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	Rex Ballard - Director of Electronic Distribution
	http://cnj.digex.net/~rballard


On Fri, 23 Feb 1996, Caligari wrote:

> Prime wrote:
> >
> > > the system.  And why do we do it?  "Because it works."  Dangerous
> > > supposition.  I've learned that doing things because "it works" isn't
> > > always right -- either morally or ethically.
> >
> > And please explain to us what morals
>
> moral:  1. relating to, dealing with, or capable of making the distinction
> between, right and wrong in conduct  2. relating to serving to teach, or in
> accordance with, the principles of right and wrong...

Shortly after someone registers, and before they actually take the Forum,
they are given a "Registration Call".  This is a call that is designed to
determine if it is appropriate for them to take the forum.  They are asked
what they want to get out of the Forum.  If they put something that is
obviously immoral or antisocial, they are advised not to do the Forum.  If
they have been hospitalized for a Psychiatric disorder, are taking Prozac
or medications for a "chemical imbalance", or have in incomplete course in
tharapy they are not allowed to take the Forum.

As a function of screening and commitments, the people who actually take
the Forum are assumed to be healthy responsible human beings with a sense
of morality and ethics.  If you put on your Forum Information Form, that
you wanted to be the greatest gangser since Al Capone, you would probably
not be allowed to do the Forum.

Many of the principles of the Forum are based in forgiveness, compassion,
mercy, commitment, integrety, and service.  In the Advanced Courses,
people are invited to create their own futures.  There are a series of
guidlines which results in futures that reflect the principles of Gandi,
Martin Luther King, or other great leaders.

> > and ethics are?
>
> ethics  ...3. the system or code of morals of a particular person, religin,
> group, profession, etc.

There are many different codes of ethics, starting with the Egyptian "Book
of the Dead" or the writings of Confucious, to the teachings of Jesus
Christ, Mohammud the Prophet, or Hindu, Bhuddist, Zen, or Tao, to the
speeches of Martin Luther King, Ghandi, John F Kennedy, Winston Churchill,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, or even Deprak Chopra.

Some of the highlights of these values are shared during the Forum,
depending on the Forum leader.  During the Advanced Course, there are even
Videotapes.

The Forum allows the participant to distinguish empowering interpretations
such as "I have a Dream" from disempowering interpretations such "Infidels
must Die".  Peace in the Middle East was actually initiated by Landmark
Graduates who were able to have leaders from the various countries choose
the values that empowered them while allowing them to let go of beliefs
designed to disempower others.  Their common beliefs, in a loving God, in
the santity of children, in the desirability of peace, brotherhood, and
harmony, brought them to the negotiating table after 5000 years.

> It would appear that this has to do with the capability of "making the
> distinction between" right and wrong.

If I'm right, and we don't agree, then I make you wrong, and you make me
wrong.  We become two very righteous people, but what does that do to the
quality of our relationship?  Human beings are addicted to being right.

In the Forum, participants are given a chance to be intimately present to
the cost of being right with the important people in their lives (wives,
husbands, parents, children, boyfriends, girlfriends...).  They are also
given some excercises in how to alter their relationship to their position
such that it alters their relationship to that person.

This technology is being used throughout the corporate world to shift from
the predatory, proprietary, monopolistic strategies to a more open,
cooperative, and industry growth oriented strategy which as made possible
such industries as the commercial Internet.  Until a Landmark graduate
intervened, different corporate competitors were struggling to force their
proprietary technology into the exclusive use for telecommunications.  It
was the actions of a handfull of Landmark Graduates that caused an
alignment my several industry leaders around adoption of the internet
technologies as a standard for what we now know as the commercial internet
or the "World Wide Web".

> Does anyone use a dictionary anymore?

Yes.  On the other hand, the English language, and it's translation from
other languages such as Hebrew and Greek, is limited in it's ability to
express certain pre-inquisition concepts such as love (15 different words
in Hebrew), woman (25 different words were translated to "harlot" in the
KJV Bible).

In the Forum, words are defined, first from the Dictionary, and then to
include a distinction.  Words such as Promise (vs. Guarantee), Pressure
(vs. Commitment), Integrity (vs. sincerity), Generousity (as a function of
forgiveness), and new words like "Racket" (the candy store with the
betting parlor in back - parts of your life may be like that), Winning
Formula (how you get your "wins" in life, and why those wins aren't
satisfying), Empty and Meaningless (even if it meant nothing, you'd make
it mean something), Choice (vs. decision), and Possibility (vs. "Pipe
dreams", Hope, or wishful thinking).

> Also, do you need the definition of specious argument?
> 			:>

You're fun!		:-).



From rballard@cnj.digex.net Sun Apr  7 00:05:13 1996
Newsgroups: alt.fan.landmark