trust... and other character clues.

[rockriver]

how important is this item to you?

a little stink develops in a community. there was a takeover of money, power and assets of a community organization.
it was led by p.
there's a division.
you are pretty good associates with a family led by pappy.
after the stink the pappy sees you and says, "hey, what was that all about?"
pappy and his family have not fallen on either side.
you tell him to check with folks on both sides and give him names.
but he presses for your story, so you tell him.

and he responds. " well, it's sad that happened to them folks, but it
didn't happen to me." so, i'll just stay with p..

you stand there in amazement. having difficulty believing what you just heard.
so, you clarify one occurrence again, and get the same response.

why didn't you pick up on this attitude before?
would you trust pappy and family after this? are you singing hallelujah that
you never let pappy see the storeroom?
looking back, what were the little clues that indicated that basically,
the guy cares about himself and not others?

[Lowdown3]

Church split, with p. taking over. Pappy wasn't paying attention and saw none of the clues of the 'coup' or the resulting cleanup. Because it didn't happen directly to "Pappy" he doesn't want to get involved.

Whether it's a church split, or the country splitting up or sliding into civil war, there will always be some that don't see it. They will either join the party late, or just "try to make the best of it" in their own little apathetic way.

We've been conditioned by publix skewl indoctrination system, TV, media YES EVEN CHURCHES not to fight, not even to QUESTION. They will use Romans 13 and skew that chapter to make it out like we just have to take it.

A funny aside- we have invested 13 years and over $15K into a homeschool program that comes out of a Christian college in another state. Great program, and I would definitely use it again if we had another child. As we got into HS years the college stepped up marketing for their college. This includes camps during the summer wherein your child can come, stay for a week and do various programs of study that are offered at the college- medicine, Science, history, nursing, engineering, etc. and get "used" to college life there. Essentially a great MARKETING TOOL paid for by the parents for the college.

Our child has done several of those camps and was interested in going down there for school. The wife and I have noticed some things visiting there that concerned us. The boy had heard some things when he was down there, but most of it was downplayed by the college kids that acted as minders for the kids at the camps.

I mentioned to our son that "if you end up going down there, you have to come home during summers and at least one weekend a month, you can't become part of the Borg (sp?)" He asked what I meant. I told him "haven't you noticed that they use college kids for most of the labor there? Their end is to assimilate you into being a part of the campus machine itself, you can see it everywhere with a cursory look." He pondered on that more and then paid a little bit more attention this year down there. As providence would have it, they had the kids massively on lockdown this year also. No going back to your dorms at all during the day, plenty of busy work, etc. We have noticed separate elevators for women and men- again something easily justified at a "Christian" college, but that was just touching the tip of a very large, very intrusive iceberg where the USS Personal Liberty and Personal Responsibility had long since run a ground on and sank.

As a family, we have always sat and discussed events, things that happened, etc. to learn from them. We've never been an "oh well that sucked, what's on TV?" family. We are always trying to learn from various situations we find ourselves in and are willing to look at things from all angles. So we spent several hours on the ride back discussing things the boy saw and heard- you can't listen to any music except classical or very old skewl worship muzak- Newsboys, Hillsong United, any Christian worship music made past about 1942 is out. I mean how can you worship with a beat? You might start moving your hips like Elvis and next thing you know.... Anyways :) But my son said some of the college kids (the minders at the camps) said they just sneak around and listen to other music (learning to dissimulate). You can't be seen with a girl if your a guy, no holding hands even. God forbid you somehow sneak over the WALL and try to meet up with a girl in town, your butt will be EXPELLED.

Yes yes yes, testimony testimony testimony, that's a great excuse for CONTROL. But where does personal liberty and personal responsibility come into play? If we never trust these kids to do the right thing, guess what they will probably never do???

Reading their "manifesto" aka the student code, it got even worse. You were basically a prisoner of the college, HAD to do regular volunteer work on the weekends (i.e, never see your folks again), if you were a female you could not wear pants (and this is not a Pentecostal skewl). If you had to have a job outside of the Borg you had to get permission for that and have your schedule regularly approved by the UberFuhrer. Martial arts? Oh no way in hades. They are "rooted in Eastern mycistism" (can't even spell that word) and therefore ALL are bad (once again showing their ignorance, never seen an MMA fighter channel their chi yet!). We stayed up an hour and a half reading the manifesto, well my wife did, I gave up after a few minutes and just laughed my way through it. Told our son about half of what we read the next morning at breakfast and he looked like a ghost- "I don't want to go there." He read the rest for himself later and asked where the personal liberty was :)

The irony is this organization is staunchly conservative, anti socialism. I've heard their history teachers rail against communism, against totalitarianism, etc. yet they are practicing a small form of that and not even realizing it!

But DON'T QUESTION IT!!! It's a "Christian" organization!!! So we are told not to question it!!! And THAT my friends is the bigger problem.

Not a lot of people questioned the Pharisees either, except this awesome dude they should have recognized but they were too steeped in their little rituals and organization to see who He was.

[protus]

Not to side track. But it's not the school that just kicked out that senior for dressing in CSA tab in the Carolinas is it?
My school in NC I went to was similar in its rules,but not as bad.
Separate for all...locked guarded doors,check in and out,hand over your ID until you leave and visitation hours are over...here comes the school Gestapo if you failed to do so.
Didnt help it was originally a Baptist women's school since CW1. Lol. Us football players we're pretty much told. Dont leave campus or go out I to town at night...and in no terms go to XYZ and XYZ or this area. No exceptions.


