satori001

Like many of my friends, he's done more than his share of smoking and drinking, also known as "self-medicating." He's a talented musician, a proud and devoted father, a hard worker, a "lion" of a guy in some respects, a "lamb" in others, each in the best sense.

Some weeks ago, after several misdiagnoses, he got the word on his recent vision problems and headaches. Inoperable brain cancer, which spread there from a tumor in his lung. He's about my age.

He was in remarkably good spirits last weekend. I know he's still playing music, still entertaining friends, keenly aware that there's not much time left to do it though, by all medical accounts. He looks much older, by years, even decades, then he did six months ago. I imagine it's the medication but I don't know. I don't see him often enough and he's been out of reach. It's not a good sign, I know that much.

I'm beyond asking "why" - at least for now. Anyway questions like those - I wonder who I'm asking. The "right" answers are too pat to satisfy the need to really understand, and much too easy to give in the face of so great a trial.

Please keep Donald in your thoughts, and his family and closest friends too.

Please understand, unlike another thread I posted here, this will not be a running account of his illness and the struggle to survive it (and know that he hasn't given up all hope, though the doctors have prepared him for the worst). It may be the only post for some time.

Charisma comes from the word charis meaning "gift."

1 : a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure (as a political leader)

2 : a special magnetic charm or appeal <the charisma of a popular actor>

Charade comes from the French word charrado which means to chatter

1: a word represented in riddling verse or by picture, tableau, or dramatic action

2 (plural): a game in which some of the players try to guess a word or phrase from the actions of another player who may not speak

3: an empty or deceptive act or pretense <his concern was a charade>

Placing the words together, we get "charismatic charade," the spectacle of which quickly gels and then calcifies into the emotional sheet-rock (not bedrock, but plenty of sheet) upon which the society to promote and preserve a paltry, emotional fraud that passes for religion rises in its own glory.

We see the action, not of a God, or of a Son of God, but of an impotent, whether by incapacity or indecision, cartoon character, whose power and love are so discriminating and fickle, the girl nearly dies again and again.

I do not see her pray, maybe she does. I see her thrown down, and that's where he rushes in to save the day. First he lets them beat him up, and when he gets tired of that, he tosses them off like they were made of straw. And they are - straw men. False enemies, revealed not by God, or by any real Jesus, but by the servants of a tumescent cult that lives and breathes and passes the hat in His name.

It's my unscientifically deduced belief that anyone with an authentic spiritual relationship, with an authentic Jesus, would be offended by this garbage, that preys on our sentimentality at best, and our broken hearts at its calculated worst, priming our minds for the vast, blind crusade that wanders the world in search of the God that embodies THEIR concept of who He ought to be.

The Way International wasn't so different than so many others. Modern religion is nothing but charismatic chatter, without the charis, and without the answers.

So what am I trying to say? Like the man from Jubbalpore, "I don't believe in your Jesus."

Though I don't count myself one, I think there are no truer words that might be spoken by every "true" Christian.

He takes no prisoners, does he?

Far be it from me to bash anyone's 2000-odd year old cult, but he makes some strong points on the side of not believing something just because you were raised that way, or because someone takes the time (how loving!) to persuade you into joining them. And he makes it look easy.

Christopher Hitchens is a breath of fresh air. Always listen critically. He's looking for equals, not converts.

Christopher Hitchens -- on the blessings of faith.

Hitchens

Not really.

http://fora.tv/

Just some good internet TV to get through the writers' strike.

Liberals will be especially pleased. They will enjoy the psychoanalysis of Walker, Texas Wanger. (W). Whether it's based on any facts should be irrelevant to this occasion, as always. Conservatives will despise Justin Frank, as it should be, whatever they think of Bush.

I won't be discussing it (here).

For conservatives, there is Christopher Hitchens, maybe a few others. Hitchens is that atheist who wrote God Is Not Great, so maybe there's nothing at all for you right-wing fundamentalists. There's always Michelle Malkin's blog.

"To a man with only a hammer, every problem is a nail." Really? Only someone who doesn't know one end of a hammer from the other would say something that dumb. Believe it or not, they are out there, and they are thankful for their God-given intelligence. Talk about faith without works...

Okay, what else?

"Be fruitful and multiply."

That should do it.

I ran across these user friendly introductions some of you may find enlightening. He has produced several more than the ones here.

You can take or leave his style, but it couldn't be much more accessible.

