i hope all the participants are following the platonic distinction between
words and their meaning. many promises contain the clause "forever", whether
they are made by ronald reagan ("read my lips"), a young lover, or a biblical
prophet. the discussion whether the text means "forever" or not does not imply
the validity of the promise. many times, poetic style imposes an expression
which should not even be taken literally. of course, when the giver of the
promise is god almighty ...
...then we have a religious issue. i would really like to steer the discussion
away from this back into fact.