No attacks on the contributors, please

[Here I'm speaking directly to the current AR members who want to snipe at the contributors to this site through the Add-a-Comment box.]

Look, I know you're scared that visitors to this site believe the stories shared by former AR members that are posted here. You should be, because why wouldn't anyone believe them? So many former members have come out and spilled the beans about their experience, do you really think you can cast any doubt on these stories by continuing to shout, "They're lying! They're lying!" ?

Well, apparently you do. And what's really hypocritical is that while you whine up and down the street on Countering the Lies that some of the contributors to this site choose to remain anonymous, every single one of you who has written in to this site has used a fake name and fake email address! You know, the contributors to this site do tell me their real names and email addresses, I just don't publish them. You people, on the other hand, have offered nothing but fakery. And trying for an entry in the Grand Prix of Hypocrisy, one of you submitted a comment complaining bitterly about a former member's post being anonymous...and you submitted that complaint anonymously! Incredible.

Anyway, here's the deal: This site is the safe space for former members. "Countering the Lies" is your space. I know how you think: you want both your space and my space to present your message. Funny, you're not offering me any space on Countering the Lies to present my message, are you? Of course not. You're too scared to even link to this site from CTL!

So I don't have any obligation to give you a forum in our space, especially when you say petty things, and say them anonymously. However, I'll still consider it: Keep it clean (no name-calling), use a real address so I can verify your comment (I won't publish your address), and offer me a similar opportunity on CTL to post messages, and I'll be happy to let you post here.

But really, if you're so eager to use my space to present your own message, why haven't you agreed to debate me? If you're so confident that you're right and we're wrong, how about we do this live in public, rather than hiding behind the cover of the Internet? Or is the best you can do to try to post insulting and anonymous comments on somebody else's webspace? Is that really the best you can do? You tell me.

Aesthetic Realism at a Glance
Name	The Aesthetic Realism Foundation
Founded	1941
Founder	Eli Siegel, poet & art/literary critic. Committed suicide in 1978.
Purpose	To get the world to realize that Eli Siegel was the greatest person who ever lived, and that Aesthetic Realism is the most important knowledge, ever.
Philosophy	We have a tendency to look down on others to make ourselves seem superior by comparison (contempt). Every single problem in the world (including homosexuality) is the result of contempt. By studying AR, we can learn to purge our contempt so the world will be perfect. Also, beauty comes from the contrast of opposites.
Location	New York City (SoHo)
Membership	About 66, as of 4/22, as ~23 teachers + ~43 teachers-in-training. (In 2009 it was ~77 (33+44), and ~29 regular students. You could consider them members, but I'm not including them in the total.) Anyway, with only ~66 committed members, much for world domination. All members call themselves "students", even the leaders/teachers. Advanced members who teach others are called "consultants".
Status	In serious decline. They might have ten years left.
Method of study	Public seminars/lectures at their headquarters (in lower Manhattan), group classes, and individual consultations (three consultants vs. one student) (usually in-person, but also remote).
Cult aspects	Fanatical devotion to their leader/founder Belief that they have the one true answer to universal happiness Ultimate purpose is to recruit new members Feeling that they are being persecuted Wild, paranoid reactions to criticism Non-communication (or at least very limited communication) with those who have left the group, and family members who refuse to join Odd, specialized language. More about cult aspects...

No attacks on the contributors, please

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