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Hi Roy - the original video was some kind of interpretive dance based on the song "Puff." I probably should have clarified that the music is not the topic, but the way this team of dancers chose to celebrate the story it tells. I found it kind of funny. mstar seems to agree. I am sure there are similarly earnest yet artistically premature efforts recorded on YouTube or elsewhere, and I hope to see a few more. These folks turned up unexpectedly while blog surfing, and I knew right away I'd struck gold.

My reference to Way Productions - I've never been a big fan of Way Productions, but I learned much later, here and on Waydale, that many talented people (some very talented, some much less so) who participated in Way Prod were under the heavy and resentful thumbs of "God's leadership," whose collective, esthetic sensibilities (in effect, casting VPW's long, dark shadow) lay somewhere between those of school yard bullies and Stalinist bureaucrats, while appearing to be more like both.

I always enjoy your posts though.

And we thought Athletes of the Spirit sucked...

The link explains it all.

http://www.stickk.com/tour.php

Stay PO'd, and turn that anger, contempt, disgust and unresolved anguish toward TWI into lost pounds, kicked habits, or all kinds of self-improvements.

Stick TWI in the eye!

Makes life more meaningful!

A type of atypical

A la Prochaine

That was actually Condoleeza Rice with her band, under one of many stage names, and with a lot of makeup. She's become queen of the nightlife at a few of DC's most prestigious and exclusive area hot spots, with a respectable if eclectic following among the congressional staff, lobbyists, and the expat Russian underworld. Everybody knows she plays classical piano from the 60 Minutes interviews featuring Mike Wallace and Dan Fahrfahhllar, but the Secretary of State's sultry siren side is one of Washington's best kept (open) secrets. I'm in love.

"Nothing gets wasted around here." A tribute to Howard Allen.

On a roll.

All of the quotes are interesting or entertaining on their own merit, but not all of them seem to pertain to "public discourse" in any direct way.

I would like this thread to allow you to step outside of yourself, and look back at an all too familiar topic from someone else's POV, that might speak to or for your own, and also to look at others' points of view through their own quotations.

For my part, I have posted quotations that I agree with, and some that I didn't (at first glance at least), but which added new elements to my own perspectives.

You aren't stuck with Vonnegut, but try to stick to the general idea: discourse, in a public/community setting. Public and community aren't necessarily the same thing, but both would apply. You can quote someone from GS, and there is plenty of fertile ground from which to harvest those quotes, but it would be more effective to keep the sources external, for the reasons above.

If you'd like discourse to improve, you should select quotes to serve or promote that end, rather than the clever-but-cynical variety. Just a suggestion.

I hope there are many more quotations to come.

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Part II - I was going to begin a parallel thread on the quotations, but not on the people who posted them - to discuss or debate the ideas expressed. That is too much work. But if you find one, or several, that are worth expanding upon, that might be a good follow up on a different thread.

“Every man is a fool in some [other] man's opinion” Spanish Proverb

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“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” Oscar Wilde

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“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion” Democritus

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“If you don't like my opinion of you, you can always improve” Ashleigh Brilliant

“Strange as it may seem, my life is based on a true story” Ashleigh Brilliant

On villains.

"Having resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die" -- Malachy McCourt

Your opinion doesn't matter.*

"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?'

Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."

(*only for this thread, if you can bear it)

You are welcome to post relevant quotations which speak to your opinion, and a brief description of their originator. Bible quotations are probably unavoidable, but keep them brief - they should be insights, not "teachings." Let your quotes do your speaking, but not your thinking, for you.

The proceeding proceed from Kurt Vonnegut.

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On with the quotes:

"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."

"She was a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who thinks he sees what God is doing."

"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"

"There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too."

"That is my principal objection to life, I think: It's too easy, when alive, to make perfectly horrible mistakes."

"So it goes." -- expansion on this phrase: "Sh1t happens, and it's awful, but it's also okay. We deal with it because we have to."

"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."

Imagine that. An old joke I haven't heard before.

So whom would you silence?

I have an idea.

"Physician, heal thyself."

johniam, whatever validity your idea might have on its own merits (and it was already tried), coming from you it's a strategy for suppressing the truth. See Rascal's post.

I am certain that suppression IS your motive, and not the welfare of the many women (and marriages, and familes) harmed by Vic Wierwille, TWI's "Who's Yer Daddy" in the Word.

Maybe you should withhold further helpful ideas for Tex until you've read her book for yourself. I'm unconvinced you really intend to do so. Whatever your intentions, I don't think you could go through with it. Your latest "idea" indicates, once again, your mind is already made up.