of BL issues.

For instance, in a group of 1000 men -- say, in a church -- maybe 100 will be homosexual, and 10 will be boy-lovers. When you bring the numbers up to 1000, you start to get an "averaging" effect that allows you to get a more rounded and more complete picture of the "ideal man." Where does the boy-lovers' unique vision fit into the vision of beauty to which all 1000 can respond? Some will be hunting and fishing guys who appreciate Christ for being -- gack -- an outdoorsman. Some will be political junkies, fascinated with Christ's ability to talk back to the extremely powerful Pontius Pilate. Some will be emotional, fascinated by Christ weeping tears. Some will look at the relationship, the loyalty and betrayal dramas in the Passion narrative. My tragedy is that I WANT to be a good Christian, but the Christian story leaves me cold. I've been subjected to it in countless clumsy ways, since I was born, and I have never been able to think of Jesus' story except as that of a little fuzzy animal that wandered accidently onto the highway of real life, and promply got run over. Sad, yes, but it happens all the time. I don't have the kind of temperament to keep myself perpetually locked into watching the film-loop OVER AND OVER AGAIN, like the people who watch Kennedy's assassination video over and over again. As far as the stories *I* respond to, well, they invovle a healthy dose of heroism, matricide, and worldly glory. Very different than the Gospel! And yet I have to deal with the fact that THE AVERAGE GUY OUT THERE finds the Bible a complete, satisfying, and moving experience. That disconnection between the pedophile vision (which I have) and the vision of the Ideal Man by the "1000 full-grown men" is what this passage is about.

Am I making things any clearer here?

---Didaskalos