Wednesday, December 17, 2014

MY FOREST GUMP LIFE

LIKE FOREST GUMP--I AM A NOBODY WHO'S HAD EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCES

1. I very briefly interviewed Rev Moon--founder of the Moonie cult---asked him 3 very challenging questions.  It was in the late 60's when his following in the US was probably less than a hundred.  A Karate expert named Jhoon Rhee was trying to recruit me---invited me to the welcome party in Washington DC.  Rev Moon spoke briefly then opened the floor for questions. I asked the pivotal question: Do you really claim to be Jesus Christ returned to earth? (he does) He said:  "I will let you decide that".  I said: "Will you die a mortal's death?" He said "yes". (Scripture has him ruling over a transformed earth when he comes back) Finally, I asked if he could do miracles.  Now he was annoyed with me and saw I was not a follower.  He said: "Even if I did a miracle for you---you would not believe."  My embarrassed host moved the meeting along.  I watched later as the new Jesus Christ tried to cut a cake with a sword. He didn't know that the cake was not solid but was built on a cardboard foundation.  When the sword wouldn't go through--he became a little flustered---then grasping both ends of the sword he crunched through the cardboard--collapsing the huge cake.  It was obvious to me (maybe others) that ego had surged momentarily in the New Jesus Christ. Everyone laughed nervously and broke into applause.
Imagine my astonishment over the years when this fakir from North Korea got hundreds of thousands to follow him.

2. I Briefly interviewed Sandra Tanner---granddaughter of Brigham Young--and author of the fiercely anti-Mormon book:  "MORMON CLAIMS EXAMINED"---A scholarly--very detailed--analysis of the falsehoods and follies of Mormonism. Check her out here.  (also if the subject interest you I recommend Stephen Mansfield's book: THE MORMONIZING OF AMERICA.) She and her husband are a bold couple to wage their war right there in Salt Lake.  I credit their research with much of what I know about this ridiculous religion.  Sadly, they are evangelical Christians with their own follies to consider.  Mormonism is more vulnerable than Christianity because along with its doctrines it makes scientific claims that are Provably untrue.  After a century of trying to defend the claims of the book of Abraham---the LDS church admitted last month that it simply wasn't true.  And now genetic evidence proves that the American Indians are NOT descended from the ten lost tribes of Israel. You have to be REALLY REALLY credulous to be a Mormon. But I digress.

3. One of my strangest experiences was meeting someone incredibly LIKE ME. We even looked a bit alike---rode identical BMW motorcycles and had the same outgoing--pleasing--manner.  We locked on to each other at a National Motorcycle rally and didn't come up for air for about 2 hours---both of us astonished to meet an intellectual and philosophical and emotional twin.  Here's the Amazing thing:  I WAS BORED OUT OF MY SKULL.  There was nowhere to go with our conversation--no solid differences to explore--no character traits to adopt---In short---nothing to be learned.  Admire him as I did---he had nothing for me.  I went away wondering if I had anything to offer anybody.  Certainly I don't think I will flock with birds too much like me.


7 comments:

John said...

Interesting life. I used to live up in Crestline, CA and once I hiked into Mozumdar Temple which I think was owned at one point by the Moonies, it was an interesting place.

As far as Mormonism goes I would be interested to see what study you are using. Most people who talk about about DNA refer to a 2009 study that has also been proven false. As far as Native American DNA goes it is my understanding that Native American DNA is mixed of many things http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131120-science-native-american-people-migration-siberia-genetics/ but no one can prove religion on facts alone. Studying and questioning is good, but faith by it's very nature exceeds the realm in science in that it's definition is that which we do not know. Good luck on the journey!

Randy said...

John: Re: the true origin of the American Indians established by genetic research---start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_history_of_indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas
There are oodles of web articles on the subject.
Thanks for the kind words.

VtChris said...

I never met anyone just like me, but met a woman who was just like a friend of mine. I finally had the chance to introduce them.....I know they like each other, but now I need to ask if they bore each other!

Jim said...

==========
JOHN: "Studying and questioning is good, but faith by it's very nature exceeds the realm in science in that it's definition is that which we do not know."
==========
To me, "exceeds" infers superior to or at the very least 'more than'. I think it more accurate to say faith *excludes* science in that the two are forever and always mutually exclusive. Any legit scientist who claims faith is a psychopath at best . . . as is any bible thumper who claims to be a scientist . . . "christian scientist" is an oxymoron.
==========
Either your theory about what IS can be proved in the real world or it can't be. If it can't be proved, it's nonsense and we shouldn't give it another ounce of our attention. All religion has ever given anyone is non-tangible emotional solace for those who think they need it.
==========

Jim said...

==========
A minor correction:
"Like her husband, Sandra was a fifth-generation Mormon. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerald_and_Sandra_Tanner
An update:
"After 47 years of marriage, Jerald Tanner died in Salt Lake City on Oct 1, 2006, as a result of complications arising from Alzheimer's disease. He had retired a few months before his death." [Sandra continues to operate the Utah Lighthouse Ministry . . . jumped from the pan into the fire?]
==========
There was a time when I spent considerable energy researching the endless goofy claims of the LDS church, but I found it forcing me deeper in the Christian rut, and I didn't want any part of their nonsense either. That said, another great book which exposes the dark underbelly of the LDS church is 'Under the Banner of Heaven'. The mainstream LDS church hated it so much, they came out with an extensive "rebuttal" before the book was even published.
==========

G said...

I agree, meeting someone like oneself is boring and so very vanilla. Give me all different flavors of humanity. That is how our minds our challenged and how we mature and grow to be wiser!

Ed said...

Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and historian of science. He was perhaps a legit scientist and I'm not sure that he claimed faith but his idea (which was clearly not original) was that science and religion were harmonious because they had distinct but complementary tasks: science helps us understand the physical structure of the universe, while religion deals with human values, morals, and meanings.

Einstein was another legit scientist that I don't think claimed faith but also held a belief that there was a place for both religion and science.

He said:
For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action: it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts. According to this interpretation the well-known conflicts between religion and science in the past must all be ascribed to a misapprehension of the situation which has been described.