Lies and Damned Lies

I kept promising myself I'd get back on this blog.  I guess the time has arrived.

I've been posting a lot of my thoughts on Facebook but the more noise I make the less signal gets through.

Mostly I just have to put this stuff into written form so I can read it back and see if it makes sense.

All my life I've depended on other people to tell me what to believe.  Nobody ever said, "Go figure it out for yourself." 

A lot of people said, "This is what is true because I know better than you."  Especially with regards to God.

What I found out when I started poking around is that people lie.  Sometimes they don't know they are lying, and a lot of the time they are misleading on purpose. 

I found out that with a little bit of learning and a little bit of practice it's not too hard to make people believe what you are saying.  It's a little harder, but possible, to make them believe it was their idea.

One way is to stand up in front of people and tell them, "I have a secret."  Now, you have their attention.

Next, you tell them you will share it with them because they are "special".  Stroking the ego is a powerful way to get someone's attention.

After that you have to get all serious.  Sometimes lighting some candles and turning the lights down helps.  Or having someone play piano in the background.

Then comes the sales pitch.  The hook.

"This secret I have is the most important thing you've ever been told.  I can't give it to you until you do exactly what I say.  Because I am a good person and I know more than you I want you to trust me.  Can you do that?  Because I chose you (even if it's a big group) all I'm asking you to do is just do a few little things for me to prove you deserve it and then I will give you what I have and it's a lot better than what you have."

Now I just want to take a little side trip for a moment without all the serious stuff to give an example of what I mean.

"Battlefield Earth" is widely accepted as the worst movie ever made.

Roger Ebert is widely accepted as a GREAT movie critic.

I just read Ebert's review of Battlefield Earth and I'm going to sum it up for you using HIS words. 

 - "impressive..."
 - "Travolta can be charming, funny, touching and brave..."
 - "compelling plot..."
 - "characters we care for..."
 - "...a standing ovation."

OK, so Roger Ebert is a great film critic.  Usually when he gives a movie a glowing review I go see it and love it. 

I saved you a lot of time by telling you what words Roger Ebert used so you don't have to read the review.  It's really long.  You are special so I wanted to do this favor for you.

The difference between a sheep and a human is that humans have the gift (curse) of discernment.

Sheep don't care about context.  If you beat them enough they will follow you anywhere.

If you go see Battlefield Earth because of what Roger Ebert says you will be furious.

It sucks.

What is context?  It's the total picture of what somebody says.  It's when you personally discern what the real message is.

If you read his comments in context you will see what he was really saying:

 - "But let me catch my breath. This movie is awful in so many different ways. Even the opening titles are cheesy. Sci-fi epics usually begin with a stab at impressive titles, but this one just displays green letters on the screen in a type font that came with my Macintosh."

 - "Travolta can be charming, funny, touching and brave in his best roles; why disguise him as a smelly alien creep?"

 - " The film contains no evidence of Scientology or any other system of thought; it is shapeless and senseless, without a compelling plot or characters we care for in the slightest. The director, Roger Christian, has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why."


 - " There is a moment here when the Psychlos' entire planet (home office and all) is blown to smithereens, without the slightest impact on any member of the audience (or, for that matter, the cast). If the film had been destroyed in a similar cataclysm, there might have been a standing ovation."


Context means that YOU have to read what came before and what came after to truly understand what the writer was trying to convey.

Back to the "special secret".   You are told it's a wonderful secret but tells you once you hear it you have to do certain things and if you don't it's a terrible secret.

You are told not to worry about context because it's already been figured out and just "trust me".

If you try to figure it out on your own or think about it the wrong way it says stuff like:

 - destroy
 - burn
 - condemn
 - judge
 - pit
 - serpent
 - lake of fire

I am getting too far ahead of myself.

I hope this is a good intro to mind-control.

Be back soon.