[greenbunny]

Mike, we seem to have two very different communication (or perhaps interpretive) styles. I will try to make myself clearer.

I have taken nothing you said personally - I don't know you and you don ??t know me. You do not hurt my feelings nor am I the least bit upset with you or anything you said. Like I said in the post that you responded to: you have not suggested to anyone that they do anything dangerous and are making no claims yourself - you just seem to believe someone that IS saying to do something potentially dangerous. I am merely questioning that. Perhaps you misread what I wrote. That happens. I tend to believe that a conversation can be fertive and friendly at the same time. I have felt nothing but friendly. I ??m very sorry if I have said anything that has made you feel unfriendly or any other uncomfortable emotion.

Perhaps I should ask you straight out if you believe what the interviewee said and if you are going to start to try to wean yourself off food because of it? If your answer is yes, then perhaps more of what I have said would be pertinent to you, but I was directing most of my statements to the general issue, not to you.

I guess I do think this is a big issue.. at least for me. I ??m a raw foodist, have been for a very long time, and I do approach it logically. This is a raw food site where someone (not you Mike!) is suggesting for others to stop eating. I strongly disagree with that suggestion and want anyone reading it to know that such a suggestion has no relationship to raw foodism what-so-ever except that it has something to do with food. I also do not take lightly someone taking spiritual or alternative ideas and using them for their own benefit at the expense of others. I have a real issue with that. I have seen it so many times. It makes everything alternative or Spiritual look bad by association. It makes me want to stand up and shout ?? Stop making us all look bad and stop hurting people!!! I can get intense about such things. It ??s not directed at you Mike. It never has been. I was talking about the inteview.

I did respond to some of the things that you said about me. If you call my responding to what you say defensive, well then perhaps in your terms I was but I also think that you didn ??t read what I said very carefully. I can understand that ?? I type fast and wrote a lot.

I ??ll try to clear it up:

I would not believe any claimant until they pass simple tests.

If I were to choose to believe one (which I do not) and act upon their suggestions (which I won ??t) I would pick the one that suggested things that weren't potentially dangerous. I was trying to set forth to someone who wants to believe this without verification, that they COULD believe either, so why not choose the one without hazard?

Btw, the account that I read about this person was more credible in my estimation because she was kept separate in one room for long periods with no food under guard to prove herself and there were signed statements to the affect. This was a very long time ago in Europe so it can ??t be verified completely, but was one of the most convincing accounts that I have come across.

When you used the word obsessive I was AGREEING WITH YOU that it was a strong word for for you to use with someone that you didn't know. I happen to disagree with you that I am obsessed with proof and so would anyone who has actually known me more than a very short time. I can disagree with your evaluation of me from a post without being unfriendly or defensive I hope.

When you suggested that I was coming from a place of ego I was also agreeing with you. I happen to like my ego. I think of it as connected to a strong sense of self and my intellect. I cherish my ability to think and discern. When anyone says that I am coming from a place of ego I take it as a compliment. Perhaps you meant it as an insult. I did not take it that way. People that are insane do not have strong egos. I like that I come place of ego. I also like coming from a place of Spirit. I do not find either of them to be exclusionary. Perhaps you do. Many religions believe that one must give up the ego to gain enlightenment. Do you follow a spiritual discipline where this is the case? Is that why you said that? Perhaps I should have asked you what you meant instead of interpreting the word the way I understand it. I thought that you meant it in the Spiritual sense that I should let go of my ego when it comes to approaching this issue. I tend to think of the ego in predominantly psychological terms, not in Spiritual ?? but either way, I still value my individuated, intellectual ego self. I responded to you from that place, adding to it my arguments for using logic when determining whether or not to stop eating with the belief that one can live on air. Many insane people without strong egos believe tremendously wild things with full conviction without being able to perceive or compare their beliefs with reality. That is why I would call it insane to starve yourself, feeling weaker and weaker until you die because of an unverified belief. People have been urged to do much more horrible things than that based upon belief that any strong ego and intellect would put a stop to in a minute. I am a happy owner of a strong ego. This does not necessarily make me egotistical. I didn ??t think that was what you were saying. I thought that you were saying basically that I should have some form of faith beyond my mind. I can approach the idea of breatharianism from an open faith that anything is possible AND a strong ego sense that if someone is saying to do it THIS way, they should first be able to demonstrate that they can actually do it themselves.

In short ?? I was going further with your statement ?? I was not feeling defensive. I was trying to make a point.

When you suggested that I was angry I also agreed with you. I said that such claims that could hurt someone do make me angry much like other things do. I wasn't angry at you. It was a more "righteous anger". I feel the same way about religious wars based upon beliefs and con ?? artists that get people to do all sorts of things that are bad for them and people that say that hatred and atrocities are ok based upon religious or social belief systems that make no sense. Today people are still blowing up building and people because of beliefs (Christians and Muslims alike as well as other religions). Women are still killed and have less rights the world over because they are believed to be inferior. Gay people are murdered. People of color are abused. Religious wars rage on as we speak. People have committed group suicide many times over history because someone convinced them to believe that the end of the world was coming. Someone convincing some poor people that they should stop eating fits right into that list for me and, for good or ill for me, it makes me angry.

You probably felt that anger and perhaps you thought it was directed at you. I am going to say this a third time just so I ??m sure that you read it and get it. I am not angry at you. I did feel that you judged me as obsessed incorrectly, but it did not make me angry and I did not feel defensive because I know that it is not true and since you do not know me there was no reason to feel insulted. I reflected back to you that you were right in that it was a strong word to describe someone you didn ??t know. That was all.

This post probably won ??t feel light and friendly to you still. I ??m afraid that when it comes to this righteous indignation that have about people hurting others by manipulating their weak egos and minds and using a raw food website to promote such things it probably comes across intense, fervid and heavy. I ??m hoping that we can still be friendly however. What do you say? Can you stay friendly with someone with a strong ego and much righteous anger without getting rid of your account?

By the way Mike, I am not the only person that posts on this website. I am just one of a whole slew of different people all with different opinions and personalities. We go back and forth and debate things all the time. If what I have to say annoys you too much or makes you too uncomfortable, you can just skip my posts and talk with only people that don ??t push your buttons or that you like. You don ??t have to waste one moment of your life with me if you don ??t want to and still hang out here with other people learning and sharing less ??hot ?? topics ?? or just skip my posts in this topic. If however, you would like to have a friendly, sporting converstation, I ??m here.