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Post by senshido on Aug 14, 2014 8:32:12 GMT -5
v'e'r'y k'i'n'd Ros I struggle with English, Scottish is my first language!!
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Post by meguro on Aug 15, 2014 6:37:21 GMT -5
I suppose it is inevitable that religion will creep into a topic about cult leaders. I mean, what's the difference between a cult and religion? Is it only that a cult has a founder who is still alive, whereas religions revere long dead founders? Whatever the case, I think people naturally seek out other people with similar interests or neuroses because we are social creatures. And some folks so desperately need to be a part a something larger than themselves that membership is more important than self (morals, reason, common sense). An unscrupulous leader can take advantage of weak individuals. So, when does a martial arts organization become a cult? I'd say when the organization seeks to cultivate dependency rather than strength, self-confidence and independent thought.
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Post by powerof0ne on Aug 23, 2014 22:09:48 GMT -5
Religion and Politics really have no place anywhere but your own house...or while you're sleeping on the couch because your other half doesn't agree with you . I learned this lesson years ago while in my early 20s on a job and was a jerk by making some rather negative comments about a religion that rubbed my mentor the wrong way. With that being said, personally I respect many religious people that live a morally right way of living but I also don't think it's necessary to be religious to have a morally right way of living. Some try to act like the bow is always religious but personally I view it as a hand shake and it's tradition for me. Sure, the bow has some historical ties to certain religious ceremonial rights but that doesn't mean it means the same to everybody today. I've discussed this before but I had the pleasure of teaching a great muslim family made up of 3 different families that were all somehow all related and the mispleasure of teaching about the same amount. The latter group was solely against bowing and the boys were taught to be mean to non-muslims, treat the girls like they were inferior and so forth. I'm so happy that I had the pleasure of teaching a group before them that were the total opposite and model students with great parents. Due partially to the latter group; the owner of the dojo who is a very nice guy is now today prejudiced against Muslims and I've tried to sway him against it but he's coincidentally had some negative moments with bad muslims....just like there are bad in every religion. I'm getting off tract here and I'll go back to what I originally said about religion and politics . Osu!
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