Seriously? Hilarious mea culpa, Robin. http://youtu.be/vieAmYJQwtM
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, maskedzebra <no_reply@...> wrote: > > In withdrawing from FFL I have had time to reflect upon my history there and > the characters I have interacted with. > > It will perhaps come as a shock to some, but in reading Barry more closely > and without the intense bias that has gripped me right from the start when > Barry appeared to make himself immune to the effects of my posts, I have > concluded that essentially Barry is right. Right not just about Judy; but > right about even myself. Barry is arguing from a point of view which I have > up until very recently been unable to accepteven tolerate. And this was of > course because of his refusal to take me seriously in what I said in all my > posts. For Barry, these were tedious, narcissistic, and melodramatic. Well, > it turns out he was right. At least this is the conclusion I have come to by > being brave enough to consider that my own defensiveness and touchiness in > reacting to his criticism of me and my posts was preventing me from having an > experience that I needed to have: namely, that my own estimate of my posts > did not necessarily coincide with the truth, with reality. > > Whereas *his* estimate of my posts did achieve such correspondence. > > So, as much as I hate to do this, given how much I have invested in this > anti-Barry project, I have to admit it: Barry is not only correct in his > assessment of Judy (see his argument with Emily and Raunchydog), his judgment > of me and my posts is valid as well. > > Now I would just ask the readers of FFLthose who have aligned themselves > with Judy, with Robin, with the now departed Bob Price, with Jim and > othersto reconsider their position, since for someone like myself to undergo > a change of perception this significant, a change which I was determined > would not and could not happen, suggests something very powerful at work > here. You remember Saul persecuting the Christians and then being struck down > on the Road to Damascus by Christ, and in the violence of his conversion > becoming a fierce defender of Christ. Well, although I did not undergo quite > as spectacular a transformation of belief, I think there are parallels here, > and to the extent to which Saul became Paul, I have become a very different > Robin. I don't say that Barry is Jesus or anything like that. That would be > absurd. And even if I did think that Barry was Christ, I know he would only > have contempt for such a view of him. So, no, I won't go that far. But I will > say that in the main Barry has been right all along, and even his most > vitriolic and bitter posts have been in the service of somehow forcing people > to see what they, like me, were blind to. > > Well, I have been persuaded, and in a way which really means something, that > Barry is the martyr here, and I can't tell you (although Steve perhaps has > somewhat had the foretaste of such a sensationbut only very mildly) how much > better I feel, not just in my heart, but in my conscience. I am not going to > congratulate myself on what I have accomplished here in mortifying my pride > and my sense of righteousness to bend the knee and reverse course in my > judgment of this person, but I do think that this is a lesson to all of us: > no matter how certain and convinced one is right about someonein this case > Barrythere is always the possibility (as in the case of Saul) that one's > position actually is in a contradictory relationship to reality, to truth,to > the way things really are. > > This is undoubtedly the situation here. Barry in his posts has triumphed. And > I am sorry to say this, but for Judy, Raunchydog, Bob Price, Jim and others > not to see this, or at least not to consider this as a possibility, is > nothing less than tragic. For in the end, I assure you, Barry will be > vindicated. > > I can only pray that Judy will realize the importance of contemplating this > painful truth when she resumes posting tonight. Judy, are you there? I beg > you to consider what I have said here, that Barry is sincere and right in his > perspectivenot just about you, but about meand for that matter anyone else > at FFL who has determined that Barry is a negative character (at least in > what can be known about him from his posts which are critical of other > posters). For me, Judy, this process has been very liberating. And I wanted > to share this revelation with you before you, very predictably, went on the > attack, which I believe Barry, presciently, has anticipated will be what > happens just as soon as we see that first post of yours. > > Judy, I think you an intelligent and well-meaning person; but Curtis and > Barryand even to some extent, although less passionately, Stevehave > identified what is wrong with you; and I think you must be courageous enough > to finally examine yourself, since I, who until just now was one of your most > loyal supporters have undergone an extraordinary change of heart, and have > admitted to myself that you are the person in the wrong here, that Barry is > right. Would you even just for the sake of how much I have defended you in > the past, think about what I have said here? > > I pray that you will do this, Judy. Because were you to find yourself > experiencing what I now experience, you would realize that in seeing Barry as > sincere and right yields up an experience of happiness and sense of > truthfulness which exceeds beyond what you can even imagine the experience > and sense of truthfulness which is the result of holding to your present > prejudice and antipathy towards Barry. > > I am not expecting Barry to exonerate me from my past dealings with him; I > don't even say he has to believe me in what I say here. But I can only say > that those who have followed me in all my posts at FFL will recognize that in > this instance, because I am going so much against the natural direction of my > pride and self-esteem, I am communicating a truth which exceeds in its power > and significance anything I have ever said at FFL. > > And I will go one step further. I believe I have laid the basis for not just > a rapprochement among the feuding parties, but the foundation for a real > healing and reconciliation. I don't however believe it is incumbent upon > Barry to respond to this declaration of my newly found faiththat will come > soon enough. It is sufficient that Iand those who will follow me in > thisexpress our humility and contrition, even though, as surely Barry knows, > we were, when we opposed him, acting out of a sense of sincerity and > rightness in all that we said. > > But you see we were wrong. I can't speak for those who remain hostile to > Barry; but I think, as in the case of Saul, there should be some hard > thinking about this whole matter And I would ask at the very least that there > is a moratorium on this Get Barry Campaign (which seemingly never ends) until > there has been time to allow what I have said here to infiltrate the deeper > regions of the heartas well as the mind. > > I am sorry, Judy. But this feels better. And I can only wish for you to have > the experience I am having now. >
