# Is prepping a cultish activity?



## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

Our do non-preppers view us that way? Have you ever told someone you prepped and gotten a weird reaction? 

Here's the definition Google gave me: a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.

Okay, so it's not religious activity although it does seem to me that many of us (not all) are religious. But prepping definitely something we practice. Some people may see prepping as strange, but it's not sinister--even if stockpiling firearms and ammo might be considered "sinister" by some...

What do you think? Is prepping cultish? Are we a small group of people?


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

I think the single most "scary" part of prepping for liberals is the survivor will power coupled with the streak of independence & free thinking ....

since the percentage of preppers are conservative in nature for most of their views >>>> I guess you could classify as a cult of conservatives that see the world has a problem and want a solution for THEMSELVES ...


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

I do not think it resembles a cult activity in the way most of practice it. Simple way to tell is look at how many different ways of going about t we have right here. Notice how we except different thoughts on the subject. We have no real requirements .
We do not follow a single line of beliefs .


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Well, Annie, I'm the epitome of being "a little bit country, a little bit rock n' roll."

I come here for prepper information because TEOTWAWKI might actually turn into a real thing.

But I also come here for what amounts to 'news and views.' I figure that if the forum is looking at a slant in politics, investing or a move across the country, then I had better take a look at their reasoning.

So let's suppose that you, Annie, have just discovered a new way to preserve very perishable foodstuffs. I flip that section open to read your article, but I also see that Denton has found a superior motor oil made from cotton plant waste. Yikes, I came to be a prepper, but also found a product I did not know existed.

I think everyone, no matter what their major interest, should scan all new headings for information, and not just about prepping.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

I think the phrase 'relatively small group of people' lets us off the hook. I'd wager there's more preppers out there than most are willing to admit. True some are more 'hard-core' than others (buried bunkers with 20 years of stock), but even if you consider someone who keeps 72 hours of food & water on hand a prepper, we'd be far from 'small'.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

My parents grew up during the great depression.

They learned to save/recycle most everything and stock up on food (farm) , fuel (wood), and other supplies. I don't see what I do as much different. In fact I learned from them before the term "Prepper" was coined.

I guess to today's liberals, that would "strange and sinister".


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## jimcosta (Jun 11, 2017)

For years I have used the *"small group" to mean 1%* of the U. S. population; something I once read.
If we define a Prepper as having preps for a minimum of three months, what is your opinion on the percentage?

To me prepping is not a cult but rather a *mindset* (prepared to survive anything).

The word "cult" is used to ridicule and marginalize members. The thesaurus describes it as: crazed, organized and religious. I don't know about crazed but we ain't organized or religious. An interesting mind experiment would be to apply their Cult definition to all the pioneers that headed West. They were all prepped for an unsure and probable hostile world that they did not know but realized was possible / probable. So were *they* crazed?


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

No. Preppers are nice.


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

Cult? Nah!

Who's mixing up the Koolaid?


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

"Is Prepping a Cult?"

I suppose some socialist libnuts might think of it that way but to me the word "prepping" is normal organized behavior.

Do restaurant chef's "prep" before their dinner service? YES

Do surgeons and nurses "prep" before an operation? YES

Do salespeople "prep" before a big presentation? YES

Does big Ricky the local mechanic down at the transmission repair shop in some BumPhock Florida Panhandle town that my old Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo broke down in one time back in the early 90's "prep" before he tears out my transmission? Oooops, bad example but you get my drift! :vs_mad:

Being PREPARED is better than NOT BEING PREPARED and if some people think that is Cultish they can suck....er...I mean...pound sand.:vs_smirk:

Slippy!


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## Joe (Nov 1, 2016)

@Annie as we know here on the forum prepping is just common sense and has been practiced for generations. As far as the population in general is concerned some of the things we do may seem peculiar to them. Those are the same folks that are caught with their pants down when a tragedy strikes. ie we are the ants and they are the grasshoppers.


