One of the reasons I like Digg is that it's a treasure-trove of graphics that can be used to help convey an idea. Like this one (http://imgur.com/SHmvT.jpg <http://imgur.com/SHmvT.jpg> ):
[http://imgur.com/SHmvT.jpg] Isn't that refreshing? A billboard -- whose very *purpose* is to try to sell you something -- being used instead to celebrate the joy of not being sold anything. I feel that same joy when reading the posts of a few people here on Fairfield Life, the folks I think of as "anti-proselytutes." These people *have* in most cases strong beliefs -- political, spiritual, and moral. But they never try to SELL them. The most that they do is state what they believe in and move on. If other posters "challenge" them on their beliefs, or demand that they "debate" them about these beliefs, these folks rarely bother to even respond. What this tells me is that their beliefs are actually *strong* -- strong enough to stand on their own without any need for "defending" or "debating," and with even less need to try to SELL those beliefs to others. These (IMO) balanced individuals don't *need* anyone else to believe what they believe in order to believe it themselves. It clearly doesn't *matter* to them what anyone else believes. Compare and contrast to the professional proselytutes. You all know who I'm talking about...no need to "name names." The proselytutes are the people on this forum or the people they quote from the media who seem to feel a never-ending need *to* proselytize or SELL the things they believe in -- political, spiritual, or moral -- to others. Whether it be a political stance or cause or an ideological stance or cause or a spiritual stance or cause, these folks are constantly SELLING what they consider the "right" stance or cause. It *matters very much* to them what others believe; they are so persistent sometimes *in* their sales pitches that one is tempted to suspect that they actually receive a *commission* for converting someone to their stance or cause or belief system. Their vibe often feels like that great "coming out" episode on "Ellen" where lesbians were trying to win a free toaster by converting a straight woman to lesbianism. :-) Anyway...I'm just passing along a Handy Tip, one that I have found useful when trying to step lightly through the minefield of People Trying To Sell Me Something in the advertising media or in the news media or here on Fairfield Life: Visualize the person trying to sell you something as a hooker. [http://www.lwcbooks.com/books/images/Hooker-018.jpg] It's a simple mental trick, but I'm tellin' ya it works like a charm. *Listen* to the fevered sales pitches made by advertisers or political pundits -- or worst, spiritual True Believers -- who are trying to SELL you their wares, but in the back of your mind picture them as "proselytutes." Just like prostitutes, there is a REASON they are standing there on that street corner (or, metaphorically, standing on their soapbox preaching at you and trying to "convert" you). They GET something from selling their wares. The pros- titutes get money; the prosyletutes get to shore up their shaky beliefs systems by believing that they have "converted" someone else to believe in it, too. The visualize-the-person-selling-you-something as a street hooker or prosyletute helps in another way, too. By visual- izing them that way, you get to "step back" mentally and see whether what they are selling is *worth buying*. If the proselytute is trying to sell you a technique that promises relief from stress and anger, does that person react *well* to someone not buying it, or do they lash out at you angrily like a street hooker blown off by someone she was trying to...uh...blow? If the proselytute is trying to sell you on a ideological or political stance that claims equal respect for the sexes, does that person actually *act* in a way that is equally respectful to both sexes, or not? So that's Turq's Tip Of The Day. Whenever you find yourself being SOLD something on this forum or on the News or in advertising itself, just visualize the person doing the selling as a hooker as they're speaking. *Listen* to what they are saying, look over the merchandise being sold, and weigh the potential benefits of buying (or buying into) whatever they are trying to sell you. But then weigh that against the possi- bility of catching some loathsome disease from the seller.
