I am surprised that there have been no outraged cries at my choice to leave the Republican Party, and throw in my lot with the Libertarians. Either no-one cares, or it is such a screamingly obvious point that all of my Faithful Reader thinks "Well, DUH...". Ten years ago, my choice would have been the Constitution Party, but even as a conservative Christian, I find them to be too fringe for my tastes; too apt to insist upon Things Not Found In The Constitution, in the name of The Faith. Give me Strict Constructionist, Small Government any day. Christians ostensibly follow The Bible as their Rule of Faith and Practise, therefore they of all people should understand the need of our Republic to follow ITS founding document.

Ergo, by my way of thinking, EVERY Christian Soul in America should be a Libertarian.

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The Voxoscenti were dealing with the subject of forgiveness yesterday. Here was a brief thought of mine, followed by one which explains an apparent discontinuity between MY "faith and practise".

Here is the rule of thumb (re: forgiveness), Biblically speaking:

A) If I sin, I need to repent.
B) If I am "In the light, having fellowship with my Father, and my brethren" (THERE is the barometer for spiritual health) The blood of the Anointed Jesus cleanses me of all unrighteousness.
I still must repent (do a 180) and go and sin no more. If I am weak and fall again, goto B.
C) If someone sins against me, I must forgive. (Forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE those who tresspass against us.) This is not giving the evil a pass, because "I will repay, saith the Lord". My forgiving releases the debt to me. The malefactor must go to God if he wants God's forgiveness.

Thank you Vox, for holding forth on this. It finally crystallised the whole thing for me, Biblically speaking.
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How do you justify not embracing the person you forgave if you have wiped the slate clean by forgiving him?--VD

Because I do not have God's ability to perfectly expunge the deed. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
My memory still carries the pain ("forgive and forget" is NOT a Biblical rubric), and I do not wish to relive the pain. Does that mean that I will NEVER embrace the one whom I forgive. No, but I must be healed of the hurt as well to wish to.
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A-HA!

I have sussed out the problem.
Forgiveness is NOT "a feeling".
The Greek word used for "forgiveness" is an ACCOUNTING term, signifying the cancellation of a debt.

Accounting, people. Not a huggy discipline.

If my loan shark (this is an example) chooses to forgive my $10,000 debt, he does not necessarily wish to hug me as well. The FORGIVENESS, if you will, shows his heart. A hug may be a precursor to the Kiss of Death, or other such backstabbery. Paul and Jude both warned of false brethren in the church who would do us harm.
My point again...it is my cancelling the debt (forgiveness) which is the important thing. Any warm fuzzies are optional, and may be subject to further personal growth on my part.

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More as I'm able...