I just gave you one tiny example (the only one I really know and can talk about) of our our grammar and the words we use can shape our mind and way to react. But there is much more to the subject.

Now imagine (and you really don’t have to. Just take a trip here, you’re welcome any time in my home) American teenagers, full of hope, innocent, sometimes slightly brainwashed, coming in our environment and trying to apply American technics, based of the American mind that they don’t even master in.

There you get the reason why the numbers are so low.
And there is worse to it.
Taken that the church is presented by people who are not trained really (I mean I’d rather not mention the MTC because it is like a snake bitting its own tail) to do this job they can only appeal to people who will recognize themselves in how they teach more than what they teach and if you are following me yuo can quickly understand that the problem is that they can only mostly appeal to people who are already out cast in a way or another OR to extremly spiritual people who have been looking for the teachings of the church and who disregard the way they teach.

There is hope though.

We have a second/third and strong generation in the church.
I am talking about educated people unfortunately some false teachings have been carried over and are still holding hard in France and it takes much more strength to unroot it for their education makes it possible for them to justify things that are just false and unjustifiable.

And talking about the “jean-marie Lepen’ thing I think it is a very partial vision of the church in France.
I see mainly socialists around me in the church. Even some union leaders.
It really depends where you are, what generation you are talking to and many more things.
Yet I see really no hard feelings concerning our political point of views. Yet I am saying this from what I see in my ward and my stake. It could be wrong in another ward I guess.

WIZARD
(spoken) Elphaba, where I’m from, we believe all sorts of
things that aren’t true. We call it – “history.”

It is also called religion. Who knows what really happened. All we really know about are solid proven facts, like dinosaurs existed, carbon dating is a true science and cannot be taken out of the equation just so religion can have its place.

I think this song, as well as the entire musical’s message is something for ALL relgious people to think about. Mainly, who’s to say who is or was Wicked, or if they really even existed. It all comes from stories from a collaborated book. Really great pieces of fiction, but fiction nonetheless.

My take on this book is that it has a very authoratative and arrogant passive agressive approach.
I heard all the big hype, wondering what in the world could this guy be saying that was so revolutionary …. decided to but the book (against instincts), got home, read and read wondering when I was going to hear something new.
Never happened!
… then I got to page # 260 p3 and I quote “If you find this book incomprehensible or meaningless, it (awakening) has not yet happened to you. If something within you responds to it, however, if you somehow recognize the truth in it, it means the process of awakening has begun.”
my point precisely, completely arrogant. To even suggest that someone hasn’t yet awakened because they find his work meaningless falls in the category of false illusion & insanity.
Other ’spiritual teachers’ say that they only hope that their words will help someone on their journey of discovery.
Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote spectacularly about the ego/false self in the 90’s that far surpasses anything Tolle says.
Dr. Dyers book is ‘The sacred self’.
Why Oprah is so mesmerized by this book confounds the brain. Many other spiritual scholars write circles around Tolle.
I’m so dissappointed that I’m sending by copy back to the publisher.
Alexandra

http://www.whatwomenknow.org/