satori001

Well 2nd James, if I am allowed to speak I think history will bear out the label's warnings. Lots of history. God, as we understand Him anyway, is not a liar. I have to wonder what His view of people who do lie on His behalf might be. Those liars, with presumably the best of intentions, still manage to muck things up quite a lot of the time. Hindsight shows us, often enough, that their ostensible intentions, er, weren't best after all. Don't annoy me, 2nd James.

Doesn't seem fair does it? That's not our sanitized, 21st century American version of Christianity, dang it. And yet...

Is this a "don't toss the baby with the bathwater" type thread? I gotta tell ya, for all of the earnest, heartfelt, powerful, pure of heart believing of God and His Word that went on (according to you and others), TWI and its adherents sure got left twisting in the wind. Some of us might look back and say, sure, God is still God, and we're right back to where we were before we heard of TWI - wondering exactly what God's role is in our lives. Divine intervention (on account of grace, mercy, prayer, etc) doesn't seem to be what its cracked up to be by all of you well-intentioned, baby-in-the-bathwater, TWI sentimentalitarians*. * "sentimentalitarian:" one whose nostalgic recollection of the "good old days" over-rules some pretty obvious common sense questions we ought to ask about what we were actually taught.

Yes, it's true. Many of them have taken to residing in the walls, floors and furniture. They may also occupy several unfortunate hair-pieces, seen adorning and warming the pates of TWI leadership, and which are known to draw them like flies. Discerning diners may detect with disgust demons in their dessert. J*hn L*nder's flashlight is possessed. It watches him. Takes notes during meetings, to pass along to the Adversary. Rosalie's hair? It's being investigated, but it looks like it has been oppressed for some time, if not actually possessed. Howard & Emogene's mattress? If they have one of those "sleep number" beds, the number is probably set to "legion." This thread will be devoted to discerning of spirits in and around The Way International, where they like to say, "There are no strangers at The Way, but we get stranger every day."

I think Democrats like Spong (what a perfect name) and Dean should get all the publicity they crave. The vast no-wing conspiracy, called "undecided" every election, needs to get a good whiff of what these guys are about.

http://www.noisetank.com/integrity/ Just click restart audio.

(sniff)

Added by edit: WARNING: I have been bad. I have had no such dog named Snuckles. The real Snuckles did die, and the point of this thread is Kasem's unintentionally humorous, and somewhat off-color, attempt at a tribute. Sorry to have misled some of you. I am an animal lover, but can't resist a little laughter at Snuckles' expense. My own dog did "cross over" some years ago, and she was every bit a member of our family, and still missed. The following is fiction. -- My dog Snuckles passed away. Kasey Kasem was kind enough to do the dedication. I know Snuckles is listening from way up in Heaven and heard every word. Moderators, this thread should probably go in the Expired Pet forum, or maybe the Radio Personality forum, but I wanted to share it with everyone who might have loved Snuckles, had they gotten to know him.

You could always "ICE" your wallet. People have done that since before there were even video games.

It's a good idea.

Hey wait a minute!! You mean the "Way Tree" isn't in the bible??

Your opinion is flat out wrong. Western medicine, despite all of its shortcomings, is responsible for saving millions upon millions of poor people from a wretched death. Malaria, for instance. Western science and agriculture is responsible for feeding them. Western economies attempt to save them when their own governments, often brutal regimes, are content to see them starve.sirguessalot, your view of the world seems to be in equal parts romantic and naive. If you think about it, speaking in modified haiku does not make you any more insightful. Just something I've noticed. How many malaria victims, by the way, has reiki saved? Accupuncture? Chanting? Faith healing? Quinine sulfate (plus antibiotics)? Hey, we have a winner! Quinine sulfate and antibiotics it is!

You left out headaches.

Is there a double standard? If it was a "cool dad," entertaining girls, wouldn't he be in shackles right now? I think there should be a double standard in this case. Giving meth to the boys was far worse than Sylvia taking them to bed. Coo coo kachoo, Mrs. Robinson.

