And yet it seems we cannot press too far in that direction, for two reasons.
First, in the divine economy, to "dishonor" one's neighbor ultimately is to dishonor one's self.
Second, we cannot ever treat our correspondent as a mere bug to be squashed. For we have no way of knowing whether "today's 'bug'" might not turn out to be "tomorrow's 'saint.'"
Only God, Who sees from the eternal now, can know such things. Thus it seems to me we should simply just leave the issue to Him....
Our human duty is to love our neighbor as ourself. One would think that would be easy; but the fact is, it's hard....
Probably the best thing is to avoid "obsessing" of all kinds, and simply "let go and let God"....
Being guided by the Light of His Truth. No darkness can prevail against that.
bb: And yet it seems we cannot press too far in that direction, for two reasons.
Spirited: While I agree, I also believe that there is a time for every season under the sun, which in this instance means that there comes a time for no longer casting pearls before swine for the reason that what ails the swine is spiritual. He is a beast because his soul is turned in upon itself.
Though we can and must point him to the Way, and we can even exhaust ourselves in the effort to do so, we cannot save him for it is not within our power to do so.
The term “human tools” is from CS Lewis’ masterpiece, “That Hideous Strength.” Some examples of human tools are Karl Marx, Anton LaVey, and Michael Aquino...High Priest of the Temple of Set. As Lewis observed: When the Devil is done with his (human) tools he destroys them.
Being guided by the Light of His Truth. No darkness can prevail against that.
Thank God for you, dearest sister in Christ!