Fundies attacking martial arts, help.

[Spartacus Maximus]

A certain group of zealots, fundamentalist christians have convinced themselves that somehow martial arts are "of the devil", "dangerous for the soul" and otherwise "evil". These people have recently produced a so-called movie titled:

"The Dragon Revealed, the true story"

Obviously none of these people involved in producing this movie know anything about martial arts, or they had the unfortunate bad experience of a charlatan or cult leader take advantage of their gullibility.

This movie was sent to several acquaintances who are martial artists and from family members. Has anyone heard of or watched enough of the movie to possibly have ideas on how to dismiss it?

It would be preferable to be a polite and courteous as possible, because the rebuttal is addressed to close family members who insisted on the recipient watching the movie.

[IcemanSK]

I'm a seminary graduate & was a long time professional Christian. I've also trained & taught MA for more than 30 years. My grandmaster, the late Edward Sell, was an ordained Pentecostal Christian minister. These things have been leveled at me & the Art I practice. I get your frustration.

These folks, sadly, are frightened of what they've heard, but as you said, have no knowledge of. There's nothing that you can do to help the masses who may have seen this video that you don't have no connection with. However, you do have the opportunity to speak with folks that you do have a connection with. Talk about what your Art is, & alleviate their fears. When/if they express fears what they've heard "X, Y, or Z happens in ABC Art" tell them that, in your knowledge of MA over many years, that you've never heard of that happening. I'd encourage you to be kind & patient with anyone who has these concerns. In the same way that you would with a child who is afraid of the boogeyman in their closet. These folks have heard & believed something. You can discuss that calmly & politely, like you would if someone said, "I heard MA teaches you to levitate off the ground for hours." The questions are odd, but their concerns are real to them.

I hope that helps. I wish you well.

[liger]

There are people whoes minds will never be changed. These are such. Don't worry about them and do what you feel is right for yourself. If this effects anyone you know learn about it so you can be at the ready to counter their points.

[Spartacus Maximus]

This is one reason why it is great to be training in an area where, although people are not more nor less informed about martial arts, these are native to the culture. When it is a stranger, it is easy to say to oneself: "this person is an ignoramous fool and what he believes does not bother me"

However it is slightly more delicate and somewhat difficult to do when it is one's own family members who seem to have taken it upon themselves to preach about a subject they know nothing about, except for what their credulous minds have blindly accepted from dubious sources such as this gullible sucker(the cult victim hosting the movie) in the aforementioned movie who obviously cannot tell the difference between a charlatan's martial cult and a dojo.

It is easy to tell a zealot stranger to go and eat some hay, not so much when it is a family member who is family despite their misguided attempts at saving those who do not need to be saved and have asked for nothing.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Talking too much or too long about something very few people understand or are interested in is not a good idea. In social situations it is usually avoided unless the person are known to be interested or themselves martial artists.

If the people in question were not family, they would certainly not know about involvement in martial arts. Following the old fashioned custom, training is kept very private and as secretive as possible. The less people know, the better it is if it helps spare from annoyances.

It gets complicated when the annoyances come from one's own house. It is less a matter of changing their minds than getting them to quit worrying about the supposed salvation of a relative who does not share nor care for what they believe.

[IcemanSK]

This is one reason why it is great to be training in an area where, although people are not more nor less informed about martial arts, these are native to the culture. When it is a stranger, it is easy to say to oneself: "this person is an ignoramous fool and what he believes does not bother me"

However it is slightly more delicate and somewhat difficult to do when it is one's own family members who seem to have taken it upon themselves to preach about a subject they know nothing about, except for what their credulous minds have blindly accepted from dubious sources such as this gullible sucker(the cult victim hosting the movie) in the aforementioned movie who obviously cannot tell the difference between a charlatan's martial cult and a dojo.

It is easy to tell a zealot stranger to go and eat some hay, not so much when it is a family member who is family despite their misguided attempts at saving those who do not need to be saved and have asked for nothing.

I appreciate that it's harder when it's a family member. I'm sorry that you're in this hard position. Perhaps ask them to listen to your experience with MA. If they're not willing to be in dialogue with you, there is nothing you can do.

There are cults of personality in MA where instructors have demanded way too much from their unsuspecting students, but most likely, that's different from what is in those videos. You could ask to see the video, if you haven't already. You could go through it item by item with them (or just over their biggest concerns from the video) & try to alleviate their fears. If you do it in a loving manner, it will go a long way. If you're defensive, sarcastic or dismissive of their concerns, it will be unproductive. Think of how you'd want to hear them tell you about their faith, & then tell them about MA.

I hope that helps. It's not an easy spot to be in.

[Spartacus Maximus]

The man in speaking(his name is in the YouTube channel) in the video is well known on youtube for similar videos and in each of them he describes his experiences with several martial arts schools. After watching just a view minutes of these videos, it is obvious that this sad man was the victim of a martial arts cult.

The saddest part of this story is that he seems to blame martial arts for his own poor life decisions and lack of judgment. Then because of this he and undoubtedly many like him blindly condemn all martial arts due to having been cheated, lied to and taken for fool by a charlatan who used his own twisted interpretation of East Asian martial arts to manipulate the weak, naive and gullible.

[IcemanSK]

The man in speaking(his name is in the YouTube channel) in the video is well known on youtube for similar videos and in each of them he describes his experiences with several martial arts schools. After watching just a view minutes of these videos, it is obvious that this sad man was the victim of a martial arts cult.

The saddest part of this story is that he seems to blame martial arts for his own poor life decisions and lack of judgment. Then because of this he and undoubtedly many like him blindly condemn all martial arts due to having been cheated, lied to and taken for fool by a charlatan who used his own twisted interpretation of East Asian martial arts to manipulate the weak, naive and gullible.

I'd discuss that that kind of being lied to happens in Christian circles also. Benny Hinn comes to mind. Perhaps making that connection & that neither Hinn nor bad MAists aren't the majority of those in the business.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Agreed. Charlatans, con-artists and frauds exist in any field, and some people simply lack the judgment to see the for what are and recognize or accept that these bad apples in no way represent the entire field.

[JR 137]

It's funny how people pick and choose who to blame and/or be mad at.

Timothy McVeigh was a Christian fundamentalist. Do we blame Christians for the Oklahoma City bombing? Would anyone bat an eyelash if a Christian church and rec center of any denomination was to be built around the corner of the building?

The 9/11 terrorists were Islamic extremists. Do we (as a society at large) blame Muslims for it? How did everyone react when Muslims wanted to build a mosque and cultural center around the corner of the World Trade Center?

Ignorance is an interesting thing. A guy had a bad experience with some martial artists. Now they're/we're all bad.

One thing I've learned, when you're arguing anything God related, you're never going to change someone's opinion/beliefs. It's an exercise in futility at best.