I will say I've seen people not take sides until they've heard both sides or try to stay out of he said he said conversations.
Being third party on events like that isn't to easy if you haven't been wronged by either party. That's on the base level. Crank it up to CW etc..it gets worse..more venues and complicated.
In the end..everyone has a choice to make.

[rockriver]

2 good examples.
here's the question.. as things develop.. a thief in area. and pappy sees him at my house, will pappy think, well it ain't my house so I ain't gonna do nothin'.

at protus school and ld's school, as situations develop how will their philosophy and teaching play out as an institution ??? and how will their teaching lead students, teachers, admin, to act individually??

I forgot the name of the movie... but the bad guy army is approaching the town... their is a private school in town with rotc training.
as the bad army approaches, it's clear the men in town have already left for war... the headmaster of school arms the kiddies (ages 8? to 15? and leads them off to war...

my kids are now "grown and gone." but it was interesting as they grew, hearing others talk.
"my son is a very smart boy. he will never serve in the military."
or "we are Christians. and real true going to heaven Christians don't kill. my son will never serve in the military."

so, what is learned from these folks? they are willing to let others defend them. but they will not risk their own skin, or the skin of their family to protect others.
and it does relate to trust... we can all be neighbors. but it is a pretty good chance that if the bad guys are hurting your wife that they won't lift a finger to help her. they can be great preparedness folks. active at the church, but don't trust them to protect you or your wife in the event of a riot, war, or disheaval.

[Lowdown3]

Protus- I doubt you would have gone to this place, you would have been there for a few minutes and said "wtf?" like we did.

RR- some people will equate the things differently- situation with a lot of he said she said and the thief at your house. "Pappy" probably going around with his head up his butt most of the time thinking "well everyone is a Christian right?" probably had zero idea of the coup anywhere along the lines. A lot of people are like that, ASSuming everyone is just like them and since "they wouldn't do" such and such, everyone else wouldn't right? A form of normalcy bias. And not Scriptural at all. This "people are essentially all good" BS is secular humanist non sense and not Scriptural at all. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?

Most of the world sits on the sidelines. The 80/20 thing applies to this sort of thing also. "Pappy" is one of the 80 percent sitting. Until it happens directly to him, he won't see it. Probably a people pleaser type, keep everyone happy, don't make any waves, raised by parents reading BS Dr. Spock baby books, etc. It's that apathetic, live for the moment don't make waves mindset from that generation that is a big reason our country is in the crap it's in now.

[protus]

Oh I didn't go there.lol .

But there was a strict Christian based school catching grief for dropping a student who dressed in CSA attire at the recent Charlottesville events. Based in north Fla.


Rock-

Field of shoes is the movie iirc. Based off the school going off to stem a union attack on the local area.

[Bill Foster]

Lowdown, I can't believe that your aren't sending your offspring to the North Avenue Trade School. To call it a war zone there is a mocking Fallujhah.

We sent the youngest to a Christian High School many moons ago. She was a follower, not a leader. The first thing I had to address was the "dancing and fast music is eee-vil" lesson. I had to explain to her that as long as she was there she was not to disagree with those in charge, but she could have her own life outside of school. Not a dorm situation. For the first time in her life she listened because she liked the school and her positive peers.

After, she did well in college from the educational foundation she received from h/s. Fortunately, extreme liberals had not taken that college, only one hard-core progressive poly-sci professor.

Back to character clues. I have found to watch out for the loud-mouth person in groups. In my first HOA neighborhood, the board member who was always abrasive and combative was stealing money. In IPSC, the loud-mouth was always shaving points on his target. In a community service organization that I belonged to, most people left because of the loud-mouth, who later we found out was scamming and stealing (and justified his theft).

[rockriver]

bill,
tell us/me more about your comment
North Avenue Trade School combat zone.

I went with associate who was applying there for a visit.. one of comments I heard was "we are an open campus." meaning that community, anybody can and do wander through. "we have a problem with theft. you will want to lock your computer to your desk."

but, i'm real curious about your comment

[Bill Foster]

For those students who are unaware of their surroundings, armed robberies are common. Asians are the common target, but none are immune from a potential attack. As you know, many are looking down at their phones and not paying attention to their surroundings. Phones, wallets, backpacks are taken. It was common news on the ATL stations, but, suddenly, all went quiet. Another school in the downtown ATL area (GSU) is targeted by thugs as well. My neighbor's grandchild left after 1 semester. Purses, phones, wallets, laptops, and even books are taken. Parked cars are targets as well. The books are expensive and easily cashed-in from bookstores or used stores online. A few years ago, a family member was considering GT, but was told by another school not to consider because of crime (a good recruiting tool for Alabama and TN schools). Funny, last year the news covered a Mentos/Diet coke b*mb for several days (not dangerous, just loud and messy). The students were charged with making a b*mb and terrorism while others were being robbed outside of off-campus housing. If you can get the crime stats of the area, you will find that the average age of a victim is 25 years old, or at least if was a couple of years ago. It is a great school with great students. Important breakthroughs are made every year there, but personally, I would not send my offspring there unless the Metro ATL police and campus police have gotten a handle on the situation. I wouldn't depend on the metro cops for that (inside info). It is a typical large, democrat controlled city. The police chiefs and higher-ups are appointed by the corrupt mayors. Like many cities, as long as there is crime, more federal money is given to control crime. Catch-22.

[rockriver]

I think the mayor has a middle eastern name.
and
several years ago... I heard references to Nation of islam being active in the police dept...
i'm sad a close associate moved way west. but very glad that they got out of Atlanta area.

[Bill Foster]

His name is Mohammed Kasim Reed. American family, but converted to Islam when he was young.