Attributions:
The material quoted below was written by Nazariah, head of the Essene
Church, and was posted here by Mark Hovila. [Thanks for forwarding the
material, Mark!] My reply below is to Nazariah, and is not directed at
Mark Hovila.
Note that I have reformatted the material below for readability.

[log in to unmask]: [Nazariah]
>The argument was that the Natures First Law guys plagiarized some
>material in one of their earlier books. Well,
>in regard to the alleged plagiarism, I have heard so many completely
>different versions of that story as to make one thing very clear: a lot
>of people must have the facts wrong. The version that my closest friends
>have told me is this: One of the Natures First Law guys, not David Wolf,
>had a grandfather who years before had written a book on raw foods. He
>supplied David with some material from that book without telling him the
>source. Thus, if that version is accurate, it was no plagiarism by David.

Tom:
Two important points here.

1. Nazariah is relying on reports from other people, not direct
evidence.
Inasmuch as his credibility is at stake, such behavior is not in his
best interests - it would be best for him to investigate the matter
directly.

2. The claim that Wolfe was somehow suckered into using plagiarized
material is an invalid rationalization. First of all, whether known
or unknown, it is still plagiarism, Secondly, once it was discovered,
Wolfe/NFL should have pulled the book from the market and publically
apologized to the copyright owners, and their customers. They did
neither - instead their reply to the plagiarism charges was hateful
defiance - a stance they appear to maintain to this day.

The above rationalizations by Nazariah are disingenious, and, in my
opinion, intellectually dishonest as well.

[log in to unmask]: [Nazariah]
>Based on my own personal experience of him, I only believe the
>following to be true:
>1) David Wolf is the number one living exponent of raw foods in the
>   world today. He is personally responsible for more people going
>   raw than anyone. >His enthusiasm and energy are amazing and
>   contagious.
>2) David Wolf is a deeply spirtual being who radiates love and
>   compassion.
>3) David Wolf is helping to change the world for the better in a very
>   powerful way.
>4) David Wolf's new book is the first to handle the emotional/mental
>   aspects of going raw in an effective way.

Tom:
Obviously, Nazariah is ill-informed. He appears to be unaware of
Wolfe's hostile conduct on this and other lists, as well as his record
of dishonest behavior. Nazariah apparently has his "facts wrong" to
use his own words. It seems that Nazariah is unaware that a person
(in this case, Wolfe) can be nice to some people, while being very
hostile towards others.

[log in to unmask]:
>5) If instead of criticize him (or anyone else),  the gossip mongers
>   wereto implement the profound wisdom in "The Sunfood Diet" in their
>   own life, they would experience an elevation in their consciousness
>   and no longer be hanging out in the cosmic sewer system which is
>   the gossip mill.

Tom:
"Profound wisdom"?? Surely this is a joke? After all, in its deepest,
truest essence, what is the glorious system of the 100% raw vegan
diet?
Answer: it's just lunch!

The behavior of people like Wolfe - and other hostile raw vegan
extremists - provides clear evidence that a raw vegan diet does
not elevate one spiritually.

As for "gossip mongers," the raw diet gurus want us to believe their
claims of the glories of the 100% raw vegan diet (by the way, such
diets
have a dismal record of failure in the long-run). But if the diet
gurus
are plagiarists or allies of plagiarists (e.g., Nazariah, Cousens,
Viktoras), how can we believe anything they say?  After all, their
collusion with plagiarists suggests that they are willing to twist the
truth or maybe
even lie, to get us to follow their dietary leadership.

[log in to unmask]:
>More than that, they are all three great people, deeply
>spiritual, and my dear friends. And guess what? If any of them ever do make
>mistakes, I will talk to them in private about it and forgive them.

>Thus, in honor of my friend and
>personal hero David Wolf, I submit the following verses...

Tom:
More disingenuity from Nazariah. If Wolfe was really his friend,
Nazariah
would have already spoken to him directly on this topic, and not
relied
on 2nd or 3rd hand information. Indeed, he would have already forgiven
Wolfe for the plagiarism, rather than telling us tales of hearing
multiple
versions of excuses for the plagiarism. Is this yet another indication
of
possible intellectual dishonesty on the part of Nazariah? Is he afraid
to
face the unpleasant truth about David Wolfe and NFL?

At various times in the past, Wolfe and NFL have actively tried to
supress
the news of their plagiarism. They appear to be afraid of the truth.
It seems that many people actually want their "diet gurus" to be
honest -
a very rare quality among the raw vegan diet gurus.

[log in to unmask]:
>The main difference between Gabriel, Viktoras, David Wolf, and the
>gossip mongers is this: the gossip mongers have as many -- or more --
>sins but far less actual record of good works.

Tom:
An unsupported assumption and irrelevant rationalization.

Frankly, I'm not surprised by Nazariah's defense of David Wolfe.  In
earlier posts here, I gave citations for references which present a
very powerful case that the principal "scriptures" of the Essene
Church
are in fact bogus forgeries. Why am I not surprised when the minister
of
a church whose "scriptures" appear to be forgeries, stands proudly
with
a plagiarist? As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

If Nazariah wants credibility, he should investigate the matter (and
not
rely on anything Wolfe or NFL tell him): compare the book "Raw Eating"
with the plagiarism thereof, "Nature's First Law"; investigate the
record
of intense hostility by NFL/Wolfe (some evidence for which can be
found
in the archives of this list), and then make an assessment based on
the
facts.
Nazariah might even find a way here to rescue his lost credibility --
by
publically retracting his support for Wolfe and NFL. Otherwise, he's
just
another raw vegan advocate (of dubious credibility) in collusion with
dishonest plagiarists.

Integrity is not a feature of diet, and integrity does not depend on
diet.
One can eat a poor diet, and be a person of good integrity. One can
eat
a "great" diet and be a scoundrel. The question here is not what one
eats
for lunch -- instead, the issues are honesty and integrity. Do those
who
collude with plagiarists, have any honesty, integrity, or credibility?

Tom Billings