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The comments on Anthony continue. The Dallas article has gotten a fairly wide reading. The First Things blog mentions it twice, once by Ross Douthat and another by Frederica Mathewes-Green who compares it to another recent article about John Francis of Girls Gone Wild infamy, saying that both are similarly deluded.
Anthony probably has many delusions, as do we all. His largest was probably in thinking that the statements of Jesus that he used to condemn others didn't also apply to him. Anthony often pointed out that when Jesus told the crowd that they did the will of their father, Satan, he was talking to those who were following him, the Christians, as it were. True. He just forgot that Jesus was talking to him there.
Or as Jean Shepherd observed decades ago, you are the blind date.
I thought each had a specific quotation that indicated they??d made a total break with how reality actually works. With Ole, it was: ??Faith has to be total if it??s going to be anything. If something comes to my mind, I say it.? The delusional connection that whatever comes to his mind is spiritually mandated.
Somewhat fair, that. Certainly, faith is never total. That's the point of our struggle. When Michael Spencer talks about doubts, he's talking about something that Anthony missed.
Saying what comes to mind was probably one of the things that attracted people to him. It interested me. It's also a standard tool in psychotherapy. Some T-Groups might have someone who would just spout off what was going on inside all during the session. There's even a "snitch" employed to get the person to talk if they start getting quiet. Evangelical society is about not saying what is going on inside you. You lie: that's what the subculture is all about. I can hazard a few guesses about why that is, but I can't imagine too many people arguing about it.
Of course, every society has certain taboo topics that cannot be discussed and even taboo emotions or emotional statements. For evangelicals, it's discussion about non-victim and non-feminine emotions. (That's two separate categories, Martha, so no flaming.) Anthony presents blunt disagreement and a form of saying something in the moment. It's perhaps not for all moments or all situations but it is handy to know how to say what is true right here, right now.
But let's be clear: your subconscious mind is not the Holy Spirit.
And a lot of what Anthony has said "in the moment" in his form of prophetic speech is not staying on the topic of what he is feeling or judging. It's him blasting others. Saying that someone is a pimple of the butt of the Body of Christ is funny in a way. Anthony meant it, and it's clearly just plain wrong understanding about the Church or the mystical union that he constantly talked about in the 1980s.
I recently moved our old Windows machines to desktop Linux, including my wife's machine. There are certainly some issues in laptop Linux that still need to be worked out (easier changing from one wireless configuration to another would be convenient) but L, that long-time Word and Windows user, has moved effortlessly to Ubuntu from Windows ME.
This is especially important for people on those platforms now, as Microsoft has finally sunset the support for them.
And now Xandros, a commercial distribution designed entirely with the Windows user in mind, has a great deal to get you off Windows 95, 98 and ME:
Xandros Rescues Windows 98 & ME Refugees
As of July 11, 2006 Microsoft has stopped supporting Windows 98, 98SE, and Millennium Edition (ME). This means that they will no longer deliver critical security patches, or provide customers with any technical support. Anyone using one of these products is much more vulnerable to security threats and data loss than ever before.
Xandros is offering Windows 98 & ME refugees a lifeboat. Users of these Microsoft products can switch to Xandros Desktop and Save 50%. Xandros is offering anyone who switches from Windows 98, 98SE or ME to Xandros Desktop - Home Edition or Home Edition - Premium a 50% mail-in rebate. This offer is valid in the U.S and Canada, wherever Xandros Desktop products are sold.
Read the full information at "Get the Facts About Windows.
Xandros is based on the Ubuntu distribution, meaning that you have access to a large number of free and commercial applications.
I still run my own machines in dual-boot. With the option that Xandros offers for Code Weavers' CrossOver Office for Linux, you can avoid even most of that. It allows you to run many Microsoft Office applications from inside of Linux.
Yes, there are still installation and switching headaches. But the installation is as easy as installing Windows from commercial distributions (rather than those that have been customized for your computer by the manufacturer) and switching has gotten much easier. I'd still advise to run a dual-boot configuration with a firewall set on "Disallow All Traffic" in Windows 98, but you will find yourself switching over less and less frequently. I'm down to using Framemaker, Corel Draw and Visio. We do all of our writing in OpenOffice, all of our browsing in Firefox or Konqueror, all of our email in Evolution.
