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Since I was the first one to be hit with Petronski's objection to my use of the word "dear" on my reply posts to him, I'd like to offer yet another explanation.

Namely this, I sincerely love my neighbors as God instructed me to do:

Then one of them, [which was] a lawyer, asked [him a question], tempting him, and saying, Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. – Matthew 22:35-40

And I endeavor to let my neighbor know both by word and by deed that I love him.

So when speaking to a beloved Freeper I often end my remark with a "dear" such as "dear brother in Christ" or "dear sitetest."

To a person very angry with me I have been known to say "There is nothing you can say or do that will make me stop loving you." It is the truth.

In sum, Christian agape love (Matt 22) is not a romantic thing at all.

Dear Alamo-Girl,

“So when speaking to a beloved Freeper I often end my remark with a ‘dear’ such as ‘dear brother in Christ’ or ‘dear sitetest.’”

Frankly, Alamo-Girl, how you're using the word is very similar to how it is used in a salutation. It's being used as an adjective to modify the noun naming the person to whom something is addressed. Alex Murphy is using it as a noun to name the person.

The first use, as an adjective, is as a declaration to the other that one cares for the other, holds the other in high regard.

The second use, as a noun, names the other as an object of intimacy (that's why we call it a term of endearment - the two persons are endeared one to the other), of love already-established and mutually accepted.

That's why it sounds inappropriate to call someone "dear" who is not already an intimate. In fact, that's why it seems to be a sarcastic insult where the assurance of mutual love and regard don't already exist.

Think about dating a man who, at the end of the first date, called his date "dear." He says, "I had a nice evening with you, dear." Unless that was really one heck of a date, love at first sight accompanied by mutual gushed promises of eternal love and bliss, she might say to herself, "Well, he's rushing things, now isn't he?" She may well be put off because of his rush to intimacy, his attempt to force intimacy after such a short period.

Or, if she detects a note of sneer in his voice, she may think, "Oh, this date didn't go well, he can't wait to leave me, maybe he's even angry with me. I guess I'll never hear from him again."

Alex Murphy's use of the word would be as a term of endearment. It's difficult to ascribe a sincere meaning to his use, as there doesn't appear to be an assurance of mutual regard between him and Petronski. Thus, one interpretation is that he would like there to be such an intimacy, such an assured regard, but he is clearly inappropriately rushing or forcing it. The other is that he's just being sarcastic.

sitetest

I am, however,

keenly aware that a number of the more rabid types hereon seem to be unable to fathom disagreeing stridently and even fiercely with someone re theological etc. matters

WITHOUT

hating the person.

At some point, that has to be between them and The Lord.

He knows my heart better than even I do. Thankfully, He knows THE WORK

HAS DONE IN IT.