--- In [email protected], "Hugo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In [email protected], "Hugo" <richardhughes103@> 
> > wrote:
<snip>
> > > So Judy, are you saying that MMY *didn't* make these
> > > claims about an upcoming war?
> > 
> > Uh, Hugo, what I said is the paragraph above the
> > "TRANCENET ALET" [sic] headline.
> 
> Yes, I know that's the bit you said, what I wanted
> to know is whether the bits about MMY saying a biological
> war is immanent were made up by Knapp or actually from
> MMY. I guess I know now.

I wouldn't know; I wasn't there, nor did I hear
anything about it from the TMO. I would, however,
based on past experience, take anything Knapp writes
about the TMO with a supersized saltshaker handy.

John's "press releases" were inconsistent. At one
point MMY was said to have warned that global war
would break out within weeks, at another point it
was that war *would* break out if the TM centers
weren't established in the third world. I'm guessing
MMY actually said something more like the latter.

And I suspect the "flew into a rage" bit was window
dressing.

> While I agree that Knapps bit is alarmist and overreacting,
> it only seems so because I know what the TMO is like.

Funny, so did he. He was a TM teacher for many years.

> To any outsider a powerful Guru with millions of followers
> saying a war is immanent could be interpreted as something 
> to be concerned about. Quite easily I should think.

Obviously, Knapp figured the same thing. But it wasn't
quite as easy as he'd hoped.

In any case, I think the point was to increase traffic
to his Web site.

<snip>
> > In fact, of course, MMY's project was to establish TM
> > centers in towns and cities in third world countries
> > where TM didn't yet have a presence. (And no children
> > were involved; participation was limited to married
> > couples without children.)
> 
> There is a limit to this and that's what concerns me.
> I've heard so much crap coming from MMY about yagyas
> to avert the danger that has not yet come, sometimes
> urging whole countries to donate hundreds of thousands.
> To me, this is the real crime. This is what I get fired
> up about, exploiting peoples love and devotion to keep
> the expansion going. Or maybe he really believed it, 
> nothing surprises me anymore. But that doesn't forgive
> everyone else for going along with it again and again.

I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on
this. Doesn't mean he couldn't have seen what he
thought was the real danger of war as a good way to
enhance the movement's funds, though. Having mixed
motivations, some noble, some less so, is a pretty
typical human trait.

Also, to start a big new project was a way to get
folks all stirred up and inspire renewed commitment
to the goals of the TMO. He did that on a regular
basis when he felt TMers were getting too complacent.

<snip>
> Maybe if John is reading this he can elucidate on
> what he actually knew about what the TMO was doing
> or whether it's part of a "Stop the TMO at any lengths"
> campaign.

I'd put good money on the latter. But I wouldn't be
inclined to bet on getting a sincere response from
John.

> I'd be interested to know why he spends so
> much energy on it.

Seems to be an enduring compulsion on the part of
certain former-TMers-turned-TM-critics.


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