'Cool Mom' Threw Sex Parties for Boys Friday, January 21, 2005 ARVADA, Colo. — A 40-year-old woman faces charges of sexual assault (search) and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly supplying drugs and alcohol to high school boys and having sex with some of them. Sylvia Johnson (search), 40, told police she wanted to be a "cool mom," according to an arrest affidavit. Johnson did not immediately return a telephone message Thursday. The arrest affidavit alleges Johnson had parties for the boys almost weekly between October 2003 and October 2004. The affidavit says she gave them marijuana (search), methamphetamine (search) and a variety of alcoholic drinks. "She described herself as a 'cool mom,' " Detective R.J. Vander Veen wrote in the affidavit. He said Johnson told investigators "she was never popular with classmates in high school and now began 'feeling like one of the group.' " Jefferson County district attorney's spokeswoman Pam Russell said she could not comment on whether Johnson has any children. If she does, they would be considered victims, Russell said, and state law shields their identities. The affidavit accuses Johnson of providing drugs and alcohol to eight boys and having sex with five of them. Authorities said the investigation began after one of the boys told his mother about the encounters, and she called police. Johnson faces a preliminary hearing in February on two counts of sexual assault, eight counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance. She was arrested last month.

Here is a link for a discussion of Reiki "controversies" in Wikipedia, the free web encyclopedia. Like reiki, Wikipedia makes no claims of reliability, although it says that reiki does. Let common sense prevail. I think reikilady is making every effort to practice this method with compassion and integrity, and that is to her credit. Aspects of reiki (massage, etc) have known therapeutic value. No harm there. People are helped. However sincere, honest, well-intentioned, good-hearted, intelligent, honorable or noble a person is, they may still be taken in by the promise of the unattainable or non-existent ideal, envisioned, imagined or contrived by others. We can be made to see what others want us to see, and we'll pay no attention to the man (operating the levers) behind the curtain. I think we've all learned, courtesy of Vic Wierwille, that we are quite capable of believing something because we want to believe it. Believing doesn't equal receiving, unfortunately. Often, it results in deceiving. Self-deceiving. Oakspear points out that reiki does not attempt to prove anything. Does that mean there is no "come on," no sales pitch? Some recent Reiki News Magazine articles (William Rand's site) are entitled, "Recovering from Aids," "Treating Stroke (and other neurological disorders) with Reiki," "Finding Your Soulmate with Reiki," "Everything you wanted to know about Reiki and Angels. How to attract spiritual beings into your Reiki practice," and so on. Maybe reiki is real in every aspect. Maybe every above article, every implicit claim, is true. Where is the harm in just believing that it is? Where is the harm in saving ourselves the effort of "proving all things?" Shouldn't we just believe?

For this purpose you were spared.

There are two types of human associations, tribes and families. (I'm not talking about biological families here, but family-like groups.) Religions generally seem to begin as "family" (non-political and cooperative) but evolve into a tribe (political and competitive). The reason is that we all have both components (family/tribe) within us, but some of us are more opportunistic than others. As the most opportunistic establish hierarchies within the family group, others perceive the trend and respond in kind. I wonder if a "family" model can survive without a powerful, and present, parental authority. Without that, the tribal structure is required to sustain and perpetuate itself, or the self-interest of "alpha members" (charismatic, leader-types) will pull it apart in every direction. As an example, Wierwille may have been content with "TWI I's" casual family style until he noticed some young Turks rising up around him bringing in money and stealing the glory. The bottom line is that every religion is a virtual personality cult, with some trappings of the original family structure, but in all other ways tribal (political, in other words) through and through. If they don't "go tribal," they are pulled apart by the gravitational force of individual personalities. It is TWI's tribe ("TWIBE?") with which we have our greatest differences. A tribe exploits the political forces which pull families apart, by placing them into a hierarchy, and by organizing and regimenting its members. In a family, the least member is as important as the greatest, but in tribes individuals become expendable. This is not intended to be cynical. It's just human nature, the result of eons of evolution. Or if you prefer "Creation," the result of eons of sin. We prefer not to acknowledge this, at our own expense.

I thought the 3rd point was funnier.

Okay, so when it comes to all manner of new age voodoo, the burden of proof is upon the skeptic to show that it doesn't work. Is that the new standard? If something like "reiki" adds a nice diversion and provides a good massage, fine. But if the practitioners bring in their bias against modern medicine, it can interfere with the best chance the patient has. You think I've made up my mind? Exactly the opposite. On the other hand, a lot of reiki practitioners (and every other "alternative healing" shell game) are out there peddling a sense of certainty to people who can't afford it.

Chas, are you saying that medicine is imperfect, therefore we should accept any and every new age McSorcery that comes in the name of peace, love and goodness? People forget to ask themselves. Where do you think the proverbial wolves get their "sheeps' clothing?"

I made that assumption by your inclusion of the fourth point, but it was only an assumption.