--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajranatha@> wrote: > > > > > > What a wonderful story, thanks for sharing it! It speaks > > > volumes to your integrity that you have not cordoned off > > > parts of your past but bring them so nicely into the > > > present. Very open minded and whole. > > > > Kind of like having no fences, as opposed to surrounding > > oneself with barbed wire and the expectation that anyone > > who approaches it is an enemy. Can you imagine a couple > > of the TM apologists here actually having a good time at > > a party of people who are no longer part of the TMO? > > They'd be on their guard every moment, waiting for the > > offhand remark they could interpret as an attack. > > There is "meat" in this for analyzing many things, > including the Middle East crisis. When you've set > up things in your mind to create a "them vs. us" > scenario with your neighbors, after a few years of > this even peace overtures are viewed as just a > concealed attack. > > Similarly, in spiritual groups that cultivate this > sense of "them vs. us," the perceptions of those who > buy into it become warped over time, with the result > being a kind of *lack* of openness, a tendency to > "read" any interpretation of dogma other than their > own as a challenge and any response other than "Of > course you're 100% right" as an attack. > > When your self-description becomes "defender of the > faith," whether in secular life or spiritual, weird > things happen. The consistent overreaction of some > people here to comments that most people would see > nothing wrong with reminds me often of a scenario > from the Sixties in Davis, CA. A guy of draft age > got his draft notice and went out drinking and > commisserating with some friends. During the course > of the evening, the fellow borrowed a lipstick from > one of the girls and wrote across his draft notice, > "Johnson's war in Asia makes America puke," put it > in an envelope, and mailed it to the White House. > > He forgot about it until, a couple of nights later, > he was awakened by the sound of his door hitting the > floor, as agents from the local police, state police, > FBI, and Secret Service came storming into his house, > waving guns and pointing them at him. His neighbor > happened to be a reporter for the Sacramento Bee, and > came over to see what was going on, and so happened > to be there and able to report on the Secret Service > agent in charge's reply when the fellow asked, "WHY > are you here? What do you think that I did." > > The SS agent said, "Well, you threatened the life of > the President?" > > The poor college kid explained exactly what he had > done and asked, "How could that possibly be inter- > preted as threatening the life of the President?" > > The Secret Service agent said, "Well, if everyone > puked on the President, he'd die." > > The story was all over the California press the next > morning, and the Secret Service had a lot of Lucy-like > 'splaining to do. > > But the real culprit was their self-description. Their > *job*, as they saw it, was to be alert to danger > *everywhere*. And the more they looked for it, the > more of it they saw. "That which you focus on grows > stronger in your life." > > The problem with the "them vs. us" mentality is that > it becomes a kind of perpetual motion machine. The > more isolated the "us" folks get, the longer they > consider themselves superior to "them," the more > *likely* it is that they will find something in > *anything* that one of "them" says to go ballistic > over. Their very self description paints them as > defenders of the faith, a "job description" that > would be meaningless if there were no "attacks" on > that faith. Therefore, they see attacks everywhere, > and spring into action to "defend" against each attack > that they imagine. This reinforces their sense of self > importance and gives them an adrenaline rush, so they > get addicted to the process, so when the current "attack" > is dealt with, they find themselves longing for another. > And, of course, once you've set yourself up to think > this way, there is *always* another. > > It's a sad cycle in my opinion, one that can be broken > only by the person *within* the barbed wire fence. The > people "outside" the fence -- the "them" to their "us" -- > cannot ever really stop the cycle. The "them" folks > could be playing with their kids next to the barbed > wire, collecting wildflowers for the dinner table back > home, and the "us" folks watching from inside the barbed > wire prision they built around themselves will be > convinced that they're planting land mines. > > So it goes in the Middle East, so it goes here on FFL. >
Poor Barry. Reduced to agreeing with himself while forgeting to switch account-names ala sock-puppets... To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
