I guess I should not have brought your name into this discussion (which has been strange, indeed, as Thom has already said). Do you not recall a phone conversation we had — a rather long one — in which you discussed gaining certain insights through your Bible study? We spoke of Jezebel being pushed from the tower. You quoted some passages of Scripture to me, and you then went on to talk of the abomination of the act of sodomy because of the specific way in which it “sowed seed.” I remember this conversation quite well. You were very animated.

For heaven’s sake, I see no reason for you to be threatening to “take action” for my pointing out something you said which I happen to agree with. I am not speaking against you.

I guess I should not have brought your name into this discussion (which has been strange, indeed, as Thom has already said). Do you not recall a phone conversation we had — a rather long one — in which you discussed gaining certain insights through your Bible study? We spoke of Jezebel being pushed from the tower. You quoted some passages of Scripture to me, and you then went on to talk of the abomination of the act of sodomy because of the specific way in which it “sowed seed.” I remember this conversation quite well. You were very animated.

For heaven’s sake, I see no reason for you to be threatening to “take action” for my pointing out something you said which I happen to agree with. I am not speaking against you.

Surely, Mr. Hartline, you can have the patience to allow Debbie to respond to you. I’ve read Debbie’s blog, wherein she has revealed her heart, and I know Debbie Thurman to be very careful in making statements. Obviously I was not present during whatever personal conversation you may have had with her. It would certainly be possible to be shockingly descriptive of an act you might find abhorrent without it being a sexually explicit conversation with a woman, which you say you do not have. You express yourself in this thread with considerable emotion. Perhaps you had a conversation in which your emotions took hold. I don’t know. I’ve certainly been there and have regretted it and had to take back some words of my own.

The people involved in this thread are all ones who profess to be doing what they do out of a love for Christ and a desire to serve him. Yet, you are threatening people’s jobs and the pursuit of legal action and you are certainly reacting in haste. This is a day after Christmas.

I think you would have to find that Debbie Thurman intended you harm in order to follow through on your description of her actions as being libelous. I don’t believe that’s even a slight possibility. Perhaps there is disagreement among us on the way we express ourselves. I’ve been told that there are times I should be more condemning and “honest.” I pray about that . . . and grace appears to be the direction in which I believe God would have me go.

Gay activists and those who believe God cannot change the heart or even the orientation of a person struggling with sexual identity take heart and draw strength from our attacks on each other. I hope you will be patient and allow Debbie to respond to your comments. Your harshness is not painting a very good picture.

Thom