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Message no. 1
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 13:31:31 -0400
At 08:41 AM 7/8/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Erik Jameson wrote:
>
>> Hey, as a Californian, I bristle at the constant accusations of us all
>> being in a cult (Matb) and of stealing water, the later of which is
>> probably true.
>
>It wasn't an accusation, it was a joke. Reeeeeeeelax. It's summer. :)
>
>If you're seriously insulted, I do apologize.

I realize it was a joke, but in all honesty, it's a joke that the vast
majority of Californians have ceased to find funny for some time now.
We're quite tired of being seen by the rest of the world (and especially
the East Coast) as some kooky place where everyone is a member of a cult,
surfs, and speaks like "Dude! Gnarly huh?" all the time. I've never known
a single cult member, I've only surfed once, and while I use the word
"dude" quite a lot in casual conversation, I've never once sounded like a
stoned surfer except when making a point about how we *don't* speak.

Actually, now that I think about it, it's sort of funny (and against the
stereotype) to tell a Californian to relax. We are supposedly *always*
relaxed, you know?

Which allows me to bring this back around to Shadowrun.

We all know the cultural stereotypes for certain peoples and regions. Do
you think any of these (the perception, not necessarily the reality) will
change in 205X Shadowrun? I mean, will CalFree lose some of it's stoner
surfer cult reputation? Will New Yorkers finally be seen as something
other than brusque goodfellas? Can the South shake it's redneck racist
reputation? What about non-American nations, like the UK and France?

Or are we all doomed to simply be the victims of the same cultural
stereotypes for centuries to come?

Erik J.

URL to go here eventually...
Message no. 2
From: Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 14:28:07 EDT
In a message dated 98-07-08 14:11:29 EDT, you write:

> I've never known
> a single cult member,

Yes, but there are damn few cults who refer to themselves as cults. As The
great Bob Wilson said: "I regard a 'cult' as a religion small enough to be
easily victimized by the authorities and a religion as a cult big enough to
force the authorities to treat it with respect. And that is the only
difference I can see." In the eyes of a cultist, they're just a member of a
religion. OTOH, many people would consider me, or even members of the First
Church of Squooshy Ball (which sounds to me like a form of VD), cultists...
but we certainly don't think of ourselves that way.

Nexx, who does not engage in ritual cannibalism
Message no. 3
From: MC23 <mc23@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 16:22:08 -0400
Once upon a time, Nexx Many-Scars wrote;

>Nexx, who does not engage in ritual cannibalism

It's just a hobby, you can quit at any time.
Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Ancient cultures believed that names held great power, personal names
more so and they were guarded very closely. To protect themselves, they
answered to another name, because if another discovered their real name,
it could be used against them.
History repeats itself.
Welcome to the Digital Age.
I am MC23
Message no. 4
From: Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 16:38:14 EDT
In a message dated 98-07-08 16:23:04 EDT, you write:

> Once upon a time, Nexx Many-Scars wrote;
>
> >Nexx, who does not engage in ritual cannibalism
>
> It's just a hobby, you can quit at any time.
> Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before.

However, if you quit, you forever be hounded by people who will attmept to
show precisely why ritual cannibalism is the only way to ever be truly happy,
using a book people who believed like they do wrote... its like saying
Discordia is true simply because it says so in the Principa Discordia...

Nexx
Message no. 5
From: The Bookworm <Thomas.M.Price@*******.EDU>
Subject: Re: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 16:14:52 -0500
On Wed, 8 Jul 1998, Nexx Many-Scars wrote:

> However, if you quit, you forever be hounded by people who will attmept to
> show precisely why ritual cannibalism is the only way to ever be truly happy,
> using a book people who believed like they do wrote... its like saying
> Discordia is true simply because it says so in the Principa Discordia...

Which also says "Do not believe anything you read" in nice black and white
text. :)

Thomas Price
aka The Bookworm
thomas.m.price@*******.edu
tmprice@***********.com
Message no. 6
From: MC23 <mc23@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 22:02:24 -0400
Once upon a time, Nexx Many-Scars wrote;

>However, if you quit, you forever be hounded by people who will attmept to
>show precisely why ritual cannibalism is the only way to ever be truly happy,
>using a book people who believed like they do wrote... its like saying
>Discordia is true simply because it says so in the Principa Discordia...

It also says it's false.
Message no. 7
From: Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 22:34:37 EDT
In a message dated 08/07/98 21:03:48 Central Daylight Time,
mc23@**********.COM writes:

> >However, if you quit, you forever be hounded by people who will attmept to
> >show precisely why ritual cannibalism is the only way to ever be truly
> happy,
> >using a book people who believed like they do wrote... its like saying
> >Discordia is true simply because it says so in the Principa Discordia...
>
> It also says it's false.

And it also says its true... making it just as contradictory...
Message no. 8
From: AlSeyMer <AdSM@******.BE>
Subject: Re: Perceptions in Shadowrun
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 20:02:12 +0200
Nexx Many-Scars wrote:
>
> In a message dated 08/07/98 21:03:48 Central Daylight Time,
> mc23@**********.COM writes:
>
> > >However, if you quit, you forever be hounded by people who will attmept to
> > >show precisely why ritual cannibalism is the only way to ever be truly
> > happy,
> > >using a book people who believed like they do wrote... its like saying
> > >Discordia is true simply because it says so in the Principa Discordia...
> >
> > It also says it's false.
>
> And it also says its true... making it just as contradictory...

Dual nature? ;-)

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