The Hobbit Hole VIII - Still round the corner we may meet...

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[HairOfTheDog]

Sure.... (though it seems to me you are wantin' to skip the fun part)

Lets chant....

[ecurbh]

GOOOOOOOD MORNING!!

[JenB]

Are we a PJ cult or an anti-PJ cult?

Chanting.... hroom, hroom, hrooooooom.

[Corin Stormhands]

We just had the brainwashing...no deviant sexual practices (that I was aware of anyway...although some 20 years later I have my suspicions...)

This was my home church and it factors into a lot of my religious views today. I got out pretty early and my mom and step-dad did shortly thereafter. My sister just left in the past year.

Makes us all angry because it's the church my aunt and uncle founded.

In a nutshell, the pastor that came when I was in high school took over. It was really a personality cult. People that were "with him" or "real believers" didn't make a move without his consent. I'm talking almost 100 people who wouldn't go on vacation unless he said it was okay.

I kinda got away from them in college. But after I graduated he guilted me into moving back home. This was after my dad died and he (the pastor) kept telling me how my mom cried at night because she was lonely. That's when I made the decision not to go back to New Mexico.

I was part of the inner circle for about 3 1/2 years after that. Went twice with them to Israel. Planned with them for the "famine" that was coming in 1982. Well, it came, but in Ethiopia, not Virginia.

I finally made my break when I got involved with the congressional race in 1984. When it came down to my being a "backslider" if I went to a campaign rally instead of helping mow the pastor's lawn...I said "that's it" and left. Quit my job to join the campaign. When we lost I moved to Richmond to work on a different campaign.

I've never regretted leaving. But I regret my time there. So many things could have been different. I know for a fact that the Mrs. and I would never have gotten back together after college if I'd stayed there.

Some days I think that's all behind me and that those wounds have healed. But then I start thinking about it all over again and get all het up.

But it might help to 'splain some of my knee-jerk reactions to things religious...then again maybe not.

/confessional

[JenB]

Ugh. That sounds just wrong.

I've seen... similar, though on a much lesser scale, things at some churches I've been to. The pastor attracts - sometimes not even because he wants to - hangers-on. People who think they're holier than you if they eat with the pastor twice a month. There were trends like that at my old church, though the group didn't care what pastor they glommed - when one left, they took it up with the next one. Not to those extremes, though!

So glad our current pastor wouldn't stand for such a thing if anyone tried it.

[Corin Stormhands]

This was part of a larger "movement" that drew folks away from our denomination. In recent years, however, the mighty have fallen.

The younger brother (a navy doctor) of this pastor divorced his wife when he came out of the closet. The older brother (also a pastor) was exposed for a years-long affair. He was pastor of a mega-church...and is still pastoring although in a different state.

I have my suspicions that some of the "brotherly" relationships of the male leaders, were a little more brotherly than they really wanted us to know...

[JenB]

Oh, truly lovely. It's always interesting to me. Those families where several members are clergy - either it's something weird like that, or they're a group of really great preachers. Our pastor's a third-generation pastor, and I think most of his brothers are too. Then you get the... cult leaders. Like those Mormon knock-off groups, they tend to be dominated by one family.

Argh, got to get to class. See you tonight.

[HairOfTheDog]

Interesting study... There are dynamic people I have met that would be dangerously powerful in a setting where they were the leader of a faithful congregation.

Maybe that is why Norwegian Lutheran pastors are so shy. Too much responsibility!

[Fedora]

Or - I know - I can give you the Flu of Doom.

I thought you had to travel to the Middle Ages to get that--or is that what you've been doing instead of your homework? :)

[HairOfTheDog]

Are we a PJ cult or an anti-PJ cult?

If you have to ask.... you haven't meditated on it enough.

[Corin Stormhands]

If you have to ask.... you haven't meditated on it enough.

[Fedora]

That's basically how I approach it, too. The way I teach self-defense is oriented towards surviving long enough to run--I sum up the idea as "Stun and Run". The purpose is not to stay and spar for 10-15 rounds, which is another thing I try to impress, to distinguish between training for sports competition and training for street survival. On the point you raise on the spray, I likewise discourage people from relying on pepper spray or anything like that which may or may not be available/work and can provide a false sense of security. At the same time I also emphasize that having and displaying confidence is important because most attackers (80-90% in statistical studies I've seen cited) will flee if the victim puts up resistance. What I was taught profiles potential attackers into four major categories. 80+% fall into the first category where the attacker's psychological profile is such that they do not want to encounter resistance and will back down from it. Other types of attackers are seeking to boost their own ego through power assertion; or have a psychological grudge which they are targeting at potential victims; or are sadists who just enjoy hurting for the sake of hurting. These latter types of attackers will more likely not back down from resistance and will more likely force a confrontation to escalate to where it becomes necessary to kill or be killed; the other type is more likely to break off and flee before it reaches that point; so it's important to size up the situation quickly and identify what type of individual/s you're dealing with, and if you're dealing with an aggressive or vindictive or sadistic attacker it narrows your options accordingly. Adding PCP into it adds a whole 'nother dimension--that's a nightmare to deal with. My friend had to apprehend a guy on PCP once and after he got the guy on the ground sitting on his back with his hands under his chin in a surfboard hold, the guy still tried to bite his thumb off, and kept resisting while being elbowed to the back of the head.

[Fedora]

Are we a PJ cult or an anti-PJ cult?

If you have to ask.... you haven't meditated on it enough.

Also I think the rule is that when you ask that type of question you have to donate if you want the answer. Checks payable to "Fedora". :)

[Fedora]

ROFL!--that pic reminds me of the levitating Llama on Animaniacs. The Animaniacs bug him the whole episode to get him to answer their unanswered spiritual question. After they ultimately ruin his meditation when he's on the verge of enlightenment, causing him to fall down while levitating, he finally gives up and grudgingly concedes to answer their burning question to get rid of them. So they ask: "Why do hot-dog buns come in packages of 8 when hot dogs come in packages of 10?" :)

[HairOfTheDog]

Meeting today with our pastor for the wedding!

This is the first sit-down.... I think we will meet with her three more times.

[Fedora]

Meeting today with our pastor for the wedding!

That's exciting! :)

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - It is!

I think now, though, I am going to go weed in the yard. The little hedge I planted is at risk of being' taken over by grass.

[ksen]

When it came down to my being a "backslider" if I went to a campaign rally instead of helping mow the pastor's lawn...

Well, you could always repent and come and mow my lawn.

Just trying to help you heal buddy. ;^)

[ksen]

Meeting today with our pastor for the wedding!

This is the first sit-down.... I think we will meet with her three more times.

Isn't Pastrix the proper title for a female Pastor? ;^)

[HairOfTheDog]

Isn't Pastrix the proper title for a female Pastor? ;^)

Maybe in churches that don't have any ;~D

Good morning Kevin!