OK, it looks like we need an update on some of the thoughts and issues raised
by
the while "blatant lies" thing. I have been in email contact with the person
who authored that list and it seems that it may be more legit in some ways than
these things usually are.
At the very least, Joseph seems pretty earnest about trying
to help people. More importantly, he is willing to hold a discussion about his
ideas and defend them articulately, and that counts for a lot.
In any case, I am willing to take a more wait and see attitude about Josephs
motivations. It looks like there is more to this than the usual pathetic attempt
to score political points by setting up fictitious arguments. This guy really
believes there is a problem, and seems to be looking to solve it.
There are still some real problems in my mind with "Blatant lies…", I still
think most of those supposedly pervasive myths are nothing of the type. I think
they have taken on a life of their own where they are passed back and forth
among crusaders as if they are facts… almost exactly like we can imagine a
group of witch hunters trying to deal with the "common knowledge" that their
foes can see through the eyes of animals.
If you spend enough time fighting something, people eventually assume it is
really there.
On the other hand, many email replies have seemed to indicate to me that
maybe I am inadequately informed about how pervasive at least one of these lies
may be… the idea that there are training houses who claim a lineage going back
generations into the past.
A challenge to my readers then…
send me all the information you have
about any training house, dominant or facility who claims a lineage to their
house, family or method. Send me URL’s, reliable recounts of lectures, log files
from chat sessions or references to books. I do not want links to pages
debunking such claims… I want the claims themselves. If this is
common, show it to me.
Thanks 🙂
P.S. I will be adding a link to the original article to this update, but I
will not be making any more serious editorial changes to it. This log is a
record of my thoughts and opinions as they happen.