I'm Not Arguing with You
I really have reached a breaking point. It's becoming clearer and clearer to me as I keep having interactions with people: I'm not interested in arguing with you. I'm not interested in debating with you whether or not what I believe is true is actually the truth.
Now, if you want my opinion on something, I'll be happy to share it. If you need some advice, I'll be willing to let you know what I think. If you're curious about the Catholic Faith and want to be informed, I'm ready to start yapping.
But I'm not going to argue. It's pointless.
Even Our Lord didn't bother to engage His detractors. He simply spoke the facts, and moved on; in many cases, He also called them what they obviously were: hypocrites, a brood of vipers, sons of the Devil, etc.
There's a truth at work here, a basic principle: the will is the final obstacle. I can convince your intellect - but I cannot force your will to assent. That is your free choice; always was, always will be.
And if your will refuses to follow your intellect, then your intellect will actually be forced to submit to your will - even though somewhere inside you is a voice saying "you know this is the Truth," your will overrides this voice and forces your intellect to do strange things in order to avoid the obvious conclusions.
I have no time for those kind of games. You either have good-will, or you don't. If you don't, then I'll pray for you, but ... go away. Come back when you actually want to hear what I have to say.
This spans issues of both faith and morals.
I was just speaking with a friend the other day who has been making some terrible moral choices. Of course, he doesn't see it that way. Fine. Go live your life the way you want to live your life - just do it somewhere else, because I really want no part of that.
We make compromises over the silliest things.
If a complete stranger came up to me and started insulting the Blessed Virgin, I'd walk away. I wouldn't listen to it. I would not feel the necessity to be "friendly" with this person, or engage them in a polite debate.
But for some reason, I do these very things when the person speaking is a family member or a long-time friend. Why?
It doesn't make sense to me - and I'm having less and less patience for these sorts of things.
Maybe I'm sensing that this is not my ultimate vocation. My vocation is as a husband and as a father, not as a missionary. It's not up to me to "make" Catholics by converting people who live down the street, it's up to me to "breed" Catholics by making sure that my own children understand and love the faith.
Not that I won't talk to those outside my immediate sphere of influence - of course I will. But I won't feel it is my obligation to engage in lengthy debates with these people; either you want the Truth, or you don't. If you do, I'll tell you about it; if you don't, then God help you, but I'm done talking about it.
I keep drawing the analogy - because I have train tracks running through my back yard - of someone who sits on the tracks, oblivious to the train whistle in the distance. I would yell and scream at such a person, warning them that they're about to be blown into oblivion - but darn it, when that train gets about 50 feet away, I'm going inside. I don't want to be any part of that.
Call me unsympathetic. I call it not throwing what is holy to dogs and swine.
Now, if you want my opinion on something, I'll be happy to share it. If you need some advice, I'll be willing to let you know what I think. If you're curious about the Catholic Faith and want to be informed, I'm ready to start yapping.
But I'm not going to argue. It's pointless.
Even Our Lord didn't bother to engage His detractors. He simply spoke the facts, and moved on; in many cases, He also called them what they obviously were: hypocrites, a brood of vipers, sons of the Devil, etc.
There's a truth at work here, a basic principle: the will is the final obstacle. I can convince your intellect - but I cannot force your will to assent. That is your free choice; always was, always will be.
And if your will refuses to follow your intellect, then your intellect will actually be forced to submit to your will - even though somewhere inside you is a voice saying "you know this is the Truth," your will overrides this voice and forces your intellect to do strange things in order to avoid the obvious conclusions.
I have no time for those kind of games. You either have good-will, or you don't. If you don't, then I'll pray for you, but ... go away. Come back when you actually want to hear what I have to say.
This spans issues of both faith and morals.
I was just speaking with a friend the other day who has been making some terrible moral choices. Of course, he doesn't see it that way. Fine. Go live your life the way you want to live your life - just do it somewhere else, because I really want no part of that.
We make compromises over the silliest things.
If a complete stranger came up to me and started insulting the Blessed Virgin, I'd walk away. I wouldn't listen to it. I would not feel the necessity to be "friendly" with this person, or engage them in a polite debate.
But for some reason, I do these very things when the person speaking is a family member or a long-time friend. Why?
It doesn't make sense to me - and I'm having less and less patience for these sorts of things.
Maybe I'm sensing that this is not my ultimate vocation. My vocation is as a husband and as a father, not as a missionary. It's not up to me to "make" Catholics by converting people who live down the street, it's up to me to "breed" Catholics by making sure that my own children understand and love the faith.
Not that I won't talk to those outside my immediate sphere of influence - of course I will. But I won't feel it is my obligation to engage in lengthy debates with these people; either you want the Truth, or you don't. If you do, I'll tell you about it; if you don't, then God help you, but I'm done talking about it.
I keep drawing the analogy - because I have train tracks running through my back yard - of someone who sits on the tracks, oblivious to the train whistle in the distance. I would yell and scream at such a person, warning them that they're about to be blown into oblivion - but darn it, when that train gets about 50 feet away, I'm going inside. I don't want to be any part of that.
Call me unsympathetic. I call it not throwing what is holy to dogs and swine.
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