LJ is working again. After all flouncing off isn't much use if you can't flounce back to see who missed you, right?

Skipping ahead to say: When I decided to play musicals all day while cleaning/moving and when I further decided I would start with the first one I came to... I didn't realize it was going to be The Wall and now my day is starting out all twisted and weird.

vw, I like "socially conscious", but (without knowing the subject of the letter) I wonder if reframing the issue as as something other than red/blue would be more effective in keeping them from shutting you out?

(Unless the red/blue is the actual issue. In which case it's kind of weaselly to avoid it...)

I'm trying to describe that I'm in the interesting position of being theologically conservative while being socially liberal.

And the more I think about it, the more I think that socially conscious won't work, because it insinuates that people who are theologically conservative aren't socially conscious, which will also cause problems (no matter what *my* thoughts on that particular issue are).

Actually, that's not the point of the letter as a whole...it needs to be said to address the most recent sermon series.

vw, open-minded? tolerant?

I'd go with progressive.

I wonder if any word or phrase would do if what you're essentially saying is "Your sermons have been A, which bothers me because I'm B." Because regardless of what word you use, it sets them up as not-B.

Actually, I'm arguing on the side of the pastor on this one. Basically, my point is, if I can sit through it without causing a huff, then I don't see what other people are having a problem with. It's kind of complicated. There are a few people that are attempting to split the church, and I'm really furious about the whole thing. The Elders have asked for letters, so I've written one. I just want to make sure it doesn't get tossed into the "Communist/Crazy" pile.

Because regardless of what word you use, it sets them up as not-B.

This is right, and I think it's really what I was getting at by talking about reframing. Conservative/liberal (regardless of which side you're using to mean "good") is such a big kneejerky thing where people rush to align themselves -- maybe the issue can be seen, not as "your sermons are A while I am B" but as "sermons are assuming (A somehow comparable to B), but really 17".

(edit after vw's post - I'm really sorry about the possible split. I know it's an incredibly traumatic thing for a church to go through, and that's true whatever the theological issues.)