--- In [email protected], "Alex Stanley" <j_alexander_stanley@...> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "Alex Stanley" <j_alexander_stanley@> > > wrote: > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "Buck" <dhamiltony2k5@> wrote: > > > > > > > > I just left FF for a few days and got > > > > 99 channels on a TV right here and there's nothing worthwhile > > > > to watch. > > > > I been driving for two days to a conference outside of > > > > Syracuse, NY and stopped for the nite to rest. No wonder > > > > that the world is gone to hell in a field effect with such > > > > Bawdy awful violent tripe that people watch. So, this is > > > > the stuff that gets reviewed by some posters here as if > > > > it's culturally significant? Even the weather channel > > > > sells with violent image. There was one show about an > > > > Amish couple going in to NYC. > > > > Now I can relate to that one being an elder conservative > > > > meditator now myself traveling abroad except that the > > > > show really was exploiting selling advertising crudely > > > > making fun of the Amish. Damned money-changers. Forgive > > > > them all they know not what they are doing. > > > > What a waste of money cable is. > > > > Save your self and your money > > > > don't let cable in your home and life. > > > > -Buck on the road > > > > > > You think TV is bad? Hell, you should see the stuff that > > > gets put on the Internet! > > > > I would suggest that this non-issue relates to one's > > definition of "worthwhile," n'est-ce pas? For example, > > the very Amish who Buck pretends to revere would con- > > sider him a sinner for having *driven* in an automobile. > > The Amish don't drive, but they are allowed to get the > "English" (i.e., non-Amish) to drive them. That's how > the Amish get to the Fairfield farmers market; they own > trailers and get driven to town with all their stuff. > And, allowable modern technology varies depending on > the congregation. For example, some Amish are allowed > to use gasoline powered lawnmowers, and some aren't. > > Personally, I'm intrigued by the imaginative ways they > use modern technology in theologically correct ways. > Years ago, I used to drive my Waking Down teacher every > week out to an Amish farm to buy milk. The dairy operation > had refrigeration and milking machines, but nothing ran > on electricity. Instead, they had a stationary diesel > engine (a theologically approved technology) that powered > a vacuum pump and an air compressor. The vacuum pump > provided suction for the milking machines, and the > compressor filled old 1000 gallon propane tanks with > compressed air. The compressed air was then used to run > air motors for refrigeration, milk stirring, pumping hot > water from the outside wood-fired boiler, etc.
Ingenious indeed are the ways that backward-facing religious groups sometimes find "loopholes" that allow them to do things they are technically not allowed to do. I'm reminded of Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, which is world-reknowned, but also Jewish. It caters to all denominations, but among them are Orthodox Jews who are forbidden from using any type of conveyance on the Sabbath. So they're at the hospital, wanting to visit someone on the sixth floor, right? Do they take the stairs, rather than use the forbidden elevators? The odd answer is No. What they do is *back into* the elevator, and then when they arrive on their desired floor, *back out* of it again. Someone thought up this loophole to enable them to use something they're technically not supposed to use. Go figure.