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## Yavanna (Aug 27, 2018)

Most preppers I have found are reasonable people. Many believe we are crazy due to watching shows like doomsday preppers (some folks there are indeed crazy).
Most people prep for scenarios that are very likely to happen (such as hurricanes, tornadoes, draught, etc.). I do not see any problems with it. Many people that actually prep do not even call themselves preppers 😂
It would be cultish if we all just gave up our jobs and regular lives and moved to an completely offgrid comunity and waited for the zombie apocalypse 😛


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

I'm still waiting for the next comet to arrive with the UFO behind it that will take my soul to another "level of existence above human".


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Joe said:


> @Annie as we know here on the forum prepping is just common sense and has been practiced for generations. As far as the population in general is concerned some of the things we do may seem peculiar to them. Those are the same folks that are caught with their pants down when a tragedy strikes. ie we are the ants and they are the grasshoppers.


The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on The View with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing "It's Not Easy Being Green."

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house where the news stations film the group singing "We shall overcome."

Jesse then has The group kneel down to pray to God for the Grasshopper's sake. AOC & Maxine Waters exclaim in a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper that the Ant has gotten rich off the back of the Grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the Ant to make him pay his "fair share."

Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act," retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The Ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the Ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal 
judges that Obama appointed, from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The Ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the Grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the Ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the Ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The Ant has disappeared in the snow.

The Grasshopper is found dead in a drug-related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

I hate to admit this but, the only thing I have prepped on is guns and ammo.

My buddy recommended that I start stocking up on bbq sauce. He seems to think it will make the liberals taste better when there’s nothing left to eat.


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## Old SF Guy (Dec 15, 2013)

Prepping is a historic fact of life in days gone by, still practiced in parts of the world that live off the land, or that have hazards to their livelihood likely. Now there are people who take the notion to full tilt positions, where they are preparing for an alien invasion, a global pandemic, an earth ending catastrophe. 
These are your uber preppers... sort of like your ultra marathon runners. THeirs not that many that do it full time....and you can tell theirs something different about them.

Your next level of prepper is your militant prepper. They are preparing to fight off a horde of zombies, attackers, government brown shirts. These are like your mud runners...they really really just want to have a reason to get all muddy and can't wait until one starts up. These are the preppers who have 27 guns, 1000's of rounds per gun....and a box of MRE's somewhere in the back

Then you have your life style prepper...More common...like Joggers....THey stock pile what will help them live and survive if things go bad without having to rush out an fight through the hordes raging against Walmart.

Then you got folks like me.... I have learned how to do just about everything...am to poor and lazy to stock pile anything, and unafraid to revert to savagery once the bell rings...So in keeping with the athletic prose I used...I'm like the Speed walker... To lazy to really run, probably doing myself more harm than good, no one enjoys watching it happen....and I'm probably gonna cramp up and die at some point.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Slippy said:


> Does big Ricky the local mechanic down at the transmission repair shop in some BumPhock Florida Panhandle town that my old Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo broke down in one time back in the early 90's "prep" before he tears out my transmission? Oooops, bad example but you get my drift! :vs_mad:


I think it is the best example.. mechanics have to have a variety of items on hand before they can do the work... no mechanic wants to have a vehicle stuck on the lift because they forgot to order the blinker fluid or the right size oil filter....


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

Back Pack Hack said:


> I'm still waiting for the next comet to arrive with the UFO behind it that will take my soul to another "level of existence above human".


I'm not going to let you ride the comet unless you are wearing the required tennis shoes.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Not a cult but prepping is a subculture. You move in different circles when it comes to being a prepper.

We tend to be quite almost secretive in what we do. First is op sec and second is to avoid hassle from people who look at being prepared with scorn. As @Illini Warrior pointed out, by in large there is a commonality to how we think.


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## Elvis (Jun 22, 2018)

No, I wouldn't consider prepping a "cult". More a cognitive mindset not to be overly dependent on items and services we can't easily provide for ourselves in this shaky and unreliable world.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

hawgrider said:


> I'm not going to let you ride the comet unless you are wearing the required tennis shoes.


But.... but... but... I've got my $5.75.......


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

If you ignore the secret hand shake...


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

hawgrider said:


> Cult? Nah!
> 
> Who's mixing up the Koolaid?


Okay, maybe not a cult; just a sub-culture.

As in: "a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture."

How's that?

We do have beliefs and interests that are at variance with the rest of society, right?


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

Playing devil's advocate here: it seems like a lot of cults use end time prophesies and SHTF predictions to manipulate people. Was Harold Camping a cult leader? 

