From: mikef@pacifier.rain.com (Mike Freeman)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: what is a team player
Date: 9 Oct 92 16:13:00 GMT
Reply-To: mikef@pacifier.rain.com (Mike Freeman)
Organization: Pacifier BBS
X-Fidonet: Blink Talk Conference
Originator: wtm@sheldev.shel.isc-br.com

Index Number: 24769

In article <24593@handicap.news> William.Wilson@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org
writes:
>Index Number: 24593
>
> DC> Well put.  I think the people Kenneth Jernigan really has
> DC> control over are those who hate him so much.
>
>     I'm just curious as to what prompted you to say this?  That is, I
>have had the feeling for a long time now that those members of the NFB
>that show blatant adoration of the director are those who, for reasons I
>can only guess at, are most at odds with a primarily sighted world!  I
>am in no way trying to be offensive to anyone here, but in the past, the
>same people who supported NFB policy to the end, seemingly to ignore any
>argument to the contrary, showed in their messages, at least in the mind
>of this layman psychologist, alot of resentment towards sighted people!

I think that Mr. Coyle meant that hatred carried to an extreme
controls a person and renders him/her vulnerable to
manipulation; it also dominates his/her thinking, thus limiting
his/her freedom of action.

That asside, my observation differs from yours in that it seems
to me that those who are most fanatic in unthinkingly idolizing
Dr. Jernigan are those whose lives have been turned around by
NFB from ones of despair to ones of hope.  Dr.  Jernigan
symbolizes NFB philosophy, if for no other reason than that he
was NFB President for many years.  BTW, I am not at all certain
that he wished or wishes such adulation but what can he do about
it?

>     Ironically, most of the people I'm thinking about as I type this
>have departed for calmer waters, and in my humble opinion, the
>discussion of the NFB has never been conducted on such an intellectual
>level for the most part before.  Frankly though, although it has been
>suggested that there was nothing but foundless bashing going on in the
>past, it most definitely wasn't the one way street one may have been
>lead to believe!  True, the flames hurled at the NFB were at times
>nothing but brainless attacks, but likewise, the people I saw defending
>NFB policy, and Mr. Jernigan for that matter, seemed to show more
>bitterness towards a world of mainly sighted people than anything else!

As I say, I have not, in general, observed this, although the
NFB (like the ACB, I would hazard) has its share of
sour-pusses.

I am pleasedthat the discussion is on a more intellectual plane
these days; IMHO any discussion that is not so isn't worth
having.

>     I just can't believe that it is mere coincidence that those avid
>NFB members still in attendance here, or even those who have joined us
>recently, don't show the Jernigan adoration syndrome we've witnessed in
>the past!  I think idolatry is a very dangerous thing, as it most
>definitely disables free thought and looking at things from another
>perspective.  Obviously, not all NFB members fall under the Jernigan
>mystique, and from what I see now, it appears as if those with important
>positions within the organization by and large don't fall under the
>spell, but denying that it exists, or attributing it to those who
>actually hate Dr. J just doesn't seem to be the case to me!

I share your fear of idolitry; it is antithetical to rational
thought.

Indeed, it is no coincidence that Federationists, including the
leadership, are more sophistocated today.  We've a lot more
experience under our belts and enough of us have been thru
training including leadership seminars to make a difference.
Although this may be in danger of changing, the blind are
better-educated, by and large, than in the past; this shows in
their conduct, in the NFB and out.

The foregoing needs a caveat, though.  We still respect Dr.
Jernigan as a man and for his accomplishments.  Respect is worth
a helluva lot more than idolitry.

--
Mike Freeman <K7UIJ>    |       Internet: mikef@pacifier.rain.com
301 N.E. 107th Street   |         or freeman@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Vancouver, WA 98685 USA |       GEnie: M.FREEMAN11
Telephone (206)574-8221 |       Loose bits sink chips!