--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > (Terminology is interesting. "Pro-TMer" isn't > > > considered disparaging by either those who support > > > TM or its critics, yet "anti-TMer" evokes howls of > > > outrage from the latter. And while "anti-TMer" is > > > considered offensive by the critics, it doesn't > > > bother them at all to label the pro-TMers > > > "TBs/True Believers.") > > > > ******** > > > > This is an astute observation. For example, I > > occasionally use the True Believer or equivalent > > lable, while at the same time I usually reject > > the anti-TM label when applied to yours truly. > > The thing is, "True Believer" is actually more > accurate than "pro-TMer." "True Believer" implies > all of the characteristics that Eric Hoffer wrote > about in his books, while "pro-TMer" only implies > someone who feels that the TM *technique* itself > is beneficial. > > The term "anti-TMer" is incredibly inaccurate, > and IMO consciously so. I would say that *most* > of the people here who have problems with some of > the TM dogma and some of the TMO behavior have *no* > such problems with the basic TM technique itself. > > The attempt to call someone who has problems with > some of the TM dogma and many of the actions of > the TMO an "anti-TMer" is DISHONEST. MOST of the > folks here who have been called "anti-TMers" by > one of Hoffer's classic TBs have NO problems with > TM the technique. It's just that the TBs want > people to *think* that they do.
No, this is a deliberate distortion on Barry's part. Neither "anti-TMer" nor "pro-TMer" is used with reference *only* to one's attitude to the TM technique, and he knows it. > Read the list of Hoffer's criteria for a "True > Believer." THAT is what I am referring to when I > term someone a TB or True Believer. Anyone familiar with Hoffer's work knows that his "True Believer" label is *ludicrously* inapplicable to most of those to whom Barry attempts to apply it here. I am *not* > suggesting merely that they are "pro-TM" and > that being a "pro-TMEer" is a bad thing. Hell, > *I* am actually "pro-TM" in that I think that > the basic TM technique has value. > > But at the same time I believe that many of the > personality traits and behaviors exhibited by the > True Believers are very damaging indeed, both to > themselves and to others. As LB noted in his post: "True believership is a well-documented phenomenon, and is usually associated with some form of cognitive or development deficit. "Having said that, it is also only too true that those outside the core are often blind to their own prejudices and negative thinking. In effect, their thought processes are virtually indistinguishable from the TB's." 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/