I know we're different from that....How are we different?


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## youngridge (Dec 28, 2017)

I guess I don’t think people around here think it’s weird that I have a garden, can, may be a hoarder a bit, and like firearms and ammo...that probably describes a lot of people around here. Ask some one from Chicago and they would say it is cult like. At this point if it is a hobby and you have a group of people that enjoy it with you what isn’t a cult?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Oh, I don't know about y'all, but my wife and I are just plain country folk that were raised by parents who survived the Great Depression and then WWII.

And, like a lot of our rural neighbors, we grow vegetables, raise chickens, and if we're lucky have a deer in the freezer.
When canned goods are on sale, we buy a case or two or three. Is that "prepping" or simply stretching the dollars?

We have always "put things back" for unexpected hard times, be that illness, job loss, hurricane, whatever. Is that "prepping" or simply being practical?


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

I don't know that "prepping" is a cult, but as I look around these here United States and the world in general, I think it's a damned necessity and only prudent. I also think there are more of us then people realize.

When Harvey came into Houston, while everyone was running around chasing gas, trying to buy generators, and fighting in the isle of Walmart for the last can of beans, I cam home, cracked a cold beer, threw a steak on the grill, and watched it rain. Call me crazy and sinister while your happy ass floats out to the gulf with that can of beans you fought for. Now, pass me some of @hawgrider 's Koolaid. :shock:


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

After reading this thread, I think the idea of a "cult" depends on whether you are "in" or "out." Let me exp[lain.

If you are "in," my guess is that you view the people in your circle as friends and club members. You look forward to seeing them, and you're learning a lot.

If you are "out," you view any organization that you're not a member of to be clannish, and close-minded. They like each other, which you might interpret as simply not liking you.

The folks I hung out with did lots of volunteer and charity work, believe it or not. But to the townies that simply did not meet our standards for membership, we got trashed, usually about things we never did or would do.

Personally, I just think the epithet 'prepper' just means a guy with extra food and a secure basement, which doubles as a shelter. Yes, I know there are guys who build bunkers and have 20 years of frozen, dried food and several thousand rounds of ammunition, but don't you think that strain is the vast minority?


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

youngridge said:


> I guess I don't think people around here think it's weird that I have a garden, can, may be a hoarder a bit, and like firearms and ammo...that probably describes a lot of people around here. Ask some one from Chicago and they would say it is cult like. At this point if it is a hobby and you have a group of people that enjoy it with you what isn't a cult?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


don't know what kind of regional bigotry you're talking out of your azz >>> but if your talking guns & ammo being an indicator of prepping - I'll bet the per capita %%%% is higher in Chicago than your neighborhood - people own/carry/use because there's an ongoing crime SHTF across the country with special emphasis of crime across the boards in the cities ...

if you're dumb enough to read & believe the NRA crap >>>> that's probably a problem that can't be cured ...


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

Regional Bigotry.... wah effing wah! Time to sing a new tune there Illinoid! Chicago sucks tell all your friends!


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## Marica (May 5, 2019)

Yeah well if taking responsibility for yourself is a now viewed as cultish... . Never mind.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Marica said:


> Yeah well if taking responsibility for yourself is a now viewed as cultish... . Never mind.


You'll have to forgive Hawgrider and myself. We come from an antique era when men were men and sheep were nervous. In fact, my wife was still a teenager in high school the first time I made her laugh by saying, "You can get more with a smile and switchblade than you can with just a smile." Now she has several switchblades of her own and she's downright picky about my polishing on her edges.

See my point? In the supposed real world of "Wheel of Fortune" and potluck dinner guys like Hawgrider and myself are the last of the 'bad boys.' But in truth, we cannot find where our wives hide the toilet paper, and we actually cuff and stuff muggers and personally deliver them to the real cops. It's not that we're stupid, it's just that the 1960s were 'black and white.' There were good guys and Ovaltine commercials. We didn't know any better.

For example, I think I offended a moderator here. Well, of course I did, you cannot explain the behavior of the 1960s to a person sitting in front of a computer. Now, Hawgrider would be the first one here to change your tire. Why? Because his dad burned that into his brain before he was age eleven. He'd get boils if you changed your own tire.