Take a look at it. There's even a 30-day free trial for the Home User version.
From time to time, I go over to Michael Spencer's site at the Internet Monk. I don't know Spencer, and we've never corresponded. So I don't go because I know him. I just find him interesting. And usually reading his work has the consequence of me considering Jesus. Not always, but often: this probably explains why I don't drop by more often.
Recently, he thought again about his doubts about this whole God business. (Also, see Spencer's introductory remarks about his doubting and the comments left.) He does it in a well-written piece, and even gets around to citing Luther.
Take a moment here. Spencer's not a nutcase or even slightly insane, at least not much of the time. He's a "full-time Christian worker" which translated into normal English means that he gets paid to do church stuff in a forty-hour a week or more job. (Normally more.) He went to seminary and did the time necessary to get ordained. He lives onsite at a Church-affiliated boarding high-school in what even my ancestors in the Hatfield-McCoy feud would have considered "The Boonies". He writes a great deal online, perhaps because the closest hardware store and major league ballfield is too far away.
So he's not your run-of-the-mill Christ-blogger who shouts about this and that but who doesn't really have the stomach to do anything with his life that matters. You can say what you will about church work, but dedicating your life to the kids that they get out there is something I would put in the bucket as "doing something that matters".
So, when he writes about his doubts it's bound to be interesting. Mostly because most people in his position have the good sense to stay out of the rain and keep these things to themselves until they announce to their congregation in a letter on Thursday that they are converting to another religion as of last Saturday and last Sunday's eucharist was just keeping things moving. It keeps you from getting people questioning your ability to be a man (of God), whatever that means.
Me, I'm just this guy who works with kids real part-time, writes some church plays, and worries about his own a lot. So his expressing his doubts make it easier to live with my own.
Movements and monuments, orders and orthodoxies may well guide you to a fine purpose and help you discover that you are indeed connected to every soul around you. But the greatest prayer is the impules to pray, and the greatest purpose is the purpose that begins inside you and rises up to meet the world. It can't come to you because someone else points to you and tells you you have a purpose. It can't come to ou from your parents, your spouse, or your children. It comes to you from you. It is a gift you give to yourself, a choice you make with your mind and your soul that stirs you to listen with great care to others, to reach out. When you feel that impulse, when you hear yourself saying "I can help others," you know you're feeling that greatest feeling, and finding that greatest purpose.
[Temes, Peter S. 2006. The Power of Purpose: Living Well By Doing Good. New York: Harmony Books. pp. 134.]
I often run into people that are interesting to me. And I often tell them who it seems that they are. I'm often a new voice, one that contradicts what they hear from many others. Why that is, I can't say. It seems obvious to me who they are.
But one of the things I always caution them about is that I shouldn't be saying anything new. They should know that this is true — whether or not they put my spin on it and whether or not everyone else tells them that they are wrong. I should be only confirming what they already know. If not, I'm just spouting lies and should be ignored.
The Dallas Observer blog has a response from ABC News to their article on Ole Anthony, spefically dealing with the charges that ABC and/or Anthony created the most damning charge, the thrown-out prayer requests. Glenna Whitley of the Observer later responds to ABC's letter.
Doug Duncan has told me through a private channel that this was set for release last Thursday but was held up because of some questions by lawyers on somebody's part.
It would be interesting to see what the Trinity Foundation says. I've only seen the one letter about Wendy Duncan, where their representative said that he hadn't read the book and implied that the US$14.95 price was more than he or they would pay. I seem to be getting all of my information and tips from those who have come out against TF and it would be interesting to see some balance. Perhaps they are formulating a response to the Observer article.
As reported by the British Medical Journal, of the 133 subjects with chronic arm pain taking blue cornstarch pills (that looked like an antidepressant prescribed for repetitive strain injury) 31 percent experienced side effects such as dry mouth and dizziness; of the 133 given acupuncture with trick, nonpuncturing needles, 25 percent had pain and red skin. After a few months, the fake-pill group reported a pain decrease of 1.5 points on a 10-point scale; the fake-acupuncture group, a drop of 2.6. "In other words, not receiving acupuncture reduces pain more than not taking drugs."
