling...

So I'll leave you with:

Yes, I consider many of you friends.

When I got my eyebrow pierced the place that I got it at had several hundred bumper stickers placed through out the building. My favorite one was:

Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?

but there was one that was regarding friends:

Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies

So how about it? I have a car that I need to be delivered to "Guido" in the bayous of Louisiana. Only thing is, DON'T LOOK IN THE TRUNK! Who's up for a road-trip?

Well, seeing as I live in Louisiana, and I've gotten so lost on occasion that I KNOW I could find a couple of places to dump a piece of "meat" where the gators would take care of it in a matter of hours, I'm in.

But seriously, some of those places are so remote down in the delta, I can't see how they ever find anybody out there.

Some of us work Sundays....

Ok.. Ok ... one of us....

Some of us work Sundays...

Yeah, I hear you guys don't even get Christmas Day off...

Peter

Being a minister is sort of like having 7 part time jobs that don't really appreciate you working on the side.....

In reply to:

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You're obviously a religious man, but you don't let that define who you are, and don't feel the need to tell everyone here that Jesus is the only God, something I've gotten from more than a number of people in my lifetime. You seem like you'd be a fun guy to talk to and hang around with, and, oh yeah, you just happen to be a preacher.

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This brings up a thin line that I try to walk. I believe a lot of things that most of the board would at least disagree with if not mock given the chance. However, I've always felt that people would rather hear what I believe after they know me and after they've asked (at least the group if not me specifically). I am a very traditional Southern Baptist at least in theology, however I am not the normal redneck shove Jesus down your throat preacher that seems far to common place. My fear however is that I grow so non-confrontational that the defining nature of my Christianity doesn't come through. I appreciate your candidness.

Just to chime in here, I'd like to also say that I am a bible church worship leader with very similar theology to the Rev, though I'm only in lay ministry (which means I work on Sunday, but I don’t get paid!). One of the reason I like this board so much is that I can interact with people of clearly differing viewpoints on a respectable level. I don't often find this in "real life", and that is truly disappointing. I suppose a few times I might have come on too strong religiously here, but no one seems to have gotten too offended by what I’ve said. It's that thin line of trying to be honest with people and yet not treat them as if their ideas and opinions aren't important when we disagree.

One of the reason I like this board so much is that I can interact with people of clearly differing viewpoints on a respectable level. I don't often find this in "real life", and that is truly disappointing. I suppose a few times I might have come on too strong religiously here, but no one seems to have gotten too offended by what I’ve said. It's that thin line of trying to be honest with people and yet not treat them as if their ideas and opinions aren't important when we disagree.

FWIW that's also a good description of the fine line that I as a non-religious person try to walk when religion comes up on this board (or in real life). I feel a bit guilty myself about having put in one or two rather late tackles to the Reverend's posts, though again he didn't seem to get too offended. The level of debate on this BBS always impresses me, especially here in Off Topic -- which didn't even exist not so long ago, but has now more than 50% the posts of General.

Peter

Not to get too far off track here, but there is a certain quality to the type of “tolerance” on this board that is a large part of why I’d consider the people who post here regularly “friends”. I posted a while ago about tolerance being to respect people, not ideas. I argued that tolerance isn’t “all ideas are equally valid” but that people should be respected even when they hold views with which you disagree. This doesn’t mean you accept their views or even think of their views very highly; however you don’t simply trash what they have to say out of malice or superiority.

The reason I bring this up again is that after thinking about this a little more and reading this BBS I see that this is a very “tolerant” bunch, at least toward each other. Whether we are polarized by politics or religion, I very rarely feel that people are disrespected. As an example, many here criticize Bush and his administration, but very rarely are Bush supporter’s (the ones who are posting) put down, though often their views are questioned.

As I don’t often find this type of tolerance elsewhere (most people seem not to be able to separate individuals from the ideas they hold), the fact that it exists between the members here is a large part of why I’d consider people on this BBS “friends”.

Re: Are you my friend?

No, I would never stoop to being friends with a mere follower. Only other cult leaders are friends, and that's just to lull them into a false sense of security...

pca

Guess that Blue on his name means his heads in the clouds, we at least his ego

And shouldn't you be busy putting labels on resisters and stuffing them in a little plastic bags

Get to work slacker

I certainly feel a bond of some form of friendship towards many people from this BBS, the vast majority of whom I have never met. Whether this is the normal form of friendship is worthy of some debate, but I think it's at least as valid. After all, the BBS is a very effective way of filtering out a subset of the entire population that has at least something in common, which is a good start for friendship.

pca