We're bikers of yester-year. Give us a break, we're the last there is...


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## youngridge (Dec 28, 2017)

Illini Warrior said:


> don't know what kind of regional bigotry you're talking out of your azz >>> but if your talking guns & ammo being an indicator of prepping - I'll bet the per capita %%%% is higher in Chicago than your neighborhood - people own/carry/use because there's an ongoing crime SHTF across the country with special emphasis of crime across the boards in the cities ...
> 
> if you're dumb enough to read & believe the NRA crap >>>> that's probably a problem that can't be cured ...


Alright pal, lets all get along. No need for calling people dumb or accusing. Take it easy.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

youngridge said:


> Alright pal, lets all get along. No need for calling people dumb or accusing. Take it easy.


Congratulations Young Ridge!!! You are now a proud member of the "regional bigot" club!!!

Illini Warrior does not take kindly to those of us that do not think Chicago is the center of the universe. But he saves a special place in Hell for those of us that think Chicago is the armpit of the universe.

Welcome! You are amongst friends.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Annie said:


> Playing devil's advocate here: it seems like a lot of cults use end time prophesies and SHTF predictions to manipulate people. Was Harold Camping a cult leader?
> 
> I know we're different from that....How are we different?


Well if interpreted using standard Bible sfudy methods its hard to scare Believers with in time prophecies. Chistian cults are typically based on sources of inspiration outside the Bible. For instance Mormons have Book of Mormon...the Jehovah Wittnesses Have their Watchtower Society...the Sevnth Day Adventists have the prophecies of Ellen White..the Catholics have Traiditions of the Church and Papal Uttereances etc.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

bigwheel said:


> Well if interpreted using standard Bible sfudy methods its hard to scare Believers with in time prophecies. Chistian cults are typically based on sources of inspiration outside the Bible. For instance Mormons have Book of Mormon...the Jehovah Wittnesses Have their Watchtower Society...the Sevnth Day Adventists have the prophecies of Ellen White..the Catholics have Traiditions of the Church and Papal Uttereances etc.


The earliest Christians didn't have the bible. Were they cult members? Prior to the 1500's most people were illiterate, so how could they have been "bible only?"Who had the God given authority to decide on the cannons of the bible and why? Where does the bible say "Bible only", and how could it say that seeing as the books were written prior to having been compiled?

ETA: if bible only is correct, how come there's so many Protestant denominations?


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Well, Annie, I was born Roman Catholic (confession, Communion, Confirmation), then became an SDA due to the intense Bible study. Most Adventists can quote chapter and verse if you just give them the numbers only. You're usually welcomed to the church with lessons we call "Daniel/Revelation."

I believe in Christ and I anxiously await some form of 'direction' from The Spirit to help another lost soul, but it doesn't come often enough for me.

Recently I could not find my mother's Rosary, and tore the house apart like I was looking for a Frank B stiletto. But like most of my friends, we are all walking contradictions.


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

Annie said:


> Our do non-preppers view us that way? Have you ever told someone you prepped and gotten a weird reaction?
> 
> Here's the definition Google gave me: a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.
> 
> ...


The Google definition is really a quite poor one. I do not think prepping is a "cultish activity". I do think that there are cults that do prep. It is my opinion that one of the biggest religions that are known for prepping, the Mormons, are, at heart, a cult. A very big and wealthy (second richest church in the world) cult.


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

Illini Warrior said:


> don't know what kind of regional bigotry you're talking out of your azz >>> but if your talking guns & ammo being an indicator of prepping - I'll bet the per capita %%%% is higher in Chicago than your neighborhood - people own/carry/use because there's an ongoing crime SHTF across the country with special emphasis of crime across the boards in the cities ...
> 
> if you're dumb enough to read & believe the NRA crap >>>> that's probably a problem that can't be cured ...


For Pete's sake, IW! Chicago is a craphole. Just accept it. You can love it if you want, but it is still a liberal-ran craphole.


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> Now, Hawgrider would be the first one here to change your tire. .


