A Going-Away Thread for Erik Walker (please paw)
Your Opportunity To Tell Erik Just What You Think Of Him
There's little else left for me to do to have any impact on the on-line community here. The atmosphere has been so poisoned by those who have set themselves against me that there exists nary an opportunity for new people to enter into the discussion. There is no tolerance, no open-mindedness, no free exchange of ideas in this forum. I endured slander and insults while I hoped to have a positive influence, but now there is no more reason to suffer abuse.
If a sort of mythos now exists around my name, the best thing I can do is to withdraw myself lest I spoil the mystery. Hopefully those who wonder about the rumors will seek their own answers, and not listen to the song of fools. Why should you accept their lies? Seek the truth unencumbered by those who desire my ruin.
I'm going aboveground.
This thread gives you the opportunity to toast or roast me. You can say whatever you wish, and I won't argue. Lie, slander and defame me to your heart's content. Or tell me what you think I should hear, or what others should hear about me. This is also your last opportunity to publicly ask me a question on this forum, and I will answer it honestly and directly.
After this, I have no desire to return. It is not my job to defend myself. Those who conspire against me in darkness will have their reward. After two years, I have persisted far too long in calling unrepentant men to repentance. The time has come for me to move on to more fertile ground.
I leave you with a selection from Psalm 69, which I believe accurately encapsulates the entire scope of my time here.
4 Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing [though I have done no wrong],
I still must restore it [I am still punished].
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment [I publicly repented] ;
I became a byword to them [an object of scorn or derision].
12 Those who sit in the gate [people in positions of authority] speak against me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness [mercy] is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of heaviness;
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink [they responded mercilessly to my admissions of guilt and requests for forgiveness]
...
29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.
33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise His prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
And build the cities of Judah,
That they may dwell there and possess it.
36 Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it,
And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
