I’ll repeat again, not only do I regret the way I participated, I regret that I even participated at all.

There is no way out of it. One man’s personal religious hobby is another man’s orthodoxy, and vice versa. One man’s personal obsession is another man’s spiritual impression, and vice versa.

Without some semblance of boundary (i.e. orthodoxy), religious institutions would quickly fall into chaos. But the more rigid you draw those boundaries, the more people you wall out (on the outside), or spiritually stifle (on the inside). It’s a balancing act for the institution, and for the individual.

So there is no way out of “the mess”… if “out of it” means coming to an end-all-be-all final answer that is not “42″. The only way is through it, which works best if armed with an Open Mind and a healthy dose of Mutual Respect.

And frankly, I think the Bloggernacle does a better job of managing the journey through the mess than does the church, so I wouldn’t be too hard on the bloggernacle.

Merrybits/Jami: Do you want to know what makes me proud? Fifty years from now, my grandkids will be able to google “public assifying” and find a reference to their grandfather.

Howard: Thank you for that statement and reference to Jared’s blog.

Jessawhy: Thanks. One of these years when we are in Arizona, I’ll drop you an email. I really admire both you and your husband for the way you are raising your sons.

Confutus: My reaction came from my sense (which I still believe was correct) that points were being scored by taking a church leaders words and twisting them. Whatever Pres. Lee meant by the term liberal Mromon, it doesn’t mean the same thing now, since we have liberal Mromon SPs, MPs, and GAs. Due to this blog’s affiliation with Dialogue magazine, it is somewhat self-serving to continually point out that its subscribers are active and believing members, at a rate of 88% activity by the church’s own definition.

If I had an ax to grind about Mormons who live in California, I could make a post entitled “A warning to Mormons in California – You’re all going to hell”, and then quote Brigham Young, verbatim. When the first irate commenter from California asked me who in the flippin’ heck I think I am, I could respond by saying “Ah. I see. You persecute me for simply quoting the words of a prophet. What does this say about you?” The thread would then descend into even further idiocy. I regret not only my participation there, but also the way I participated.

What stung, and why?

A net was cast, a catch was landed.

It appears there was still enough sting in it to send Mark into flaming outrage. What stung, and why? Was it the message, the messanger, or something else?