[Researcher Ted] Kaptchuk says the rituals of medicine explain the difference. Performing fake acupuncture is more elaborate than prescribing fake medicine. Being checked in by the secretary, plus the professional attention, uniforms, even the paintings on the wall — "careful manipulation of such rituals could make all types of treatment more effective."
[from "(Strange But True) The first cut ws the deepest", Bill Sones and Rich Sones, The Oklahoman, Aug. 8, 2006, pp. 2E.
Put this under the ideas about Signaling and you have an interesting set of ideas ready to roll.
I've been reading about signaling lately. And if I can stop myself from putting in the extra "l" (too many UK books as a kid) I think that some of that can be helpful to some of the folks that I know.
Signaling comes from zoology / biology. It's about how a fit male peacock (for example) lets potential mates know that he has the goods, moreso than others. The signal is his extensive plumage.
The trick to signaling is that it has to cost you something. For the peacock, having a bright and big plumage means that he is easier prey for predators. He stands out and has a harder time moving. From an adaptation point of view, you'd think that this wouldn't work. It certainly makes the peacock more likely to get eaten rather than less. But this cost to the signal makes it worthwhile. Females know that a male with large plumage has been fit enough to produce it and fit enough to escape predation. Good genes.
(You can argue that something as primal is going on with the "Bad Boy" syndrome. By committing crimes and not getting caught, the male is signaling that he has the goods. Women are attracted to him for an animal, primal reason: he has powerful genes. It's silly, if you think about it, but that's the point. We do a lot of things without thinking. We're less than angels.)
Sometimes the signaling goes awry and that's what I want to address. Your signaling in the job market may actually be working against you.
[ Continue reading "Signaling, Legitimacy and Reputation: Another Problem High-Potentials Must Overcome" ]The Dallas Observer (a weekly free rag owned by Village Voice Media) has a new article on Ole Anthony supporting allegations by Wendy Duncan, which I have talked about before.
Doug Duncan, her husband and also an ex- long-time member of the Trinity Foundation, sent me the link.
You can, of course, make several interesting comments about the Village Voice Media. The question is whether the piece is accurate. I can't tell you that.
But I will be pulling the information out of it to see what is verifiable and what is not.
It's also probably worthwhile at some point to meet Anthony.
UPDATE:
So, two things that are troubling. First, I could easily have been swayed (for awhile) to Anthony's lifestye and leadership. I can say "for awhile" since I have already been in this type of situation and know something about myself because of it. Second, I could easily go the route that Anthony has gone. Those of you who know me may have experienced my ability to pierce through someone's shielding. I can do some of the things that he does, including use contempt. I can be charismatic and get people to follow me, especilaly young seeking types. I will explore both of these in future posts, not because I'm some sort of great person but because it might be useful for people questioning where they are going.
One of the easiest things to do is to catch a young bright and shiny when they are undergoing a stratum shift and manipulate them. I can do it, and indeed sometimes have. And it's always, always been the wrong thing to do. I'm sure that Anthony started with the best of intentions. It looks like now, at the end of his life, that his luck has run out.
The Douglases aren't the first ones. They just are the tipping point. I really can't imagine Anthony being able to survive this. What happened to Tilton is happening to him.
What goes around comes around.
To paraphrase Fitzgerald, the truly high-potentials are different from you and me. This is something for them and not the rest of us.
Because the rules that we teach each other about how to play in the world, about how to interact and who has responsibility — these don't work for the high-potentials. Now don't go hatin' because you think that they can get away with murder. Opposite, really: the high-potentials have greater responsibilities, greater burdens.
Because "for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."
Let's see what some of their rules are.
American business rewards competitiveness.
That may seem like a know-nothing statement. Markets reward people with the best product. Most people in America believe that markets are a place of true competition. Conservatives believe that they should be pure competition, with little or no restraints. So it shouldn't be surprising that American business loves competitors.
So regardless of your political orientation, you probably think that this is a good thing.
The problem is that business isn't a competition. It's about making profit