Can't we all just get al--(whack!)

I can't help but notice something rather inconsistent about some (certainly not all) liberal Christians: the desire to try and and engage us conservative Christians in meaningful discussion to find middle-ground while allying themselves with sworn enemies of our faith. Take for example, dis link that has two questions that I like and are good for both sides to discuss: "How can liberals and conservatives engage each other?" and "Can you be a born-again Christian and a progressive Christian at the same time?" Wow, you'd think we could go to one of those board rooms with nice chairs to discuss the issue!

However, then on the same sight there's dis link and then there's dis link as well. If you are a conservative Christian who has done his or her research, you know by reading the list of names exactly what I'm talking about. However, if you're wondering what I'm talking about, it has to do with the people list on there. Here's an example:

John Shelby Spong - When we conservatives see this name, immediately an alarm bell goes off in our brains with a loud speaker saying, "Warning! Warning! Warning! HERETIC HERETIC HERETIC!!!!" We consider this man to be one of the top enemies of our faith here in America. He denies the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, inerrancy of Scripture, and many many other things that we hold to be absolutely central to our faith. Basically, we believe that this man is a heretic and does not even belong to Jesus Christ.

Basically, how can we get good dialogue and actually find some common ground if this man is allied with liberal Christians? If you're a liberal or progressive Christian (whichever you prefer to call yourself) and denounce Spong, Borg, Fox, etc., I think you're up for most of the engaging dialogue with us conservative or traditional Christians. If you have no problem with the people mentioned, I and many others would still dialogue with you, but I can't say we'd get very far.