J-D

Emphasis added.

Your ideas about what it takes before we can call a religion a form of Christianity and my ideas on the same subject are obviously far apart. And my ideas are apparently so alien to your way of thinking that I may never be able to explain them so that you can understand them. Which seems a pity, but there it is.

Apart from that, you're still mistaking what is really a series of attempts on my part to restate my views in order to overcome miscommunication for an actual change in my position. I may not be expressing my position well, but I assure you that I know what it is and that it hasn't changed.

Do you actually want to know what I think, starting from scratch?

J-D

No, I don't. I was having a general discussion with Amaleq13 about what the concept of 'membership' means, to which this example was relevant. You're trying to tie it back to a separate and more specific branch of the discussion, which was not what I was talking about at this point.

spin

Are you able to say what you think without an escape clause?


spin

J-D

Nobody is able to say what they think without an escape clause. No matter how careful the attempt to express your thoughts, they may nevertheless be miscommunicated and misunderstood. I can't guarantee that you won't misunderstand me if I try to start again from scratch, and if you do misunderstand me I can't promise not to attempt to correct the misunderstanding. I do the best I can, that's all.

J-D

Thinking it over, it occurred to me that it would be important to deny somebody an 'escape clause' if you were trying to trap them.

But why would anybody want to trap me?

Lugubert

Wasn't this supposed to be a thread on Alexander?
Coin portraits depicting him with horns, and the name "He with two horns" may make you sceptical, but the posted document in cuneiform script (and maybe others?), and several contemporary coins like the one above, make me think he was real.