How did I write him off? My point was that "elitist/imperialists" like myself are consistently chided as "dogmatic" in nature, needing the comfort of rules, hard and fast beliefs, black and white answers. Hands in the air I am guilty as charged!

But (here's the part that escapes so many accusers) if you propose something like sprietsma29 you are by definition JUST AS DOGMATIC. I would assume that as a Christian he sort of lives and dies on the hard and fast, non-negotiable belief that Jesus is indeed loving, merciful, forgiving, etc. And that if someone came up and said "Oh, well, sorry to burst your bubble but Jesus is really not any of those things but rather a sadistic maniac deceiving everyone into misery and gleefully awaiting the moment to cast everyone into hell," sprietsma29 would be just as bewildered as and begin babbling about how that's not the Jesus he knows with utter certainty! He would also rightly claim that the Gospel says differently. So do I for other issues.