According to Bertram Wilberforce Wooster, a diet heavy in fish will make a person more intelligent. Bertie was convinced that his valet's intellectual prowess was attributable to fish for breakfast, fish for lunch and fish for supper. If this theory is correct (and his Aunt Agatha didn't believe any of Bertie's theories were correct) then the only rational conclusion we can draw is that Doug Pagitt is not much of a fish-eater. Taking into account what Doug has written recently, he never ate so much as a single filet of minnow.

Someone took Doug Pagitt to task for being an apostate, and Doug responds here.

Take a look at his response.

I suggest this view is a distorted version of faith that does not reflect the Biblical story at all, but that argument is part of our ongoing conversation. What I am sure of is that their reactions are driven from fear. I am not sure where the fear come from, but, in my opinion, it causes them to look at people with suspicion and distrust which taints everything.

In the very act of whining about the accusation that he distorts the faith, Doug accuses a person of distorting the faith.

Hello.

Doug is "sure" this hostility toward apostasy is a) a distortion of the faith and b) is not reflective of the Biblical story at all. Doug doesn't know where the fear comes from, but it is his considered opinion that this fear induces suspicion and distrust in his critics.

Like Danielle Shroyer, Doug Pagitt isn't familiar with the real Biblical story. I have often heard him give his views of the Biblical story, and they are not worth your time. So Doug cannot deal with his critic's understanding of the Biblical story; what he does instead is convey the words of a song by Bruce Springsteen.

You know: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Springsteen, Colossians...

If I were to tell you the words were comically irrelevant to the question of apostasy, you might think that was just a conclusion I drew for myself. So here are the words; you decide:

I got my finger on the trigger But I don't know who to trust
When I look into your eyes There's just devils and dust
We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie Home's a long, long way from us
I feel a dirty wind blowing Devils and dust
I got God on my side
  And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
 Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby, 
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
 And fill it with devils and dust

Pagitt then misapplies Matthew 12:22-24; how it relates to this discussion he does not say, but he does noodle it out enough to anticipate objections. Then he cites I John 4:17-21, taking no notice of how that very same chapter begins. The man's skill in hermeneutics is heartbreaking.

Minnesota is sometimes called the "land of a 10,000 lakes". If there is anyone up there with a fishing pole and some time to spare, please send a fish to Doug at:

Solomon's Porch
100 W. 46th Street
Minneapolis MN 55419

Tell me what kind of fish you caught and I will send him a recipe.

Let's do what we can for Doug, people.