She gets a bit grumpy...epecially when she is force-fed a bunch of foreign stuff that doesn't agree with her diet. When that occurs, she gets indigestion. It kinda reminds me of a comment I encountered on a particular website wherein the "keeper of the castle", felt threatened by the beasts in the field, and a certain Dragon-Lady's breath. Said "keeper" wields the defining sword of peace and issues warnings of "new commenting guidelines".
No longer can The Dragon-Lady exhale dissent of that which she inhales. As she reads the subjective "new guidelines", she speculates wherein she's become "aggressive" and "insulting", not in keeping with normal guidelines she has met in days of yore.
She wonders what she says that "does not deal with issues in the post". She considers what is "substance" and what "is welcome" in the stream of thought. "Discuss. Disagree. Make a point."
So they are just not "going to places...gone in the past". They may risk "offending". Forewarned are we who read their site, that "more comments are likely to be deleted than have been in the past". A challenge across the bow:
"Advance the discussion in a collegial, Christ-honoring way. That’s how we are going to do it."
The Dragon Lady...sits in her cage and contemplates further. Is not the subject of a post "substance"? Is not the affirming juxtaposition of a "personality" consistent with that personality's viewpoint, a portion of the "substance"? Does dissent equal dishonoring Christ?
A warm sigh of resignation floats through the air; the Dragon-Lady takes a sip of water from another Well.
The "beast" has spoken. The moat is secured. Cremating viewpoints may make rapid disposal of dissent, however, it does not change the battlefront. Odd, that it is only "we" who "are going to do it" this way. "We are not going to permit aggressive, insulting, commenting that does not deal with the issues...".
Is there no sting in those words? No flaming arrow? No sword drawn?
Hmmmph...I say, "yay, there is". Just because one chooses to announce the battle is over for them, can we assume they have surrendered? or set forth a treaty to be signed? Not likely. They cannot deny they continue the battle with their control of the bridge across the moat. Confession is good for the soul, but actions speak louder than words. And often words are but a ruse. In fact, words well-spoken and articulated may be so sincerely believed in the heart of the "beast", that the world cannot see the leaven in the words. Nor can the "beast" recall his reflection as he leaves the water's edge.
Should The Dragon Lady respond with firey retort? To avail what? Her tummy growls. Indigestion deals with unappetizing fodder she is fed. A battle is not a battle because those who battle surrender under a banner displaying a Trojan Horse. The Dragon-Lady sleeps, full aware that all the "beasts" are charging forth in the dead of night--unbeknownest to all the resting knaves. Oh, yes. Yes, they are. And there's nothing wrong with that, I suppose. selahV