Only until he saw that your spare tire was made in Japan. Then he would call you a traitor, kick the jack out from under the car, and let it fall on your Chinese-manufactured shoe-clad foot! :vs_lol:


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Inor said:


> Congratulations Young Ridge!!! You are now a proud member of the "regional bigot" club!!!
> 
> Illini Warrior does not take kindly to those of us that do not think Chicago is the center of the universe. But he saves a special place in Hell for those of us that think Chicago is the armpit of the universe.
> 
> Welcome! You are amongst friends.


Hell, I was born in Chicago and I never thought it was the center of the universe. Great town, if it's summer, if you have money, are only visiting, can put up with the horrid liberal politics, if your not a gang member and not in gang territory, and...did I mention if it was summer?

I love to visit, I still have friends and family above ground there and they have great food. And for the most part I get along with the people. Chicago, as big cities go, Have more people crammed into a smaller area, and tense. Houston, another big city, has as many people, but spread out and much more laid back. Now, New York? New York beats em all. Man are those people tense and packed together.

Thinking on it, I have lived in big cities or visited them most all my life. Chicago, Washington, New Orleans, Miami, Dallas, Denver, NY, Milwaukee.............. I need to get out of the one I am in and slow it down. Cities make me tired.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

*@Prepared One*, that's an easy fix, move to Madison, Wisconsin.

Yes, it's the capitol of the state, but the libtards and representatives never leave the isthmus--it's like confining the convicts on Alcatraz. Even at the other end of State Street is the UW-Madison, and if you don't like bloviating, you never have go there.

However, the rest of the town has a "Mayberry" feel to it. We have gun shops, malls, parks, and you walk away with the feeling that the entire blue-collar population will wave and say "hi" to you.

Yes, we have ethnic crime, but these are not the Chicago variety. They're the ones who weren't tough enough to fight it out in The City of Wind.

Lots of bangers at the mall, they get out of my way and I haven't had to utter a threat of pull a knife yet.

Come to Madison, I'll show you the real side of the place.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> Well, Annie, I was born Roman Catholic (confession, Communion, Confirmation), then became an SDA due to the intense Bible study. Most Adventists can quote chapter and verse if you just give them the numbers only. You're usually welcomed to the church with lessons we call "Daniel/Revelation."
> 
> I believe in Christ and I anxiously await some form of 'direction' from The Spirit to help another lost soul, but it doesn't come often enough for me.
> 
> Recently I could not find my mother's Rosary, and tore the house apart like I was looking for a Frank B stiletto. But like most of my friends, we are all walking contradictions.


Did you find it? Ask St. Anthony to help you find it. :tango_face_wink:


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

stevekozak said:


> The Google definition is really a quite poor one. I do not think prepping is a "cultish activity". I do think that there are cults that do prep. It is my opinion that one of the biggest religions that are known for prepping, the Mormons, are, at heart, a cult.


I love the Mormons for their prepping and wish the Catholics did that.



> A very big and wealthy (second richest church in the world) cult.


I'm told the Amish have a big stash of money, that they live simply and sock the money away. Once stuff hits the fan it'll be sad to see if their farms get pirated, being as they don't have firearms with which to defend their stuff.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Annie said:


> Did you find it? Ask St. Anthony to help you find it. :tango_face_wink:


I should have remembered that. I was a child for several years going to St. Anthony's Church in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

I didn't think much about it then, but do you think he helped me find Harley motorcycles and pretty girls? They seemed to show up wherever I went...


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> I should have remembered that. I was a child for several years going to St. Anthony's Church in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
> 
> I didn't think much about it then, but do you think he helped me find Harley motorcycles and pretty girls? They seemed to show up wherever I went...


St. Columbanus for the motorcycles. Agnes is the patron saint of girls.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Annie said:


> St. Columbanus for the motorcycles. Agnes is the patron saint of girls.


Annie, I have fired my psychiatrist. You will be my therapist from now on.

Your rates are more reasonable, and frankly, you make more sense...

(So there's a patron saint for motorcycles?)


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

The Tourist said:


> *@Prepared One*, that's an easy fix, move to Madison, Wisconsin.
> 
> Yes, it's the capitol of the state, but the libtards and representatives never leave the isthmus--it's like confining the convicts on Alcatraz. Even at the other end of State Street is the UW-Madison, and if you don't like bloviating, you never have go there.
> 
> ...


