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from his "misguided way," which means saving a soul from death and covering a multitude of sins. Instead, therefore, of being angry at people in error we ought rather to welcome the opportunity their error represents. If everybody agreed, we would not need to talk about it, and we could not help anyone to a better understanding. All sarcasm, irony, irritableness must, therefore, be resolutely banned from a religious discussion. One must talk and act as if everybody were in good faith. We must realize fully that if a person who is in the wrong has tried his best to understand and is living up to his beliefs to the best of his ability, the God of Mercy will deal mercifully with him. Even more than in other types of discussion, you may not be positive, overbearing, dogmatic, for it isn't firmness in the right that offends, but positiveness in assertion. If you say, "However much I dislike differing with you, being my kindly hostess, nevertheless I must declare that to me it is not enough to have a religion but very important to try to have the right one," any civilized person will accept that in good spirit. But if you were to say, "There's where you are wrong" or "That's all wrong" or "I don't see how you can say that," then you would be positive and assertive in a way which will harden rather than soften error. |
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