When I turned on the blog today, I was stunned. I assumed there might be one or two obligatory comments on what I had written from Danny, or Michael. I was, however, faced with a deluge of messages on what I had written. I guess the best way to get people to have a conversation is to offend everybody. Because of these messages I have begun to fear for my safety and am now hiding out in the aforementioned cave. First, in the interesest of full disclosure, I am Bennett Pierson Snyder and am responsible for this post, and the one entitled “Looking Ahead”. Some of what has been said I will address generally, but certain comments have statements that I believe merit individual responses. As I have not figured out how to comment on a comment, or if that is even possible, I will provide these responses in this post.

In general, the comments that I made last night were pessimistic, as a reflection partly of my general outlook on life, but more importantly, a result of how I felt last night which, as many people can bear witness to, was not particularly pleasant. This should in no way be construed as an apology. Anything that I feel the need to apologize for I will do so in the following paragraphs, but I would never be so foolish as to apologize for the entirety of what I spent over an hour on last night.

Chelsea: I am not looking to attract a certain type of person, I was only stating my perception of the youth group. I love the fact that the youth group is open to anyone and everyone, but I do feel that some types of people slip through our fingers. Next, I have nothing but respect for what you and Lori are doing, however, and I am sorry if anything I said gave you this impression. I think it is absolutely wonderful that you have the enthusiasm and the courage to bring up such a different idea from what we as a group are used to. I am afraid we will have to agree to disagree about who our youth group attracts, although the “type” of person that I was talking about is by no means a negative, I do think we should strive not just to include, but attract all types of people. I suppose it might have been better if I had avoided specific examples, but I felt that people, rather than broad generalizations expressed what I was trying to say better. I didn’t realize that by doing so I would be offending or alienating anybody, and for that I am sorry. Please believe that I forgot to post my name along with my blog, because I would never try to hide from anything I said.

Lori: The statement “There enthusiasm is very refreshing, although I wonder if we will be able to follow through on it, or if we are doomed to disappoint.” Is an expression of my fear that your idea, which is far from what we are used to, will fail because the rest of the youth group will fail to participate. It is a reflection of great personal apperehension aout my ability to follow through on your plan. However, I have read your comments on this statement, and I think that you are right. Saying this is inapropriate because it shows a complete lack of faith. Please understand that it is my lack of faith in myself, not in you or your idea, that I am expressing.

The statement “I think that this type of group also attracts a certain type of person” is obviously referring to you and Chelsea. But what I meant was not that you and Chelsea are bad or undesirable people. I think you both have been incredibly dynamic, and that this is a wonderful thing. I was just saying that other types of people who have trouble putting themselves in new situations or committing themselves as wholeheartedly as you have, might also have something to offer to our group, but might not have as easy a time becoming part of it.

James: All I was saying was that I didn’t feel like you were looking for a huge commitment to a youth group. This was only my impression of the situation, and I would welcome any clarifications, especially because I would love to get your honest impression of our youth group. You are of course welcome on sunday evenings, or any other time we meet.

David John Chrobuck: I do not appreciate being called “sneaky” or “narrowminded”, although I do agree with you that our blog is not a place to target or insult specific people.

Tomorrow, I will do my level best to offend nobody, or at least nobody knew, and will talk about Sri Lanka.

-Ben