Likewise. I still dust off the old "he yelled at me" story for the new kids now and then. :chuckle: It was an early abortion bit that changed our give and take and began a more serious consideration of common interests and approaches, if memory serves.
AMR and red were probably my earliest friends here, though Chrys was generous and supportive right out of the blocks. AMR was the easiest for me to understand at first, given his tendency to approach topics from a more academic and structured perspective...though his read on sovereignty still has me pulling hair.
I had a few dust ups that turned into friendships over time...Frank E and I began by throwing punches and ended up laughing together on a great deal...Stripe was another one where we circled for a bit before figuring the angle. And ghost. :chuckle: I think that's as close as I've come to a fist fight here, but it all worked out in the end.
I've found there are a good number of people here worth talking to and becoming fond of, some fairly strong disagreements and even fundamental assumptions about life notwithstanding. AB, zip, Rusha, seyd, Radish, MD...I could list a large number of those, within and outside of the faith.
I had more of a problem with LH and SH at first. Now I realize a great deal of it had to do with their relative youth and brass. So I don't get overly worried and find either of them (they're really a great deal alike if on opposite sides of the faith coin) can make a point worth hearing just when you're about to unsubscribe to a thread they're stomping around in.
Things have started out less than amiably with a few heathen who came in riding angry show ponies only to settle and alter methodology over time and alter my opinion and relation in kind. No point in naming names...And there are some, like Stuu, who can't seem to help themselves or get around their bias enough to even follow the rules of grammar relating to anything that touches on/relates to God and the Holy, but whom I'm fond enough of even so because I think their hearts are in the right place even if their heads are suspect... Al is another of that sort.
My earliest exchange with Granite ended with me calling him, I think, a popinjay, which got him chuckling and changed the subtext. Some people are like that. You have to rough and tumble a bit before you really take measure of one another and then there you go.