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Subject:
From:
Jo Yoshida <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Raw Food Diet Support List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 8 Nov 1998 17:44:14 -0700
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (98 lines)
| The following text was attached to this month's S.F.LIFE newsletter and I
| am posting it with the permission of the author.  It confirms the
| observation that many have made that uncontrollable urges to threaten and
| intimidate seem to correlate with a high consumption of fruit.  We all can
| get a little cranky when our blood sugar gets low but here we are obviously
| seeing an example of the far more severe condition - "fruitus  intimidatus
| vulgarius" aka "mad fruit disease".  As a precautionary measure I think
| that we would all be well advised to keep a low profile around people
| inflicted with this condition, like Tom did.
|
| Best, Peter
|
| PS.  The word VERY in the second paragraph appeared underlined in lower
| case but since  I do not know how to do that, I wrote it in all caps.
|
| ====================================================
|
| Dear S.F.LIFE,
|
| I was a volunteer at last month's expo.  It was a success, there were lots
| of people, and all the hard work that Rose Lee did, paid off.  In between
| helping out Rose Lee, I went over and spent some time with the S.F.LIFE
| table, talking with Dorleen Tong.  In our conversation, she informed me
| that David Wolf (Nature's First Law) had put pressure on Rose Lee to not
| have Tom Billings appear at the Expo.  David said, according to Dorleen,
| that if Tom Billings showed up, then "he couldn't guarantee his safety."
| Apparently, when Rose Lee heard of this possible problem, she decided to
| ask Tom not to appear at the Expo.
|
| Hearing that such a threatening comment was made, it prompted me to want to
| speak with the person (David) who made it.  When I got a chance to talk to
| David, he said that he had talked to Rose Lee and told her that there might
| be trouble if Tom came.  In a loud and angry voice he said to me that if
| Tom Billings shows up, they would go outside and settle this once and for
| all.  Because he was so upset and there were other people around, I decided
| to leave and let him cool off.  I approached him again a little later. He
| had cooled down, but it was still apparent that he was very upset with the
| possibility of Tom showing up at the Expo.  He said that Tom Billings was
| trying to put him out of business.  He continued to make a lot of VERY
| threatening comments towards Tom.
|
| I didn't like the fact that David was making violent threats against Tom
| and not allowing him to be here.  I really don't understand the whole story
| because I haven't heard both sides, but I certainly don't like hearing
| threatening remarks against anyone. The implications of David's remarks are
| quite serious and I would like to hear an apology from him or at least a
| change of attitude concerning this potentially violent situation.
|
| Sincerely,
|
| Rowland Morin

********************************************
Jo's $0.02:
This urge to intimidate / manipulate is not restricted to fruitarians
(although I appreciate Peter's creative Latin moniker). It usually emerges
when there is perceived danger to a person's belief system or physical
well-being. We can rule out the latter in this case (although when you feel
that your livelihood is being threatened, this type of fear-based behavior
becomes more understandable). More tellingly, could it be a reflection of a
lack of acceptance by the individual involved rather than something as
compartmental as "fruitarians are rabid extremists?"

Approaching Mr. Wolfe at the Expo for a clarification was helpful toward
understanding the issues (thx Rowland). We would also benefit from hearing
Mr. Wolfe's side of the story on this forum. Although any earnest threat
should be taken seriously, and expecting an apology may seem to be the
social norm here, howz about pre-empting raw "terrorism" by lending
Mr.Wolfe an attentive ear; assuring him that our focus is NOT to destroy
his enterprise; inviting him to debate the issues we all share in an open
forum; and letting him work things out over time?

OK, "we've tried doing that," some of you may contend. And for sure, these
threats (Mr. Jeff Ross being another example from recent memory) are
unfortunate. That they come from people who actively promote the raw food
lifestyle makes it more so. These behaviors reinforce an unflattering
stereotype: that we are flaky, self-righteous health nazis. This not a
groovy state of affairs, admittedly. But I've also had the experience of
being threatened with blackmail by an Expo attendee (again supporting my
observation that fruitarians are not alone in exhibiting this type of
behavior) and it was mighty tempting to REACT emotionally, thrash about and
add fuel to the fire. What kept me out of that mess was a shift in focus.
I'd like to apply a similar attitude to the incident described by Mr. Morin.

The talented individuals directly or indirectly affiliated with Nature's
First Law have contributions to offer and everyone in the alternative
health community (NFL included) will probably realize that this adversarial
approach is none too inefficient for the long-term (please no flames, I am
NOT an NFL spokesperson). We can simply agree to disagree, respect each
other's positions and let it go. But the sooner we choose to collaborate,
the sooner we can expend our energies on largely productive pursuits.

I think the various schools of thought can be likened to a humongus salad
bar and it's up to each person to pick and choose what he wants on his
plate.

Now, about that durian tree falling down in an uninhabited forest....  :)

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