Ham

I'll say the same thing I said to another poster.. I don't know if you've noticed, but the whole stinking world is on fire. Some of us here have found our real calling in life.. no, I don't try to be superman anymore.. I'm past that kind of delusion.. but some of us "little people" could really use some help. If you can do ANYTHING.. I have a couple of fires that could be put out.. :) So far, religious knuckle heads haven't been able to do a whole heck of a lot.. other than "I love you".. i.e. be warmed, be filled, but I've been sent away rather empty.. I would LOVE to be proved wrong..

I'd like to know the specifics too. But I don't know how much it would add substantially to the mix though at least for me. I think we were following a madman. "Crazies" can be very charming, intelligent.. even good public speakers. They might even get a few things right. reminds me of the thread about "Dr." Bronners' soap. I did get a reply to my email, he was a self-proclaimed doctor. But he really knew his soap..

I wonder if he ever figured out what rosie, donna and gang really did to him.. vic was ready to take a pretty big fall in his denomination as well. If I remember correctly, there were allegations of womanizing.. plus the embarassment of his actions regarding the mission work in India Plus who knows what else. Where would he go? Perhaps the only difference between loy and "dad".. vic simply broke off, started his own brand, and his self esteem, not to mention self agrandizment, remained intact. I wonder what he really was praying about, "I'm ready to quit.. unelss I get something I DON'T HAVE TO BACK DOWN on.." Then comes the "voice of Gawd.." They didn't have the kind of meds that loy had access to, back in those days.. might be a lot of surmising.. but it would not be the first time in history a few thousand people followed a madman..

maybe twenty years ago. Now it's a botox smile. They don't have to 'renew the mind" so much, and can concentrate on more important things, like the dance steps..

Sometimes, with the right kind of religious "hooey", it is easier to blame yourself for another person's stupidity..

From what I read so far.. was it like the march of the penguins? Or more like salmon, racing upstream where a few (in this case probably the majority, despite casualties and losses) are rewarded for their "renewed mind" efforts? The "problem" I have with the concept: It was a REQUIREMENT for corps. Maybe that's why I never went corps.. with the athletic abilities of a carp, I likely would have ended up at the bottom of some chasm, a lot sooner than I should have in life.. But seriously.. I don't see how anybody could expect another human being to risk life and limb as a requirement in any kind of "christian" training program.. it really doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense.. and on top of it, a "program" that offered no more security than a cardboard box in a tornado.. seems if you were "lucky", you made the grade.. what happened to "preparation is the highest form of believing"? Nobody really trained to help in the event somebody really got hurt.. no reasonable planning.. they violated their very own mandates.. If there was ANYTHING that demands micro-management, LEAD should have been it.

And form a line, that none dare cross. Skunks do perform a uselful function. Those pock marks they leave in an otherwise pristine lawn.. usually because they dig up grubs (lowlife) and ground hornets and wasps. Hornets are a delicacy for them..

With that kind of payload, we'd need Bullwinkle to give the Squirrel(s) a boost.. "Alley ooop.."

Darn thing won't Simpsonize my squirrel picture.. guess it has to at least be human..

Just wonder. The kinds of "things" I'm looking for: Did they require a person to sign a hold harmless agreement? Did you know the alleged high incidents of accidents and injury? Was the staff properly prepared to provide first aid / first responder type of assistance to people who got hurt? Did "they" properly describe the harshness of the experience, and possible injuries? I forget this one.. but was it a corps REQUIREMENT? What did you anticipate the experience to be like? Fun? gruesome? Dumb? How would you feel about doing it again? So many questions.. I don't expect people to answer them all.. I would just like a general idea of what people were dealing with..

If you are asking, what am I doing here, in my current physical location, I'm typing. At a keyboard. ah, but what am I really doing.. I'm trying to pick up the pieces after wasting years in a destructive organization.. I'm picking up my life where I left off over twenty years ago, going back to college, trying to help myself, loved ones and others in my community. Maybe learning how to value others, basing their true worth on other parameters than what kind of resources they can bring to a particular organization.

The same thing could be said for skunks too.

Looks like fun. I'll have to try it when I get home a little later.. might make a good personal picture for the profile..

Probably only if they are dead..

Wowser..

I kinda thought the almonds tasted a little "funny".. hmm.

I remember sitting through the class, and thinking "well, what's the big deal.." when's the big payoff? Spiritiual wisdom and understanding? Mind blowing "revelation"? "well, maybe you're not ready to really see what's in da class. Some people have to take it a number of times before Gawd can really get through to them.." after about six or seven times, I had the thing practically memorized.. still, there was never a "rebirth" of understanding, or anything like that..

In all fairness.. I think it is pretty close to reality. I remember people sitting around counting how many times the vicster said "christ in you" or "throughly perfected" trying to attach some kind of spiritual significance to it.. or trying to analyze the class with "structures" like Bullinger did with the bible.. no kidding.

ya know Socks, you could have just left it at that.. Hey.. I was one of the poor saps that had to drink "stretched" coffee out of those things, and some of them still had lipstick stains on them, some even had bite marks..

I wanted to be a chemist and math guy. Maybe even physics major on top of it. I'm in electronics now, soon to be chemist and math guy, at least one with a degree..

Yeah. What is interesting, people actually learned a lesson from history. Japan, Germany, Europe.. to this day some are still quite angry that "we" rebuilt after the war. But what would be the alternative? Load down the average German and Japanese citizen with hardship and debt that they couldn't repay for decades? I think world war three would have risen out of the ashes.

hmm. maybe that's a new slant on the story.. a squirrel, tomatos, and a slingshot.. "and the borg, collectively leave their collective screaming, "we're not GREEN anymore..".."

Instead of entirely hijacking the vey production thread, I thought I'd be kind and bring this to the top.

Perhaps.. what if he merely have the authority to dole it out? Doesn't make him the author of it so to speak. doesn't necessarily mean every time a person dies, the devil did it.. I had a hard time reconciling that thought with reality even when I was really *IN* der vey. Some guy, 103 years old.. worn out.. somehow, he gets "tricked" by the devil, and thereby dies.. never really set well with me. Personally, I don't know if I would agree anymore that the devil and the "angel of death" spoken of are exactly one and the same. I could easily snuff out a whole colony of ants if I wanted.. does the fact that I have the supposed authority, or ability to do so, make me the devil? Who knows.. some people have called me an angel.. others, well..

vey productions, busy at work, and taking subtle clues and criticism from their audience: