He Who Is Without Sin: or, Casting Stones at the One from the Safety of the Ninety-and-Nine

On the anniversary of the World Trade Center bombing, I am reminded of a stunning post written by one of my favorite writers in the Bloggernacle.  It doesn't deal directly with the events of 9/11/01, but, as I am inclined to do, I was struck by something in the post that has relevance to how we see others who are different than we are.

I want to focus this thread on the aspect of how we sometime cast stones at those whom we should embrace as fellow saints and pew mates, but I also want to mention the broader lesson I believe this post can teach - that we can would as deeply by failing to accept people for whom they are as we do in more open, direct, obvious ways.  Sometimes, especially when there is no attack from which defense is necessary, efforts to defend are just as damaging and painful as overt acts of attack. 

(As sometimes is the case in public blogging, the comments unfortunately spiraled a bit into a discussion that was . . . disappointing . . . to say the least.  However, there are many thought-provoking comments, as well - so, if you choose to read the comments, understand that upfront and read selectively.  The post, as I said, simply is stunning.) 

Throwing Stones - Tracy M (By Common Consent)