OT: Just Gotta Say Something To Somebody!

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:30 pm

The Kaballah (spelling?) that Madonna is talking about(being taught?) is a vague, watered down, new agey, oppertunistic version bearing no relation to the real thing.

There's no standard spelling for it. The cult that Madonna is involved in seems to be the one being promoted by Mike Zapolin (otherwise known as "Zappy" Zapolin or "The Kabalist"). According to his web site (http://kabala.com/index.html), various well-known "kabalists" are Jesus Christ, Bill Gates, Madonna, Jerry Garcia, Nostradamus, Moses, and Paul Newman.

lilymaid · Post by **lilymaid** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 11:45 pm

Walden wrote:I say it's all this neohippyism that is at the root of the problem. Also Hollywood has corrupted the youth for so long that they are now the old and the old are being corrupted by a media machine gone mad. Ultimately, the love of money is the root of all evil, and it is that root which feeds the monster machine, which feeds the root of neohippyism.

Madonna's not a hippie!
Mr. Walden, you do like hippies, don't you?

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:00 am

Ridseard wrote:outside of the three Ms (mathematics, music, and mysticism), I'm lost.

And don't forget Madonna...so that would be like 2M&Ms=4RIs only?

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:59 am

lilymaid wrote:
Walden wrote:I say it's all this neohippyism that is at the root of the problem. Also Hollywood has corrupted the youth for so long that they are now the old and the old are being corrupted by a media machine gone mad. Ultimately, the love of money is the root of all evil, and it is that root which feeds the monster machine, which feeds the root of neohippyism.
Madonna's not a hippie!
Mr. Walden, you do like hippies, don't you?

I like you just fine.

mamakash · Post by **mamakash** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 7:19 pm

Ridseard wrote:
According to his web site (http://kabala.com/index.html), various well-known "kabalists" are Jesus Christ, Bill Gates, Madonna, Jerry Garcia, Nostradamus, Moses, and Paul Newman.

It's a little known fact that Jesus marketed a line of salad dressing(well before Paul Newman's) but it didn't have good sales. It was discontinued shortly after, and he got out of the gormet food market.
Wasn't his calling, I guess.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:45 pm

As to whether Madonna's version of Caballa is the one "true" or "real" version or is a "cult", I don't think any of us are the final authority to decide that.

Quote @ cj

Everyone makes fun of us in the South, but we at least don't have that stuff going on here . . . If she lived here, Yoko would hopefully be arrested for indecent exposure, and if assaulting the eyes is a crime, she's be down for that too. I don't think anyone here knows what kabala is either. And we don't care what fuel you run in your hummer.

I am from the South. I know what Caballa is, and I -do- care if you're raping the earth in a hummer. You can't paint us all from the South with such a broad brush and speak for everybody here, you can only speak for yourself. Sorry.

P. S., Madonna is nice, but Cher is God.

cj · Post by cj » Thu Sep 18, 2003 6:34 am

Cranberry wrote:

I am from the South. I know what Caballa is, and I -do- care if you're raping the earth in a hummer. You can't paint us all from the South with such a broad brush and speak for everybody here, you can only speak for yourself. Sorry.

I meant no offense and am allowed to speak generally if I want. I'll bet most Southerners don't know what cabala is if you polled them. I was also trying to have a sense of humor about it. Lighten up--I know I can't speak definitively for everyone--geez!

unicorn · Post by **unicorn** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 6:53 am

Everyone makes fun of us in the South, but we at least don't have that stuff going on here . . . If she lived here, Yoko would hopefully be arrested for indecent exposure, and if assaulting the eyes is a crime, she's be down for that too. I don't think anyone here knows what kabala is either. And we don't care what fuel you run in your hummer.

"We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee"
"We don't take our trips on LSD"
"We don't make a party out of lovin'"
"Like the hippies out in San Fransisco do."
"Well I'm proud to be...."

I do not know about your part of the South but some of the places I have been in Atlanta put a whole new meaning to the word "hummer"!!!!!

Oh and I am just having fun cj. I know you were speaking generally. It is just the way it came out.

cj · Post by cj » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:20 am

If you'll also notice, I used words like "hopefully" and "I don't think. . ." which should have been a clue that I wasn't trying to speak for everyone. But no matter what you say or how obvious it is that (or should be) that I wasn't trying to be deadly serious or speak for the entire world (I realize I'm not able to to do that and have no desire to), somebody's gonna get offended or just be looking for something to pounce on. Fortunately, I believe that most folks saw it for what it was--an attempt to make fun of those who sometimes make fun of us down here!

