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To: Dawnsblood
“The idea in the movement was ‘everything you own owns you,’” said Dr. Grigsby, who sees roots of the philosophy in the lives of the Puritans. “You have to care for it, store it. It becomes an appendage, I think. If it enhances your life and helps you do the things you want to do, great. If you are burdened by these things and they become the center of what you have to do to live, is that really positive?”

Now that's a nugget of gold right there.

Such a pity that FReepers are so quick to condemn these folks.

6 posted on 05/17/2008 4:39:13 PM PDT by rabscuttle385 (During the Middle Ages, rats spread bubonic plague. Today, Rats spread the socialist plague.)
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To: rabscuttle385
I'm not an advocate of materialism. I'm not an advocate of voluntary poverty either. There's nothing noble in being poor.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

11 posted on 05/17/2008 4:43:50 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: rabscuttle385
Such a pity that FReepers are so quick to condemn these folks.

And justifibly so.

Let me give you some that philosophy that the Puritans would have understood immediately and these poor souls do not.

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

The concept is fine even if they are being a bit dramatic about the matter and vastly overstating what they are doing. However they have not thought things through. And that is by their own admission. Doing things off the cuff is ok when you are single or if there is just the two of you. Not sitting down and planing things out when you plans will drastically effect your children is flat out wrong.

16 posted on 05/17/2008 4:53:07 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes into it.)
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To: rabscuttle385
Now that's a nugget of gold right there.

Such a pity that FReepers are so quick to condemn these folks.

Well, you can plate a turd with gold, and you won't have a nugget, even though it will look like one. These people are idiots, pure and simple. Either that, or mentally ill.

I have to work for my house, my internet connection, my car, air conditioner, refrigerator, laptop, coffee maker, I could really go on and on. Of course it's a burden to have to work 2 out of 4 weeks to pay for a house. And it pretty damn well is the center of what I have to do to live, and it is a positive thing. I thank God every day for letting me live in these times. There's a nugget for you: Thank You God!

These people are idiots, and they are asking their children to suffer because they are stupid. Just like the drug-recovered pentecostals that want to be different, so they were socks and no makeup and plain long skirts. But their kids get laughed at and ridiculed, and they don't care, it's their religion. A better nugget would be don't make your kids suffer over some poorly thought out realization made with a marijuana cigarette hanging out of your mouth.

It reminds me of that stupid movie about the guy who graduates college, but eschews his parents gifts to go live in Alaska, so he sells his car, burns his money, and tramps off into the wilderness, only to realize that he made a big mistake, but he dies before he can get home. I'm sure he had some gold-plated turd of an idea that appealed to some idealistic fantasy in his mind, but I didn't hesitrate to go to the ticket booth and get my money back for that piece of crap movie.

27 posted on 05/17/2008 5:22:34 PM PDT by webheart
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To: rabscuttle385
Such a pity that FReepers are so quick to condemn these folks.

It's a conditioned response. If these people really wanted to live the "simple life", how did their story end up in the NY Times?

Let's just say I'm very suspicious every time a liberal tells me I need to learn with live with less. It's usually a set-up to telling me they need more of what I have.

35 posted on 05/17/2008 6:06:32 PM PDT by BigBobber
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To: rabscuttle385

I agree. I’m not an advocate of voluntary poverty, but I am an advocate of being fully aware that the more one owns, the more one is tied down by the responsibility of those possessions.

There is a freedom to not being encumbered by a multitude of possessions, and in choosing carefully and wisely those items which enhance our lives and our freedom.


39 posted on 05/17/2008 6:17:58 PM PDT by TruthSetsUFree
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