I have been to Madison actually, although, only for a visit. My Aunt lives not far from there and when I am visiting we will make a couple trips to Madison. Nice place, last time I was there I found it had all the big city amenities but still had it's small town charm. Been a few years since I been up that way tho.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Prepared One said:


> Hell, I was born in Chicago and I never thought it was the center of the universe. Great town, if it's summer, if you have money, are only visiting, can put up with the horrid liberal politics, if your not a gang member and not in gang territory, and...did I mention if it was summer?
> 
> I love to visit, I still have friends and family above ground there and they have great food. And for the most part I get along with the people. Chicago, as big cities go, Have more people crammed into a smaller area, and tense. Houston, another big city, has as many people, but spread out and much more laid back. Now, New York? New York beats em all. Man are those people tense and packed together.
> 
> Thinking on it, I have lived in big cities or visited them most all my life. Chicago, Washington, New Orleans, Miami, Dallas, Denver, NY, Milwaukee.............. I need to get out of the one I am in and slow it down. Cities make me tired.


Since I moved to M.T. Acres almost 3 years ago, I cannot handle cities anymore. I just spent the last 3 days in Baltimore and could not get out of there fast enough. Yes, the food was good. But there was not a single other redeeming quality.

And I would put my skyline up against the skyline of Chicago or NYC any day of the week!


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Inor said:


> Since I moved to M.T. Acres almost 3 years ago, I cannot handle cities anymore. I just spent the last 3 days in Baltimore and could not get out of there fast enough. Yes, the food was good. But there was not a single other redeeming quality.
> 
> And I would put my skyline up against the skyline of Chicago or NYC any day of the week!
> 
> View attachment 98691


Now that's! what I call a skyline.


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## Phenol (Jun 22, 2019)

Well first off you shouldn’t be telling people about your preps unless you trust them 100% to not come knocking at your door with others when shtf


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

*@Phenol*, I can understand your position. And I realize that there are members here who live amid judgmatic townies or neighbors who condemn anyone differing from themselves.

However, everyone (including the regulars at the coffee cafe') knows what I carry and why I carry it--I even sit and showcase knives to local Madison police officers--did a demo once as the officer sat in his patrol car.

Here's my reasoning. I'm out to show the public that a switchblade is just a jackknife. The purchase of such a tool does not define the owner in shadowy terms. There are lots of times you need "three hands" to complete a project, and the right tool pulls its own weight.

To be polite, my defensive pistol is usually covered by the tails of the dress shirt I wear over my jeans. But one afternoon at the cafe' I got over-heated and ditched the shirt. No one said anything or freaked out, or ran for the constables. We were all just boomers drinking over-priced, substandard coffee and making sick jokes.

In the end I think people hide who they are under the false notion that they should hide. This is patently BS. You're a righteous, legal, law-abiding citizen, and you have the same rights and privileges as the banger screaming his angst from his Escalade.

I carry what I want when I want. Pistols and switchblades have been legal to all of Wisconsin's citizenry as open carry for over two years. Let the libtards hide who they are.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> Annie, I have fired my psychiatrist. You will be my therapist from now on.
> 
> Your rates are more reasonable, and frankly, you make more sense...
> 
> (So there's a patron saint for motorcycles?)


For everything, Tourist. That and an angel to boot, or so I am told. But I guess we know less about them (angels) for the most part.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Annie said:


> But I guess we know less about them (angels) for the most part.


Well, I have actually met some Angels.

I asked them if they were from "Heavens Gate," and they told me, no, they hailed from Oakland.

Oh, and that "purity guise" is just a scam. I've never seen anyone but these Angels pour down the hard liquor and still ride. But then, who could fly after that?


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## Marica (May 5, 2019)

The Tourist said:


> *@Phenol*, I can understand your position. And I realize that there are members here who live amid judgmatic townies or neighbors who condemn anyone differing from themselves.
> 
> However, everyone (including the regulars at the coffee cafe') knows what I carry and why I carry it--I even sit and showcase knives to local Madison police officers--did a demo once as the officer sat in his patrol car.
> 
> ...


I saw this the other day and your reasoning reminded me of something that might be of interest to you, Tourist.