(The laugh emoticons should tip folks off that I'm joking here . . . )

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:26 am

Well, I know what the Quaballah is...rather or not this ancient mystical Jewish tradition has anything in the world with whatever Madonna is doing, I couldn't tell you if you paid me money.

Almost anyone who has read book on comparative religion and / or mysticism will have encountered the Quaballah.

That said, I am also from the South. As the saying goes, "We ain't all Baptists down here!"

I've never met a "neohippy," by the way, though I've known many Southern NeoPagans. Rather or not that is the same thing is a question I don't feel qualified to address without much more coffee in me than I've had a chance to drink yet.

But I will say they have been some of the most concerned, humane, and deeply moral people I have known. These are not "teeny-bopper" teenagers who wear black makup; these are folks from their 40's and up who have been to the mountain, seen the elephant, and got the T-shirt. Unlike many folks of other faiths I have known, they can give eloquent accountings of what they believe and how they came to believe it.

I hope everyone has a great day today.

--James

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:39 am

Did you paint that red/blue/black avatar, Cranberry?

It's good!

Best wishes,
Jerry

unicorn · Post by **unicorn** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:45 am

The syndrome is similar to that experienced in telephone conversations. An absence of body language will necessarily result in occasional misinterpretations of intent.

When we write we obey a set of punctuation rules which do not conform to the actual meaning of the sentence.

Therefore if I type: "Give me the ball", the reader will interpret the sentence based on context, personal opinions of the writer and the readers own emotional state.

"GIVE me the ball."
"Give ME the ball."
"Give me THE ball."
"Give me the BALL."

Here are two conversations werein the sentence above is used and has a different meaning based on context.

#1
Jane: "Dick will you give me the ball?"
Dick hands Jane a hammer.
Jane: "Give me the ball Dick."

#2
Jane: "Dick will you give me the ball?"
Dick gives the ball to Sally.
Jane: "Give me the ball Dick."

I enjoy playing with these things in actual conversation.

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 10:24 am

FWIW, here's the official web site of the organization in which Madonna is involved - http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/

Here is the opinion of cult hound Rick Ross - http://www.rickross.com/reference/kabba ... lah27.html

Do a search with keywords Madonna Kabbalah and find out more than you ever wanted to know.

And now I'll say farewell to this thread.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:25 pm

Hey I'm from the south and I know what Cabela's is......
they sell all that huntin' stuff and send out way too many catalogs.

Tom Dowling · Post by **Tom Dowling** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:57 pm

I haven't posted in a while and I've only skimmed this thread, but I sure identify a lot with the 'what in the world is going on here' sentiment expressed in Weekenders' original posting. I see some of what is going on as a tension between freedom and judgement. I felt a lot of this after 9/11, when there was this undercurrent of anti-Britney Spears sentiment, a sentiment that I will admit I shared. My thinking was, and still is, sure, we have in this country the freedom to walk around--or allow our children to walk around--looking like whores or lap-dog rent-boys. But, do we have the intelligence and good judgment not to exercise that freedom? Our culture is based on displays of excess and inordinate and long-term unsustainable consumption to a shameful degree. Is this what we want to be known for?

Sure, if you have the means, in this country you are free to buy yourself a $100,000 Road Behemoth that guzzles petroleum like a fire on an Iraqi pipeline. (Why do do I think the two are connected?) But do you have the wisdom, the judgment, the discipline, the sense of connectedness with other folks, NOT to buy it?

The freedom that allows these excesses is priceless. The unbridled and tasteless exercise of that freedom is a cosmic disgrace.

I am not setting myself up as some sort of arbiter of good taste, though I think I can discern real trash when I smell it.

All of that having been said, there is nowhere else I would rather be.

Right now I am looking out of our apartment, across the East River, at the lower Manhattan skyline--a skyline in which there has been an ugly gap for just over two years. I was there that day, I was there today. If the Good Lord is willing, I will be there tomorrow, providing, en route to the office, directions to the many fine folks from the across this country and around the world who want to catch a glimpse of what is not there anymore.

I too am trying to catch a glimpse of something that is not there anymore, but I never go the one block from my office to Ground Zero to find it. I'm not sure what it is, but it has something to do with the wood burning stove in the kitchen of the house I grew up in. It has something to do with the bread my Grandmother baked. It has to do with a different way of being in the world. For sure, it is not going to be found on some make-believe survival set on Fox TV. Reality TV, my ass. Whatever it is, I think I sometimes come close to experiencing it when I am playing music. That's the consolation. Plus, I get to share such disconnected thoughts with the unsuspecting C & F crowd if they are not smart enough to pass this one by.

Be well and thanks for the opportunity to get this out,

Tom D.