Volume 8, Issue 10, page 13
dEa
Ed im
"It was amusing to read in the letter from Raymond Reid his naive
statement: 'Since there has not been one
single word of objection or criticism to my article, it is
reasonable to conclude that what I wrote was truly "The
Word of Godso. When unadulterated eternal truths are Presented,
the human brain is not capable of framing any
criticism or contradiction.' I wonder i f Mr. Reid has always
leaped to his typewriter and written his opinions about
everything he's read that he disagreed with! Hasn't he often said
to himself: 'This writerts ideas are so far off course it
is hopeless to try to change his thinking-it would take a thesis
to present my own views. I'll let him stew in his
own juices.'
"When The ABERREE comes, I read it thru entirely at one night's
sitting; it is too interesting toput it down. I
say to myself I'll really write some letters about this or that,
this time; but it is late and bedtime and so I lay the
magazine aside-and next night there is something else to read or
write. My lack of time or of ambition certainly does
not give Mr. Reid the right to conclude that my mind is incapable
of a rebuttal.
And in writing this now, I have hurt the feelings of Mr. Reid.
This poses one of the greatest handicaps tothe
freedom of the Hart Clan to write what they think, if it is
unfavorable to the authors of articles. Many take seriously
the Norman Vincent Peale conception of the ideal man who sees
only the good and ignores all differences of
opinion, thus making of himself ahighly desired friend beloved by
all who come within his range.
One may not mind too much
MARCH, 1962
telling off a Morris Katzentype of vulgar albeit presumably
sincere writer, but I really dislike having to say my
Piece now about a popular, wel I - liked writer such as Alberta
O'Connell, to whose latest article Creationof What
You Want I must take violent exception -in fact, I doubt if I'd
be taking time out to write this letter at all had this
article not appeared. Let me tell how a friend of mine in
Southern California did use this method and did get the
money she visualized getting an d thereby created it.
"She had moved here to the Los Angeles area with a stake with
which she hoped to buy a small house and live
comfortably. Prices were higher than she anticipated and she
needed another $5, 000 to buy the Particular house she
had set her heart on, and have enough left over to tide her over
till she found a Position in her specialty. Books
outlining this creative method have been available for many years
and she followed one avidly. And she got her
money in a check for that amount. She got it while suffering
intense pain in a cast in a hospital bed. It had been a
windy day when she walked along the street and a swingingsign
broke loose and was flung downward, grazing and
breaking her back just as she had passed the sign. She's
neverbeen in good health since.
"If anyone who read the O'Connell article thinks seriouslY of
using that method to gain a husband or wife or
business Partner or just plain money, he'd better read several
books which give more details about the dangers of the
method. Libraries are full of them. When I read these and found
the secret is as 0 'Connell states, I knew the gain
was not worth the price. Imagine living or just working with a
person practicing this M_ethod under the impetus of
the formula: 'Repeatmany times a day ... the concreteness of your
Picture and the more tenaciously you hold it, the
sooner will the material reality come.' If it doesn't come soon,
the paddy wagon will beat it there.
"So, now I've made two authors unhappy. This is the type of thing
that probably keeps many readers from
sending in their own articles. We all like the 'Dear Editor'
column, but it may be more harm than good.
"Let's see if I can mention two other letter writers with
The RBERREE
out making more people 'mad' at me. Solvi Johnson writes
suggesting less space be given to Dianetics. while
Myrtle Myers says #No religious arguments, please'. It takes a
few years of being members of The ABERREE
family toget the drift of things, since there seems to be no
major orientation or theme around which most articles
are built. God, religious philosophy in general and the Bible in
particular, sex, Dianetics/Scientology, psychic
Phenomena and whatnot, all get their field day. If most new
readers came onto the scene at about the same time, the
editor could explain all this behind-the-scenes mystery, but "e
can't do it four times a Year.
"It has gradual I y come to b~ my understanding of this
hodgepodge that The ABERREE has certain definite types
of readers. The paper was started solely, I think, around
Dianetics by a dissident splinter group. While I enjoy some
of the articles in this field, I too sometimes feel too much
space is given to the subject. And yet this group finds,
perhaps, in this paper the only hearing for its views. out of
consideration for those who have created and given us
The ABERREE, we should surely welcome their continued support,
since the paper needs all the backing it can get,
to grow.
"Among those interested in either writing about or reading
articles on religion and the Bible, there is the usual
split between those who think of Jesus as the Only Begotten Son
of God. if not God Himself , and the Bible as His
Holy Word , and those who feel emancipated from this provincial
and unscholarly attitude. I consider myself among
the latter, and believe that the former have never read Glover's
fleligion to the Christian Era, or Lewis Browne's This
Believing World, and other books that present the historical
background to the Council of Nicea and the rather
odious methods used to decide what of many books to allow in the
Bible and what ones to omit. one can scarcely
think of such a book as 'every word is the truth, and God's Word,
and holy,' if he knows this background.
"It is highly entertaining, then, to read the writings in The
ABERREE of those who believe in the Bible,
ignoring entirely anything to upset their opinions thatcomes
along in opposition. Now. it is a very rare publication
where both sides of this story can