When we lived in Cincinnati I was active on the OFCC (Ohioans for Concealed Carry) forum. At the time they had a monthly, printed newsletter. The January 2009 issue was to feature the cases for and against open carry. I got volunteered to write the pro OC piece, and so I did. I presented an argument based on Aristotelian virtues. I claimed that, when and where appropriate (BIG caveat) people who CC were cowards.

As you might imagine, that generated a few pages of discussion on the forum.



> Marica Bernstein hold's what I call a" Pure" view of the Second Amendment-Carry how you want, but recommends Open Carry as a statement of Liberty and identity. People will get used to seeing there fellow citizens armed.
> 
> In my opinion the winner of the debate is-
> 
> Marica Bernstein, by an intellectual knock out. She logically explained her position, and won me over.


(I liked "intellectual knockout"!)

Anywho-- that thread is here if you're interested: https://ohioccwforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=26451

Here's how my essay started (originally published OFCC Newsletter January 2009)


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

*@Marica*, will you marry me?

I was an English-minor at the UW-Madison, my colors always got strange looks. To that, I am writing my own book--it's a cornucopia of religion, action-adventure, a Red Queen who needs saving, and your token chisel-featured, poor but honest biker. Why did I just explain this?

Well, you had me at "*Aristotelian*."


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## Marica (May 5, 2019)

Why, thanks for the offer but I am quite happily married already! To a philosopher & neuroscientist, no less, who also does almost all of the cooking.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Marica said:


> Why, thanks for the offer but I am quite happily married already! To a philosopher & neuroscientist, no less, who also does almost all of the cooking.


Yeah, I'm married, too. And happily, for over 40 years. Where did you study the works of Aristotle? Yikes, I had to break into an English class of limited participation just to study the old masters. Looking back, it was easy to see where we get so many of our modern movie plots. In fact, while "Troy" was one heck of a movie, the plot errors were an issue.


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## Marica (May 5, 2019)

The Tourist said:


> Yeah, I'm married, too. And happily, for over 40 years. Where did you study the works of Aristotle? Yikes, I had to break into an English class of limited participation just to study the old masters. Looking back, it was easy to see where we get so many of our modern movie plots. In fact, while "Troy" was one heck of a movie, the plot errors were an issue.


Well, Tourist, it's not so much studying as it is living. As my daughters frequently remind me when I'm upset that my expectations for others' behavior are not met, "We aren't like everyone else." Among my immediate family-- husband, three daughters, two sons-in-law-- are three philosophers! One SIL specialized in ancient philosophy. Husband has a thing for Aristotelian virtue ethics (though he never published in this field b/c he thought he wasn't good enough). Another SIL is finishing a novel set in ancient Greece. So real philosophy-- not the stupid made-up crap that abounds these day, but the real stuff like you're talking about-- is every freaking where. All of this started when I went back to school (20+ years ago) to get a 2nd undergrad. Signed up for the Honors Intro to Philosophy class. Guy teaching it thought he knew some science. Begged to differ. He's outside on his John Deere Z700 cutting over by the lake right now! He's fixing chicken friccasee for supper.

You are right, I cannot think of a plot or story line that didn't originate with the ancients.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Marica said:


> You are right, I cannot think of a plot or story line that didn't originate with the ancients.


This is why I bent over backwards to make my book so dramatically different it would be an oddball genre' to read. The closest I could find was the movie of a British paratrooper who should have been killed in a fall, only to have been missed by the Angels of Death when he is lost in a British fog. He wakes up very much alive on the beach.

I flipped the issue. My hero was supposed to die "on a fixed schedule." However, he sees the love of his life with a strange man, and lost in thought he gets run over and is in the act of dying. The angels don't know what to do with him, so his Guardian Angel takes him to Purgatory until the mistake is remedied.

As you might guess, Purgatory is filled with sinners on the edge, including one queen. My lead anti-hero decides that if he is being sentenced to this semi-hell, he might as well make it a better place. His Guardian Angel is shocked to find out that this guy is extracting his own revenge, and Purgatory is now short several missing villains who mysteriously have died and now dropped into the real Hell.

Oh, and the Queen hates this anti-hero. The story is a series, and for the first part, they are polar opposites and severe critics of each other. I like this better than making them lovers, everyone does that.


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